Helen McCarthy, writer, author, journalist, speaker, scholar, Manga, Anime, Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, haiku, cosplay, UKHelen McCarthy, writer, author, journalist, speaker, scholar, Manga, Anime, Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, haiku, cosplay, UKHelen McCarthy, writer, author, journalist, speaker, scholar, Manga, Anime, Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, haiku, cosplay, UKHelen McCarthy, writer, author, journalist, speaker, scholar, Manga, Anime, Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, haiku, cosplay, UKHelen McCarthy, writer, author, journalist, speaker, scholar, Manga, Anime, Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, haiku, cosplay, UKHelen McCarthy, writer, author, journalist, speaker, scholar, Manga, Anime, Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, haiku, cosplay, UKHelen McCarthy, writer, author, journalist, speaker, scholar, Manga, Anime, Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, haiku, cosplay, UKHelen McCarthy, writer, author, journalist, speaker, scholar, Manga, Anime, Japanese animation, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, haiku, cosplay, UK

Photo: Megaera Amis

Introduction

Helen McCarthy is a writer, speaker, scholar and poet who has published over a dozen books across eight languages on anime, manga, history, art and craft.

Helen’s publications include: A Brief History Of Manga, Manga Cross-Stitch, 500 Essential Anime Movies, 500 Manga Heroes & Villains, The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation since 1917, Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation, The Erotic Anime Movie Guide, The Anime Movie Guide – Japanese Animation since 1983 and Anime! A Beginner’s Guide To Japanese Animation.

Her main interests currently include Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leiji Matsumoto, haiku and cosplay.

She has given talks and lectures across the UK, USA, Europe and Asia. You can contact her here.

Learn more about Helen here.

LATEST NEWS

Poster for the talk The Art History of Studio Ghibli, with black text giving title, speaker and venue around a central image of No-Face from Spirited Away on a pale gold ground.
Sent to Coventry: Art History of Studio Ghibli on 2 December
October 23, 2025

Booking for my first December Studio Ghibli talk is now live. It’s at the Square One Bar in Coventry. I’ve [...]

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An image from Satoshi Kon's unfinished 5th feature film 'Dreaming Machine'. A young Japanese woman in a beige formal jacket and black open-necked shirt walks under an archway made of gold tubular metal and flanked by two brightly coloured 50s-style characters. A retro-style white house with red roofs is in the background, under a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. The image is slightly unsettling despite the blue sky and bright colours.
Studio Ghibli Question Time: are anime feature films considered superior to anime TV series in Japan?
October 22, 2025

Although asked in the context of Miyazaki’s and Ghibli’s views on the primacy of the feature film, this question covers [...]

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Norwich's Maddermarket Theatre, a black-and-white timbered building in an ancient courtyard
New talk date in Norwich: 27 November 2025
October 22, 2025

I’m coming back to Norwich on 27 November to talk about Studio Ghibli in the beautiful Maddermarket Theatre. My favourite [...]

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Poster for Waterstones' October 2025 pre-order promotion including The Manga Bible. The cover of The Manga Bible appears on a pale gold background with details of the offer
25% off The Manga Bible if you pre-order by 17 October!
October 13, 2025

The Manga Bible is part of Waterstones’ new promotion on selected 2026 titles. If you pre-order any of the selected [...]

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Quay Arts Centre is on the quay of the old port of Newport, on the River Medina. Here the old red brick buildings are reflected in the sunlit blue water of the river.
Anime and Manga on Dinosaur Island
October 13, 2025

I had two absolutely knockout nights at the Quay Arts Centre in Newport, on the Isle of Wight. Friday night [...]

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A poster for the symposium on transnational anime held at Lancaster University on 4 July 2025. White text on a blue background, illustrated by the covers of 'Anime: A History" by Jonathan Clements and "Studio Ghibli: an Industrial History" by Ranya Denison. Includes a barcode for more information.
Transgenerationality – the ageing up (and ageing out) of Japan’s animation industry
October 9, 2025

At the beginning of July I was privileged to speak at a symposium on Transnational Perspectives in Anime. It was [...]

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The US version of Tetsuwan Atom replaces the Japanese title lettering with "Astro Boy" in a futuristic font
Anime going global: the start of the process
October 6, 2025

62 years ago, in 1963, 35-year-old Osamu Tezuka flew to the USA to present his hit TV series Tetsuwan Atom [...]

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The covers of two new works - I have an essay in Isao Takahata, out now from the University of Hawai'i Press, and The Manga Bible is due out from the Ilex Press in March 2026.
October newsletter out now!
October 1, 2025

I’ve just sent out the October issue of my newsletter, so if you’ve already subscribed do check your inbox, and [...]

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The boy Howl swallowing Calcifer's heart in the anime Howl's Moving Castle. This happens late at night in a field outside Howl's study, but his face is illuminated by the fire demon's light.
Studio Ghibli Question Time: What’s the significance of Howl’s exchange of hearts with Calcifer?
September 21, 2025

That’s an excellent question, not just because it impacts a key relationship in the film of Howl’s Moving Castle but because [...]

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Cover image for Studio Ghibli Anime as Adaptations. The upper half of the cover is black, with the title and subtitle in white lettering. The lover half shows a photo of the entrance to a 2024 Studio Ghibli exhibition in Shanghai, with two women walking through a portal built of giant replicas of books about Studio Ghibli
Remarkable new book on Studio Ghibli deserves a wide readership
September 16, 2025

Studio Ghibli Animation as Adaptations: Investigating how the Japanese Powerhouse Reimagines Stories is – to adapt an image from another [...]

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Sheeta from Castle in the Sky, trapped at gunpoint and with her braids literally shot off by her long lost cousin. A half length portrait against a background of thick, greenish-black tree roots. Sheeta weara a high-necked lilac coloured blouse with elbow-length puffed sleeves, a red belt and a red hairband in her dark brown hair.
Studio Ghibli Question Time: what’s in a haircut?
September 10, 2025

The Ghibli fans who come to my Seed Talks ask some really interesting questions. So I’ve started recalling as many [...]

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The cover of The Manga Bible by Helen McCarthy. The background is a 70s-tastic shade of deep mauve with a page of dynamic art by Baron Yoshimoto printed over it in black. The title is printed in. large bright yellow capitals, cementing the 70s vibe, with the author's name below in smaller white capitals. The back cover has black text with more info about the book under a bright yellow headline.
The Manga Bible: US cover reveal
September 7, 2025

Prestel said yes, go ahead and share, so here’s the North American edition cover for The Manga Bible,  available for [...]

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Cover of the book The Many Worlds of Isao Takahata. A warm brown background has a banner image about half an inch below the top of the cover. The image from The Tale of the Princess Kaguya shows Kaguya, a young Japanese woman in an Edo-era pink kimono, laughing as she catches falling cherry blossom petals. The title and author information is below in the same soft pink as her kimono.
Isao Takahata: FINALLY a book in English
September 6, 2025

The great Isao Takahata, without whom the Hayao Miyazaki we know would not exist, was and remains an influential figure [...]

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A head and shoulders portrait of Sophie Hatter from Howl's Moving Castle in her 90-year-old cursed form. She wears a very old-fashioned blue dress with a high collar and a straw hat with a narrow brim and plum coloured hatband adorned with small pink bobbles.
Studio Ghibli Question Time: why does Sophie dress like Yubaba?
September 3, 2025

I get some absolutely fantastic questions from audiences for my Seed Talks on Studio Ghibli. They often raise points I [...]

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Covers of five books and one magazine by Helen McCarthy on anime and manga
Double Dipping! Two talks on the Isle of Wight 9-10 October 2025
September 1, 2025

I’m going to the Isle of Wight to give two talks on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October. Really looking [...]

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A poster image with NoFace from Ponyo in the centre and text describing the event above and below
Upcoming Seed Talk on Studio Ghibli – Glass Box Theatre, Medway, 21 October
August 31, 2025

I’m bringing my talk on the art and cultural history of Studio Ghibli to Gillingham’s Glass Box Theatre on the [...]

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The cover of the 1999 Stone Bridge Press edition of "Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation". On a gradated orange background, a head and shoulders profile image of San wielding her long knife, facing right, with the title to the right above the blade and the subhead and author name below.
LATEST ON THE NEW EDITION OF “HAYAO MIYAZAKI: MASTER OF JAPANESE ANIMATION”
August 30, 2025

Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation was published by Stone Bridge Press in 1999. It was the first book on [...]

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Image from "The Art of Howl's Moving Castle" showing the castle walking across a mountainous landscape against a sky dotted with both dark and white clouds
Bristol Ghibli fans rocking my Question Time on Howl’s Moving Castle!
August 24, 2025

A couple of hundred Bristol anime fans joined me at the Hen & Chicken on Thursday (21 August) for a [...]

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Surprise, surprise! The Manga Bible on YouTube
August 20, 2025

I watched a surprising and very flattering new YouTube video today. It’s constructed, probably by AI (subtitles in that not-quite-grammatical [...]

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An image showing anime and manga characters: left to right, Mei, Satsuki and Totoro from the anime My Neighbor Totoro; Luffy from the anime One Piece; and Tetsuwan Atom/Astro Boy from the manga
NEW LONG INTERVIEW ON CBR
August 11, 2025

I did a long interview with Asha Bardon for CBR. We talked fandom history, anime’s success in the West, my [...]

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