If, like this reviewer, you enjoy reading manga and have fancied trying your hand at becoming a mangaka yourself, this wee book is just the job. Less than 5 inches high, it will fit into a bag or pocket (or a Christmas stocking or can even be hung on a Christmas tree), and is surely ideal to take on vacation so you can practice your art in spare moments.

Perhaps a spiral bound format might have been more user friendly, but I like the small design and can imagine taking it where other books could not easily be taken.

It starts you off with setting up your workstation and buying a remarkably modest range of art materials, which most people reading this review will not doubt already own—I’m applauding already! Then it is on with the drawing, and showing how to build up typical male and female characters (as well as cute chibi) and get into the typical manga style. There are ideas for poses and clothes, different textures and finishes and close-ups of tricky areas such as hands and feet, as well as getting those trademark manga eyes just right. Later sections include weaponry and vehicles, plus a few mecha figures as well, to whet your appetite for the companion to this, Mecha Manga (Amazon US || UK). All in all a delightful little book and hopefully the first in a whole series.