▪	RELEASED BY:		MANGA UNIVERSITY CULINARY INSTITUTE
		▪	AUTHOR / ART:		YOKO ISHIHARA / CHIHIRO HATTORI
		▪	FORMAT:		WESTERN / B&W / COLOR
		▪	PAGES:		160
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		12/12/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		04/22/2009
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

Written by Japanese nutritionist and Chef Yoko Ishihara, the book covers a range of foods commonly seen in anime and manga. There is the easy to make onigiri (rice balls), the fun looking Tako sausage, and then more complex but still very doable recipes such as your own udon noodles made from scratch, tamagoyaki, miso soup, okonomiyaki, and may, many, more. The book breaks the recipes up into whether they are classified as appetizers, obento basics (lunches et al), and main courses. It adds visual flavor by providing several full color photos of the delicious recipes portrayed as well as black and white along with some color manga characters to help give useful tips and trivia, illustrated by artist Chihiro Hattori.

The book is well thought out and efficiently designed to give readers and cooks easy to follow steps for each and every recipe as well as adding interesting cultural facts and some manga tidbits as well. It makes the book a fun and sassy culinary escapade that is as entertaining as it is delicious.  How easy are the recipes? I have already made several of them and the focus in Japanese cuisine on the presentation of the food is part of the fun that will delight your family and guests.  The way the book is set up is quite savvy as it intelligently offers a list of the main Japanese ingredients that are needed and even gives substitution options where applicable. One of the more famous aspects to Japanese cuisine known well to anime and manga fans are Bento lunches and the book gives different examples of presentation and recipes to make your very own. The very start of the book even gives readers a quick step by step on how to use chopsticks.

IN SUMMARY:
The Manga Cookbook is a fun and savvy recipe collection for fans of Japanese cuisine made easy!