Back in the times of quality broadcast, it was usual for BBC to publish some accompanying guidebook, which is the case. I have some others (the "story of popular music" stands out), and they're all quite interesting.
This one's title is very literal in translation. It's composed of 7 essays (4 with text and images and 3 with just images) on a number of subjects; the ones I read so far went into the importance of seeing over reading, and the other on the significance of the depiction of women in art (a very very interesting read!)
This is quite a massive manga book, with, I think, 32 chapters ("skirmishes" in the series' lexicon). I have never seen the animated feature, but I'm aware of it's graphic style, which is quite a bit different from the manga.
There's a critical visual brilliance in everyshot. Taiyô Matsumoto cooks up some impressive angles which, aided by his sometimes quasi-cubist art-style makes for a very expressive read.
The story is well told and above all, well paced, with the title characters of Black and White, clearly defined from the start, but constantly surprising the reader with their development. Above all there's an impressive amount of depth to go around.
Another critical piece is the environment of "Treasure Town" where the action unfolds. Probably inspired by Tokyo's Shinjuku ward and its seedier Kabuki-chô district (akin to the Yakuza games series), it's illustrated in an even zanier rendition, not as seen by the eyes of middle aged gangster but by the eyes of the child protagonists. The above-mentioned "camera"-angles and art-style do just as much to characterize it.
I'm only about 10 chapters left to finishing it and so far it struck a deep chord in me, as it seems to be one of the best manga of its kind that I've ever read, up there with the works of Jirô Taniguchi (which is so different)
The only minor quirks is that the edition I have is mirrored (read from left to right, western style) and that it is almost too big and difficult to handle, haha.