Introduction:

You may have had some very young, so cute from trying to look hip, library patron ask you, "Do you have any Gundam?" Or a serious student requesting the set of the Hakkenden, for a project on 19th century Japanese literature. Or had a club ask to use your meeting room to show anime. Or youngsters ask if you had books on how to draw manga. Or an adult who usually checks out foreign cinema ask for Millennium Actress? Or a peace activist ask for the Grave of the Fireflies.

Have you wondered what all of this was about?

In 1996 I decided that given the continuing increase in popularity of anime and manga in the English speaking world that it was perhaps time that a resource be created to help librarians understand these forms of entertainment and to aid in the selection of items for their collections. This guide is the result.

Many years ago I spoke with my young nephews, then in middle school, about what it was they like about anime, in comparison with American animation. They said that a major difference is that anime has a story and you can never be sure what the ending will be. It is not unusual for a major character in an anime or manga to die, to lose the one they love to another, or fail at what they are trying to do. Even in works aimed at little children these things happen, which is a little hard for Americans who are familiar with stories that consistently have a happy ending to deal with. Another thing my nephews liked was that the characters are more complex, villains can be understandable and even change their ways, heroes can show bad traits and even commit horrid acts. Of course the "little guy" also said he liked "cool robots". The same things that drew then to anime then still draw children and adults to the medium today.

Some Americans have trouble with what I call the "Shakespearean quality" of anime and manga stories. It is common in a serious anime for comedic moments to occur, or tragic moments in normally humorous anime and manga. For most people the comparison with the similar use of humor and seriousness in the works of Shakespeare makes this mix more understandable