@kfmfe: Oh, that book looks cool, too. And from the way it sounds, I want to see that series on video when it's done. Here's hoping it comes out in some version. Maybe they'll do a mook version, like they did for the other series.
@igor: actually, you don't need to know a whole lot of Japanese to use some of the Japanese penji books. Some of them are just exercise books, which are mostly just "copy these characters." All you really need is to make some practice paper to work on, and just work from the books. They aren't really full of what I'd call "esoteric" language. Then again, if you're just starting out in Japanese, I can see that it might be a bit overwhelming. (But there's no time like the present to dive right in!)
Also, the Japanese penji books will also help you write kana "properly" with good proportion and such. I had no idea just how atrocious my handwriting was until I started working with one.
This book is relatively simple, with not a whole lot of Japanese to get in the way. It's all up front on a few pages, with pictures.
http://tinyurl.com/94zuxj
@igor: actually, you don't need to know a whole lot of Japanese to use some of the Japanese penji books. Some of them are just exercise books, which are mostly just "copy these characters." All you really need is to make some practice paper to work on, and just work from the books. They aren't really full of what I'd call "esoteric" language. Then again, if you're just starting out in Japanese, I can see that it might be a bit overwhelming. (But there's no time like the present to dive right in!)
Also, the Japanese penji books will also help you write kana "properly" with good proportion and such. I had no idea just how atrocious my handwriting was until I started working with one.
This book is relatively simple, with not a whole lot of Japanese to get in the way. It's all up front on a few pages, with pictures.
http://tinyurl.com/94zuxj
