Manga Sisters

Saori and Misato Takarai know exactly what it means to be "Manga Sisters." The two artists grew up in Tokyo and, like most siblings, learned how to be both competitive and compassionate as they dealt with parents, teachers, boyfriends and - perhaps most difficult of all - each other. Now, they share their secrets of manga sisterhood in this delightful new illustrated book from Manga University. Featuring 40 original full-color manga illustrations and text in both English and Japanese, this deluxe hardcover edition makes the perfect gift for just about everyone who has ever had a sister.

Use this book to learn how facial expressions look and change on manga characters, to learn Japanese phrases, and to learn about the Japanese writing systems and how to express the different characters on paper.

Manga Moods, Too is the long-awaited sequel to Saori Takarai's best-selling Manga Moods: 40 Faces + 80 Phrases, which features kawaii female characters putting on their funniest faces while teaching clever Japanese expressions. The bishoujo are back, and this time they're joined by an equal number of good-looking guys. Not only that ... they're actually talking to one another! Each of the facial expressions is labeled with the English and Japanese words for the mood being, along with Japanese conversational phrases and their translations. The phrases are romanized for easy learning, and at the back of the book you’ll find handy charts of the hiragana phonetic alphabet that you can use to transcribe the romanized words into authentic Japanese writing.

This edited collection explores how graphic art and in particular Japanese manga represent Japanese history. The articles explore the representation of history in manga from disciplines that include such diverse fields as literary studies, politics, history, cultural studies, linguistics, narratology, and semiotics. Despite this diversity of approaches all academics from these respective fields of study agree that manga pose a peculiarly contemporary appeal that transcends the limitation imposed by traditional approaches to the study and teaching of history. The representation of history via manga in Japan has a long and controversial historiographical dimension. Thereby manga and by extension graphic art in Japanese culture has become one of the world's most powerful modes of expressing contemporary historical verisimilitude. The contributors to this volume elaborate how manga and by extension graphic art rewrites, reinvents and re-imagines the historicity and dialectic of bygone epochs in postwar and contemporary Japan. Manga and the Representation of Japanese History will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian studies, Asian history, Japanese culture and society, as well as art and visual culture

During a fateful visit to Tsunojo Girls' School, Chika Matsusato meets the girl of her dreams--cool upperclassman Haruna Kanzaki. Even though they spent only one short day together, Chika will never forget Haruna's kindness, and has made it her life's goal to study hard and get accepted into Tsunojo Girls' School so that they can be together. But will Haruna share Chika's feelings...?

Itsuki Hashima is a novelist who's hopelessly enamored with the idea of little sisters and is constantly surrounded by colorful characters. A world class genius and love-guru who's beauty almost seems a waste on her. A girl who's constantly troubled by her friendships, love interests, and can't even find refuge in her dreams. A ridiculously talented illustrator. Each of them have as many problems and worries as the next and they never have a dull day together as they play games, travel, and work together. From the same author of the famous I Don't Have Many Friends, Yomi Hirasaka!

One of the greatest untold stories about the globalization of the Western is the key role of comics. Few American cultural exports have been as successful globally as the Western, a phenomenon commonly attributed to the widespread circulation of fiction, film, and television. The Comic Book Western centers comics in the Western’s international success. Even as readers consumed translations of American comic book Westerns, they fell in love with local ones that became national or international sensations. These essays reveal the unexpected cross-pollinations that allowed the Western to emerge from and speak to a wide range of historical and cultural contexts, including Spanish and Italian fascism, Polish historical memory, the ideology of shōjo manga from Japan, British post-apocalypticism and the gothic, race and identity in Canada, Mexican gender politics, French critiques of manifest destiny, and gaucho nationalism in Argentina. The vibrant themes uncovered in The Comic Book Western teach us that international comic book Westerns are not hollow imitations but complex and aesthetically powerful statements about identity, culture, and politics.