Title: The Essential Manga Guide
Author: Briana Lawrence
Publisher: Running Press Adult
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Publication Date: June 11, 2024
What is The Essential Manga Guide? Well, it’s a guide filled with essential manga for new readers to check out so that they can begin their journey into the world of manga!
Now, that wouldn’t be much of a review if I simply stated the obvious because there is more than just a list of manga recommendations here to sink your teeth into so let’s take a bit of a deep dive and check out what Crunchyroll’s Briana Lawrence has to say about one of the worlds we all love!
Now, if you are truly new to the world of manga, you might ask yourself what it is and how it differs from a graphic novel or a comic book found here in the United States. Briana opens up by asking that very same question in a quirky manner. In “What the Heck is Manga?” she starts off with her personal journey and how she was introduced to manga back in 1993. In her origin story, she even talks about the age-old debate of referring to anime as a cartoon, what the difference is between the two, and how anime (most of the time) is based on manga.
In the second part of the introduction, she goes into the differences between manga and American comics and how manga is mostly in black and white with there sometimes being color pages versus comics and graphic novels here which are mainly in full color from cover to cover.
Then, in part three, she likens manga to comic books and compares the feel and essence of the story. They’re not all about superheroes and they come in a variety of genres much like how novels, television shows, movies, and other forms of entertainment all have specific genres; however, these genres work a bit differently in Japan so she breaks down terms such as Shounen, Shoujo, Seinen, etc so that any new reader can get familiar with the terms and what they mean.
In the next section, she stresses how manga is read. Here in the United States, we are used to reading left to right but in Japan, it’s the opposite. In order to preserve the original look and feel of manga, companies like VIZ Media, Yen Press, Inklore, One Peace Books, Kodansha, and others will print manga in its original format. Almost every single book, regardless of publisher, has a page that tells readers that they are reading the wrong way if they open it up from the “back” cover since they are used to reading left to right.
However, it wasn’t always like that. She goes into a bit of the history of manga in the United States and how attempts were made to rearrange the books in a left-to-right format. From here, she goes into how manga has spread, from being printed in manga magazines to making its way to bookstores. After all, before you start reading a new medium, it is vital to know your roots and where the medium came from!
From here, Briana knows that you’re armed with the knowledge of what manga is and where it came from so the next obvious question is asked… “Where Do I Start?” It is a valid question, after all, one that is even asked by people who are already familiar with anime and manga. Just ask anyone attempting to jump into the Fate series… I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen the “Where do I start?” question asked on that one!
From there, we get into the meat and potatoes of the guide. She went out and handpicked some of the best and most iconic manga in history to get any new fan started; however, it’s not all big names and that’s what makes this guide so good. There are some lowkey hits in here that aren’t as popular and flew under some people’s radar; however, having read some of them myself, I’m happy to see that they made the list!
Popular suggestions include Dragon Ball, Berserk, YuYu Hakusho, Sailor Moon, and other classics but some modern popular titles like Haiykuu!!, Mob Psycho 100, and Kaguya-sama: Love is War made the list as well! Then, for the obscure titles I mentioned, How Do I Relationship? (one of my favorites), given, Sex Ed 120% (yay, someone that read this, too!), Sasaki and Miyano, and The Way of the Househusband join the list which adds a ton of variety.
In total, there are 50 titles here that are outlined and detailed with a nice essay from Briana that explains what the manga is about and her thoughts on it; however, what is even nicer is that in addition to the manga series being highlighted, Briana offers up similar series in that genre that you might enjoy so you end up with recommendations on top of recommendations! Plus, each series here comes with some facts and trivia to help you better understand how a series has won any awards or other interesting pieces of information.
This guide is vastly rich with information, history, personal influence and opinion, and enough options to not only kick start but fuel someone’s journey into the world of manga for YEARS to come. So, the next time someone asks, “Hey, do you have any manga recommendations?” just throw a link to this book their way and say “Here’s something that’ll keep you busy.”
As far as guides go, I would say this is among the top of some of the guides I’ve seen. It is very clear that Briana put a lot of thought and effort into this book and you can just hear her enthusiasm and love for manga come through in it. To speak about her personal reasons why she recommended each series which is also backed with just pure knowledge of that series along with her own introduction to the medium was a welcome touch. Many people would just slap together a list, talk a bit about it, and leave it at that but Briana went above and beyond and did something very few have done… gave you a reason to CARE about the recommendation and the series being recommended.
An excellent guide and if you’re just starting out with manga or are looking to get into it, this guide should be at the very top of your list, PERIOD.
Overall Score: 5/5
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This item was provided for review by Running Press Adult
