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Jason Thompson
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Manga: The Complete Guide Paperback – October 9, 2007

by Jason Thompson (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 45 ratings
See all formats and editions
• Reviews of more than 900 manga series
• Ratings from 0 to 4 stars
• Guidelines for age-appropriateness
• Number of series volumes
• Background info on series and artists

THE ONE-STOP RESOURCE FOR CHOOSING BETWEEN THE BEST AND THE REST!

Whether you’re new to the world of manga-style graphic novels or a longtime reader on the lookout for the next hot series, here’s a comprehensive guide to the wide, wonderful world of Japanese comics!

• Incisive, full-length reviews of stories and artwork
• Titles rated from zero to four stars–skip the clunkers, but don’t miss the hidden gems
• Guidelines for age-appropriateness–from strictly mature to kid-friendly
• Profiles of the biggest names in manga, including CLAMP, Osamu Tezuka, Rumiko Takahashi, and many others
• The facts on the many kinds of manga–know your shôjo from your shônen
• An overview of the manga industry and its history
• A detailed bibliography and a glossary of manga terms

LOOK NO FURTHER, YOU’VE FOUND YOUR IDEAL MANGA COMPANION!
Previous page
  1. Print length
    592 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Del Rey
  4. Publication date
    October 9, 2007
  5. Grade level
    8 - 12
  6. Reading age
    13 years and up
  7. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
  8. ISBN-10
    0345485904
  9. ISBN-13
    978-0345485908
  10. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jason Thompson has over ten years’ experience as a manga editor, working at SHOHEN JUMP magazine and other publications. His writing has appeared in Animerica and The Comics Journal.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Del Rey; First Edition (October 9, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 592 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0345485904
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0345485908
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

About the author

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Jason Thompson

Jason Thompson
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Jason Thompson is the author of Manga: The Complete Guide and author of the graphic novel King of RPGs. As a manga editor, he has worked on the English editions of titles such as Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball Z, Hana-Kimi, One Piece, Shaman King, Uzumaki, The Drifting Classroom and Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei. His writings on manga have appeared in WIRED, The Comics Journal and Otaku USA, as well as online at Anime News Network, io9.com and comixology.com. He is the author/artist of several fantasy comics including Hyperborea, H.P. Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Strange High House in the Mist, The White Ship, Bold Riley and the Serpent in the Belly and the webcomic The Stiff.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
45 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

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5.0 out of 5 stars Manga Overview
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2009
Verified Purchase
Though I don't feel as qualified as some reviewers, all I can add is that this Guide provides an excellent overview of the Manga universe and includes informative articles on the subject. Not only can you find Manga directly, but be guided by topical lists. I found what I needed in this book and consider it great for beginners and the informed alike. If you want to understand what Manga is all about, this is a good place to start.
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Karlyn
5.0 out of 5 stars Good buy, good value.
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2016
Verified Purchase
Great buy, despite the age of the book and the inevitable incompleteness. People have complained about the way ratings were formatted (which goes from 1-4 stars) and the biased opinions concerning classics like Naruto versus Dragonball, but those things didn't bother me so much (since I was buying this as a gift..). I received it on time and in good condition, though it had a library binding and stamp (that didn't bother me, but I figured I'd mention it in case it dissuades anyone). Overall, it was a VERY good value and I would recommend it for younger audiences/groups (I bought it for my high school's anime club).
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Dennis M. Roy
4.0 out of 5 stars A somewhat useful guide, with caveats -- flawed, but the only book of its kind available
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2016
Verified Purchase
I am giving this book four stars. It does contain listings for a lot of manga series, perhaps most of those available in English up to the time of its writing. I do however, have to caution potential buyers that the book loses some of its value due to the fact that the reviews here represent the opinions (with some definite bias) of a single individual. What could have served better to the potential reader was having individual entries being rated by a committee of several people (and taking into account other published reviews). Sadly, some entries consist of nothing more than a bluntly dismissive sentence or two to justify a 1-star rating, or a short paragraph to justify a 2-star rating, leaving the impression that these are titles that the author included only most grudgingly, for the sake of justifying a claim to being a "complete guide", and the review itself was based on no more than a cursory skimming of a title that the reviewer had already decided had no appeal for him.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the number of new manga titles having appeared in English translation since this book was published has increased tremendously, to the point where this sort of guide would be better served up as an online wiki or as a hyperlinked CD-ROM (or downloadable equivalent format) that would allow the reader to easily jump to associated spotlight articles, or a list of other titles authored by the same mangaka or within the same subgenre or demographic.

Nevertheless, there is a crying need for a guide of this type, and to my utter amazement, instead of there being a half-dozen similar sort of guides competing with it (just look at the number of ANIME guide books out there to choose from), this is the ONLY book of its kind on manga to have been published in English. THAT, to my mind, is utterly mind-boggling -- given the huge popularity of manga (which only seems to keep growing outside of Japan). That said, until the day comes when a better guide comes along, this one will have to suffice. Much of the same type of information (and reviews) on various titles could be found online, but the searching, sorting and filtering process required for those interested is labor-intensive and off-putting, plus the researcher would miss many titles of specific interest entirely, without knowing of them by name to look for reviews.

I conclusion, I would say it's definitely worth owning (even if now becoming increasingly outdated -- one does still hope for a newly "Revised and Expanded Edition" in some format). Just be aware that it's worth the time spent to follow up by cross-checking the reviews of any of the titles of interest included herein online, to get a little more of an overview of the spectrum of opinions regarding any title.
7 people found this helpful
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Edward A. Del Castillo
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
Great resource for plot lines and script ideas.
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book-junkie
5.0 out of 5 stars wanted it for a while
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2013
Verified Purchase
have wanted this book for a while and am glad finally bought it so I don't have to keep checking it out from the library. need to write an updated version with all the awesome manga that's come since reviewed.
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Tristan S. Roberts
1.0 out of 5 stars Library book that has been sold.
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2016
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Normally, I'd give this item a good rating. I had a copy before. THIS copy however, is horrible. It's a USED LIBRARY BOOK with the checkout card holder still attached!
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MANGAFAN
5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL RESOURCE!
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2012
Verified Purchase
This is a great resource for all manga fans. Covers all genres with excellent reviews. However, only up to year 2007. Would love to see updated version from 2007.
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T. LaPonte
3.0 out of 5 stars Good collection of and guide to licensed manga, inconsistent and mediocre ratings of titles
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2008
I picked up a copy of Manga: The Complete Guide, since I already owned an Anime version of this type of collection. Basically, it is a listing of every Japanese manga licensed in English (by early 2007) with a synopsis and a review, along with volume information and age ratings (though mistakes like the volume # for Hero Heel abound).

This volume also contains an introduction and afterward about Japanese comics (and even has a hiragana/katakana chart for reference), which are all very interesting and useful. The book succeeds as a reference guide to manga in general, but the separate yaoi section fails as a good guide for determining whether a series is worthwhile or not, and probably because this book was compiled mostly by men (presumably straight) who are not necessarily fans of the genre (the ratings seem to get lower the more graphic the series are...) and seem to prefer Viz shonen series (for which the author is an editor).

The book does list all of the active licenses up to last year (2007), except for being entirely lacking of any of the BL novels (aside from mentioning the OtRFK novels) or non-BL light novels, and not containing any Korean manwha titles, Chinese manhua, OEL (western graphic novels styled like manga) or cine-manga (picture manga based on anime series/movies). This is an English-licensed-Japanese-manga-only collection.

I wouldn't take the ratings to heart, especially since they go from 0 to 4 stars, which aside from being awkward are completely inconsistent. Naruto got 4 stars, but Fruits Basket, the greatest selling shojo manga in the US and Japan got 3.5. Bleach got 3 stars, though the review would lead you to believe it wasn't "that great" of a title. People expect a 5 star system (0 to 5, that is), especially since it gives you more to work with in differentiating between "bad" titles and "okay" titles. The top score should be reserved for the seminal works and there seemed to be just too many of them slapped on titles that only marginally deserved a high rating (Naruto, anyone?).

The yaoi section reviews were particularly abysmal, when there actually were reviews (many of the titles were left unrated). Some of the most celebrated BL titles of all time were snubbed: FAKE got 2 stars because the reviewer didn't like the artwork; Embracing Love got 4 stars while fellow BBGold signature titles Finder Series and Kizuna got 2.5 stars?! Other marginal titles got rave reviews: Wild Rock got 4 stars, and while not a bad series, the rating seems based on someone's personal feelings about the title and not its own merit.

The review and rating system would have better been served by extensive research of official published reviews for series and average manga fan reactions to them and not the personal and incosistent feelings of the people compiling this book. However, this is a good collection of information about past titles you might want to look into. This is one of those books that you'll want to look out for future editions of/additions to (since there are more and more titles being licensed every day). For the price, I would suggest finding this book on sale or used somewhere. The inconsistent ratings, errors and omissions (particularly of light novels and manwha) only garner this collection 3 stars. If it were available in an updatable e-book format I would recommend that instead.
16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Alex Costa
5.0 out of 5 stars Ótimo guia.
Reviewed in Brazil on July 15, 2021
Verified Purchase
Ótimo guia para ter conhecimento sobre os mangás mais representativos assim como classificação demográfica a qual eles pertencem . Deveria apenas haver uma atualização com novos mangás.
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Kindle-Kunde
3.0 out of 5 stars Viel zu viel yaoi für meinen Geschmack
Reviewed in Germany on October 20, 2022
Verified Purchase
Dem Manga-Genre, mit dem ich am allerwenigsten anfangen kann, wird viel zu viel Platz eingeräumt und die Sternebewertungen sind "überflüssig" bis "nicht nachvollziehbar."
"Detektiv Conan" 3,5 v. 4?!
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Rafal
5.0 out of 5 stars AAA+
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2019
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High quality product
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