[8] Animation World Network's Fred Patten comments on the book being "300 pages larger; a 40% expansion" in its "Revised and Expanded" edition compared to the original volume.

[9] Animefringe's Ridwan Khan commends the book for having "the entries summarize the plot, offer an opinion, and often discuss points of interest, including similar anime or historical roots.

[10] Patrick Macias, editor in chief of Otaku USA magazine, writing in The Japan Times, reviewing the second edition, comments ""Anime Encyclopedia" works best when it aims to stick to the facts, which it happily gets right more often than not."

but "while Clements and McCarthy's mastery of Japanese culture, both high and low, is impressive, the authors sometimes stumble when [comparing Samurai Champloo to Pink Floyd's "The Wall"] they try to step outside their fields of expertise".

She notes that while the entries are not rated with a star system that Clement's and McCarthy's "descriptions can betray personal preferences which may not coincide with the reader's".