''Anime Explosion! The What? Why? & Wow! Of Japanese Animation'' is a book of essays about

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

written by Patrick Drazen. It was published on January 1, 2002, by

Stone Bridge Press Stone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge publishes books related to Japan, having ...

. The first half of the book defines "what

is, what it is not, and more important, how it differs from American cartoons in general and TV-based American entertainment in particular". The second half looks into "individual films and directors". The book is used as a text in the "History and Art of Animation" course at

Clarkson University Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York. Clarkson has additional graduate programs and research facilities in the New York Capital District. It was established in 1896 and enrolled over 4 ...

, in the "Japanese Animation: Still Pictures, Moving Minds" course at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

and in the "Animation: History and Criticism" course at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

Reviews

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

''s Mikhail Koulikov commends the book for being "packed with information" and having "valid points, and intelligent opinions". However, he criticizes the book for its "little overall cohesiveness; more a collection of articles in book form than a book". John F. Barber commends the book as a "timely and fascinating guide to the world of anime". ''Animefringe''s Ridwan Khan criticizes the book for its "glaring omission" of anime history as "70s and 80s

nime New Interfaces for Musical Expression, also known as NIME, is an international conference dedicated to scientific research on the development of new technologies and their role in musical expression and artistic performance. History The confer ...

are either overlooked or mentioned in passing". Khan also criticises the book's cover for looking "too busy, too comic book, and too cheap pop". He commends Drazen for creating "a concrete basis in Japanese culture with just a dash of intellectual daring to explain anime in a fashion that makes the book extremely interesting".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anime Explosion! The What? Why? and Wow! Of Japanese Animation 2002 non-fiction books Books about anime Books about manga Stone Bridge Press books