Customer Reviews

Anime Mania: How to Draw Characters for Japanese Animation

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Well I havn't bought the book, but from first glance, it looks pathetic. The art style is horrible for Anime. I have been drawing Anime for about 2 years or so, and observed tons of anime, and this is nothing like it. I know it is Americanized, but some children have WAY better skills then the artists in this book. (I havn't bought it, but the cover says a mouthfull) Some people say it is good for kids, well they don't know the beginning of how much I see wrong with it. Not recommended for anybody acept maybe someone who knows squat about anime.

First off, I have taken a look at the book in a store. My first impression is that it was bad. One, the artwork looks very amateur like, more like a bad attempt. Many of the book he has produced are ones on how to draw american cartoons. Not to insult the guy, but it doesn't look anime like. I would not dare recommend this book to any one who want to learn how to draw in the manga style. I would sugguest buying the How to Draw Manga: Compiling Characters or the other How to Draw Manga. I suggest those because those are PROFESSION MANGA ARTIST. Please don't waste your time and money on Hart's books.

I got this book when I was just finding out about the anime/manga world. I now realize that this book is more for begginers. not a very good beginer either. it has a lot of useful info, though.( weight bearing leg, basic body construction, character design, and other suff) however, this book is sort of confusing becouse there are lots of different art styles in here.(Mr. Hart hires other artists) different artists draw differently.

there ARE colored illos all over the book. Mr. Hart breezes through lots of different types of characters without getting into them that much. he just shows you how to draw them at one angle and moves on. he could write a detailed series based on this book( how to draw creatures, how to draw high-tech punks,dramatic seens, how to draw special effects, etc.).

but if your a begginer and want an overview of anime this is the book for U.

I don't really recommend it to people in Japan...they'll probably get offended...plus, I didn't understand the format.

This book teaches you almost nothing about the way to make the head shape- just exepects you to be able to make a perfect egg shape. Then it expects you to be able to magically draw perfect features. Then somehow it gets colored with perfect highlights and shading. I don't recomend this book at all for beginners or people with intermediate skills. ...

This book not only helped me with my drawing skills but helped me make a friend from Japan. Anime Mania has great drawings and grand tips. I've become a better artist and my art grade reased quite a bit too.

This is another great bok from Christopher Hart. He shows you basics, advanced drawing techniques, and not only a Japanese phrase section on how to speak some japanese but how to act. For example, if you want someone important to have your buisiness card, you dont throw it in there faces you bow and extend it with both hands Another great book.

I would rename this book, THE ART OF WESTERNIZED ANIME. The colorful illustrations are great, but there isn't much instruction on "How To" achieve the drawings. It's a much better idea-generator book. There has also been some criticism about the "Americanized" anime used in this book. I agree that hard-core Anime fans will notice right away that there is something "wrong" with the drawings, the characteristic anime nose, for example.

Despite the above mentioned, the Pokemon crowd will really enjoy this book. The most obvious reason is that it is in COLOR and is filled with ILLUSTRATIONS. It also has pages of those draw "cute" anime critters. So, while it may not be traditional Anime, the younger crowd is not likely to notice, and may actually prefer the "westernized" look. And the lack of instructions probably works to their advantange as well (don't most kids like to skip to the end of instructions, anyway?)

For serious Anime fans, who are truly interested in learning how to draw Japanese Anime, I recommend taking a look at HOW TO DRAW ANIME & GAME CHARACTERS, VOL.1, by TADASHI OZAWA. This book/series is popular in Japan, and has now been translated into English (by an American publishing Co, so have no fear of "all-your-base-belong-to-us" English!) It has step-by-step instructions and the characters really look authentic. Why? Well, because, it's written/illustrated by an animation director at STUDIO GHIBLI (Oscar-winning SPIRITED AWAY) The book, however, is completely in black & white, and while it is completely suitable for kids, will probably not be as attention-keeping as CHRIS HART'S ANIME MANIA.

Overall, I give this book 4 STARS. The breakdown:
5-STAR rating for kids and people who's range of Anime consists of Afternoon cartoons. Highly Recommended.
3-STAR rating for serious Anime fans. Neutral Recommendation. (It still makes a good "Art of" book, though)

Chris Hart provides great examples and explanations to understanding how to create the anime look.
From simple construction through finished drawings, anyone will be able to creat their own anime world by the time they complete the book.
A great resource.

as a fan of japanese anime and manga, i was really excited when my aunt bought me a book titled "anime mania...", but when i looked inside there was not a single picture that seemed like the japanese artwork that i enjoy. i was extremely disapointed. however, if you do like [imitations] of anime ... then you may enjoy this book and keep it under your pillow or whatever, even though it isn't even that good of an artbook in general...