This fall, Stone Bridge Press published the one book that every anime fan and every retailer who deals in anime should have at their fingertips -- The Anime Encyclopedia (see 'Anime Encyclopedia Due in Sept').  With detailed entries for over 2,000 anime films and series made between 1917 and 2000, this volume by Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements is an absolutely essential reference tool.  Though some readers might quibble with a few of the authors' critical comments and assessments, the information on each film, which includes key creative personnel, studio names, alternate titles, cross references and parental ratings, is invaluable. The 550-page volume sports two extremely useful indexes, one dedicated to creators and studios, and the other to titles.  The indexes make The Anime Encyclopedia extremely easy to use, but it is also fun just to browse through the pages and check out the amazing diversity of anime.

In addition to credits, plot lines, and character descriptions the individual entries include thousands of fascinating tidbits of information.  For example, Akira (Dragon Ball) Toriyama's Dr. Slump anime series, which is yet to appear in an English version, scored a 'massive TV rating of 36.9 in Japan during the 1980s, which dwarfs the top rating of 7.1 earned by the recent 'mega-hit' Neon Genesis Evangelion during the 1990s.' Though it is important to note that the anime market has become much more fragmented in the last decade with more stations broadcasting more series in Japan, Dr. Slump's ratings are still mind boggling.  The Anime Encyclopedia would be invaluable if it were just a listing of credits, characters, and plots, but it is much more than that.