While good, this is not for complete beginners.   June 17, 2004

Fot total and complete beginners, I'd recommend that you buy How to Draw Manga by Katy Coope, ISBN 0439317452. It's extremely cheap, short and to the point. While it has it's own flaws, it was just what I needed and recommend for those of you who are just starting out. NEXT I'd recommend this book. Once you've gotten the simple skills from Katy Coope, then Tadashi Ozawa will show you a where to go with it.


Great book for beginners   February 27, 2004
  8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is the first in a the "How to Draw Anime & Game Characters" series of books, so obviously this one starts with the basics beginning with shapes and lines. With that done, it progressively moves on to how you adapt those techniques into making your characters body, parts of the body, and face. They show how to draw many different body sizes, eye shapes, hairstyles, hands, feet, and so on from different angles. They also have some areas that put a beginner, intermediate, and professional artists work side by side and examine the problem areas. A nice feature to help you prevent common (and not so common) mistakes. Overall, it's a great buy to those who want to draw anime.


this is a great book   December 8, 2003
  2 out of 4 found this review helpful

I have just bought this book about a week ago and it improved my
drawing alot.I gave it a 4 star because it took me a while to under stand the book.I've been looking for a good how to draw book and this book is great.It is good for beginners and has alot of details.I will recomend this book to anyone that wants to draw anime.


Great but definitely could be better,   October 23, 2003
  11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I was sceptical as whether to purchase this book or any of the other 4 volumes. I paused and thought over carefully. Well, I could give it a try. I mean if I didn't like it at the end of the day I could always return it. But guess what? I'm keeping this one. Oh no, better still!! I am getting 2 other different volumes of this series. Why? I think this series is great. Worth my every cent!!! 4 stars only for volume one, not 5? My complaint; not purely a step-by-step guide on how to draw anime/manga. Don't get me wrong though. This book does teach you what and how you should probably go about drawing your favourite characters. To others this is a godsend, more than what they could ask for. But, I would prefer if they made it a real step-by-step guide explaining every step that they have. This book does tell you what you should avoid doing in order to get the professional or near-professional look by comparing amatuerish and professional drawings. This book basically instills you with pertinent notions about getting it right most of the time. For those who are new, I believe you should check this one out. NEVER a time waster but DEFINITELY an inspiring and helpful guide!!! Get it before it runs out of print. For me, as I mentioned earlier, I am getting 2 other volumes; volume 2 and 4. I am not rushing to get 3 and 5 though but might get them also in the future. Anyway, gook luck to all the beginners, like myself, out there.


A big help for beginners   July 19, 2003
I learned a lot from this book. My drawings have improved tremendously. Perfect for beginners or people who want to refine basic techniques. Once you have this book, you'll want to buy the rest in the series!