Manga Tutorials - Book Review

How to Draw Manga: Bodies & Anatomy
by The Society for the Study of Manga Tech
Pages: 132 (b&w)
Publisher: Graphic Sha (Aug 2002)
ISBN: 4766112385

Chapters:
The Aim of this Book
Chapter 1: Head Variations
Chapter 2: Upper Body Variations
Chapter 3: Torso Variations
Chapter 4: Lower Body Variations

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Read this book? Tell us what you thought of it! Send your review to rio[AT]mangatutorials[DOT]com. Make sure you include a reason why you like and/or dislike the book.

Book Review by Stephanie

The Good: This book goes in-depth into different parts of the body and how they bend and twist. You would be amazed at how flexible the body is! It has both the anatomy of both the male and female body. There is a section on skeletal structure that is very detailed. This book shows the difference between the male and female body remarkably more in detail than most of the "How to Draw Manga" series.

The Bad: How do I put it...the author puts pants on the guy and no clothes on the girl. o.O' I think the author just want to get the message across that there is a difference in um...o_o' certain body parts...' Finally...there are a few...um...erotic scenes in the book...o.o' This book doesn't have step by step instructions...it is merely a reference book. This book is VERY detailed...a little too detailed without step by step intructions. This book is a lot like the "Casual Clothes" book in the "How to Draw Manga" series.

Overall: A well composed and organized book. This book is more for beginners who don't yet understand that people have bones AND skin. -_-' Although, this book does help understand differences in body types (male v. female) If you want more detail on those gender's then try out the male and female character books in the "How to Draw Manga" series. Like I said before, this is a reference book and I rarely need to use it when drawing the body. I found books in the "How to Draw Anime and Game Characters" book easier to comprehend in the way that it shows how he (Tadashi) draws the body. I would give this book a 10 out of 10 for effort, but a 4 out of 10 for usefulness. I read this book four times and have never looked at it since. I would recommend you spend you $17.99 on a new shirt or something else.

Book Review by Rio

The Good: After going through this book, you'll definitely learn your anatomy. There are a variety of poses from every angle from each part of the body. Both the male and female bodies are covered in this book which is convenient for those who don't want to buy two seperate books for each gender.
Drawings run more in the realistic end of the anime and manga style. And if you want to learn proper anatomy, it has to be close to realistic as possible. Once you know the basics, then you can skew your anatomy however you please. For those of you who are expecting illustrations like the cover - forget it.

The Bad: You have to learn from the illustrations. The book will not tell you draw this and then that. For those of you who like learning from step-by-step books, this edition isn't for you. If you're a parent considering this book for your child, there is nudity in this book but considering it's covering anatomy - what do you expect? For an anatomy friendly book for yournger reader's, get Hart's Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy.

Overall: This book is mainly as reference book. It will not teach you how to draw the body in a step-by-step manner. I would consider this book for those who take an initiative to learn things on their own and who do not need someone to point things out one at a time or just copy what they see. It would better for intermediate artists who has familiarity with anatomy already and want to expand their knowledge and can use this book as a reference after going through this book.