Synopses & Reviews
Drawn in styles ranging from the crudely vulgar to the highly refined, and covering every genre from naive romance to high-tech cybervisions, manga (Japanese comics) are a sophisticated narrative art. In Japan, where manga were born, the art is today actively evolving, with a whole new generation of younger artists making bold innovations in style and content. Dreamland Japan is a collection of thoughful essays on the current state of tha manga universe, essential reading for fans, literati, and anyone interested in the shape of visual culture to come. Featured artists include Hinako Sugiura, King Terry, Yoshikazu Ebisu, Kazuichi Hanawa, Murasaki Yamada, Suehiro Maruo, Akira Narita, Shungicu Uchida, Shigeru Mizuki, Reiko Okano, Yuji Aoki, Yoshiharu Tsuge, Milk Morizono, Fujiko F. Fujio, Seiki Tsuchida. There are also discussions of the work of Osamu Tezuka and Hayao Miyazaki, plus features on important magazines like CoroCoro Comic, Jump, Big Comics, Morning, June, Yan Mama, and the avant-garde Garo, as well as the dojinshi phenomenon. Fully referenced and indexed with selected readings and Internet references.
Review
"The most encompassing and the best introduction to manga I have ever read." -Will Eisner
Review
"For the last dozen years, comics enthusiasts have referred to Schodt's Manga! Manga! as 'the Bible on Japanese comics.' Now they will have to refer to Manga! Manga! as 'the Old Testament,' because Dreamland Japan is now available as 'the New Testament,' bringing Schodt's comprehensive scholarship on Japanese cartoon literature up to the present." -Fred Patten, animation and comics historian
Review
"Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga is a fascinating journey into the genre that has changed and influenced a whole industry and generation." -Boyce McClain's Collectors Corner
Synopsis
Essential reading for fans, literati, and anyone interested in the shape of visual culture to come.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 348-356) and index.
About the Author
Fluent in spoken and written Japanese, Frederik L. Schodt is an author, interpreter, and translator who has written extensively on Japanese culture and Japan-U.S. relations. His classic Manga! Manga! introduced the English-speaking world to Japanese comics culture, and this was followed with Inside the Robot Kingodm, Dreamland Japan, The Four Immigrants Manga, and others, including the just-published Native American in the Land of the Shogun.
Table of Contents
PREFACE/ ENTER THE ID/ What are Manga?/ Why Read Manga?/ MODERN MANGA AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM/ What's in a Word?/ The Dojinshi World/ Otaku/ Are Manga Dangerous?/ Freedom of Speech vs. Regulation/ Black and White Issues/ Do Manga Have a Future?/ THE MANGA MAGAZINE SCENE/ CoroCoro Comic/ Weekly Boys' Jump/ Nakayoshi/ Big Comics/ Morning/ Take Shobo and Mahjong Manga/ Pachinko Manga Magazines/ Combat Comic/ June/ Comic Amour/ Yan Mama Comic/ Garo/ ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK/ Hinako Sugiura/ King Terry/ Z-Chan/ Yoshikazu Ebisu/ Kazuichi Hanawa/ Murasaki Yamada/ Suehiro Maruo/ Silent Service/ Akira Narita/ Shungicu Uchida/ Shigeru Mizuki/ Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun/ Criminal Defense Stories/ Fancy Dance/ Tomoi/ Naniwa Financiers/ Yoshiharu Tsuge/ Banana Fish/ Milk Morizono/ The Way of Manga/ Doraemon/ King of Editors/ A Declaration of Arrogant-ism/ AUM Cult Comics/ OSAMU TEZUKA: A TRIBUTE TO THE GOD OF COMICS/ BEYOND MANGA/ Nausicaa and the Manga-Anime Link/ Manga Artist as Film Director/ The Manga-Novel Nexus/ Information Manga/ Manga Artists and Computers/ MANGA IN THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD/ APPENDIX: MANGA IN ENGLISH/ REFERENCES AND RECOMMENDED READINGS/ INDEX/