Graphics Books

Not that detailed but great if you are not going to sit down and read an involved design book. Quick tips.

Most of the books of the same kind, you'll find 500 pages just with theory, things that you should do and you shouldn't. This one is just plane and simple, if you are an expertise graphic designer, it will show you really cool and fresh ideas.
If you are a designer with no background education, it will guide you step by step in the process of creation.
For the price you pay and the content you get, this book is one of its kind.

I've read literally hundreds of design books and frankly find most of them to be long on theory and have precious little to offer by way of concrete learning and real-world usability. This book (and The Design-It-Yourself Newsletter also by Chuck - which I also own) doesn't overburden the reader with "fluff." It's a pleasure to find a book that tells me what I should know and need to know rather than what some "expert" wants to tell me. These books are practical, useful, clear, and easy-to-follow. Do yourself a favor and invest a very reasonable sum in this book (or any of Chuck's books for that matter), and you will be a better designer for it.

Who is this book for? Non-designers trying to design their own logos, letterheads & businesscards.

How good is it? It's the best I've come across. And I've gone through hundreds of them. This book helped me design a logo and stationary for more than one business, got my creative juices flowing, gave me a lot of ideas - that I would've never thought about otherwise - and to top it all, gave me STEP BY STEP instruction on how to achieve simple but very elegant, clean & professional results!

The design of the book itself makes you want to buy it the very first time you look at it - very well organized, simple, elegant. Inspires confidence.

Does it deliver the goods as promised? SURE!

Another of Chuck's books that I read ages ago and is highly recommended and valuable even today: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book. It still sits on my desk/bookshelf, and I go back to it often to get new ideas.

Finally, Chuck's web site - ... - is equally impressive, a treasure chest of ideas & resources for budding or amateur designers exploring the world of design.

Request to Chuck if he reads this - please let us have more of these in a series - Design It Yourself Logos 2, 3, 4... etc. PLEASE!

Bharat Suneja

I recently purchased this book at a local bookstore on my lunch hour. It was so difficult to eat lunch with my new treasure and then have to return to work. Right after dinner that evening I sat down in a comfortable chair and just read and read until I went through the entire book. I just couldn't put this book down. It was wonderful, interesting and very informative. The recipes were great and I will incorporate their use in my at home graphic design business. I have been doing graphic design for about 8 years and cannot get enough to read on the subject. I am self taught and this is just the kind of book that will help those who are just like me, or even give fresh new ideas to those who are experts. Thanks Chuck! I need more of this -- got any more like this coming?

My husband bought this for me when he bought me Photoshop Elements, and it was immensely helpful! I am now very comfortable in Photoshop, thanks to the easy to follow instructions and visuals.

The volume's strong point is its voluminous visual to illustrate every phase of digital photography from equipment to printing paper. It also bridges the gap from optical to digital photography. Technical in presentation ... for the experienced phohtographer ...

A profusely illustrated with more than 1500 full-color photographs, step-by-step 'how to' guide for taking great photographs and then digitally enhancing them using Photoshop, "Digital Photograph" by Michael Wright is very highly recommended both for its comprehensiveness and for being so 'user friendly' in its organization and presentation. Covering Photoshop essentials in general, including Photoshop 7 and Photoshop CS in particular, "Digital Photography" addresses simple and complex retouching techniques, removing 'red eye' from images, cloning, hand tinting, restoring old photographs, photo montages, digital painting, adding text to images, special effects, storing images, creating photo essays, printing, file size, composition, color theory, bracketing, lighting, backgrounding, and so much more. "Digital Photograph" is a single volume instructional guide that is strongly recommended for anyone aspiring to enhance their photography through Photoshop technology.

More pictures, less words, better understanding! This book truly is a step-by-step visual guide for taking pictures, and then whipping them into shape in Photoshop.

This book is not about about how to take better digital photos. It's a book that gives step by step instructions on how to do numerous photo editing. If you're not experienced in PhotoShop, then I highly recommend this book. For a novice, it might be a good refresher for you.

One of the things I love about this book is it actually does give step-by-step visuals on the how tos. It shows you what the photoshop box will look like, tells you were to find the tools you need, etc.

If that's what you're looking for, then this book is ideal for you. As I said, if you're a novice, it's a nice refresher or quick reference book.

This is a great book for beginners and professionals. Although, if you are a beginner, you will need some basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop CS2 or CS3.

Ctein does a great job of walking the reader through the individual photo restorations. He also lets the reader know about different types of software that will help with the restorations and how the software works. I found this to be very helpful.

I wish I had this book when I did my first restorations.

This is an excellent guide to restoration of old photos and negatives. Everything you'd want to have explained, laid out in step by step detail. This covers most all of the situations you're likely to be confronted with. Highly recommended.

Although I am most heavily involved today in taking new photographs, I have an interest in restoring and repairing many old photographs that I have digitized with my scanner. This book is the best guide I have found for everything from minor fixes to full-blown reconstructions. It is highly recommended.

This book is thoughtfully written with many good photo editing techniques that I haven't seen in other books. Worth the money. The author explains multiple methods for accomplishing similar results. A good book.

Once I started reading this book I had difficulty putting it down until I had finished it. It was so interesting to read how it would be possible to transform sometimes hopeless looking photos into beautiful photographs. It explains a lot about masking & curves adjustments & I feel that this book will be my restoration bible. Since I've had a computer less than a year & Photoshop for a few months, I didn't understand a lot of what I was reading, so I don't know if this should be a beginners first restoration book. It provides a sophisticated approach to digital photo restoration from scan to print.

Being big disney fans, my son really enjoyed receiving this as a Christmas gift. It comes beautifully packaged and is a great addition to his collection. Playing the cd's brings fond memories of the rides and attractions at Disneyland Park and makes you wish you were there.

You must be a Disney fan for truly appreciate this book. If that is your case, you'll love it!!. The "pockets" where some of the "souvenirs" are located are a little tight, and can tear with ease. Other than that, it is a nice idea.

I absolutely love this book! I love seeing replicas of letters, stories, pamphlets, early drawings, etc. When people come to visit they pick it up and are as fascinated as we are. It's one of the coolest books we own.

These books are like a pop up book on steroids...They are FULL of interesting little pieces that you can take out and look at, like letters from Walt to Lillian, ride tickets from the early days and all sorts of other things...These 2 books are worth every penny!!!

This book is a timeless classic, an absolute gem. For anyone wishing to get a real glimpse into the magic that is Disney this is the book.It offers historical insight and hands on replica memorabilia. I found this book full of information and fun.Beautifully presented.

EC, in all of its incarnations, help shape and influence my own art, WEIRD SCIENCE not withstanding. Buy this you must! BTW mine was printed upside down. Odd.

EC comics weird science rocks! If you are a fan of 50's sci-fi movies you'll love this stuff.

I bought this for my boyfriend and he is enjoying it very much. He says that the illustrations are better than he thought they would be. He recommends this book.

Terrific collection of the first six issues of a favorite comics from my childhood. Hard cover, vivid full-color reproduction on high quality paper, with short bios and backgrounds on key players in the comic's conception and production. If you enjoyed Weird Science, this book is a must.

Here's a listing of this edition's stories:

From the May/June 1950 issue:
1.) "Lost in the Microcosm" by Albert B. Feldstein (Script) & Harvey Kurtzman (Art)
2.) "Dream of Doom" by Feldstein (Script) & Wally Wood (Art)
3.) "Experiment ... In Death" by Feldstein (Script) & Jack Kamen (Art)
4.) "'Things' From Outer Space!" by Feldstein (Script & Art)

From the July/August 1950 issue:
5.) "The Flying Saucer Invasion" by Feldstein (Script & Art)
6.) "The Meteor Monster" by Feldstein (Script), Harry Harrison (Pencils) & Wood (Inks)
7.) "The Micro-Race!" by Feldstein (Script) & Kamen (Art)
8.) "The Man Who Raced Time" by Feldstein (Script) & Kurtzman (Art)

From the September/October 1950 issue:
9.) "Destruction of the Earth!" by Feldstein (Script & Art)
10.) "The Sounds from Another World!" by Feldstein (Script) & Kurtzman (Art)
11.) "Machine from Nowhere" by Feldstein (Script) & Harrison (Art)
12.) "The Eternal Man" by Feldstein (Script) & Kamen (Art)

From the November/December 1950 issue:
13.) "Panic!" by Feldstein (Script & Art)
14.) "The Radioactive Child" by Kurtzman (Script & Art)
15.) "House, in Time!" by Feldstein (Script) & Graham Ingels (Art)
16.) "I Created a ... Gargantua!" by Feldstein (Script) & Kamen (Art)

From the January/February 1951 issue:
17.) "Made of the Future!" by Feldstein (Script & Art)
18.) "Return" by Feldstein (Script) & Wood (Art)
19.) "The Last War on Earth" by Kurtzman (Script & Art)
20.) "The Man Who Was Killed in Time!" by Feldstein (Script) & Kamen (Art)

From the March/April 1951 issue:
21.) "Spawn of Venus" by Feldstein (Script & Art)
22.) "Man and Superman!" by Kurtzman (Script & Art)
23.) "Sinking of the Titanic!" by Feldstein (Script) & Wood (Art)
24.) "Divide and Conquer" by Feldstein (Script) & Kamen (Art)

This is one of the best commercially available books on caricature. However, I would recommend looking at a few books, rather than just this one (this isn't a standalone caricature education resource). Some of the caricatures don't look a lot like the real people they represent; whether this is an artistic choice or a limitation of the talent involved is a mystery. Many, useful techniques are contained herein; some readers may be disappointed in the results achieved and need more instruction in achieving a recognizable likeness. Worth a look; one of the best.

I used to do caricatures and this pretty much is what I did for over a year. This is a well designed instructional book... It gives many variations of eyes, noses, mouths, facial structure and hair style. I recommend this book as a handy reference source to my students.

I purchased this book about a week ago after seeing it at a bookstore and seeing all of the excellent reviews for it. I have been studying art for a few years and having worked at a bookstore as well I know when I read a good art instruction book and this is definitely one of them. It has practical to do steps that gradually build a persons skill. A common pitfall of art books is they show a finished product of the artist but they leave it a mystery as to how they got there. This book will help seasoned artist as well as give newer ones confidence in their ability to do caricatures. Highly recommended!

I have several books on caricature and have to say this is the best. The funny thing is that some of the pages looked kind of familiar and I realized that they were some of the handouts used at the local amusement park. After looking at Harry's picture at the end, I do remember him holding some excellent training classes at the park. He has an excellent way of explaining the whole process. This is an excellent book on the subject.

Very good explaniation and a lot of figures for practice.
I like so much.

Wow, what a great story for the final volume in this series. Ryo and Dee have to protect a woman as bodyguards, who has entered the witness-protection program of the FBI. What complicates the matter is the fact that this woman is married to the number two man in organized crime in New York. But the woman also seems to have plans of her own...

Ok, in addition to lots of kissing and snuggling of Ryo and Dee in the other books of the series, this is the volume where Ryo and Dee finally make love. Actually they're making love twice. The first time Ryo is still unsure, but decides to throw his doubts overboard. But it takes Ryo another three weeks until he finally declares his love for Dee on a trip to Long Island. And after that they make love again. ;)

This series as a whole is simply terrific, the drawings are beautiful and sometimes hilariously funny and the characters are interesting. The love scenes in my opinion are always tasteful and sweet. I just loved this series.

I have so much love for this series. UST all over the place, heavy plot, well developed characters (even the minor ones!), good artwork, and finally, *finally* Dee and Ryo get together and wow, is it beyond good. I don't read Japanese so I don't know how good the translation is, but I like what I saw.

To really enjoy FAKE, the main thing you want to remember is that Sanami Matoh didn't know the specifics of American law or the NYPD (she admits as much in the author's notes). So just forget what you know about criminal procedure, the justice system and whatever you've seen on Court TV; if you can do that, you'll find this manga much more fun.

I've read a fair amount of yaoi manga and this is probably one of the best out there. You can't ask for much more in the way of plot and action. The characters are so well developed that they feel like real people and the artwork is beautiful. Seven volumes before Ryo finally gives into Dee, and the UST is maintained at a perfect level, just enough frustration to make you snatch up the next manga, but not enough to make you grow tired of it. And it's not really about the sex (or the lack of it; poor Dee), it's about getting to know these guys and their colleagues and figuring out each mystery they're involved in. By the time the series ends, you don't want to let them go.

If you're a yaoi fan and you (somehow) haven't read this series, it's one of the few I'd actually recommend buying instead of just checking out of the library. It doesn't get much better than this.

Yes, I know 'kool' isn't a word. Oh well, shoot me.

FAKE draws to a close in an amazingly well drawn (as always) scene of pure hearmelting bliss. I was sad to see it done, and wished that it went further. There is, actually, a short after-story for everyone else in the artbook buuuuut...it's not located in the 7th book! So sorry!

(For those who can, go find Like, like Love!)

The book on Ryo's past finally closes, the weight of his parent's death finally lifted from his shoulders. Thus he is able to finally let himself admit his love (gasp!) for Dee and they have a very erotic and amazing night together, after having one earlier in the book that had been a bit more rushed.

For those who like their yaoi/shonen-ai books light...this is still a bit graphic for those looking for sweet kisses and hugs. If you want full blown graphic sex scenes...neither are here. A subdued, cleverly shaded scene with beautiful imagery are given instead!

All in all...an amazing manga ends with the amazing finish of the seventh and last book.

FAKE, we miss you already.

(Don't forget to buy the DVD! :D)

This is my all time favorite series - even though it's only Shonen Ai it is the greatest Manga Series out there. The art is great and the story is funny and sweet in a lot of places, especially when it reveals how much the two main characters care for one another. It focuses on Dee Laytner and his persistence to get into the pants of his new partner Ryo Maclean, your average uke not knowing what to make of Dee's advances and Dee isn't the only one after Ryo, their new boss Berkley Rose is and Dee has his own admirers including one hyperactive jealous JJ, who hates Ryo. This is a must have series for any Yaoi or Shonen Ai Fan!

Oh my dear God... Thank you Sanami Matoh. This is the perfect ending to the perfect series. It's my favorite series and after finishing it I can't stop reading fanfiction about these two [In fact I can't read any fanfiction other than ones based on FAKE now!]. I feel so alive after reading this series... and i'm so happy for Dee [my fav character. HE'S SOOO HOT!!!] for finally getting Ryo after 2 long years of celibacy. He deserves it. He loves Ryo so much. They're perfect 2gether.
And, in my opinion, I love Matoh-sensei's art and congradulate her for not making Ryo into into one of those ukes with no muscles at all, it's good to see something that breaks away from the mainstream. I also love how Ryo is older. Love It!! Ryo isn't too wimpy but he isn't detached from his sentimental side - and neither is Dee. This couple is amazing and I think all FAKE-addicts should go onto the web and read some fanfictions by Wildefyre, Swordy[read the Crash and Burn Series!!!!Now!!], happyberry, and all the rest.
...And if you don't know already, the characters from FAKE all appear in a short one-shot that is based a few years after the manga ends and shows who ends up with whom. This 24-page short was featured in Sanami Matoh-sensei's artbook Monotone and was called Like, Like, Love. If you like, and are interested, if you go to fakephoenix.com [no www.], enter, and go to translations, you'll find 'Like, Like, Love' at the bottom of fakephoenix's list [no downloading involved, just click the links and there are the pics]. I <3 fakephoenix's site. She takes care of it so well, in my opinion.
This is the best manga ever, and the OAV ain't too shabby if you don't think like me. [I think the animators screwed up Matoh-sensei's wonderful art and the fact that Henry was okay after getting hit with a motorcycle (in other words, the creators of the anime didn't follow the manga all too well) weirded me out, because even in the manga Henry was carried out on a strecher because of a little police brutality... but w/e].
Yeah, well, I'm done.
DeeXRyoFFRox
Signed,
A die-hard anime/manga fan

In the fall of 1961, Jacob Kurtzberg of New York City's Hell's Kitchen York teamed with fellow Manhattanite Stanley Lieberman to put some pizzazz in Martin Goodman's monster comic book line, and came up with a quartet of off-beat heroes who would launch the Marvel Age of Comics. Today it's hard to say who is more famous, the creators or their creations.

Better known as Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, these two men largely were the House of Ideas, and nowhere did they demonstrate it better than in the pages of The Fantastic Four. Collected here are the first thirty seminal issues and the first summer annual, complete with pinups and letters columns and even in-house ads and special features, but all on much better paper and with more vibrant colors than the original stories.

Whether you're an aging Baby-Boomer whose mother threw out the dog-eared copies you used to keep under your bed, or a neophyte who never heard of Dr. Doom until the first Fantastic Four movie, this is a wonderful book that will remind (or show) you why The Fantastic Four deserved the title of "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine."

I think these are the finest comic books ever produced but I took off one star for the format. It's just too big and unwieldy when trying to read. You can only read it comfortably by setting it down on a table. The Marvel Masterworks format is much better. They only need to add the letters pages and the few little special features (There are only about 5 pages of unused artwork at the back of the book) and the Omnibus becomes unnecessary.

an earlier reviewer mentioned that it's better/easier to read these issues through the DVD-Rom and I would disagree with that because it's never as comfortable to go scrolling up and down each page of a book like this when you can have each issue reproduced in mint condition and read them all at your liesure in a comfy chair or in bed and appreciate the early brilliance of Lee/Kirby. It simply does NOT get better than this. Cannot recommend it highly enough. My question is when does the next TWO F.F. Omnibuses come out? We desperately need F.F. #31 thru 65 and then #66 thru 100 to wrap up the entirety of the Lee/Kirby run. Marvel, HURRY!

Really what can one say about Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's Fantastic Four. Its a groundbreaking concept that you as the reader get to watch mature in 30 + issues in one book and in color. Its different than other super hero books as these members have great emotional reactions between both the evil foes and themselves. Its a Super hero comic soap opera as every issue became a cliff hanger. Jack Kirby makes this book live with his dynamic art. Stan's no slouch with stories either. Its a decent price to pay and is put together well. Many Marvel books have gutter problems, this one doesn't. Do yourself a favor and either re-live these books or start with some timeless super hero stories, its a winner !

This includes the first 30 issues of FF plus the first annual. The book itself is hardcover, high quality glossy pages with each issue in the order it was released. The book is over 800 pages and each page is comic book size. Each issue is reprinted with the cover page and the letters page. At the back there are some alternate covers for certain of the issues, an original plot outline for the first story, as well as essays from Lee, Thomas and others.

For me, I prefer this to the dvd alternative, but that comes down to your own personal preference of reading pages or a screen, plus space to keep books as well as cost. I would love to see the entire series out in this format, even if it would run around 15 volumes. Hopefully, Marvel will at least issue a few more volumes, though.

I own this series in Japanese, and it is a wonderful read! It has all the important elements of a good shoujo manga: it is romantic, twisted, with a shoujo (in the traditional meaning of the word) involved in finding a new family and love triangles galore. It is just a very fun read, no matter the language!

This was my favorite volume so far. I love Haru so much he is my favorite character. I got to read more about him and I also got to read about sorry-ful Ritsu and his childhood.......I love Fruits Basket so much. This is the best manga ever written.

I love the Fruits Basket series. I love how the book is well written and the humor in it. The characters personality is perfect chosen for each character and they all fit it great! I can't wait for the next volume!

Fruits Basket book 8 is the best one so far. I've read it about 12 times. If you're a fan of Haru, you'll love this book. You also meet Ritzu in this book . it's a must buy!

Haru Sohma's personality suddenly goes black in school and he begins tearing up the classroom for no obvious reason. Yuki attempts to get the reason for these actions only to learn of some dealings with Akito that Haru has had to suffer from lately. Ritsu Sohma shows up, dressed all in a pretty kimono, this Sohma member dazzles Tohru with her good looks, and horrifies her with her inherent anxiety attacks. But the truth of Ritsu lies under the surface, and Tohru is surprised to learn it. Besides that, Ritsu is also a zodiac member, the monkey, born in 1980 I estimate. Ritsu and Tohru bond after Ritsu confesses some personality flaws to Tohru. Yuki also checks up on Haru, to see how he is doing after turning black at school.

School parent/teacher conferences are coming up, and the Sohma house is all in a panic over it. Kyo and Yuki don't know who to ask to attend, and much time is spent agonizing over what their future plans are. Tohru also breaks down a bit under the stress of all of this.

A reoccurring dream of Yuki's past puts him into a foul mood, as does a surprise visit from his brother Ayami. In an attempt to heal their broken past Ayami offers to attend the school conferences in place of Yuki and his parents.

Summer vacation begins with a trip to the haunted mansion for everyone. For Tohru this is a disturbing experience, as she is terrified of haunted houses. Haru helps her through it with some creative thinking, much to Yuki and Kyo's annoyance.

More Haru...sigh... there simply isn't enough Haru in this series I'm afraid. But fans of him will get just enough of a peek into his life to be satisfied. Ritsu is a bit annoying, but you need that to balance out the strength of all the other characters... Still in love with this series though, who isn't by this point?

I have been a fan of Fushigi Yuugi for a long time now. I have all of the manga, and have seen most of the DVDs, except the OAV (which I really wanna see xD) but it's amazing! I reccomend it!

I've been a Watase fan for about 2 years now. I have finished Ceres:Celestial Legend, Imadoki, and Alice 19. I started the Fushigi Yuugi series last year and am on the book 12. I learned that there was a prequil to the series! I was very impressed right from the beginning!The art is better than ever! And the character's are even better that what I expected. But with Watase there are always surprises!

Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden is probably my favorite Yu Watase title up to date. Takiko, the female lead, is a strong young woman who is not afriad to do what she knows is right and doesn't back down. She can handle herself and will fight to protect what she holds dear. When I first picked up the title, it wasn't because I was a huge fan of the original Fushigi Yugi. Honestly, Miaka irritated me with her generally weak and helpless behavior. To me, it seemed like she always needed to be saved. However, I could not have been more pleasantly surprised when I realized in just the first volume that Takiko was a strong, deep character with many layers to her personality and her fair share of human flaws. All in all you realized very quickly that Genbu Kaiden is significantly darker and aimed towards an older audience than most of Yu Watase's other works. Definitly a manga for you if you're a fan of the creater's work and are becoming immune to the Imadoki-style fluff. The romance in this manga is much more alluring and mature.

I'm a big fan of Fushigi Yugi. Been a big fan for years and just recently finished the manga last year, only to discover the prequel had been released!

Right from the first volume I was impressed. It's even better than the original and to me that's saying a lot.

One thing that is better about it is the romance doesn't develop right off the bat. In the original Fushigi Yugi, one thing that always bothered me (and made me laugh like mad) was the sheer corniness of the romance between Miaka and Tamahome, like how Miaka falls in love with him after first meeting him, and all the constant "Miaka!" "Tamahome!" scenes. Not to mention all the gratuitous near-rape scenes in every volume.

Takiko is a far more mature character than Miaka. She's tough, she's her own woman, and she's hilarious. Basically, she's a strong main character that, this time around, I can actually relate to--she has more of a backbone and isn't as whiny. The overall story is far more mature and refined, with the romance progressing at a more natural, subtle rate. There are no insta-romances here! It's more believeable, and in that I find it a lot more beautiful, whereas I always found Miaka and Tamahome's love cliche and forced.

The story itself is more mature, with more political issues coming into play. Really, the relationships between individual countries and cultures is more defined and more a central part of the story. Similarly, the characters are far more interesting and quirky! Really, each character fascinates me and stands on his or her own, whereas in the original there were some characters I honestly couldn't care less about.

The art is also excellent. Watase has come a long way since the original.

Overall, it's an excellent series so far! And while I still love the original and always will, even after only three volumes the prequel has already outdone the original.

Or, at least it has in my opinion. ^_~

(SPOILERS INCLUDED)
I want to start off by sayin that I'm so happy that Yu Watase made this manga. It can be enjoyed by both female and males, it has a lot of action-adventure and drama to it, and the lovy dovy stuff definetly isnt as much as the original. I always wanted to know more about the Priestess of Genbu, since she was the first priestess to get pulled into the book, and yet we know so little about her. To everyone that doesnt know yet, her name was Takiko Okuda and her Father Einosuke brougth the Universe of the Four Gods from China to Japan around 1923.This story is very much more mature and darker than the original Fushigi Yugi. Takiko is a 17 year old girl who moves to Morioka from Tokyo because her mother wanted to move back to her hometown since she's dying. Anyways she hasnt seen her father in like a year and then he finally comes home with the Universe of the Four Gods, he is obsessed with the book, and continues to translate it, ignoring both his daughter and sick wife. Takiko's mother ends up dying, so she goes to her father, who has just finished translating the book. She is filled with rage, since he hasn't stopped working on the book, and it seems that he doesnt even care about his own wifes death. Takiko tells her father that she know he wished she would have been a boy, and he says "perhaps if you were a boy maybe i could have..." and right after he says that, takiko in her rage grabs the Universe of the Four Gods and is about to start to rip it when shes pulled into it. She end up in Bei-jia a.k.a Hokkan, the Land of Genbu. She is on a snow-covered mountain, this is were she finds Uruki of the Genbu Celestial Warriors, he is a man, but when using his power, he turns into a woman, and he's chained to a wall. He is supposed to be put to death since he has killed 1000 men(most of them being assassins sent to kill him). Takiko goes up to him(he's in his female form) and just as she does, snow demons come out of the ground to feast on the humans. Takiko grabs a stick(mind you she is very skilled with the Naginata) and she trys to fight them, in order to defend Uruki who she doesnt even know. Right when she is about to be killed by the group of demons, Uruki uses his wind powers to kill them all. He is very weak after spending the night chained to the wall, and has a fever. Takiko takes him(still in his female form the whole time) to a inn, where she lays(not sex!) with him to reduce his fever. After she does, they wake up the next morning and he's in his male form. She starts freaking out, and talks about how now no one will ever want to marry her now. He thanks her and she asks him what is the animal on the wall panel, which is Genbu(a turtle mixed with a snake). He tells her about the legend of the Priestess from another world, and how everyone looks at the Priestess and Celestial Warriors as a bad omen. Since the Priestess appears when the country is on the brink of collapse. Qu-dong a.k.a Kutou whos guardian is Seiryu, is invading Bei-jia trying to conquer it since it is the biggest country of the four. We also find out that Limdo is Uruki's birthname. A bounty hunter is after Limdo and is at the inn. He trys to kill Limdo, but fails. Later on Limdo and Takiko are surrounded by a bunch of people who want to kill Limdo. When they are about to attack, Takiko blinds them all by giving off her Legendary Silver Light, which she doesnt even know how she did. Limdo escapes, and Takiko is taken away by the bounty hunter who we find out is Tomite of the Celestial warriors. Remember him from the original, he and Hikitsu guarded Takiko's Shinzaho even after dying 200 years earlier. Thats how vol.1 ends. It's a very good manga, so give it a try! Also thanks for reading my long review!