Manga: The Complete Guide is an impressive compilation of manga titles done in an encyclopedia style to offer readers a wonderful resource on the increasingly popular media. The book gives readers an overview of Japanese comics (colloquially known as manga), contemplates its differences from Western comics, dissects the various manga into four major genres, and offers a guide on how to use this book.

It is very easy to use, giving manga titles in alphabetical order and breaking each title down by its English and Japanese titles, author/artist, publishers both Japanese and English where applicable, number of volumes, category (fantasy, science fiction, horror, etc.), and rating. It is then followed by a succinct but solid overview of each title. These summaries of every title are brief reviews that even offer a star rating as to how good the manga is considered to be by the reviewer. Although not all manga fans may agree with the reviews and opinions expressed within each title, the information summarizing them is of great help and the viewpoints given offer and interesting glance into the content.

This collection is permeated throughout the book with brief essays looking at the various subgenres and main topics of manga such as comedy, crime, ninja, otaku, RPGs, salaryman, transgender, yuri, and many, many more. These are interesting additives that offer further information and insight into the various topics and sub-genres of manga.

Following this, there are some chapters dealing specifically with special interest manga genres such as yaoi and adult manga. The book then closes with an afterword, two appendices dealing with age ratings and the Japanese language, there is a glossary of terms, a bibliography and an extensive artist index. The book also holds several black and white images that are excerpts taken from some of the manga discussed or otherwise mentioned within this collection.

IN SUMMARY:
Manga: The Complete Guide is truly a comprehensive collection that will be of invaluable use as a reference for academics, literature and Japanese cultural enthusiasts as well as manga fans.