One kana character per page spread (hirigana on the left side of each spread, katakana on the right); a sample word using the kana on each page; a paragraph putting the word in cultural context; and a manga-style illustration.

It's a simple and effective formula... much the same one as used in Jimi's Book of Japanese, which we purchased last year. However, Kana de Manga appeals to a slightly older kid. My 12-year-old daughter declares herself very pleased with it. "Jimi" is a larger book, much more nicely produced (glossy paper, heavy cover, color) but seems pitched at the younger set. Also, you have to buy separate Jimi books for hirigana and katakana; this one combines both in one volume.

I particularly appreciated the fact that the hirigana words were mostly Japanese words, whereas the katakana examples were typically foreign loan words--reinforcing the fact that this is how the two syllabaries are used in real-life Japanese.

Considering that my kiddo has had the book only two days and is already telling me that "kiku" is chrysanthemum and yon-yon (4th day 4th month, or April 4) is Yo-Yo Day in Japan, I think I can safely say the book was a good investment.

Oh, about the "is it complete or is it not?" debate between previous reviewers--they're both wrong :-) The kana characters, when modified with the dakuten (two little lines) or handakuten (tiny circle), do indeed become different "letters" (really syllables), just as an N (en) and an N-tilde (enye) are two different letters in Spanish. The page-by-page treatment in this book covers only the basic 46 kana characters. However, the introductory material covers the use of the diacritical marks (dakuten changes K->G, S->Z, T->D, and so on; handakuten changes H->P). It also touches on doubled vowels and consonants.

Personally, I'd have liked to see these modified characters get their own pages--it's one thing to say "oh, and apply this rule to get that" but much better would be to show examples of the rule. But it's not a deal-breaker, especially for a book priced under ten bux.

This is literally the 'ABC's' of Japanese. It is very helpful, and I can actually read Japanese now! (Well almost...) This is a great book to get before Kanji de Manga, because you need to know the Hiragana and Katakana before moving on. So if you're interested in learning how to read and write Japanese, definitely get this book.

The people who say this book doesn't have all the characters are confused about Japanese. There are 46 characters in hiragana and 46 in katakana, and this book shows all of them :-)

I think what the other guys mean is that this book doesn't show how to change the characters with accent marks to make new sounds.

This book is like an ABC book that shows you all of the letters of the alphabet, but does not show you accents like two dots above a "u" or a slant line above an "a" or a squiggly mark above an "e" like in Spanish. Would you say the ABC book only shows half the letters of the alphabet?! Of course not! LOL!

Ok this is my last edit. This book has all characters. It shows you how to change the accent marks too. But the problem is if kids go out and see the syllable "KYU" then there will be confusion. This book doesn't show you how to get the sylabbles such as Ryu, Kyu, Ji and others. This can be quite a problem, so i recommend a purchase of a dictionary with a full kana chart. This book is great (the mnemonics and stroke order are worth the purchase alone)but like i said in my review of it's kanji counterpart a dictionary (and a book on grammar) is neccasary.

This book is great. Even if you don't study this book hard, you will memorize like 3-4 hirogana or katakana symbols a day. However, if you have not been studying the Japanese language for at least a month and a half, you will not understand what you are reading. Once translated the words are in Japanese, so you must be somewhat fluent. That's the only reason why I did not give this 5 stars. This book also teaches you a lot about the Japanese culture and traditions. Get this book.