BOOK OF THE WEEK
 McCarthy,
Helen (1996). The Anime! Movie Guide. Woodstock, NY:
Overlook Press. Published
in the United States in 1996, one may think The Anime! Movie
Guide is only of limited use to scholars and fans of anime,
especially with the recent publication of the recent Anime
Encyclopedia (incidentally by McCarthy and Jonathan Clements),
a book that greatly expands on McCarthy's efforts here.
So why am I reviewing this book, other than out of an impulse
to have commentary on every anime text available? The reason
is that even though the book is not the most up-to-date of its
kind, it is still useful as a quasi-historical text of the development
of modern anime.
This book lists and categorizes anime movies and OAVs from 1983,
the year of the first OAV with Oshii Mamoru's Dallos,
until 1995, the year before the book was completed. McCarthy
comes right out and states that it is not a complete list of
such works produced during this time, but rather focuses on
titles that she believed were important and about which she
had information.
As a straight-up reference work, the layout leaves something
to be desired. The book is laid out year-by-year, listing the
films, then the OAVs, alphabetically within the appropriate
year. Such a layout makes casual browsing somewhat confusing
unless it is known in what year a particular title was produced.
(Of course, there is always the handy index in the back.)
On the other hand, such a listing is beneficial because it lays
out the information on the films and OVAs in a way different
from any other book on anime I have seen. By looking at the
films in a chronological manner, it becomes easier to trace
the evolution of anime, especially various genre themes.
Also of interest is McCarthy's commentaries on the movies and
OVAs, which are often entertaining and opinionated. Not all
entries stand on equal footing - some occupy nearly a full page
while others are a scant few lines.
If you are only going to have one anime reference book, it should
probably not be this one, as its contents are seven years out
of date - rather, go out and get yourself a copy of The
Anime Encyclopedia. As the book concentrates mainly on films
and OAVs, little is said about the television programs and series
that often influence and are the basis for such productions.
However, any such criticisms of the book must take into account
that that was one of the first English language books to contain
in-depth writing on anime, and for that it must be given credit.
As it stands, The Anime! Movie Guide is still a useful
guide for putting the recent developments of anime in perspective.
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