Others say...

"A great tool if you can get a handle on it"
Trying to create a character from scratch can be a daunting task. Manga Matrix uses a series of grids to map some starting attributes, giving you a leg to stand on as you start out on the design process.

The matrix system is best suited to "blue sky designing" where anything goes and no idea is off limit no matter how odd. You'll have to supply your own taste & common sense to refine those designs into something usable.

Although there's a massive amount of examples of characters made with the matrix system, there's not many pages spent covering the different matrices themselves. Especially the personality matrix, which is useful for any design that's going to be more just a simple drawing. And it's the most important matrix if you want to design a basic human or animal character that doesn't need any mix `n match body parts.

This book also give a lot of background info on character groups like angel, devils, monsters, etc... that could prove very useful when going through the matrix process.

Obviously the best way to figure out this method of design is plenty of practice, but Manga Matrix gives you a good tool to work with when creating characters.

"A Great Book, Albeit Abit Difficult to Understand"
This is a very good book filled with good information on how this artist logically compiles characters, but it's not easy to understand at times and the artist can be very vague and inconsistent on many details making this book a very tough read to process.

Pros:

This book presents a logical step-by-step process one could use to create unique characters. Gives a detailed working flow on how to CREATE, not just conceptualize, a character visually from head to toe. Example say your creating a half-robot character this book has a tree for the whole body and you can go into detail on what was robot and what was human from say something general like the torso right down to the fingernails. Much different from other general books like the "How to Draw Manga" series and others that just give a broad idea of how to start or just one or two examples of a specific character already made. Another good thing this book has going for it is how he has many different branches of creatures such as angels, devils, and dragons categorized with lots of suggestions so you can build or get inspiration if your stumped.

Cons:

The Artist is very vague on many details and his explanations leave something to desire. This is the way HE does his character design so likewise much of his workflow sounds like it comes from a long history of trial and error mixed with experience and he is having to explain something he most likely put together from different sources and compile them the best he can. As well he can be inconsistent on some details telling you to do one thing on one group of creatures but telling you to do something different later on, will be explaining one thing but leave you asking "But what happens next?" or "Wait, what do I do now?", or just graze on something interesting or important sounding then move on. Another complaint is how thin the creature index can be, some creature groups get more face time then others or just don't get enough explanations as if he assumes you already know how to do it or you already have a good working knowledge of the subject.

In the end this is a good book but it is in no way for beginners this is an ADVANCED book. It is possible to deceifer this book but it takes ALOT of brainpower to understand what he's talking about and fill in the blanks that he seems to assume you already know. The matrix he presents is a good system but it's hard to understand at first glance. But if you can overcome all these obstacles you can have yourself an extremely useful reference and guide to character design. The body part tree alone is a good reason to buy this book.

"Rare book"
There is a lot of very good "how to draw" books, including "how to draw manga". If you need such kind, go and get them.
But this one is completely not about the drawing techniques, but rather is about what to do before you start to draw. It shows you a regular method how to think of you character, how is it supposed to look from three points of view (form, costume, personality) and how to get deeper into all three directions by using complex tabular checklists.
The idea of matrix method itself is not too complicated, and the method explanation takes about 30 pages. But the rest of the book illustrates how to use it by examples of creating monsters, artifical creatures, faires, and many more others types of characters.
This book is of good quality, full coloured and contains a lot of amazing illustration.
Could be useful not only to anime/manga fans, but for any artist, including game designers.

"Amazing!"
I wish I had known of this book 4 years ago. Hiroyoshi Tsukamoto astutely created a simple system to help the designer "Save Time" when creating part- human characters. It elevates the quality of creativity, pushing the designer
into wider possibilities.Manga Matrix: Create Unique Characters Using the Japanese Matrix System

"Let The Manga Matrix Take You!"
I did not know what to expect when I bought this book. When it came in the mail I was blown away by the concept of this Japanese grid system. The possibilities of new characters and monsters are endless. I love it! A must have for the aspiring manga artists.