The Manga Guide to Biochemistry offers a fun and nontraditional route to knowledge of the molecules and processes of life. If you want to learn about biochemistry and you’re a fan of manga, comics, or stories, or you simply don’t want to plow through a complete textbook, manga may save you. This is a full-out manga, giant eyes and flying sweat drops included, and the comic is augmented with occasional section summaries of major concepts in text rather than panel layout. The author is Masaharu Takemura, an associate professor of biochemistry at the Tokyo University of Science, and the manga artist is Kikuyaro.
The book introduces Kumi, a high-school girl who wants to diet and lose weight, and Nemoto, an older college boy, who suggests that learning about biochemistry will help her understand nutrition and metabolism. Kumi is entranced with a photo of Nemoto’s beautiful professor and obsesses about becoming more like her, and agrees to learn about biochemistry. Nemoto has a crush on Kumi and the book includes some background romance.
[Is there any value in a science guide based on body-image issues? Read the rest of Kay Moore’s review on GeekMom!]