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100 Manga Artists
Since the original Taschen edition of Manga Design, Japan’s comic phenomenon has produced yet more captivating characters and a whole host of hot new talents. This revised and updated edition delivers the lowdown on the latest and the greatest makers and shapers of the manga scene.
Through an A–Z directory, we discover the superstars—both human and fictional—of what is now a vast global industry, inspiring advertisers, filmmakers, creative professionals, millions of avid fans, not to mention an entire cosplay lifestyle, in which manga devotees in elaborate costume meet to celebrate the existence of their characters at huge conventions from Los Angeles to Leipzig.
From classic maestros—like Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy) and Katsuhiro Otomo (creator of Akira)—to newcomers such as Hajime Isayama, each entry includes biographical and bibliographical information, descriptions of main characters, and, of course, plenty of examples of the artist’s finest manga spreads and covers.
Through an A–Z directory, we discover the superstars—both human and fictional—of what is now a vast global industry, inspiring advertisers, filmmakers, creative professionals, millions of avid fans, not to mention an entire cosplay lifestyle, in which manga devotees in elaborate costume meet to celebrate the existence of their characters at huge conventions from Los Angeles to Leipzig.
From classic maestros—like Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy) and Katsuhiro Otomo (creator of Akira)—to newcomers such as Hajime Isayama, each entry includes biographical and bibliographical information, descriptions of main characters, and, of course, plenty of examples of the artist’s finest manga spreads and covers.
660 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2017
15 people are currently reading
293 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 24, 2017
Manga are Japanese comics created for Japanese readers. In Japan, manga can be found on every street corner. In Tokyo, manga stores can carry as many as 110,000 different titles. Manga have been the Japanese mainstream culture for decades and the inspiration for many creative areas, such as Anime, advertising, film, and visual arts. For some time now, Manga has also influenced western comic authors, designers, filmmakers, advertisers, and creative professionals in general.
The book I'm holding in my hand is...'dense'....as in 'heavy-to-hold'--packed filled with different styles and stories. Obviously I can only read the ones that are in English but I wish I could read the ones that are in Japanese.
I ordered this book wanting to add it to our guest room. I have two daughters who are artist's -one who is a tattoo artist. Both have been painting and drawing their entire life: ( their dad can draw anything too)-- some of their work have similar qualities as manga. If one of my daughter steals this book when they come home for a visit - fine by me... but until then...it stays here.
Personally--I like the artwork. If the story happens to be OK, it's a bonus. But for me, Manga is about the visual first. So....I'll mention my thoughts mostly about the artwork of the various artists of what I like and don't like:
--In the collection I'm holding --the female-oriented manga is my favorite. Some are romantic and erotic.
--I'm not a huge fan of the giant robots.
--Eye expressions are awesome - the emotions are felt.
--Even though most photos are black and white - the colored photos are a standout - a nice change.
--I also like the action - its art that feels like it's moving.
--I like the overall spirit.
*Many Thanks to David Schaafsma for telling me awhile ago about this book.
The book I'm holding in my hand is...'dense'....as in 'heavy-to-hold'--packed filled with different styles and stories. Obviously I can only read the ones that are in English but I wish I could read the ones that are in Japanese.
I ordered this book wanting to add it to our guest room. I have two daughters who are artist's -one who is a tattoo artist. Both have been painting and drawing their entire life: ( their dad can draw anything too)-- some of their work have similar qualities as manga. If one of my daughter steals this book when they come home for a visit - fine by me... but until then...it stays here.
Personally--I like the artwork. If the story happens to be OK, it's a bonus. But for me, Manga is about the visual first. So....I'll mention my thoughts mostly about the artwork of the various artists of what I like and don't like:
--In the collection I'm holding --the female-oriented manga is my favorite. Some are romantic and erotic.
--I'm not a huge fan of the giant robots.
--Eye expressions are awesome - the emotions are felt.
--Even though most photos are black and white - the colored photos are a standout - a nice change.
--I also like the action - its art that feels like it's moving.
--I like the overall spirit.
*Many Thanks to David Schaafsma for telling me awhile ago about this book.
May 4, 2019
The format of text in the book was horrible - imagine reading tiny half transparent letters on vibrant red color and not bleeding through your eyes. The artist selection was all right I guess, but no place for Sailor Moon, no Berserk, no GITS, no other international milestones of manga? It's jut sorta weird.
All in all - just OK tbh. Sort of underwhelming.
All in all - just OK tbh. Sort of underwhelming.
September 29, 2024
Art book on one hundred successful creators in the history of modern manga (from Tezuka on), showcasing a couple of pages or illustrations for each of them. As usual with the publisher Taschen, this is the pocket version of a book that originally appeared in a bigger size, called Manga Design.
This 'pocket' edition features only 100 artists, while the original one had around 150. In compiling this smaller edition, I assume that they decided to take out those with a more erotic take. Indeed, I browsed the 'big' version in a library a few months ago and I clearly remember seeing many more dirty images. To be fair, this is (cleverly) not called 'the most [something] 100 manga artists', just '100 manga artists', take it or leave it.
Anyhow, good cheap book if you want on your shelf art samplers from a vast range of mangaka. My 4 stars take the money value very much into account here. The book would deserve a negative rating for writing the English text in black over red paper...can't see! I had to read the French pages printed over white, like the German (these Taschen art books are usually trilingual).
This 'pocket' edition features only 100 artists, while the original one had around 150. In compiling this smaller edition, I assume that they decided to take out those with a more erotic take. Indeed, I browsed the 'big' version in a library a few months ago and I clearly remember seeing many more dirty images. To be fair, this is (cleverly) not called 'the most [something] 100 manga artists', just '100 manga artists', take it or leave it.
Anyhow, good cheap book if you want on your shelf art samplers from a vast range of mangaka. My 4 stars take the money value very much into account here. The book would deserve a negative rating for writing the English text in black over red paper...can't see! I had to read the French pages printed over white, like the German (these Taschen art books are usually trilingual).
August 9, 2018
A strange curation of artists works with no information about the actual artists themselves. It is poorly written, inconsistently formatted, was not in any way "revised," and on numerous occasions is blatantly wrong. If you want to look at examples of manga art, this would probably be sufficient, but avoid reading the text as it will completely lead you astray.
March 23, 2019
Artists check.
Variety check (including the kinky and adult).
Big names, check.
Bad write-up on the manga and the artist.
Variety check (including the kinky and adult).
Big names, check.
Bad write-up on the manga and the artist.
August 5, 2018
Kirja sisältää laajan valikoiman hyvin erilaisia mangakoita ja sitä voikin pitää hyvänä jatkopakettina henkilölle, joka on lukenut mangaa jo kauemmin ja tahtoo tutustua erilaisiin genreihin. Aloittelijalle teos voi olla haastava, koska perustunnettuja tekijöitä (Rumiko Takahashi, Akira Toriyama, Kishimoto...) on vain muutama. Kirjalle on tavoiteltu isompaa lukijakuntaa sillä, että sarjojen esittelyt ovat kirjassa englanniksi, saksaksi ja ranskaksi.
Tämä tuo kirjaan hieman ongelmia, sillä siinä on useita sivuja esimerkkejä mangoista, joita ei ole kuitenkaan käännetty. Tämän vuoksi sarjoihin ei pääse edes pikatutustumaan muutaman sivun kautta. Myös mangakoiden töiden esittelyt jättävät toivomisen varaa: osa sarjoista on esitelty pintapuolisesti ja kerrottu sarjasta sekä tekijästä elämänkertaa ja nippelitietoa, mutta osassa taas kerrotaan suoraan sarjan loppuratkaisu. Esim. Mitsuru Adachin sarjasta kerrotaan sen olevan melko romanttinen, minkä jälkeen kerrotaan sarjan isoimmat ja rajuimmat käännekohdat ilman mitään varoituksia. Tällaista ei toivoisi näkevänsä minkäänlaisessa esittelykirjassa, jossa tekijän koko tuotanto esitellään alle 1000 merkissä. Joissakin sarjoissa on myös varsin outoja kuvakämmejä: Naruton esittelyssä on kuvia jatko-osa Borutosta, jota Kishimoto ei ole itse piirtänyt tai käsikirjoittanut. Joskus mukana tuntuu olevan mangakoita tai piirtäjä/käsikirjoittajapareja, jotka on otettu mukaan vain yhden onnistuneen sarjan vuoksi.
Lisäongelman sarjoihin tuo se, että huomattavaa osaa sarjoista ei ole käännetty virallisesti englanniksi eikä niistä ole tehty edes fanikäännöksiä. Mangoihin tutustuminen vaatii siis japaninkielen osaamista.
Kokonaisuudessaan mielenkiintoinen teos, josta löysin parisenkymmentä uutta, mielenkiintoista sarjaa, mutta teos olisi vielä vaatinut hiomista.
Tämä tuo kirjaan hieman ongelmia, sillä siinä on useita sivuja esimerkkejä mangoista, joita ei ole kuitenkaan käännetty. Tämän vuoksi sarjoihin ei pääse edes pikatutustumaan muutaman sivun kautta. Myös mangakoiden töiden esittelyt jättävät toivomisen varaa: osa sarjoista on esitelty pintapuolisesti ja kerrottu sarjasta sekä tekijästä elämänkertaa ja nippelitietoa, mutta osassa taas kerrotaan suoraan sarjan loppuratkaisu. Esim. Mitsuru Adachin sarjasta kerrotaan sen olevan melko romanttinen, minkä jälkeen kerrotaan sarjan isoimmat ja rajuimmat käännekohdat ilman mitään varoituksia. Tällaista ei toivoisi näkevänsä minkäänlaisessa esittelykirjassa, jossa tekijän koko tuotanto esitellään alle 1000 merkissä. Joissakin sarjoissa on myös varsin outoja kuvakämmejä: Naruton esittelyssä on kuvia jatko-osa Borutosta, jota Kishimoto ei ole itse piirtänyt tai käsikirjoittanut. Joskus mukana tuntuu olevan mangakoita tai piirtäjä/käsikirjoittajapareja, jotka on otettu mukaan vain yhden onnistuneen sarjan vuoksi.
Lisäongelman sarjoihin tuo se, että huomattavaa osaa sarjoista ei ole käännetty virallisesti englanniksi eikä niistä ole tehty edes fanikäännöksiä. Mangoihin tutustuminen vaatii siis japaninkielen osaamista.
Kokonaisuudessaan mielenkiintoinen teos, josta löysin parisenkymmentä uutta, mielenkiintoista sarjaa, mutta teos olisi vielä vaatinut hiomista.
March 15, 2024
I’ve always loved manga, but I wouldn’t call myself a die hard fan, or an Otaku as it’s known in the land of the rising sun. This made me even more of a fan and now I feel I could walk into any manga shop and know half the books in there.
December 29, 2023
A decent book if you want recommendations for more mangaka outside of the mainstream, especially if you are just getting into reading manga.
However I have a lot of gripes about this book.
While it gives a short description per mangaka, I find that the information is never that interesting or attention-grabbing. It usually ends up being a very brief synopsis of the mangaka's different famous stories. By the ending of reading the paragraph you can't say you learned anything about why that mangaka is more famous/popular/renowned.
There are also many grammatical and annotation errors, along with typos. Very often they will put a term and then in brackets a translation next to it and then from then will repeat the term and bracket annotation. This is especially bad with the titles. Often the titles are written in either romaji or English, but very often both are put next to each other and repeated on end. For example "Romaji Title" [English Translation]. And rather than picking one version to refer to that manga they will repeatedly say "Romaji Title" [English Translation] every time that manga is mentioned. It ends up just making what little info there feel bloated and tedious to read.
Sometimes terms are brought up but not explained or translated until much later in the book. E.g. saying "Girls comics" and "Boys comics" for the first 5 - 10 mangaka and then thereafter in the next entry it is explained. While there is a glossary at the very back, no references are made to that glossary and you could very easily 'gloss' over it. At one point they use the term "salaryman", which isn't really something said in English speaking countries but many people would understand nonetheless, and yet they put in [] that it means businessman. So I ask, why not just say businessman?
This is more a personal nitpick but I do find the exclusion of certain authors to be peculiar. Perhaps its just a bias for these mangakas work but I find it odd that the likes of Naoki Takeuchi, Kentarou Miura, Hiromu Arakawa, Hideaki Sorachi, Natsuki Takaya, CLAMP, to list a few, are never mentioned. In one instance they mention Takeshi Ohbata but not his long time collaborator Ohba Tsugumi, nor even a mention of Death Note. This is just so perplexing seeing as this one series has been the entry point for many into anime and manga, as well as just being a highly regarded series. It's exclusions like these that make me question the point of this book.
Something I like about the book is the extracts of the manga they recommend being put in as a divider between each entry. However, it's disappointing that none of the text is translated. You can't really market yourself as a book of recommendations when people can't even read/understand the snippets of each mangakas work.
Also, I felt a general bias towards Shounen/Seinen mangaka over Shoujo/Josei mangaka.
However I have a lot of gripes about this book.
While it gives a short description per mangaka, I find that the information is never that interesting or attention-grabbing. It usually ends up being a very brief synopsis of the mangaka's different famous stories. By the ending of reading the paragraph you can't say you learned anything about why that mangaka is more famous/popular/renowned.
There are also many grammatical and annotation errors, along with typos. Very often they will put a term and then in brackets a translation next to it and then from then will repeat the term and bracket annotation. This is especially bad with the titles. Often the titles are written in either romaji or English, but very often both are put next to each other and repeated on end. For example "Romaji Title" [English Translation]. And rather than picking one version to refer to that manga they will repeatedly say "Romaji Title" [English Translation] every time that manga is mentioned. It ends up just making what little info there feel bloated and tedious to read.
Sometimes terms are brought up but not explained or translated until much later in the book. E.g. saying "Girls comics" and "Boys comics" for the first 5 - 10 mangaka and then thereafter in the next entry it is explained. While there is a glossary at the very back, no references are made to that glossary and you could very easily 'gloss' over it. At one point they use the term "salaryman", which isn't really something said in English speaking countries but many people would understand nonetheless, and yet they put in [] that it means businessman. So I ask, why not just say businessman?
This is more a personal nitpick but I do find the exclusion of certain authors to be peculiar. Perhaps its just a bias for these mangakas work but I find it odd that the likes of Naoki Takeuchi, Kentarou Miura, Hiromu Arakawa, Hideaki Sorachi, Natsuki Takaya, CLAMP, to list a few, are never mentioned. In one instance they mention Takeshi Ohbata but not his long time collaborator Ohba Tsugumi, nor even a mention of Death Note. This is just so perplexing seeing as this one series has been the entry point for many into anime and manga, as well as just being a highly regarded series. It's exclusions like these that make me question the point of this book.
Something I like about the book is the extracts of the manga they recommend being put in as a divider between each entry. However, it's disappointing that none of the text is translated. You can't really market yourself as a book of recommendations when people can't even read/understand the snippets of each mangakas work.
Also, I felt a general bias towards Shounen/Seinen mangaka over Shoujo/Josei mangaka.
July 28, 2024
Definitely I liked the concept of the book. One hundred manga artists covered, featuring a small biography and a short list with their major works and achievements. For each author, the book also features a few pages of some of their works. The text is provided in three languages: English, French and German (which is a plus if you’re studying any of these languages).
The book offers a great opportunity to review some of the manga artists you may already know, and discover some other new. This the main reason why I decided to read this book. I was a voracious reader of manga in my teens and early 20s but I felt totally out of touch with what has been published in the manga world in the last 20 years. I saw this book as a great opportunity to catch up.
Does the book fulfil that goal? I think it does to a great extend. Definitely there are big misses (Sanpei Shirato, Yoshihito Tatsumi, Naoko Takeuchi…), but regarding the most recent manga artists I feel the most important ones were covered. I also felt I filled some gaps of knowledge I had.
On the other hand, I noticed a bit of inconsistency in the data provided. For instance, each artist’s profile features the year of their debut but the year of publication of each of their works is missing. Some artists are missing some of the awards they received (for instance Kyoko Okazaki received the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award for Helter Skelter which is not mentioned, but the same award is mentioned for other artists). My edition is from 2023, but the information of some artists that unfortunately passed away recently, like Buichi Terasawa, has not been updated. These are examples of little things that could be improved in future editions.
The audience in mind has as a target an American/UK audience. The artists featured and information provided might be more or less relevant depending on your national cultural background.
The book offers a great opportunity to review some of the manga artists you may already know, and discover some other new. This the main reason why I decided to read this book. I was a voracious reader of manga in my teens and early 20s but I felt totally out of touch with what has been published in the manga world in the last 20 years. I saw this book as a great opportunity to catch up.
Does the book fulfil that goal? I think it does to a great extend. Definitely there are big misses (Sanpei Shirato, Yoshihito Tatsumi, Naoko Takeuchi…), but regarding the most recent manga artists I feel the most important ones were covered. I also felt I filled some gaps of knowledge I had.
On the other hand, I noticed a bit of inconsistency in the data provided. For instance, each artist’s profile features the year of their debut but the year of publication of each of their works is missing. Some artists are missing some of the awards they received (for instance Kyoko Okazaki received the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award for Helter Skelter which is not mentioned, but the same award is mentioned for other artists). My edition is from 2023, but the information of some artists that unfortunately passed away recently, like Buichi Terasawa, has not been updated. These are examples of little things that could be improved in future editions.
The audience in mind has as a target an American/UK audience. The artists featured and information provided might be more or less relevant depending on your national cultural background.
September 29, 2019
(In case you're wondering, yes, I read every entry and looked at every page of artwork. It took me the better part of two days :))
This is an incredible resource for anyone looking to expand their knowledge of mangaka. I've read a fair amount of manga and there were a LOT of artists I hadn't heard of before. I've been doing more research on several I was interested in reading more from but some of the artists don't have anything published in English! It's taking more time than I had hoped trying to get my hands on some of these works, whether at the library, amazon, comixology, or elsewhere. Such a rich history! And the artwork is beautifully presented and reproduced. I appreciated the book's inclusion of quite a lot of women creators and have been especially interested in expanding my knowledge in that direction in particular. This is an updated version of an edition that came out in the early 2000s, and while it has been updated to include entries from more recent artists, it doesn't seem like the older entries have been updated to include more recent works or even biographical info. That's the only thing that kept this from getting 5 stars. Eh, also, there was at least one notable omission (Tsutomu Nihei, whose Knights of Sidonia got me actually investing in manga series on a more regular basis), but I'm don't know enough about manga in general to make a judgment about the selection of artists as a whole.
It's an incredible work, nevertheless. Highly recommended.
This is an incredible resource for anyone looking to expand their knowledge of mangaka. I've read a fair amount of manga and there were a LOT of artists I hadn't heard of before. I've been doing more research on several I was interested in reading more from but some of the artists don't have anything published in English! It's taking more time than I had hoped trying to get my hands on some of these works, whether at the library, amazon, comixology, or elsewhere. Such a rich history! And the artwork is beautifully presented and reproduced. I appreciated the book's inclusion of quite a lot of women creators and have been especially interested in expanding my knowledge in that direction in particular. This is an updated version of an edition that came out in the early 2000s, and while it has been updated to include entries from more recent artists, it doesn't seem like the older entries have been updated to include more recent works or even biographical info. That's the only thing that kept this from getting 5 stars. Eh, also, there was at least one notable omission (Tsutomu Nihei, whose Knights of Sidonia got me actually investing in manga series on a more regular basis), but I'm don't know enough about manga in general to make a judgment about the selection of artists as a whole.
It's an incredible work, nevertheless. Highly recommended.
September 24, 2024
Actual rating: 2.5
Formatting is not great. The pages with the information on each artist is red, which makes it very hard to see the black text.
It has outdated information for some of the people. Like with Echiiro Oda's section it says the anime recently came out... It was released in 1999, this was published in 2017. I'd say that's not very recent 😂😂. There's also something similar regarding Naoki Urasawa's section. Probably others too but I'm not as obsessed with the other artists to know haha
Also it needs to be made clear that there's the inclusion of porn artists. This book could be bought for young teens really into manga by their parents. The parents would not assume those artists would be included in a book that looks like this.
I did add quite a few manga to be tbr because of this so that's cool. Also took a few off my tbr of manga where I didn't like the art.
Side note- pretty sure for one of the artists there is a rape showcased in the art. Didn't love that. There's 3-5 pages of art for each person and that's the art from their whole career you choose?
There were a few other questionable ones right after that too from other artists.
Formatting is not great. The pages with the information on each artist is red, which makes it very hard to see the black text.
It has outdated information for some of the people. Like with Echiiro Oda's section it says the anime recently came out... It was released in 1999, this was published in 2017. I'd say that's not very recent 😂😂. There's also something similar regarding Naoki Urasawa's section. Probably others too but I'm not as obsessed with the other artists to know haha
Also it needs to be made clear that there's the inclusion of porn artists. This book could be bought for young teens really into manga by their parents. The parents would not assume those artists would be included in a book that looks like this.
I did add quite a few manga to be tbr because of this so that's cool. Also took a few off my tbr of manga where I didn't like the art.
Side note- pretty sure for one of the artists there is a rape showcased in the art. Didn't love that. There's 3-5 pages of art for each person and that's the art from their whole career you choose?
There were a few other questionable ones right after that too from other artists.
November 15, 2025
Good selection, pointless commentary.
The selection covers classic artists and rising stars, every genre and style there is, mainstream and underground. With only 100 selections, some greats were destined to be left out (Nihei, Miura). The only entry I genuinely think should've been cut would be the Terraformars guy and maybe the Gantz guy. Of course they get in two guro dudes and le bara porn man. Miura SHOULD have been in here. And CLAMP, what the hell. Yeah, switch out those two for Miura and CLAMP. I admit that all the shoujo kinda blends together for me, but that's a me problem, probably.
The commentary...it's at best a few paragraphs of bio and plot summary. Very little about what makes their art noteworthy. Mostly could've been cut entirely and replaced by a short list of works or something. And you've got the classic Taschen cheaping out by putting the same text in three languages, so even if you're trilingual in English French and German you're still not getting anything extra out of it, and it takes space away from more images.
The selection covers classic artists and rising stars, every genre and style there is, mainstream and underground. With only 100 selections, some greats were destined to be left out (Nihei, Miura). The only entry I genuinely think should've been cut would be the Terraformars guy and maybe the Gantz guy. Of course they get in two guro dudes and le bara porn man. Miura SHOULD have been in here. And CLAMP, what the hell. Yeah, switch out those two for Miura and CLAMP. I admit that all the shoujo kinda blends together for me, but that's a me problem, probably.
The commentary...it's at best a few paragraphs of bio and plot summary. Very little about what makes their art noteworthy. Mostly could've been cut entirely and replaced by a short list of works or something. And you've got the classic Taschen cheaping out by putting the same text in three languages, so even if you're trilingual in English French and German you're still not getting anything extra out of it, and it takes space away from more images.
November 17, 2017
An excellent encyclopedia of manga which includes both female and male mangakas. I was surprised and pleased to see so many Japanese women working in this industry. The text is in English, French and German and the artwork (excerpts) is in the original Japanese. It shows a range of style and content.
The book is visually stunning, but I wish the English sections weren't printed on glossy red paper, which makes them very hard to read due to low contrast (as well as small font). It's also quite heavy to hold since the paper is high quality, but that's a fair trade off. The sexually graphic and violent images means it would not be appropriate for children or young teens. I wish the editor hadn't included the image of a naked women being used for tug-o-war.
I read this book to research a YA novel about an American girl on a manga internship in Tokyo for her gap year. If you have more suggestions, let me know.
The book is visually stunning, but I wish the English sections weren't printed on glossy red paper, which makes them very hard to read due to low contrast (as well as small font). It's also quite heavy to hold since the paper is high quality, but that's a fair trade off. The sexually graphic and violent images means it would not be appropriate for children or young teens. I wish the editor hadn't included the image of a naked women being used for tug-o-war.
I read this book to research a YA novel about an American girl on a manga internship in Tokyo for her gap year. If you have more suggestions, let me know.
December 21, 2020
This book focuses quite a bit on popular Japanese manga artists. I don't love the way it's formatted inside however, as some pages are an ugly orange with tiny white text that makes it hard to read.
However, it looks like a lot of research was conducted for the making of this book and the mangas included in examples of artists' works are really interesting! I'm probably not getting any of the humour however, since all the mangas are shown in Japanese, a language I don't know.
I also am surprised the Fullmetal Alchemist author (forgive me for forgetting her name!!) wasn't included.
And there were a few times I was a bit uncomfortable because of some suggestive scenes, or just drawings of naked women. This is definitely not something a child (below 14 probably) should read.
I still find it very fun to read about Japanese culture! I am a bit of a weeb and I draw a lot in the anime/manga style, so it was good!
However, it looks like a lot of research was conducted for the making of this book and the mangas included in examples of artists' works are really interesting! I'm probably not getting any of the humour however, since all the mangas are shown in Japanese, a language I don't know.
I also am surprised the Fullmetal Alchemist author (forgive me for forgetting her name!!) wasn't included.
And there were a few times I was a bit uncomfortable because of some suggestive scenes, or just drawings of naked women. This is definitely not something a child (below 14 probably) should read.
I still find it very fun to read about Japanese culture! I am a bit of a weeb and I draw a lot in the anime/manga style, so it was good!
April 28, 2020
This tome is a sampling of the many different styles of manga that have been drawn through the last sixty years or so. It was a tour of various mangakas, artists, and writers as well as their diverse works. Even if you just look at the pictures, it still is worth the time to read. You can spend just seconds glancing over a page or savor the intricacies, it is up to you.
Did you know that in Japan many, many, many years ago there were shops you could rent manga from? Well recommended for both otakus and newcomers to manga. I picked up a couple of manga series that I will be, hopefully, reading.
Did you know that in Japan many, many, many years ago there were shops you could rent manga from? Well recommended for both otakus and newcomers to manga. I picked up a couple of manga series that I will be, hopefully, reading.
February 18, 2023
It is what it is! 100 manga artists - not every artist, not necessarily the best, just 100 really cool mangaka and a sampling of their art. I'm looking forward to checking some of these out and I love the variety with shoujo and shonen to fetish to classic.
Artists I would have included:
-Sanami Matoh (her rough sketch style is really cool to see with the pop of more digital art, best known for FAKE)
-Kaori Yuki (Godchild, Angel Sanctuary... classic gothic shoujo with very pretty characters)
-CLAMP (Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa Chronicles, multiple artist team with stunning, detailed art)
Plus Saiyuki's artist and Sailor Moon's artist.
Man, I love manga
Artists I would have included:
-Sanami Matoh (her rough sketch style is really cool to see with the pop of more digital art, best known for FAKE)
-Kaori Yuki (Godchild, Angel Sanctuary... classic gothic shoujo with very pretty characters)
-CLAMP (Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa Chronicles, multiple artist team with stunning, detailed art)
Plus Saiyuki's artist and Sailor Moon's artist.
Man, I love manga
August 19, 2025
While it features some young and/or queer artists, most members of the list are "old masters". There was at least one glaring omission (CLAMP, Naoko Takeuchi) and the English translation needed another pass or two. The actual book itself is gorgeous and well-designed like any Taschen publication (save for the black text on a red background? Odd choice.). Overall, it's a good start for people looking for new manga to read and/or more artists to appreciate.
January 5, 2019
I honestly don’t understand the format of this book. The same text is written in English, as well as French and German (I think) which seems like a waste of pages. Additionally, the English pages are written with small black print on a bright red page which makes it hard to read. I also didn’t end up learning much about the mangas or mangakas mentioned within the book.
July 23, 2019
This anthology is a great way to introduce neophytes to manga as an art form. But I wouldn't recommend it for people who want a more in-depth study of the evolution and impact of the manga industry. I was also disappointed and surprised that names as Naoko Takeuchi or Kentaro Miura didn't figure in this book.
December 29, 2020
Please tell me how you’re compiling a book about 100 influential mangakas and you don’t include Tite Kubo, Naoko Takeuchi, and Hiromu Arakawa?? Especially the last two being arguably the most influential female mangakas in history? I know you can’t include everyone but come on... you’re just gonna gloss over Bleach, Sailor Moon, and Fullmetal? I DON’T EVEN LIKE BLEACH AND THIS BOTHERED ME. Fuck female mangakas I guess...
March 17, 2023
Great book that has highlighted some manga artists that I was not aware about.
Gets 1 star knocked off as whoever decided to print the biography pages on red paper is crazy as it is a strain on the eyes.
Gets 1 star knocked off as whoever decided to print the biography pages on red paper is crazy as it is a strain on the eyes.
August 20, 2023
Very difficult to read the biographies and career of the manga authors because the letters are in small scale. This book is missing some big names of manga in Japan, but otherwise it offers a good insight into several authors and titles. I did not like the shortness of each chapter either.
March 22, 2024
JAMAS pensé que encontraria al artista de ese anime recontra turbio y que la primera cosa que mostraran sería era un dibujo explicito wtflip. Estaba la autora de NANA letsgoooo y la de Flower of Evil so a win is a win.
April 10, 2019
The presentation of the manga is a little odd; left to right then right-to-left, but I appreciate the inclusion of so many Showa era creators. I have so much more to look out for!
December 25, 2019
Gracias a este libro conocí, irónicamente, a mangakas del under. Tiene un toque personal en donde se refleja mucho su gusto por lo distinto y clásico.
September 14, 2020
I like manga usually, but this book has some really weird drawings and stuff that I didn't like much.
November 30, 2021
Overall, a great smorgasbord of manga artists old and new across all genres and styles. Weirdly seemed to be no consistency over whether a manga title was translated or not? Still a worthwhile read.
April 7, 2022
didn't really have much information, but the variety was nice
September 8, 2022
Should've gotten one star for not having bungo stray dogs in here, smh.
September 10, 2022
Discovered some new mangaka to check out. :)
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