Myths, Monsters, and Manga

A visually striking exploration and celebration of the vibrant worlds of fantasy, anime and manga within Asian visual culture, and its cultural impact across the globe. This beautiful, visually rich, image-led publication invites readers to immerse themselves in the vibrant world of fantasy within Asian visual culture. Each chapter features captivating illustrations, photographs and artworks that reflect a dynamic interplay between historical and contemporary influences. It begins with pre-modern artistic traditions that established fantasy as a foundation of visual culture in China, India, Japan, Korea and beyond. The book then traces the spread of surrealism through Asia, along with the postwar emergence of anime and manga, examining how fantastical aesthetics shaped art and pop culture across the region in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Later chapters then delve into the contemporary worlds of popular culture, exploring the evolution of anime and manga in Japan from the postwar period to the present day, with a final chapter celebrating the diverse work of carefully selected contemporary practitioners. The book uniquely spotlights the Golden Age of Asian popular culture in the 1980s and 1990s and its global impact. Diverse in thematic scope and illustrated with striking visuals, Myths, Monsters, and Manga shows how anime played a vital role in reshaping the global entertainment landscape and its enduring impact across art, design, architecture, film, fashion, video games and digital culture in the twenty-first century.