Graphics Books

Pearls Before Swine is an awesome strip. I only wish I could meet the sughor in person!

For a Pearls Before Swine fan, it's an excellent choice.
If you've not read the comic strip before, read a few online first. It's a well written strip that definitely keeps the reader entertained. I've not been disappointed in the least by any of Stephan Pastis' books.

The cartoon characters are my favorite and having this book is wonderful.
It is to read over and over and over and when and where I want.

Pastis is a genius. When I need a lift, I just open to any page and read until I can't stop laughing.

This is a bizarre little cartoon with a great warped sense of humor. One warning; if you don't like puns and word play, this isn't for you, because this book has some of the worst puns I've ever read. Very clever.

The two main characters are Rat and Pig. Pig is sweet, naive and more than a little stupid. Rat on the other hand smokes, drinks and is arrogant as well as slightly psychotic. Other characters pop up like Zebra who has had numerous friends and relatives eaten by lions. These animals go to work and go out on dates, and make political and social statements that only cartoon animals can get away with. Pearls Before Swine is along the same lines as Bloom County and Far Side. It's not at that level yet, but is well on its way.

This is a must have for Robin/Nightwing fans. The story fills in some great details on Dick's transition from "Boy Wonder" to "Man Wonder".

Every character has their own voice and familiar characterization. Dick is brave and resourceful, Alfred is caring, Batman is callous and Jason Todd is a brat. The linear nature of the story is wonderful, not wasting time in re-caps and histories, but going forward with a great adventure.

The only drawback is the blocky, cartoony nature of the artwork, but the story is so well-written you hardly notice it.

What are you waiting for, buy this book!

There comes a time when all Robins must leave the nest and fly solo, and in this case, take flight under the new name of Nightwing. Yes, it's a painful cliché, but so apropos. Parting can be such sweet sorry, but in the end Dick Grayson needed to become his own man and the time was now. The natural evolution of Robin to NW was a long time coming, and fortunately Nightwing is one of the best new characters that DC has created in years. Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty bucked the recent trend of disappointing and pointless Year One stories as the two take us on a whirlwind "This is your life" journey from past to present connecting his pre-Batman days with his current status quo. He first travels to Metropolis for a heart to heart with his former World's Finest buddy Superman, and then on to the circus of his childhood, which also includes a surprise visit from the mysterious Deadman. Of course no Dick Grayson story would be complete without Barbara Gordon, the love of his life and occasional crime fighting partner. Their relationship is always a joy to read, and one of the more realistic and poignant portrayals in all of comics. We are finally brought full circle and a bit of future shock with his first encounter with his successor Jason Todd; sorry Dick, no one is irreplaceable. The dialogue is sharp and the characterizations are spot on; naturally Batman once again has to play the heavy just as a means of triggering the story to begin with. So despite some friction that may exist between them, this iconic cast of characters is one big, but not necessarily happy Batfamily, and we wouldn't want it any other way.

I read this recently, and it was worth it. both the writing and the drawings are good.

NIghtwing Year One is really a coming of age story. Dick Grayson grows up and this details his break with Batman and changing from Robin to Nightwing. Nightwing has always been a favorite of mine, though that probably relates to how big of a Batman fan I am. And I loved the artwork, with its thick lines and heavy blacks.

This a great tpb laying the foundation of Dick Grayson's transformation from Robin to Nightwing. After a falling out with Batman when confronting Killer Croc goes awry, Dick goes to Metropolis to talk to Clark Kent. Superman gives Dick the inspiration of Nightwing after telling him the story of crime fighter in Krypton who is called Nightwing!

After helping Superman disarm a terrorist attack, Dick travels back to old circus where he and his parent were once performers. The mysterious Deadmen inhabits various bodies to give Dick some advice as well.

Upon returning to Gotham, he explores his feeling with Batgirl, confronts Jason Todd, the new Robin, and must work with Robin as Nightwing in order to save Alfred, who is disguised as Two Face after Batman is shot and is incapacitated.

Well-done story weaving in the growth and maturity of Dick from Robin to Nightwing. Must own book for Batman and Nightwing fans! Fantastic art by McDaniels as always.

I picked up the Corax book when I grabbed three or four other Breed Books at my local game store seeing how they were three or four dollars each. Of all the books I bought that day, this was by far my favorite. The Corax are a changing breed in Werewolf: the Apocolypse, but have a completely different feel than anyone else I have tried. Corax are bird-brained scouts. Their style is great if you are the one at the game table constantly cracking jokes.

The book is, as per the norm for a White Wolf supplement, almost completely written from the perspective of an older Corax explaining the world to a younger bird. I personally found myself laughing on regular occasion at this narration. However, the history, purpose, style, and techniques of Corax were well covered.

The book also carries its standard comic in the front, something that was lost with the Revised editions of White Wolf games. This story gives you a short tale surrounding one of the supposedly legendary Corax, Raina. She is more deeply detailed toward the end of the book as well, if Storytellers want to include her in their story.

Overall, this book is quite possibly the best Breed Books White Wolf put out. Its humor, mechanics, and concepts will sell a player on the Corax quickly, and it will give STs something to play with that can both save their werewolf players' lives and annoy them to no end.

I have used this book many, many times to either make a Corax Character for myself, or to help others make their characters. The book is well written, and takes a turn away from the normal kill first and ask questions later style of the Garou (werewolves). The book is very informative and had a lot of background info for the Corax. If you are looking for a different type of character to play in your tabletop or LARP group, this is a great choice. Besides, how can you go wrong when you can have a character that can FLY?

Honestly--I picked up this book because I was going to be creating a character to help a friend out and I was immediately hooked! I read the thing from cover to cover and have several times since. The text is written with a great sense of humor and gives valuable insight to the workings of those wacky little were-ravens.

The wereravens are the messengers and scouts in the world of Werewolf. The history of the breed is narrated by a humorous Corax, who takes things that you think to be written in biblical style writing, and translates it into modern english (VERY funny)
I suggest this book to anyone who plays Werewolf but is getting tired of strictly garou and wants to add some color to the game.

I'll say openly that I'm no fan of Werewolf. Don't get me wrong, I understand the system and I've played my share of the characters, but werewolves always seem to be played a bit to slash and kill for my taste. Well, you can imagine my surprise when a friend lent me this book and told me, despite my less the cheerful comments on the subject of werewolves, that it wasn't like the others. He was definitely right. Not only are were-ravens extremely interesting, and the book it's self amusing. It's a wonderful change of style from the typical werewolf characters. Were-ravens aren't slash and kill characters, but they have other interesting skills that lend depth to any game I've seen them in. Not only would I suggest this book to were-creature fans, I would suggest it to people who aren't (like me) because if you think that were-wolves are all about death, be prepared for a wonderful surprise.

After Toji's kiss Momo has mixed feelings. She wants to have enjoyed the moment, but her emotions are clouded by Sae's warnings that he is just a lecherous pervert, so she feels wrong about it all. But a surprise visit from Toji at Momo's home in the evening goes a long way to restore her faith in him...until Sae begins to unsettle everything again. She's pulling out every weapon in her arsenal to besmirch Momo's reputation, including telling Toji that a newly formed bruise on her cheek is from Momo hitting her after she saw Sae and Toji kissing one another.

The two want to make up, but with Sae's poisonous words entering both of their brains it becomes difficult to do. Suddenly, Toji is not coming to school and Momo is concerned that it might be because of their fight, though the rest of the class knows it's because he has appendicitis. When Kiley is the one to tell her the truth she rushes to Toji's side, to find Sae already there. Then things just go from bad to worse.

I am really starting to appreciate the subtle nuances of character development in this series. Momo is strong despite her self issues, and manages to stand up for herself often...just at the wrong times, usually when Sae has spent time blackening her name and Momo's reactions predictably follow the pattern of Sae's machinations. Sae is scheming, manipulative, conniving, and has no originality to her whatsoever... and yet she still manages to dominate a number of people in the story. Toji is hard to be sympathetic with at times, true he is being manipulated and doesn't know who to trust, however he is quick to believe the bad in people, so naturally he falls into Sae's scheming. And then there's Kiley, who though he is a lecher seems to be the one who legitimately cares about Momo... he is always there when she needs him, he is always worried about her feelings, but she is so quick to blow him off because of her "idealized" crush on Toji for too long... given the choice between the two I would have chosen Kiley long before this point...at least he is genuine and caring and accepts Momo with all her flaws that he never seems to see.

Overall, I am quickly getting addicted to this manga. This is high school angst at its juiciest, and I plan on reading the rest of the series as soon as is humanly possible.

I'll try not to write a review with any spoilers in it, but you really do have to have read the first two novels in order to understand what's going on in this book. I buy the Peach Girl manga for two reasons: 1) the story is so close to highschool reality, that most of the time, it's hard not to understand what the characters are going through, and 2) Miwa Ueda's artwork is absolutely beautiful! Continuing from the last book, in part three, Sae is still working to make Momo's life a living hell, and there are few people who Momo can really trust anymore. Toji is beginning to smarten up, and Momo is being more friendly to Kiley. If you liked the previous two books, there's no reason why you shouldn't like this one.

This was my favorite of the three published Peach Girl manga. The ending was satisfying, and they had a lot of good Kiley moments! If he's your favorite character, you'll love him more this time around.
In a way, this could be the end of the series, but there are a lot of unfinished questions, which you'll discover in the end of the book. If you thought that Momo ended up the underdog in the first two, you'll be satisfied with this one.

I gave this volume of the Peach Girl series five stars because it is the best of the first three. When the story starts, Sae has finally gotten what she wants; Momo and Toji have broken up. As if this is not enough, she enters Momo in the end of term swim meet... in every event. Not only will Momo be tanner than ever, but she will probably exhaust herself competing. To top it all off, Momo's classmates are crueler than ever. It's Kiley to the rescue, looking out for Momo no matter what... and all he wants in exchange is a ...hug?
The first part of this series comes to a grand climax in the last scene of this manga. For all Peach fans rooting for Momo, your heart will break and then you will cheer... buy the book if you want to know what I'm talking about. It will be well worth it.

Great! Toji finally gets a clue, Kiley finally gets a hug, and Sae finally gets her comeuppance! It didn't quite satisfy my lust for vengeance, because Momo really does get terribly abused and I feel Sae should at least be hit by a truck, but there you have it. I also feel some crueler punishment for Toji is in order, as I harbor a deep grudge against him for his previous actions in books 1 and 2, but we'll see how it goes in book 4. Tantalizing and full of poignant moments, as well as some funny ones.

I'm not a student, but I've found this book to be the best reference available for a comprehensive introduction/reference to photography. I obtained my copy at half price books (1st ed.) for [...] $, and were it not for that store i would have never known this excellent resource as I'm neither a "student" nor rich. The only other book that I've seen that approaches this one is René Bouillot's "La photographie argentique", which approaches that of Mr. Warren's in content and exposition but lacks the excellent paper/pictures and may be a little pretentious for néophytes as myself. Bruce Warren's Photography is by all accounts the best photography book i've encountered.

This book goes through the very basics of photography and is great for the student photography major or for someone wishing to further their knowledge in photography. Warren does not specialize in one specific area, but gives an over all to photography, it's special effects and bits of darkroom information

As everyone knows, college books are quite expensive and often hard to find. It's good to turn to Amazon.com and quickly find the textbook, for less than retail, and shipped in time for class!

This book should be on every new photographers buy list. In fact I think I'll put together a photo list and add it!

It's a largish textbook that is both well designed and clear. A rare find in textbooks, it actually teaches! I've found it very useful, very comprehensive and it's taught me quite a bit.

It's stylish, color, and will replace a lot of other books simply because it covers so much ground (not just technical aspects, but stylistic and subject matter). Amazon has it for a good price. I found this while shopping at Fry's and Amazon had it much cheaper.

I actually attended classes taught Mr. Warren and was around when he
was developing his first edition. He loved what he did and it showed in his
teaching and this is what is in his book. A love and practical understanding
and teaching to bring out the "best photographer" in you.

Most books go over all the essentials. Even Deke McClelland's find ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS2 ONE-ON-ONE is great at introducing the NEW features and changes. But Ben's book is a quickie, one-day overview of what's new and improved and changed. For the price, there is no better book for someone buying PSCS2 to upgrade from any older version (like I did, from quaint old Photoshop 5.5). Full color pictures and clear typography -- making it easy to go back and review -- just make this book a steal at Amazon's discounted price. Get it!

Ben Wilmore is one of the foremost Photoshop trainers in the world. When he has time, he writes articles he sends to his photoshop mailing list (well worth joining). His tips are always on target and have provided me with extremely valuable insights into using Photoshop.

If you are a novice with Photoshop, or have never used a version before CS2, this isn't the best book for you. Willmore assumes you have substantial experience with Photoshop CS. However, if you are a CS user who is moving up to CS2, this book is an invaluable guide to the many new features in CS2. I have found this book extremely helpful and very readable. As usual, Wilmore's style is clear, easy-to-read, and the color illustrations very helpful. No, I don't get a cut of his royalties, I just love it when I find a reference that is truly worth the price!

Title: Photoshop CS2 : Up to Speed
Author: Ben Willmore
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Number of pages: 171
ISBN: ISBN: 0321330501
List Price: $24.99

Photoshop CS2 - Up to Speed was written for users of Photoshop CS (v8.0)who plan to or have just upgraded to CS2. The longer you have been using CS the more you will appreciate and benefit from this book. Expert Photoshop user/author/teacher Ben Willmore had access to the Adobe Photoshop design team to review chapters and technical issues which resulted in an in-depth
and accurate detailed description of the changes made in CS2(v9.0).

Each chapter starts out by providing an overview, and a section called "Where's My Stuff". From there each topic in the overview is explained in detail. Visually the book is well written and easy to read - using bold colored text, and colored screen
captures (with additional descriptions below each screen capture). Occasionally the small screen captures can be difficult to read. There is an overwhelming amount of information contained within each chapter. Ben covers all types -what's new, what's changed, what's been removed, changes to menus and keyboard shortcuts.

The 1st chapter provides lots of details on Bridge but may be better served from a DVD based video explanation. Bridge is a very visual application. The 2nd chapter on General Tweaks covers numerous miscellaneous tweaks that is a must read for
CS2 upgrade users. Chapter 3 covers the new Layers palette in fine detail. Chapters 4 and 5 on Smart Objects and Variables respectively are worth the price of the book alone - well done Ben. Chapter 6 covers small gems (WYSIWYG Font Menu, Smart Guides, Animation Palette, Swatches, PDF-X, Adobe Stock Photos) sufficiently. From here the next chapters cover photographic related topics (Camera Raw 3, - High Dynamic Range imaging, Retouching & Filter Enahancements, Small Gems). These chapters are clearly explained through a thorough use of screen captures and photos.

Summary: If you are a long time photoshop CS user then this is the 1st book you should buy and read. Ben covers every area (except ImageReady which had esssential no changes and Version Cue) in great detail and leaves no area untouched. Since there is an overwhelming amount of information (changes) described in this book (that's a good thing) I would suggest while and or after reading each chapter to bring up CS2 and go over the information just covered. Also, you do not need to read the book in the order in which it was written. Choose the areas you are interested in most first then come back to the other chapters. Finally, if there is one suggestion I would make to the author for the next version of "Up to Speed" consider creating a DVD based visual guide to describe the changes going from CS2 to CS3 to accompany/supplement the written book.
Overall I highly recommend this book for the target audience just described and the price of the book with an online discount is a bargain.

This book does exactly what it says on the cover, and it does it extremely well. It has been my constant source of reference for the past three weeks as even the often neglegted Index is well thought out.
I was always a big fan of the File Browser and was sorry to see it replaced in CS2 by the Bridge, which I must admit it took me some time to get my head round (where has the Desktop gone?) until this book came along. Ben goes through it in great detail, as he does with everything, and I now find it a breeze.
Everything new, and everything moved or hidden, is covered in a very well explained and simplistic style accompanied by detailed illustrations. The presentation and layout of the book is absolutely superb, and for anyone with a knowledge of Photoshop, moving up from CS to CS2 this book must be at the top of the shopping list.
It is not for anyone coming straight into Photoshop at CS2 level

The biggest challenge to anyone upgrading to a new version of an application is figuring out what's new. Willmore makes this easy. In a clear, concise format, he lays out exactly what's new in CS2, from the relatively mundane to the great new hidden features that you wouldn't likely find without a tour guide like this.
It's important to note that this is not a beginner's guide. The very format of the book should make this clear, but this isn't a starting point for someone looking to learn Photoshop - it's a book for people that are already familiar and comfortable with Photoshop who, as the title says, just need to get "up to speed" with the latest release of Photoshop.

I consider buying a Pearls collection to be a health investment. Doctors say that laughing is good for your heart, and Pearls Before Swine has to have added at least a year to my life. I think this collection is all of 2005 comic strips, and I would recommend reading the previous 2 books BLTs Taste So Darn Good, and This Little Piggy Stayed Home. Or better yet, get the treasury Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic, which has both (and the Sunday strips are in color). I haven't read the "Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My!" treasury yet but I suspect it has all the strips in this book.

Ever since I discovered PBS in our local paper I have been a devoted fan of Pastis' different? sense of humour. I have turned my friends and relatives on to PBS as well. I have made it a goal to buy all his books so I will have a complete collection that I can put beside my 'The Complete Far Side' and 'The Complete Calvin & Hobbes Collection'. PBS has earned the right to be in this great company.
Buy this book, in fact buy all his books; a mind this warped deserves to be rewarded.

Very funny, so much so that I read it through 3 times before I gave it to my parents to laugh and enjoy. I still get a smile when I thumb through it. Of all Mr Pastis books, you should have this one for sure.

Mandatory reading for Pearls fans, plus you'll gain new insights into the secret lives of condiments.

I am a huge fan of Pearls Before Swine, and bought this book to add to my collection. The comics are great!

My only complaint is, I already owned one of his anthologies: Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My! All but about three of the cartoons in this book (Ratvolution) are in Lions and Tigers and Crocs. It was really disappointing to spend another seven or eight dollars for all the same cartoons.

Otherwise, it's great, classic Pearls.

I've loved reading this book and learned a lot from it. It's even still relevent with Photoshop 6. My only negative comment is that the book is so heavy physicaly that you cant enjoy reading it but by putting it on a table.

What makes this book great is the personal perspective of the authors. Rather than simply explaining features, the authors tell you which features THEY use and when. I suppose this is what they mean by "real world."

If you use Photoshop, but you don't use high-level techniques, you owe it to yourself to get this book. This is not one of those books on how to do crazy effects, rather it's a tool for serious users to get the most from Photoshop's tools. This book takes you through each of the different features of Photoshop -- sharpening, color correction, making selections -- and teaches you things you thought you already knew.

P.S. Years after writing this review, and attending Photoshop workshops, I can attest that the information in this book holds up. The advice on topics such as color correction, making selections, sharpening, etc are still on-the-money and totally applicable to Photoshop 7, so if you can get this book at a big discount it may well be worthwhile.

while this book does have a lot of useful info, there are a few things i don't like about it. for starters, there is NO cd. most books come with a cd full of imges and other goodies. that may seem like a minor detail, but it would be nice to be able to have the same images from the book in order to practice on. the other thing i dislike about this book and this is my biggest complaint is the very bad rosette pattern of the halftone dots. it is so bad, that in some cases it's hard to see the "before and after" effect in the images. i also don't like the fact that all of the curves in the book are backwards!!!!! i have been drawing curves before DTP ever exsisted, and find it very hard to do things backwards and i have yet to see anyone use curves in that manner in the working world. the authors also seem to place too much emphasis on histograms...in my 7 years of working in photoshop, i've never seen anyone call up a histogram and use it for any sort of work yet the authors make it seem like it's an everyday thing for people to judge images with a histogram...these are minor rants, but i'd recommend the photoshop bible to people before this book.....real world photoshop is definitely a book to own, but not as a first photoshop book....

This is for people who use Photoshop in a professional setting. It will help you get better scans and get better output from your scans.

I adore this book! It is one of those books that I just pick up and flip to a random page, and absorb the wisdom. It is full of tiny little things you can do to make your work look more professional. This guy is amazing.

One-Minute Designer Revised edition Roger C. Parker MIS:Press, 1997

Like it or not, if you use a computer you are a typographer, and that's anyone who arranges words within a given space: letter, report, bulletin, brochure, ad, billboard, book, sign etc. You don't have to be a graphic designer to create good typography because Roger Parker makes it easy to communicate clearly. The book is methodically organized. Each page is devoted to one subject, i.e. column width, placement, type sizes, word and letter spacing, font choice-all 204 of them. Parker writes easily, clearly, succinctly, and is always on the side of the reader, and the absence of verbiage and posturing is refreshing. Each page has direct, easy-to-understand two color illustrations that unambiguously define the text. Unlike program manuals that have incomplete or misnamed subjects, I'm impressed with Parker's contents page and glossary, which makes it easy for the reader to find information quickly. The soft cover book is a comfortable, easy to hold 7" x 9" portrait format. For quick review, the italic captions are printed in red. Text is set in one of my favorite fonts Minion, designed by Robert Slimbach one of the world's great type designers. The generous 11-point size makes is easy to read. This is a book that makes it easy to produce good looking, well organized layouts that communicate, a rarity in manuals. Parker's book should be within arm's length at a workstation, and [for the money], it's money in the bank.

Doyald Young, teacher and author: Logotypes & Letterforms and Fonts & Logos

This book is amazing. It lists 200 examples of good and bad design in a text/title/image/graphic perspective for business documents (which is just like a website). This book is a bible for begining or intermediate graphic designers who want to make the perfectly organized data (newsletters, website, newspaper, etc). Instead of long chapters of boring theory and idealism, it points out common design mistakes and shows a better way to do it and throws in a couple sentences of theory to it. In my opinion this is a must in anyone's library of books.

I bought this masterpiece after I read 'The Non-Designers Design Book' by Robin Williams. The content is much the same, but explored much more thoroughly, with clear examples and well-thought layouts.

If you want to get only one book on Desktop Publishing, THIS IS THE ONE! Don't waste your time with other books.

A paper design is self-explanatory and self-maintaining. This is why Roger Parker was able to write this superb book on design for paper. Web publishing involves collaborative maintenance of a collection of material. So one can never achieve such clarity. Anyway, this is a great book if you want to design some paper stuff and it is also good to think about why you'll never have it this easy in the Web world.

I imagine that if you are reading a review for the fifth volume of Saiyuki, then you are already aware of the amount of violence and social taboos the series contains, and don't need to be told again. If not, you have been duly warned.

Following up on the Hakkai's past arc that took up most of volume four, volume five is about 3/4ths flashback on how everyone's favourite quartet of hellions met in the first place. Following Hakkai's - then Cho Gonou - murder of the demons who took his sister, Gojyo comes across Hakkai, near-death, and takes him home to recuperate. Sanzo, on the other hand, is in Chang'an, where the Three Aspects of Buddha charge him with the misson of capturing Hakkai and bring him to the temple for trial. Reluctantly, Sanzo and Goku track him down to Gojyo's apartment. Needless to say, the hot-headeds get into a fight, but Sanzo manages to complete his misson without too much blood being spilled. The rest of the volume picks back up in the present, where the four are traveling through the desert. On the way, they hear that a local demon possesses one of Tenchi Kaigen Sutras and the group goes off in search. To make a long story short, they are captured, Sanzo is injured, and Hakkai, Gojyo, and Goku must get out of the demon's lair before it collapses and the desert falls on them. Oh, and Kougaji and Dokugakuji show up too.

I can't say I like this volume as much as I like the volumes that come immediately before and after. Volume four dealt with Hakkai's past, which is so twisted one wonders how many nights Minekura-san spent thinking it up. Volume six has Demon Goku in it, which is always very cool to see. And seeing how much of the series' appeal comes from the characters and their interactions with each other, volume 5's mainly plot-based story isn't as good as when Minekura-san just lets the four guys run wild with a situation. Still, Saiyuki is probably one of the best series out there, and if you're just getting into the series this volume is a must-have to understand what bonds the four main characters together.

From Saiyuki, Vol. 1 to Saiyuki Reload 4, the amazing detail on this amazing writing on this amazing author and illustrator is... well... amazing. Their adventures throughout the Yukai Demon world is tough, and their adventure through trying to get Goku some food is... very tough, but they make it through with the understandable, unnaceptable written works, that I believe should someday become a legend.

This is based on either a book-book or a REALLY old Japanese tale (that part I can't remember specifically) but I DO know that the mangaka DID intend it to be slashy! She's a BL author, in fact, everything I've found under her name is a "Boys Love" novel. I was happy to learn this; it met that Gojyo tease-flirting Goku like the pair in Legal Drug wasn't just all-in-my-head wishfull thinking. I think girls in Japan like "uke" Sanzo because he reminds them of Takuto Izumi from Zetsuai, or Eiri Yuki from Remix Gravitation.

Aside from the yaoi-factor, the story itself is excellent with a pepped up humorous take on the story it's inspired/based on. Don't think that the entire manga is the anime word-for-word, picture-for-picture....it only starts that way & takes a different turn at some point.

I started reading this purely because my friend had it...Just wish I'd got to it sooner is all I can say!
Saiyuki has to be one of my favourite mangas, and I'm still only halfway through the series so far. The plot is great; with the exact balance between humour, action and hotness (oh yeah!). And, to add to this, the artwork is truly amazing....and hot...
I'd recommend this to anyone into manga: though it does have certain side effects....priest fetish, anyone??

I was introduced to this manga by one of my friends who knew what appealed to me and said I would love Saiyuki. She didn't tell me anything about it, didn't say how I would soon fall in love. This is a story loosely (very, very loosely) based on the Chinese tale The Journey to the West, and in Japanese, this tale is called Saiyuki. In Shangri-La, demons and humans have been living peacefully. One day, the demons suddenly start ripping the humans apart. This is what leads to Sanzo, a gun toting, chain-smoking "priest", Goku, a 500 year old gluttonous monkey demon, Gojyo, a drinking, gambling, half demon ladies man, and Hakkaku, a kind hearted, soft-spoken demon to become the saviors of their homeland by finding out just what's going down inm their journey to the west. This one hell of a good shojo/shonen manga read, but I think that the art stlye will appear mostly to girls. I know it did to me.