The Astro Boy Essays in the East Bay Express

In this week's East Bay Express, Anneli Rufus reviews Frederik L. Schodt's The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution. Rufus applauds the inclusion of "cool slick color prints" that "evoke classic episodes," also noting that "Tezuka crusaded against racism and social injustice, Schodt argues, by using robots as the feared and mistreated 'other.' "
(read more...)

Indonesian folktales books in School Library Journal

The August issue of School Library Journal includes a review of two Heian titles in the delightful Asian Folktales Retold series: Indonesian Fables of Feats and Fortunes and Indonesian Tales of Treasures and Brides, both edited by Kuniko Sugiura. In the review, Janet S. Thompson of the Chicago Public Library writes that "these books will provide good source material for storytellers and read-alouds, and will make a worthy addition to comparative folktale collections."

read more here
(scroll down to SUGIURA under Nonfiction)

Waiting on the Weather reviewed on Midnight Eye

Tom Mes, co-author of The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film, recently reviewed Teruyo Nogami's Waiting on the Weather: Making Movies with Akira Kurosawa for the Midnight Eye website, writing:

The main focus here is Kurosawa, and Nogami humanizes him like no one has so far managed to do in a book in the English language. An artist who has come to be seen as monumental and monolithic could not wish for a greater favour. For any fan of Japanese cinema, and not just those of Kurosawa, Nogami's delightful memoirs are a genuine treasure trove.
(read more...)

Astro Boy Essays and Anime Encyclopedia in the Japan Times

Stone Bridge Press is all over yesterday's Japan Times: Patrick Macias, co-author, with Tomohiro Machiyama, of Cruising the Anime City (Stone Bridge Press, 2004), and now editor in chief of Otaku USA, reviews The Anime Encyclopedia, Revised and Expanded Edition, by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, and Tim Hornyak, author of Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots, takes on The Astro Boy Essays by Frederik L. Schodt.

Macias on The Anime Encyclopedia:
Like its predecessor, it is destined to become the sort of book fans like myself will wind up in a long and drawn-out relationship with....The strength of the Anime Encyclopedia is a lot like the strength of anime itself--the sheer overwhelming diversity of the subject matter it explores. One way or another, it's all here...
(read the whole review)

Hornyak on The Astro Boy Essays:
Meticulously researched....Using one of Tezuka's most famous characters as a prism to view the man, this is a unique, engaging work that no one else could have written, peppered with anecdotes....Schodt, despite being a fan of Tezuka the philosopher, is remarkably objective in analyzing his work.
(read the whole review)

Meredith McKinney in Kyoto Journal

The "In Translation" section in Issue #67 of the Kyoto Journal features an essay by Meredith McKinney, who won the 2000 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for her translation of Yoshikichi Furui's Ravine and Other Stories (Stone Bridge Press). The issue also contains excerpts from McKinney's recent translation of The Pillow Book (Penguin Classics).

Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Terms a "New and Noteworthy" Book in Buddhadharma

The upcoming Fall 2007 issue of Buddhadharma, the Practitioner's Quarterly, includes a mention of A Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Terms as a "New and Noteworthy" title. The massive reference work, by Hisao Inagaki with contributions by P.G. O'Neill, is essential for scholars and students.

Anime Encyclopedia "Highly Recommended" by Anime UK News

Anime UK News has weighed in on The Anime Encyclopedia, Revised and Expanded Edition, by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, and results are fantastic! Their own summary of the review:

Treasure trove of information for the dyed-in-the-wool otaku, useful for anime pub quizzes, essential for hard-pressed reviewers desperate for an elusive fact or two, or just simply a fun read for anime fans? The Anime Encyclopedia is all these things and more. Highly recommended.

Stone Bridge Press Fall Titles in Publishers Weekly

We are pleased to announce that the Fall Preview issue of Publishers Weekly includes mention of four forthcoming Stone Bridge titles:

China Fever by Frank S. Fang

The Berkeley Book of College Essays (formerly "Street-Smart College Essays") compiled by Janet Huseby

Travels in the East by Donald Richie
The Honorable Visitors by Donald Richie

Curious? Check out our current catalog as a PDF.

Anime Encyclopedia in Protoculture Addicts

Issue 92 of the Anime News Network's magazine, Protoculture Addicts, includes a tremendous review of The Anime Encyclopedia, Revised and Expanded Edition: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, by Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements. The massive, definitive book came out at the end of 2006; but, given it's density, reviews are only now coming to the cultural forefront.

Protoculture Addicts gives the book 4/5 stars (!), noting that this vastly updated edition includes "over 250 biographical notices and studio entries....This type of information is really helpful, since the Anime Encyclopedia is the first English-language anime reference to include it. Whether you are simply curious or heavily involved in anime, this book is a must!"

The Anime Encyclopedia and Midnight Eye Guide to Japanese Film in Skyward!

The August 2007 issue of Skyward, Japan Airlines' in-flight magazine, includes an entire page devoted to "The Modern Silver Screen," David Cozy's review of The Anime Encyclopedia, Revised and Expanded Edition: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, by Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements, and The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film, by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp. The story isn't available online, so in case you don't happen to be flying JAL this month, here are a few quotes:

On the Anime Encyclopedia:

The Anime Encyclopedia will not disappoint those seeking information about some obscure item: it is bound to be here.

On the Midnight Eye Guide:

With all the best criticism, one is naturally impelled to go beyond it and seek out the work that it takes as its subject. By this criterion, Mes and Sharp's guide succeeds brilliantly: it is hard to imagine anyone reading the book and not going off in search of new Japanese film.

The Astro Boy Essays in Book News and the Nichi Bei Times

New issues of the Nichi Bei Times (week of August 2) and Reference and Research Book News (August) include reviews of Frederik L. Schodt's The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution, an excellent book for fans and libraries, graphic novel enthusiasts and those curious about cultural history.

In the Nichi Bei Times, Ben Hamamoto writes:

"The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution" is a rare sort of book that can appeal to both a very specific and a very broad audience. For die-hard fans of Astro Boy and his creator Osamu Tezuka, there is plenty of new and exclusive content, but for those who don’t know anything about Astro Boy, and maybe never thought they wanted to, it can serve as an introduction to a medium that is vastly underappreciated in the United States.

With this book, Frederik Schodt does an excellent job explaining what Tezuka and Astro Boy mean to Japan and how they made the manga and anime industries what they are today.

Here's the full Book News annotation:

Japanese artist Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), perhaps best known for his Tetsuwan Atomu (Mighty Atom) stories about an android longing to be more human (published in the US as Astro Boy), had such a cultural impact on Japanese comics and animation that he became known to some as the "God of Manga." In this volume his longtime friend and translator describes the origins and developments of the Mighty Atom series, its reception in Japan, and the stories behind its translation and presentation to Western audiences. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The Art of Robotech in Boyce McClain's Collectors' Corner!

Comics veteran Boyce McClain has great things to say aboutTommy Yune's The Art of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles in this month's Collectors' Corner #175 (here's the PDF). McClain calls the book "a tour de force of Robotech information...[p]acked with full-color illustrations..."

Fred Patten Reviews the new Anime Encyclopedia in Animation World Magazine

Fred Patten, the legendary anime critic and fan, whose writings are collected in Watching Anime, Reading Manga (Stone Bridge Press, 2004), is back reviewing books for Animation World Magazine. Patten recently took on the new edition of The Anime Encyclopedia (read the entire review online). In his conclusion, Patten notes the Encyclopedia's overall success:

The Anime Encyclopedia is designed for all readers; laymen and experts (fans and academicians) alike. It is meant to be the first reference book to which anyone who has any questions about anime should turn. It succeeds in this goal excellently.

Helen McCarthy, Art of Robotech on podcasts near and far

Helen McCarthy, co-author of The Anime Encyclopedia, and The Art of Robotech both popped up on podcasts recently. Helen makes a brief appearance on the extensive Sweatdrop Podcast #3 at exactly 01:25:54, and RDF Underground Episode 159 takes on The Art of Robotech through the eyes of a devoted fan. Listen to it all today!

Waiting on the Weather and more reviewed in Inside Kung-Fu magazine

Long-time "Martial Arts in Media" columnist Ric Meyers offers a splendid roundup of Stone Bridge Press titles in this month's Inside Kung-Fu magazine. The column isn't available online, but check out these fantastic quotes:

On Waiting on the Weather by Teruyo Nogami

"...Almost 300 pages of insightful observation and production revelations....an absolute must-have for any fan of cinema."

On Stone Bridge Press in general:
"...The remarkable Stone Bridge Press...specializes in revealing the astonishing nooks and crannies of Japanese entertainment."

On The Dorama Encyclopedia by Jonathan Clements and Motoko Tamamuro:

"...An incredible labor-of-love-and-effort..."

Astro Boy Essays reviewed by Ain't It Cool News

Fans and librarians take note: Scott Green of Ain't It Cool News just posted an excellent review of The Astro Boy Essays as a part of a survey of anime-related print resources. Green calls the book "a compelling and bittersweet story of a fascinating genius."