An entertaining, polarizing read. A lot of silly antics wrapped up in stereotypes, masquerading as a history lesson. Most of the material in this book was covered in the anime, which arguably does it better. Some of the chapters seemed rougher than others quality-wise - like the quality of the images themselves. The notes in the margins are extremely helpful for those who need a brush-up on their world history (and is a lot easier to read than the blink-and-you'll-miss-em subtitle notes on the anime). Despite some QC issues, it was clearly a labor of love from Tokyopop's staff.