Tim takes a look @ Yoaki Attack!: The Japanese Monster survival Guide
By Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt Published Kodansha International
You’d be forgiven for thinking ‘Random cash-in book’ following the Devilry that was Pokemon and it’s clones, but you would be very wrong.
This useful book has a excellent comprehensive list of the most famous (but not always) Japanese monsters. It is littered with modern illustrations by Tatsuya Morino and classic woodblock prints of the artist Sekien Toriyama
Sidenote: The word ‘Yoaki’ is used to represent demons and the such like, but not always as this book shows.
EVERY entry in this has proper pronunciations of names in phonetics (someone will pick me up on this) and very useful information about locals and what to do when they attack.
As an Anime fan this makes a lot of the gribleys I see on screen understandable, as a DM this provides a source of potential encounters (especially the Kuchisake Onna) in an oriental campaign as someone who knows those who dabble in Asian Extreme Cinema I can be a knowledgeable sod.
Also anyone doing a University Paper on Japanese Culture should consider picking this up too.
What I learned from this book:
* Quite what Tanuki can use their testiculars for.
* Why not to annoy Tengus (of any sort)
* If my cat starts talking be wary.
* If on a boat why I should have a pole and holey bucket.
* What the name of that one legged umbrella thing from ‘Super Mario Land 2’ was (a Kara-Kasa by the way).
Overall: A lovely book of great legends and stories (even if they do seem a bit mad in places, seriously a hand washing giant).
You’d be forgiven for thinking ‘Random cash-in book’ following the Devilry that was Pokemon and it’s clones, but you would be very wrong.
This useful book has a excellent comprehensive list of the most famous (but not always) Japanese monsters. It is littered with modern illustrations by Tatsuya Morino and classic woodblock prints of the artist Sekien Toriyama
Sidenote: The word ‘Yoaki’ is used to represent demons and the such like, but not always as this book shows.
EVERY entry in this has proper pronunciations of names in phonetics (someone will pick me up on this) and very useful information about locals and what to do when they attack.
As an Anime fan this makes a lot of the gribleys I see on screen understandable, as a DM this provides a source of potential encounters (especially the Kuchisake Onna) in an oriental campaign as someone who knows those who dabble in Asian Extreme Cinema I can be a knowledgeable sod.
Also anyone doing a University Paper on Japanese Culture should consider picking this up too.
What I learned from this book:
* Quite what Tanuki can use their testiculars for.
* Why not to annoy Tengus (of any sort)
* If my cat starts talking be wary.
* If on a boat why I should have a pole and holey bucket.
* What the name of that one legged umbrella thing from ‘Super Mario Land 2’ was (a Kara-Kasa by the way).
Overall: A lovely book of great legends and stories (even if they do seem a bit mad in places, seriously a hand washing giant).
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