This book contains an important collection of essays by an international cast of scholars, experts and fans. It provides a one-stop resource for all those who want to learn more about Manga, as well as for anybody teaching a course on the subject. Once upon a time, one had to read Japanese in order to enjoy manga. Today manga has become a global phenomenon, attracting audiences worldwide. The style has become so popular, in fact, that in the US and UK publishers are appropriating the manga style in a variety of print material. Comic publishers such as Dark Horse and Viz are translating Japanese classics, such as Fruits Basket, into English. And of course it wasn't long before Shakespeare received the manga treatment. So what is manga?Manga roughly translates as 'whimsical pictures' and its long history traces all the way back to picture books from eighteenth century Japan. Today, it comes in two basic forms: anthology magazines that contain several serials and manga 'books' (tankobon) that collect long-running serials from the anthologies and reprint them in one volume. The anthologies contain several serials and are so dense that they are colloquially known as phone books.Containing sections addressing the manga industry on an international scale, the different genres, formats and artists, as well the fans themselves, Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives is an important collection of essays.