Mostly Manga: A Genre Guide to Popular Manga, Manhwa, Manhua, and Anime

by Elizabeth Kalen

Appropriate for any public library collection, this book provides a comprehensive readers' advisory guide for Japanese manga and anime, Korean manhwa, and Chinese manhua.

Japanese manga and anime, Korean manhwa, and Chinese manhua are Asian graphic novels and animated films that have gained great popularity in the last ten years and now are found in most public library collections. Mostly A Genre Guide to Popular Manga, Manhwa, Manhua, and Anime is the first readers' advisory guide to focus on this important body of literature.

This guide provides information on all of the major manga and anime formats and genres, covering publications from the early 1990s to the present. It identifies important titles historically and provides a broad representation of what is available in each format. Selected major titles are described in detail, covering the general plot as well as grade level and pertinent awards. The author also discusses common issues related to manga and anime, such as terminology, content and ratings, and censorship.

Genres: Manga

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 2012

Reviews

[Yaroslav Chernovol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Непоганий посібник. Який розказує коротко про жанри, вікові обмеження на жанри та й загалом. Дає трохи термінів.

Сама ж книга містить в собі 6 розділів. Манґа - Шьонен, Шьоджьо, Сейнен, Джосей, Манхва (корейські комікси) та Маньхва (китайські комікси).

Містить перелік манг, опис, вікові обмеження, жанри, кількість томів, авторів та адаптації якщо такі існують.

Але є одне але. Книга 2012 року. І зараз її б можна було добряче так доповнити. Плюс в 2012 році манхві та маньхві було приділено мало уваги. Тому тут буквально 1-2 сторінки.

Загалом записав собі декілька манґ на майбутнє.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful. At first, this looks like a boring book. No pictures, just lists. But the lists divide Manga, and some Anime, into categories with nice summaries AND age ratings! I've been looking for something like this so I can determine if a graphic novel is appropriate for my kids. I'm a little confused about why some things are in one category and not another...other reviewers have argued about this, but I'm afraid I don't know the categories well enough to comment further. Helpful for what it is, and I haven't seen anything else like it. Recommend to librarians building a Manga collection, for parents searching for new reading material for their manga-obsessed kids, and possibly for collectors of manga who enjoy sorting their collection.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annotated list of manga books with a bit of anime

This is a decent starting place but it's too short and (now) dated since it was published in 2012. I expected it to be twice as big as it was.

I added the following books to my TBR:
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
- Arata: the Legend
- Aria
- Hikaru no Go
- Zombie-Loan
- Library Wars
- Baron: the Cat Returns
- Translucent
- Ikigami: the Ultimate Limit

[Susan Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful resource for those looking for distinctions, genres, rare, and popular works of Manga and Anime, including Manga (Shonen, Shojo, Seinen, Josei,) Manhwa(Korean), Manhua (Chinese). (Up to 2012).

[Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good!

[Terri Skipworth]

Title: Kalen, E.F.S. (2012). Mostly manga: A genre guide to popular manga, manwha, manhu. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.

Citation by: Terri Skipworth

Type of Reference: Bibliography

Call number: 016.74 Kal

Grade level: Elementary

Content/Scope:
This book offers annotated bibliographies of different types of anime and manga for young adults. It serves as a guide for students and librarians to learn more about different types and genres of manga. This book would be good for those just learning about manga or for those looking for information on other manga resources. This book is written in English and is for grades 5 and up.

Accuracy/Authority/Bias:
This book is published by Libraries Unlimited which was developed by Dr. Bohdan S. Wyner. Wyner was a professor at the University of Denver’s Library Science School. He developed Libraries Unlimited because he saw a need for quality professional resources, guides and textbooks. They have produced over 2,000 print and digital publications.

Arrangement/Presentation:
This book is a hardcover consisting of 164 pages.

Relation to other works:
This book serves as a bibliography to other works in the Manga genre

Accessibility/Diversity:
This book has roots in the Japanese art form of Manga. All students can benefit from this high interest genre that includes elaborate illustrations with text.

Cost: 55.00

Review: Kathleen McBroom, Booklist, April 15, 2012.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really should be 3.5, but we know how goodreads ratings work by now. This is a good book for librarians, students, educators or people who want a general recommendation list for anime and manga. There's not much in the way of explaining genre conventions or general information about manga and anime, but for the pretty narrow demographic this book is targeting, it does a good job. Not an excellent job as some of the books they put in certain genres I disagree with, but it's not haphazard. The title Mostly Manga is very accurate, the anime selection they have is pretty limited and too many of the selections are just the adaptations of manga listed earlier and relatively few are standalone films or TV series. They're still good choices for the most part, but a little more variety would be nice. Hence 3 stars, the .5 extra is the inclusion of Manwa (Korean manga) and Manhua (Chinese manga) which there's relatively little literature on (this book was published in 2012, so this could have changed since then).

[Ilib4kids · Rating 3 out of 5]

ILL loan
Genreflecting Advisory Series
I get a lot of manga books.