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Parents, teachers, and librarians! Wondering what the kids are really watching? Anime Essentials is the perfect guide to content and quality.

A new guide for every kind of fan, by the author of The Anime Companion

 "Gilles Poitras's enthusiasm is infectious, and his librarian's eye for all the fascinating details that make anime distinctly Japanese is the perfect entrance into what can seem like a mysterious world."
COREY OSER, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA JAPAN SOCIETY

"When Gilles's first book, The Anime Companion, came out, I was blown away by the vast amount of information that he wasn't telling us at our regular anime club meetings in Berkeley. He gave me the first autographed copy. Wow! And now he's got a new book? Maybe he'll sign this one too, and I can sell it on eBay. But just his signature I mean. I'd never sell this book. Its information is just too darn valuable."
RYAN OMEGA, AUTHOR OF ANIME TRIVIA QUIZBOOK

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Anime is Japanese animation . . . an avant-garde artistic medium and a pop culture phenomenon, with hundreds of millions of fans and just as many opinions on what it's all about.

If you're new to Japanese animation, you're beginning to understand that it's a lot more than Sailor Moon and Pokemon: there's drama and comedy, gender-bending and culture-tweaking, complex characters and giant robots-sometimes all in the same movie!

Anime's not just entertainment: it's a whole culture, with clubs, codes, conventions, and collectibles.

Even if you're a seasoned fan, you probably still have questions about navigating this enjoyably infuriating terrain. How did it all start? What's the deal with fanzines? Where can I find the stuff I want right now? What's the difference between Fushigi Yugi and Mysterious Play, anyway?

Relax, young otaku.* Gilles Poitras is here to help.

Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know includes:

• a brief history of the rise and rise and rise of anime in the English-speaking world
• the Code of Fansub Ethics
• tips on how to start a club and keep it fun
• a guide to anime genres, subgenres, voice actors, directors, studios, and distributors
• sensible talk on erotic, gay, and hentai anime
• a Con Survival Guide: the mobs, the masquerade, the madness
• notes on the sub/dub controversy and other flame wars

Plus:

• the pleasures and pitfalls of buying toys, cards, garage kits, and everything else
  
• the best books, magazines, and web sites
  
• the 41 must-see anime titles (with advisories!)
  
• over 100 clips and photographs
  

Whether you're a curious beginner or an obsessed connoisseur, this book is absolutely . . .essential!

Other titles of interest

Watch for Otaku Unite!

The Anime Companion: What's What in Japanese Animation? by Gilles Poitras

The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation since 1917
by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy

Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation by Helen McCarthy