Manga Mania Shoujo: How to Draw the Charming and Romantic Characters of Japanese Comics

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Overview

Shoujo manga is one of the most popular styles of Japanese animation, featuring the most recognizable characters in manga-seen everywhere in comics, books, toys, television, film, and video. Since shoujo is based on stories that focus on peer pressure, romance, and friendship, it initially appealed to young females, but today more and more boys are attracted to this genre, which inevitably includes young male heroes.

Best-selling author Christopher Hart once again reveals the ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Shoujo manga is one of the most popular styles of Japanese animation, featuring the most recognizable characters in manga-seen everywhere in comics, books, toys, television, film, and video. Since shoujo is based on stories that focus on peer pressure, romance, and friendship, it initially appealed to young females, but today more and more boys are attracted to this genre, which inevitably includes young male heroes.

Best-selling author Christopher Hart once again reveals the secrets and techniques that go into building all the basics of the shoujo style-the big eyes, the miniscule noses, and the cute or angst-ridden expressions. Teen body language is explored. In addition, artists learn to draw teen clothing styles and also different character types, from school kids and cuddly creatures and cute pets to heartthrobs.

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Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature
Every age has its aesthetic, and apparently Japanese comic characters are part of this age's. Whereas previous generations of youthful aspiring artists may have been inspired by the illustrations of N. C. Wyeth, Randolph Caldecott, or even Walt Disney, contemporary youngsters apparently want to imitate the work of manga artists. Shujo is a popular, romantic subgenre of manga art. Highly stylized and extremely formulaic in design, it features heroes and heroines with enormous wet eyes, tiny pointed chins and elaborate, imaginative hairstyles. Author/artist Christopher Hart shows devotees how to render these characters in great detail, with special attention paid to appropriate body-types, poses and costumes to match typical storylines. Whether or not one admires the end results, this book is thoroughly researched, carefully written and well-illustrated by Hart and other manga artists. This new volume, with intelligent advice and plentiful examples to follow, would undoubtedly be a welcome addition to a youthful cartoonist-to-be's library. 2004, Star Fire/Watson-Guptill Publications, Ages 10 up.
—Michele Tremaine
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780823029730
  • Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 5/28/2004
  • Series: Manga Mania Series
  • Pages: 144
  • Sales rank: 338,196
  • Product dimensions: 8.48 (w) x 10.97 (h) x 0.37 (d)

Meet the Author

Christopher Hart is the best-selling author of many drawing and cartooning books, including Manga Mania, Drawing Cutting Edge Comics, Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy, and Cartooning for the Beginner. He lives in Connecticut.

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Table of Contents

Introduction 7
The Basics 8
Poses 36
Bishies: The Handsome Young Men of Shoujo 60
The Magical Girl Style 70
Other Popular Shoujo Styles 84
Cool Clothes 110
Design Details 126
Index 144
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Customer Reviews

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 24 Customer Reviews

  • Posted December 16, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Manga Mania: Romance: Drawing Shojo Girls and Bishie Boys
    Manga for the Beginner Shoujo: Everything You Need to Start Drawing the Most Popular Style of Japanese Comics

    Depends on Your Style

    It's a good book for people just learning the shojo manga style, but the authors newer book on Shojo manga is better.

    This book starts out in the Japanese style, sort of, then continues into an Americanized version of Shojo manga, which is not Shojo manga at all. It's great for people who want to learn how to begin drawing Shojo manga, but they will have to buy a different book to learn the true style of Shojo Manga, this on it's own would result in an off-looking webcomicky look. Sort of like the cheesy cartoons you see on Cartoon Network, or Nickelodeon.

    It's a great reference, the chibi section at the end it accurate. This book just doesn't end up matching the Shojo style in general.

    Don't discount the other books in the Manga Mania series though. The Shonen one, and Chibi + Furry one are very good, and show a more accurate version of their respective styles.

    A good book for those who like American style manga.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 26, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    NOT MANGA!

    I bought this book about a year ago. About ONE section is true manga. The rest is ameritrash! What I mean by that is, the rest of the images are COMIC BOOK MATERIAL! The hair is GEOMETRICAL for crying out loud! Not good for beginners, intermediates, advanced, any types.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 3, 2008

    SWEET

    This is an awesome how-to-draw book my friend got it out of the library and i borrowed it and liked it so much i went out and got it! it's definately worth the money!!!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 20, 2010

    Excellent Teaching Tool

    I purchased this book for my 10 year old grandaughter who loves to draw "Manga" as she explains to me it is her passion. The book is colorful easy for her to understand and she can follow the directions with minimal adult assistance which makes her quite happy. Her end product is clearly recognizable and she is thrilled that she has been able to learn so much on her own.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 1, 2006

    TOTALLY AWESOME!!

    This was a great book! It tells you all you need to know about drawing magna. It covers bodies, clothes, hair, expressions, chibis, and even cute little animals. GREAT BOOK!! I HIGHLY recomend Magna Mania!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 13, 2005

    not real manga

    This is amerimanga, not Manga, if you want to learn to draw real manga i suggest you look to Hikaru Hayashi. he's helped me best over the years.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 12, 2011

    Decent

    This drawing book is okay, it talks the reader through the basic steps of shojo(-partially. I personally believe that the shojo factor could have been brought out more, like one part could be improved by illustrating scenes commonly found in shojo) The highlight of the book is the clothing section where different types of textures are drawn like ruffles and such. It also helps with designing commonly-seen outfits in manga like school uniforms. Towards the ending, the drawings become VERY cartoon-like and pretty much look nothing like the cover of the book. There's also a bishie section, which is why I purchased the book. It gives a list of different types of Bishie boy eyes and describes the structure of a bishie- with good tips. Overall it was just decent, but it's good practice for beginners. Anything helps :)

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 11, 2006

    I love drawing and reading manga

    It really helped with some of my drawing, and showed me some new things I didn't really know. They had some really great examples and some that could have been a little more detailed. Overall I liked it and I would recomend it to people who like to draw and want to get better.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 18, 2005

    Excellent!

    I really liked this book! It covers facial expressions, hairstyles, chibis, poses, costumes, coloring, as well as some cute little animals. This book also features tips on boys, and a chapter on 'Bishounen: the Handsome Young Men of Shoujo'. Although, this book doesn't really show you a step-by-step instruction of much, so I wouldn't reccomend this book for absolute beginners. It really helped me out because I'm really good at copying pictures, but if that's not your thing this book might be hard. Even if you can already draw anime or manga, this book might be good for you if you need costume ideas or some new hairstyles.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 8, 2005

    If your not looking for the ABSOLUTE BEST, look here.

    It was a 'pretty' book, and some of the steps were extremely helpful. But he didn't offer a lot of steps to drawing some of the most gorgeous pictures in the book, and if he did, only a few. This was my first manga-drawing book, and I worked hard for it, so I guess it just barely earns a **fourth star**

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 31, 2005

    BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Not Clear instructions, male heads in a book about female character and overall very confusing

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 7, 2005

    Finally...

    A book that doesn't completely focus on the female bod; show obscene guestures, and 'revealing' clothing. It's thoroughly illustrated, showing all the basics you need. It's great for the beginner, and safe for the younger crowds. This book covers clothing, eyes, coloring tips, and even some of those cute animeish creatures, and tips for making your own. I highly suggest this book to anyone who loves Manga.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 27, 2004

    Good, but there are better

    This book contains a little of everyting: eyes, female and male heads and their 3/4 views, cloths, action poses, and reference about elves and anthos. however, this book dosn't go into much detail on most of the topics.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 22, 2004

    What it is about

    If you enjoy drawing anime and manga, this is a good book to study. It shows you how to draw chibi characters, eyes, costumes, hair, faces, and expressions. It is like the 'How To Draw Manga' books, but it doesn't go into tons of detail. It is good if you just want the basics covered.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 16, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 14, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 3, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 30, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 11, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 20, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

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