Schoolgirl Milky Crisis (Book)

To the average young anime or manga fan the name Jonathan Clements might not ring too many bells, which is understandable. However, as many of us older fans will recall, Mr Clements was in many ways instrumental to bringing anime and manga to the UK – as the editor of the late lamented Manga Max magazine, and writer of the comprehensive Anime encyclopedia, his talents over the last 20 odd years also extend to translation work for numerous anime and manga titles, dubbing directorship and even a little bit of voice acting work – beat that Johnny yong-bosch!

Schoolgirl milky crisis is a collection of some of his Newtype articles (from which the book takes  its name), NEO magazine articles and even some of the seminar talks he has done over the years, which allows us an unprecedented overall view, warts and all, of what really goes on behind the scenes in some of the biggest Japanese and Western companies that vie for the attention (and the money) of Western fans.

Within the 400 plus pages you'll find:

How Jonathan wound up in a snowball fight with a female Swedish martial artist

The secret (and at times gruesome) life of hello kitty

How the future format of anime might be no format at all

The measures that some companies will take, legitimate or otherwise, to sell their
titles

The (not so) glamorous life of a Japanese voice actress

And Just what would a commentary track made by the aliens from the movie “Aliens” sound like?

I was fully engrossed by this book from cover to cover, and I even took a few stabs at guessing which titles or people he was talking about (their actual names disguised for legal reasons – and given the mount of things he talks about I can see why!)

Clement's writing style is always friendly and informative, and whether you're new to anime or an old hand, there's something in this book to entertain, shock or amuse in equal measure.

Bottom line, if you're interested in learning more about anime, from history to production, then this will be an essential addition to any collection.