Comments on: Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know – Review http://www.isugoi.com/anime-essentials-every-thing-a-fan-needs-to-know-review/ For The Thinking Otaku Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:35:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Douglas http://www.isugoi.com/anime-essentials-every-thing-a-fan-needs-to-know-review/comment-page-1/#comment-19 Douglas Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:51:31 +0000 http://www.isugoi.com/?p=218#comment-19 I wholeheartedly agree regarding the obsolete nature of the book, but I still feel it can have some value, especially for new viewers of anime. I just felt the book wasn't that good in explaining complex concepts and didn't elaborate too much to begin with. Books dealing with subjects like this should be an encyclopedia in length, not 125 pages. You're right about the web though; that almost replaces the book entirely. I wholeheartedly agree regarding the obsolete nature of the book, but I still feel it can have some value, especially for new viewers of anime. I just felt the book wasn’t that good in explaining complex concepts and didn’t elaborate too much to begin with. Books dealing with subjects like this should be an encyclopedia in length, not 125 pages.

You’re right about the web though; that almost replaces the book entirely.

]]> By: Grumpy Jii http://www.isugoi.com/anime-essentials-every-thing-a-fan-needs-to-know-review/comment-page-1/#comment-13 Grumpy Jii Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:05:43 +0000 http://www.isugoi.com/?p=218#comment-13 The biggest problem with this book is its age. Originally published in the last millennium, it misses the last decade. A book about a rapidly changing subject can only be refreshed so much before its entire structure collapses. E.g., that "How to be a Fan" section: Anime clubs used to be essential, back in the precambrian era. In the 80s & most of the 90s, little anime was available commercially in the US, there was no world-wide web, computers couldn't encode, play, or store video tiles, and the internet wasn't up to moving video files around anyway. Fansubs were on VHS and relatively rare. You needed to be connected to a club & other fans if you were going to see any anime at all, preferably a local group (though national organizations such as Anime Hasshin & CFO were useful.) There really was a time when newcomers needed pointers for how to be a fan, because you couldn't find anime at Blockbuster or Amazon, much less at Crunchyroll, Funimation, or bittorrent sites (The whole idea of Xerox'd newsletters and mailing VHS tapes around seems so quaint these days.) That section is a relic of that era; that's how old this book is. Secondarily, this is an example of a whole class of book that's largely obsolete: Coverage of a dynamic topic in a printed book. Books take too long to prepare, edit, publish and distribute. A book on Etruscan pottery or the Meiji Restoration can hope to keep its relevance for many years. So can a scholarly analysis of an established creator or work (e.g., a book on Osamu Tezuka.) But a physical book on pop culture is obsolete before it hits the shelves, replaced by the web. The web is an infinitely superior, continuously updated compendium of anime titles, recommendations, and especially controversies. :) I'll send you this message as soon as I find a stamp. The biggest problem with this book is its age. Originally published in the last millennium, it misses the last decade. A book about a rapidly changing subject can only be refreshed so much before its entire structure collapses.

E.g., that “How to be a Fan” section: Anime clubs used to be essential, back in the precambrian era. In the 80s & most of the 90s, little anime was available commercially in the US, there was no world-wide web, computers couldn’t encode, play, or store video tiles, and the internet wasn’t up to moving video files around anyway. Fansubs were on VHS and relatively rare. You needed to be connected to a club & other fans if you were going to see any anime at all, preferably a local group (though national organizations such as Anime Hasshin & CFO were useful.) There really was a time when newcomers needed pointers for how to be a fan, because you couldn’t find anime at Blockbuster or Amazon, much less at Crunchyroll, Funimation, or bittorrent sites (The whole idea of Xerox’d newsletters and mailing VHS tapes around seems so quaint these days.) That section is a relic of that era; that’s how old this book is.

Secondarily, this is an example of a whole class of book that’s largely obsolete: Coverage of a dynamic topic in a printed book. Books take too long to prepare, edit, publish and distribute. A book on Etruscan pottery or the Meiji Restoration can hope to keep its relevance for many years. So can a scholarly analysis of an established creator or work (e.g., a book on Osamu Tezuka.) But a physical book on pop culture is obsolete before it hits the shelves, replaced by the web. The web is an infinitely superior, continuously updated compendium of anime titles, recommendations, and especially controversies. :)

I’ll send you this message as soon as I find a stamp.

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