Leiji Matsumoto is one of Japan's most influential myth creators. Yet the huge scope of his work, spanning past, present and future in a constantly connecting multiverse, is largely unknown outside Japan. Matsumoto was the major creative force on Star Blazers, America's gateway drug for TV anime, and created Captain Harlock, a TV phenomenon in Europe. As well as space operas, he made manga on musicians from Bowie to Tchaikovsky, wrote the manga version of American cowboy show Laramie, and created dozens of girls' comics. He is a respected manga scholar, an expert on Japanese swords, a frustrated engineer and pilot who still wants to be a spaceman in his eighties. This collection of new essays--the first book on Matsumoto in English--covers his seven decades of comic creation, drawing on contemporary scholarship, artistic practice and fan studies to map Matsumoto's vast universe. The contributors--artists, creators, translators and scholars--mirror the range of his work and experience. From the bildungsroman to the importance of textual analysis for costume and performance, from early days in poverty to honors around the world, this volume offers previously unexplored biographical and bibliographic detail from a life story as thrilling as anything he created.

THE FATE OF THE MYSTERIOUS PIRATE QUEEN Emeraldas navigates the sea of stars—and swears to do so until the flame of her life is extinguished. Aboard her ship, the Queen Emeraldas, she sails in search of a certain object, and along the way encounters the passions and tragedies of those who dare brave the infinite reaches of space. Among them, Hiroshi Umino, the Earth boy who escaped his home planet to follow his dreams, has remained in Emeraldas’ mind—and it seems fate will have them meet again…

Harlock and the Arcadia race against the clock and around the Earth to find anyone who can help them face the newly unleashed Mazon threat head-on and prevent the planet’s destruction before the enemy fleet even arrives!

The Earth government isn’t up to the task of protecting the planet from an impending invasion, so Harlock and his crew have to take it on themselves. The space pirates rush to investigate a looming threat already implanted on Earth that will make a Mazon takeover that much more likely. Will they be able to meet this threat head on and eliminate it from the board before humankind is under siege from all sides?

"This volume contains the Galaxy Express 999 manga stories originally published in Animerica issues vol. 7, no. 3 through vol. 8, no. 2 in their entirety."--T.p. verso.

Discover the major events and artists who have shaped the history of modern manga, with this deluxe expanded volume. Amid reconstruction after World War II, Japan saw the emergence of modern manga, which quickly became a favorite pastime of its citizens. Over the decades, the art form bore witness to the anxieties and dreams of several generations of Japanese citizens, reflecting both dark and joyful experiences. The history of manga is inextricably linked to the social, economic, political, and cultural evolution of Japan. Essential to the daily lives of its inhabitants and to its economy, manga is one of the drivers of the international development of one of the world’s largest economies. How did the manga market reach one billion copies annually in less than half a century? Who are the major players in this incredible expansion? Discover, over the pages and years, the major events and artists who have marked the history of modern manga in this new, updated and expanded edition. DEFINITIVE GUIDE: Beginning with the advent of modern manga in 1952, A History of Modern Manga covers the development and impact of the art form through to present day. THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE: Discover fascinating new details about essential entries in the manga canon, including Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Death Note, Naruto, Berserk, and more. STUNNING VISUALS: Features original, full-color illustrations as well as artwork from the featured manga titles! PERFECT GIFT FOR MANGA FANS: A History of Modern Manga is a fantastic gift for manga enthusiasts, as well as fans of Japanese history. A MANGA HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Explores the unique ways in which historical events you may already be familiar with impacted and influenced manga as we know it today.

"Impressive, exhaustive, labyrinthine, and obsessive—The Anime Encyclopedia is an astonishing piece of work."—Neil Gaiman Over one thousand new entries . . . over four thousand updates . . . over one million words. . . This third edition of the landmark reference work has six additional years of information on Japanese animation, its practitioners and products, plus incisive thematic entries on anime history and culture. With credits, links, cross-references, and content advisories for parents and libraries. Jonathan Clements has been an editor of Manga Max and a contributing editor of Newtype USA. Helen McCarthy was founding editor of Anime UK and editor of Manga Mania.