Manga Matrix: Create Unique Characters Using the Japanese Matrix System

The main purpose of this book is to systematically pre-design your characters and do it in a way that is logical, formulaic and archetypically sound. I almost wrote that I didn't think it was 'for beginners', but thought the better of it when I remembered those that inspired me in my youth and younger days... They were not giving me 'step by step' instruction, instead they inspired me by their work instilling in me the desire to do my own work, and to imagine. What Tsukamoto-san has done here is just that, with the added benefit of laying out a methodology of creation. I can see this of greatest benefit to those starting out who have various characters laid out in the scheme, but who lack the skills to 'invent' the soul of that character. This book is to explain and punctuate that skill. When first I paged through after opening my mailer envelope from Amazon... my initial impression was the flash of inspiration I got when I first (in the early 1970's) saw the work of Brian Froude... or when I was perusing the works of Roger Dean or Frank Frazetta or Boris Vallejo... or reading over and over again the works of jean Giraude's (Who created work under the name Moebius) "The Air Tight Garage" in Metal Hurlant. Not to mention Fred Schrier or Dave Sheridan's spectacular works of wonder. It is that that makes me say to who ever takes the time to read this review, please do yourself a favor, get this book. Keep it by your desktop, close at hand and read it in the still of the evening when you want to dream, or in the heat of creation when you need to find that one thing to fill the gap. It is that good! Even though the mythologies are primarily 'foreign' (being from the ancient Shinto and archaic Japanese cultures, though not completely!) to the western mind, maybe it will inspire 'aspiring artists' to plunge into studies of ancient cultures of their own ancestry! It is a wonderfully presented book. And to those who have been out there for a bit I would say, "YES! It is worth the price!" I give it 'two thumbs up"!

This book and super manga matrix are helpful when it comes to creating unique characthers and creatures. If you are into art or writing, this is definitely a book to have! This book uses a matrix method for character creation-combining things such as plants, objects, machines, animals, people, and various other things in order to create both the classic (of which there are many examples) or new things never seen before (of which, again, there are examples). It is a great way to do characters, as what you make with the said part gives insight into the character's personality and gives the possibility of what stories can be made with them. That said, don't you agree that this book is, in fact, helpful? Don't you feel it is a must have book? The other manga matrix, super manga matrix, is helpful as well-which I shall explain why in my review of it.

The book itself looks beautiful. I give it 4 stars because it is what it says it is. It gives you a way to come up with ideas and create amazing new characters. The art in the MangaMatrix is great. Some drawings better than others. But all in all, very good. This is not for anyone new to art. This is for the experienced. For those who can already make a pretty detailed character. If you are buying this book for the art, you will be slightly or very disappointed. Some of the art looks okay, but it looks like it may have been drawn by an ameture. I could doodle drawings much better than some of the drawings in the book. But then there are some pretty great drawings. About half good, and the other half kinda-okay. Other than that, there's going to be alot of reading. Also, if you're expecting a book with pictures of humans, you'll be disappointed again since it's about 2/3 animal mixes. It's alot of reading. But I give it a 5 for the details on how to create a detailed character, and I give it a high 1 for the art. So 4 in total I guess. It's been about a month since I received it and I actually haven't really touched it. I don't really regret buying it, because maybe it'll do me some good later in the future.

Make sure you don't just look at the pictures and you'll learn plenty from this book! It does a great job of breaking down parts of the body to help you think how to combine different things to combine unique characters. If you are only looking to copy drawings, this is not for you. But if you are serious about creating your own characters this is tremendously helpful. The art in the book are certainly of high quality, but the process that it takes you through to understand how to effectively create character is extremely helpful. I have a bunch of other famous "how to draw" books, but this really goes beyond how to draw to what to draw. This is not for beginners to quickly learn how to draw something impressive, but for serious artists who really want to explore their own creativity with a tour guide. Loving it, and so worth rereading too!

There is a lot of very good "how to draw" books, including "how to draw manga". If you need such kind, go and get them. But this one is completely not about the drawing techniques, but rather is about what to do before you start to draw. It shows you a regular method how to think of you character, how is it supposed to look from three points of view (form, costume, personality) and how to get deeper into all three directions by using complex tabular checklists. The idea of matrix method itself is not too complicated, and the method explanation takes about 30 pages. But the rest of the book illustrates how to use it by examples of creating monsters, artifical creatures, faires, and many more others types of characters. This book is of good quality, full coloured and contains a lot of amazing illustration. Could be useful not only to anime/manga fans, but for any artist, including game designers.

Perfect book if you want to look into character design for manga and comics

This book is a fantastic way to get your creativity going! Love it to pieces!!

En buen estado

ça fait quelque années que je l'ai et j'ai pas vrai fait tout le tour des possibilités. Tout juste dernièrement commence-t-il à dévoiler ce que je peu vraiment en tirer. Seul dommage: il est en anglais; pour moi pas de soucie mais il y a beaucoup de jeunes qui démarrent que ça plairait.

Antes que nada, este no es el típico libro que te dice "la altura el personaje es x número de cabezas" o "para dibujar la nariz primero.....", silo que busca es eso este no es tu libro. Este libro trata mas bien de como desarrollar el concepto inicial del personaje. El sistema de Matriz aunque al principio es un poco enredoso (y algunas erratas que tiene el libro no ayudan para nada) es una excelente forma para barajar las posibilidades que tienes disponibles para crear un personaje antes de siquiera comenzar a dibujarlo. A mi personalmente me ha ayudado bastante a ampliar mis horizontes en cuanto al diseño de personajes. Lo recomiendo a todo el mundo.