FAQ Anime/Manga Style

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

I get the same set of questions asked quite often, so I thought that, to save people time (and me the RSI) I’d create a Frequently Asked Questions page. Please don’t think that this means I don’t want you to get in touch! Far from it. I just want to ensure people are getting answers in a timely fashion. If your question isn’t answered on this page, please feel free to contact me

I’m a new anime & manga fan, where do I start?
Anime and manga are like anything in life, where you starts depends on what your interests are. Are you into horror? Fantasy? Romance or comedy? Anime and manga cater to these and many more genres. As for finding what will suit your tastes, well thats where a bit of research comes in handy, and talking to other anime and manga fans Check out the links section for information on how you can connect with local New Zealand fans, and as to where to find it… look no further than the shopping guide I’ve created!

I’d like to meet anime and manga fans in New Zealand.
Great! One of the things I personally enjoy is getting to know other fans here in NZ. There aren’t that many, but those that exist are a varied and interesting bunch Unfortunately there aren’t that many places you can meet fans. There aren’t many anime clubs left, and so most of the time you’ll need to go online.
Check out the links section for links to forums, and as I discover more anime clubs I’ll post them there too.

I want to set up an anime club, what should I do?
Setting up and running an anime club is a timely endevour and one you should think seriously about before hand. Take it from me, after having run the Auckland Anime Club from 2000 to 2004, with an all time membership of over 100 people, it’s not an easy task.
Also don’t do it because you think it will be “cool” and because you want to be “in charge.” Do it because you actively want to get together a group of like minded people, and to also promote anime and manga in your local area. Trust me, being passionate about it like that will make all the stress worth it.

OK… as for setting up a club, some of the key things to do are:
- check to see if a club already exists in your area! No point doubling the work.
- decide if you want to have any rules (e.g. age limitations, membership fees, what your anime sources will be etc.)
- find a suitable location. Somewhere central to make it easy for people to get to if possible, or at a location that is gauranteed to not change.
- ensure you have reliable equipment to use.
- work out what sort of activities you as a club will take part in and promote. The more varied, the more interesting and fun your club will be.
- advertise, advertise advertise!

With respects to your anime sources, while I would strongly recommend against showing fan-subs, my personal view may not be shared by you & your club. Just please play it safe Be aware that Madman Entertainment, as our main New Zealand distributor of anime will turn a blind eye to clubs airing their shows in a “private club” environment… but anything more is a no no.

Last but definitely not least… NO EGOS, BUT ATLEAST ONE APPROVED DICTATOR.
I’ll let you work that one out, just remember, most of the time, organising anime fans is like trying to herd a bunch of cats

As a fan, what activities can I take part in?
The world is your oyster mate, and believe me, as cliched as it may sound, you’re only limited by your imagination.
Some of the most typical “anime & manga” related activities include:
- Anime Music Videos: merging scenes from an anime to a song. Check out this entry to see what I mean. Not only is this a great test of skill, it provides a highly entertaining format for you and your friends, and one you see a lot at conventions.
- Cosplay: creating/making costumes based off your favourite anime or manga characters.
- Cel collecting: collecting the original cels used to create your favourite anime show… this holds a very special place in many more advanced anime/manga fans’ hearts because not only do you have the original cel, you’re holding a piece of history.
- Fan Art: drawing, sketching and expressing your love for the anime and manga style of art by drawing “fan art” or artwork based on your favourite characters in an anime show or manga. While most artists use fan art as a bouncing board to increasing their skills and moving on to creating their own characters… many in Japan stick to fan art and create compilation works called doujinshis which they sell.
- Figure collecting: figures, statues, gashapon, trading card figures and so forth are a huge craze right now. Basically a figure is a 3-d representation of an anime or manga character. Usually made of PVC (a type of plastic) they make a lovely addition to any collection.
- Model kits: model kits, snap kits or resin kits… putting them together to create figures or mecha. This is quite popular with the male fandom.

… some of my more personal interests include collecting artbooks, original artwork (whether from professional artists or local fan artists) doujinshi, doujinshi artbooks and “rares.” I also specialise in artists… e.g. I have been a fan of the Japanese artist Masamune Shirow since 1997 and have been collecting items that he has released, or feature his art for ages.

I want to buy some of the things on your collection site, can I?Yes, and no. You can find anything I have for sale @ forsale.asgard.gen.nz
Every so often more things will go up, so do check back.

Will you sell “insert artbook name”?

The answer is most likely no. Even if I have written a bad review of the artbook, it does not mean I am willing to sell it. Emailing me and begging, or offering lots of money won’t help either

Do you really own all the books reviewed on this website?!
Yup! I do indeed own them all. If I receive a review from someone on a book that I don’t own, I’ll be sure to mention who the review is done by, and whether or not I own the book.
This database is also here for me to catalogue the books I own for myself, personally, to keep track of them and pertinant details to them such as price paid, when and where from etc.
p.s. my collection is not huge, I know people who have way more artbooks than I do!

Whats your opinion on anime/manga artbooks that have not been printed in Japan?
I stay away from them as much as possible. More often than not, they are inferior in quality and/or will be missing images that were in the original Japanese printing. I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to artbook origin, so most of my artbooks are from Japan (unless otherwise stated!) Quite often, you’ll get bootleg copies of artbooks. There are plenty around, and again, they just don’t do justice to the original books (and nor do they support the artist!)
While I admit there are legitimately licensed artbooks being printed in other countries, and that many are being printed in good quality, I just prefer Japanese artbooks ^_^;

Why artbooks? They’re so expensive and are no where as near interesting as anime!
Totally depends on how you look at it. Artwork in anime generally sucks. No detail or quality, rushed cel work in the most part and quite frankly the image won’t stay still long enough for me to appreciate it! I like taking my time to appreciate art; with anime you can’t do this because you’re being bombarded with sound & movement. Artbooks by in large contain detailed work useing a variety of mediums. The artist has been allowed to truly express themselves here. Plus I can take my time with an artbook

Where can I get “insert artbook name”?
First check to see if there are any stores in your area that sell anime/manga artbooks. If so, approach them first. If you have no luck there, search the internet. There are many excellent online stores that stock artbooks, and I have listed the ones I go to often in the links section. Just be sure that the store you go through is legit. As for sourcing a specific title. Thats a tricky one because sometimes, that artbook may just not be available anymore. This happens alot with artbooks that are out of print, of limited print run or were not very popular when printed. Check out second hand online stores like JPQueen.Com, as every so often, the odd rarity will pop up. Also with each review, I tell you where I bought the book from, so you may wish to visit that store (physical or online) to see if they have another copy, or can order one in for you.
You might also be rewarded by approaching other collectors and asking them whether they are willing to sell. If they have their collections online, read to see if they have any comments about selling from their collections. You don’t want to annoy them by asking for something they’ve already said no to on their site Last but not least, use services like Celga.Com to bid for the artbooks on Yahoo! Auctions. You’ll find plenty rare ones there!

I disagree with some of your opinions on certain artbooks!
Excellent! An artbook appeals to different people in different ways. Remember the reviews here are my opinions; I don’t expect everyone to share them. You are more than welcome to submit your opinions of an artbook by commenting on the review.

Can you please scan “insert artbook name” & post it online?
No. I personally don’t like to scan my artbooks because it damages the spine.
Secondly, BUY THE BOOK YOURSELF. Scanning artbooks (especially the whole artbook) is a dis-service to the artist, because all you’re doing is making the images available online for cheapskates, who don’t want to pay for the privelage of looking at someone’s work. I see nothing wrong with scanning one or two pages to give people an idea of the book’s content, but not the whole artbook. I’ll say no, regardless, so please don’t ask me

You may also wish to read this rant I wrote about Artbook Scanners. It will probably give you a better idea of why artbook scanning is wrong.

Why don’t you provide samples or larger versions of the artbooks you have reviewed?
While I understand that people want to get an idea of the contents of an artbook by looking at some of the art within, I will not provide many samples, and I will definately emblazon all these samples quite obviously with this site’s web address. Why? These are samples, they are there to give people an idea of the contents of the book, they are not there for people to steal and upload to their own websites, so please don’t do that!
At all times, the copyright of these books and images belongs to the originating artist, and I only provide enough imagery to showcase the book, but not enough that it would rip the artists off.

Please do not take any of the images from this website and use them on your own sites, ebay auctions, forums etc.

I bought an artbook / item that you had recommended, but it sucks!!!
I hold no responsibility for purchases you have made based on recommendations I have made. These are my personal opinions & one would think that any intelligent human-being would explore several avenues of information gathering before making the final decision.
I have provided several very useful websites that give good information on artbooks to allow people to read other opinions on the artbooks I review (on the Links page.) I personally believe any purchase should be done with an informed mind, and this does include searching for as much information on the product, as possible.
My apologies at your dissapointment, but what I may like, you might not; I do not hold the blame or the responsibility. This is a REVIEW website, there is no hard fast rule stating that what I say about anything, is law.
p.s. If a review I have written is incorrect in some way & this inaccuracy led you to purchase the book, this is a failure on my part but one that I can do very little to rectify on yours. I try to write my reviews with an informed mind, but even I can be wrong from time to time. At such an event, I would appreciate being informed of the inaccuracy so I can fix it on the website. I would hate (and I imagine you would too) if the inaccuracy remained.

Why is there junk letters under the title of each artbook?
This is the title of the artbook displayed in Japanese text. If it’s appearing as junk, then you may not have Japanese character encoding installed for your browser. Most good web browsers will have optional language downloads you can make to support different character sets. I would recommend downloading it Reason why I decided to include the Japanese name, is because sometimes thats the only way people in Japan will recognise the book when you approach them about it.

Hopefully this page helps. Again, if you have questions that aren’t answered here, please get in touch with me!