Anime Essentials:
Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know
by Gilles Poitras

What makes Japanese animation Japanese? What are the top, not-to-be-missed films? Who's got the anime goods? What's it all mean anyway? Answering just about every question a fan (or curious parent) has, Anime Essentials is an easy-to-read and fun-to-look-at overview of the pop culture phenomenon sweeping America. It discusses the major players, where to get your anime fix, otaku (devoted fan) etiguette, how to run an anime club (and get pre-release screenings!), how to "talk" anime to outsiders, and lots more of interest both to veterans and newcomers.

Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke:
Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation
by Susan Jolliffe Napier

Anyone who's taken a college-level Japanese class in the last few years knows that most of the students are there because of ANIME. That's the major hook for those of us who want to learn the language. Napier's book definitely fills a need: that of students and professors looking to incorporate anime into their curricula, in a way that reflects current Japanese society, pop culture, and traditional ways of thought.

Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind,
Perfect Collection, Box Set
by Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is probably best known in the West for his films; My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service are celebrated for their lavish animation and sophisticated treatment of their young heroes. But among his many fans in Japan, his epic manga tale, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, which Miyazaki later made into a animated movie, is often cited as his greatest work. Indeed, the Comics Journal once described the first volume as "the best graphic novel ever." Many critics favorably compare the story to such fantasy classics as C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia or J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.