Anime Essentials: Every Thing A Fan Needs To Know
by Gilles Poitras

Anime Essentials starts with explaining how anime is released in the United States.  The author then explains the eras of anime and the different genres of anime, and describes each briefly.  It compares different forms and various derivatives of anime.  Then he goes into how to be a fan, which is literally teaching you how to be ultimate anime fan, such as how to attend anime conventions, how to start an anime club, etc.  The book ends with 41 recommended titles, which consists mainly 1990's titles, as the book was published in 2001. 

This book gives general information about various aspects of anime, with some deeper discussions on selected subjects.  Poitras used a lot of reference on the video "Otaku No Video", which probably would be good to watch before reading this book; I had no idea what he was talking about when he references to this video.  I like the captions he has throughout the book explaining special anime terms. 

I think this book focuses on animes that were released in the U.S. anime lovers.  Poitras mainly talked about what was aired in the U.S., and didn't cover any of the landmark animes that were popular in Asia, which  I think all anime fans should know if they are really into anime, including the origins.  The most note-worthy part about this book that I thought is different from other animes is how to be an anime fan here in the U.S.  I find the part about how to attend anime conventions interesting.  I have yet to attend an anime convention, so I took a few notes about it from the book.  I don't agree with all of the 41 recommended anime but there were some that I thought are definitely must-sees.  Poitras also gave some resources on which anime books and magazines are available, some web links and usergroups out there that you might want to visit.  However, some of them are outdated and the links are not good anymore.  In sum, this book is a quick read and good for beginner anime fans.