Upon its US release in the mid-1990s Ghost in the Shell, directed by Mamoru Oshii, quickly became one of the most popular Japanese animation films, or anime, in the country. Despite these accolades, Oshii is known as a contrarian within anime, a self-proclaimed "stray dog", with a unique cinematic vision. Working in both live-action film and animation, directing everything from absurdist comedy to thrillers to meditations on the nature of reality, Oshii defies the confines of genre and form. Stray Dog of Anime is the first book to take an in-depth look at his major films, from the early days working on Urusei Yatsura to Avalon, his most recent feature.

The book uses literary criticism to discuss themes and ideas present in select anime titles and attempts to categorise anime into three types - apocalyptic, festival, and elegaic. The book is split into five sections. In the first, Napier asks why anime is important as a topic of study. In the second, Napier looks at the representation of the human body in anime, looking at "monstrous adolescents", pornographic anime and cyborgs. In the third, Napier looks at representations of females, the girl, the magical girl and magical girlfriends. In the fourth section, Napier examines historical-themed anime.

How to Draw Manga: Making Anime shows you how the professionals produce top notch animes and gives you a behind the scenes look that reveals many tricks of the trade. Top anime houses, AIC and Yoyogi Animation Gakuin take you step-by-step through the complete animation production process using popular anime series such as Moldiver and Armitage III to illustrate the lessons. If you are interested in working in the animation industry or even just a casual anime fan, Making Anime is a must-have book.