Manga Recommendations Thread

[minakichan]

<s>Monster is so amazing that any offensive content is immediately forgiven.</s>

OK, no. So, Monster has some violence and a high messy body count (lots of blood and corpses), also some nudity in a red light district. It also uses a Biblical endtimes reference that isn't really offensive, but I know some people don't like those outside of religious media so I'll list it anyway. It's pretty much definitely R-rated, but SLIGHTLY on the lighter side IMO.

[KBMaster]

Thanks! I think the content will be something I can stomach. I'll definitely have to check this one out!

[jon_jinn]

How bad is the content in the series "Monster"? It seems like a very intriguing manga, but I don't like going into a series completely oblivious to anything offensive and then getting shocked.

if you check out the Monster review in the anime series, the manga's about the same level of objectionable content, only in comic format. but yeah, i wholeheartedly recommend this series to you. it's beyond brilliant.

[Fish and Chips]

How bad is the content in the series "Monster"? It seems like a very intriguing manga, but I don't like going into a series completely oblivious to anything offensive and then getting shocked.

There is a lot of reasonably offensive content in Monster, but that is kind of the point of it. It's shocking in the same way Schindler's List is "Shocking," not reveling in violence in debauchery but revealing them. For all the murder and bloodshed, Monster carries a strong anti-violence message, and the same can be said for the European red light district, featured in several key scenes in all it's disgusting, dirty gutter "Glory."

Monster is an entirely different sort of Manga, which I recommend whole-heartedly. If you find it a compelling read, I'd suggest all of Naoki Urasawa's seinen works, 20th Century Boys and Pluto.

[KBMaster]

I've read the first twenty chapters of it, and I must say, I am irrevocably hooked. I read until two o'clock in the morning and was sad to go to bed, lol.

Jon_Jinn, I read the review and I don't think the nudity will bother me as long as it's not fanservice.

Thanks for all your replies.

[minakichan]

So here's a challenge...

I really enjoyed the LIAR GAME and Kurosagi Japanese dramas, so I got easily hooked on the original manga. I also found MC Law entertaining in a slightly ridiculous way, but sometimes I'll read one or the other and it'll start to overlap. It's in a good way, I think I really like this feel.

Does anyone know any other (seinen preferably) manga that kind of have this feel-- prodigies working in or out of the system of law or finance or politics, manipulating loopholes or psychology in some kind of LOL JUSTICE PLZ way? I guess that's a weird request, but I'm looking for realistic manga with still some suspension of disbelief, maybe something involving one individual going up against powerful institutions complete with Sekrit Conspiraceez (TM), using his knowledge or cleverness and WITHOUT THE FIGHTSCENES. Can anyone think of any?

[Sae-chan]

Sorry, minakichan, but I can't answer your question... though I've got a question of my own.

I really like action manga. Does anyone have any suggestions along the lines of Naruto, Bleach, and Black Cat? I really enjoyed all three of those.... and now I'm looking for another manga to read.

Some other manga I enjoyed were Prince of Tennis, Hikaru no Go... and I'm starting to read .hack, which is okay.

Any suggestions?

[Elycien]

Sae-chan... you could try Gintama, which is a Shonen Jump title... lots of action, very funny, good art which you'll like if you enjoyed Naruto, Bleach, and Black Cat. I haven't read very far, though I've heard that it doesn't have nearly the same scale of plot as Naruto or Bleach, focusing more on smaller, humorous events and misadventures.

Or, if you'd rather have the epic plot, there's Fullmetal Alchemist. It's not your standard Naruto/Bleach-style shonen plot, but there is plenty of action and plenty of humor. It's one of those that has a serious plotline and plenty of tense moments, but also enough humor to keep it pretty light and optimistic in tone. I'd also say it's a little "deeper" than most shonen series, with plenty of philosophical food for thought if you enjoy that kind of thing - but it's a great adventure even if you don't. I've seen the entire anime and read all of the manga that's currently licensed in the US, and I love it.

There's also, if you want to try some mecha action, Eureka Seven - though this is more an anime rec than anything. Do not read the manga first, if at all. XD The anime is one of my all-time favorites, but the manga is extremely different and has a rather depressing ending. (plus, the anime came first, which is why I'd watch it first. x3)

[Sae-chan]

Thanks a lot, Elycien! Actually, I forgot to add FullMetal Alchemist. You're right - it's an amazing manga. (I've only read the manga; I haven't seen the anime yet.) I love it!

Okay, I'll try Gintama and Eureka Seven. Thanks for the recommendations!

[Aleolus]

What can you all tell me about the Soul Eater manga? I just read through the first volume, and it looks funny, but I want to double-check that it doesn't teach it's readers how to summon the devil while they sleep or some such . Anyone know anything about it?

[uc pseudonym]

Soul Eater is pretty tame as far as occult content goes. For the twelve or so volumes that exist so far, it keeps the same odd style and whimsical method of storytelling. The witches play somewhat of a role all throughout, but they should be taken in the same tongue-in-cheek sense that all the other powers are.

[Cognitive Gear]

I'm looking for a manga which has more intelligence than your typical manga. Something in the vein of 20th Century Boys, Monster, Watchmen, or Sandman.

I'm looking for things that are lesser known or older, as I think I've devoured most of what is currently considered mainstream in the US.

Thanks in advance.

[Fish and Chips]

I'm looking for a manga which has more intelligence than your typical manga. Something in the vein of 20th Century Boys, Monster, Watchmen, or Sandman.

I'm looking for things that are lesser known or older, as I think I've devoured most of what is currently considered mainstream in the US.

Thanks in advance.

There's always Pluto, which is just more Urasawa, but that's never been a problem. Besides, it takes beloved pop culture icon Astro Boy and writes a political serial murder thriller with it. That has to be worth reading at least once.

For the rest, could you define how you mean "More intelligence?" I read a fair bit of Manga I'd consider better constructed or compelling than typical genre conventions, but it's not necessarily any more "Intelligent." Lone Wolf and Cub, for example, isn't that intricate plot-wise, but is certainly worth reading for a more mature Manga experience, and comparatively different from its modern contemporaries.

[uc pseudonym]

I'm looking for a manga which has more intelligence than your typical manga. Something in the vein of 20th Century Boys, Monster, Watchmen, or Sandman.

You may have read this, but you might want to consider Blade of the Immortal. It's essentially a samurai story, but it's a well-written one for an older audience. On the whole it expects a lot more intelligence from the reader in terms of dialogue, combat, and character development.

[EricTheFred]

"Mushishi" would possibly be a good choice for you. It's episodic, however, essentially a series of short stories around the same protagonist, so if what you are looking for is a long and thoughtfully constructed plot, then this isn't it.

I've never finished it, but a good older one might be Silent Moebius (I never got past volume eight, though. Don't know how it works out.) Another might be the primary series of Battle Angel Alita. (There's a second series, which I'm not quite as enthusiastic about.)

The problem is, most of the series that seem like they can reach that level suddenly fizzle out. Examples: Mai the Psychic Girl, Dark Angel, and Train+Train.

Something that is very much a matter of taste is Jing: King of Bandits. It's more intricate than most, but it has a childlike approach that might not work out for a lot of people.

[Cognitive Gear]

For the rest, could you define how you mean "More intelligence?"

In this context, I'm really looking for things which exhibit intelligence in any one of the following ways:

-A well thought out, well executed plot.

-"Complex" characters. (Also known as "three dimensional")

-Less unnecessary drawn out explanations/summarizations. I don't need the character to recall that memory for the fifth time. Or even recall what happened 50 chapters ago. If I need to review, I'll flip through the other volumes. (This is a "pet peeve" of mine.)

-Also, showing creative solutions to traditional character or plot problems is a plus.





Pluto- I actually have read all of it that I could find. It appears that the last chapter or two are difficult to find, however.

Lone Wolf and Cub- Anything that is comparatively different from it's contemporaries is something I'll want to read. I'll have to check it out when I'm looking for something in it's vein. (If it has one)

Blade of the Immortal- I really should give this a read. I've heard the name so many times in the past, yet I never sat down with it.

Mushishi- Episodic is not a bad thing. I do trend more towards series with a definite end, though. I'll give it a try, and it may end up being something to fill the time between longer stories.

Silent Moebius- I've never heard of this. The wikipedia article says that it's highly influenced by Blade Runner, so that's a possible plus. I'll look into it.

Battle Angel Alita- I had completely forgotten about this. I've been meaning to try it since I saw a single piece of art for it that I really liked. (The cover of V.1, actually)

Jing: King of Bandits- Childish is not a bad thing, in my book. Sometimes it's the childish things that say the most profound things.

Thanks! This should keep me busy for a while.

[Fish and Chips]

Alright, thanks, this gives me a much clearer idea what is it you're looking for.

Lone Wolf and Cub- Anything that is comparatively different from it's contemporaries is something I'll want to read. I'll have to check it out when I'm looking for something in it's vein. (If it has one)

Lone Wolf and Cub is a historical Seinen set in Feudal Japan. It's episodic in its pacing, but with an overall arching plot behind it. Follows the path of revenge of Ogami Itto, a disenfranchised samurai falsely accused of a grave crime against his emperor, and his son Daigoro, one of the better child protagonists in Manga (and considerably less annoying).

There's a fair bit of explaining things, but its interesting things you didn't know, not boring ones you already did. Though I'm a history major, so I could be biased.

I also second UC's recommendation of Blade of the Immortal.

[Fio]

Could you please give me a quick review on the Fruits Basket? I've read it through the halve of the series and I've loved it so far. But it seems that there will be an unavoidable love-triangle-drama somewhere in the future of the story and since I'm not really into soap-opera I'd like to no how bad it is going to turn out. Basically I want to know if the drama part will overshadow the main story.
Oops, I wrote a lot... It's just that I accidentally ran into some spoilers and now I cant go on reading without constantly worrying. So help me pleeeeease.

[minakichan]

....So here's a tough manga (or anime, actually) rec question:

My mom is a conservative Christian Asian. When I go to animu cons or shop for manga, she either asks me "Aren't you too old for that?" or "Isn't this stuff all trashy and inappropriate?" (In Chinese, which makes it worse.) Everything is Pokemon or porno; you know how it is.

I want to find a manga (or anime, but manga is more accessible, esp. in Taiwan ATM) that I could get her to read that would change her mind, but I kind of mostly read stupid high school shoujo and violent seinen. I want to find something that is solid and blameless but entertaining enough and not just about high schoolers or fantasy. A lot of the mature series I like (Monster) are just too violent or sexual, and even squeaky clean series have just one or two things that disqualified them (Saiunkoku Monogatari and Nodame Cantabile's implied homosexuality, for example). (If it's in English, something with some harder vocab might be good; she's trying to improve that ^_^) Something with a Chinese feel might be good-- but too Japanese is probably bad.

My mom's tastes aren't particularly sophisticated-- she likes Asian soap operas and gossip magazines, (but has a much higher tolerance for slight trashiness in RL than in manga). She prefers comedies (her favorite movie is... Pink Panther... with Steve Martin-- I think it's because the comedy is so easy to understand...) It can't be too complicated-- she didn't understand my RSoM entry at all. She actually used to read manga as a girl, but feels like she "grew out of it."

/long entry is long.
Can anyone help? I know this is a particularly difficult request.

[EricTheFred]

Can anyone help? I know this is a particularly difficult request.

The first thing that occurred to me is "Mushishi". In moral terms, it is squeaky clean; the only potential problem is if you think she might be bothered by supernatural or non-Christian religious items. (Nothing really dramatic in either case.) It appeals to an adult audience more than teenager and younger, I've noticed.

The "Hikaru No Go" series has simply nothing objectionable that I can think of. There is one ghost character, but he isn't an occultish thing.

"Case Closed" is squeaky clean, and seems to have a very wide appeal, even though the art style seems to suggest a youger target audience.

I'll keep thinking and see if I can come up with a few more.

[minakichan]

@EricTheFred

Yay reliable resident parent guy! \o/

Hmm, I like Mushishi but it might be a little too occultish. Some of the imagery is a little disturbing.

HikaGo is blameless but I don't know if it'd be interesting to my mom; she knows I was into it for a while when I tried to pick up go, but she has no interest in it. I've tried getting my dad to watch it though; he loves go and mahjong XD

Detective Conan is actually not squeaky clean for us. (When I was in 7th grade I bought a Conan VCD and my dad lectured me about watching violent stuff... I was 12! 7 year olds watch that show!!) Regardless, Conan is really popular in Taiwan, so my mom knows it, but definitely as a kids' show like Pokemon or Magical Doremi. I love it, and my mom constantly tells me I'm probably too old for it; if I couldn't get her to like Pokemon when I was 10, I won't be able to get her into Conan now.

Thanks though. I'm going to keep thinking too... this is hard...

[Fish and Chips]

Millennium Actress isn't Manga, but it's probably a good bet. The film works as a fictional biography of woman who never existed and her chasing after a man she once saved. Though it's unapologetically Japanese, it doesn't gloss over its flaws, notably government cruelty and regret in World War II as part of a subplot. You might want to test the waters however.

5 Centimeters Per Second is safer, if you ignore the idea that I am the only person on CAA who actually thinks the ending was good.

[minakichan]

@ Fish: Saw Millenium Actress. It is a little too Japanese, but it might be a good bet; didn't think of it. I'll try rewatching it again.

Haven't seen 5 Centimeters yet, will borrow it. Thanks~

[blkmage]

Maybe Yotsuba&! or Aria? They're both slice of life and have an optimistic mood to them.

[animewarrior]

Maybe Yotsuba&!

Well the thing with Yotsuba&! is that the faher is rather pervish tho.. that might turn off her mom from the series... for example the older sister of the girl who becomes friends with Yotsuba has a rather large chest-body ratio and the father wants to ask her out because of this... the father is in his 30s ish and the older girl is in college... it's played for laughs but considering what is told to us that might make her mom upset... so yeah my thoughts...

[EricTheFred]

[quote="minakichan (post: 1281488)"]@EricTheFred

Yay reliable resident parent guy! \o/

Hmm, I like Mushishi but it might be a little too occultish. Some of the imagery is a little disturbing.

HikaGo is blameless but I don't know if it'd be interesting to my mom]

Wow, the bar has been set high! Okay, if Mushishi is too occultish, that gives me a better idea. On 'Case Closed' aka 'Detective Conan', the manga and the anime aren't quite on the same level. Go read through a couple issues of the manga and see what you think. (Still... violent stuff? This is almost down to the level of Bambi's mom getting shot off camera = violent movie!)

blkmage came up with a really good choice I will second. I don't know why I didn't think of Yotsubato myself. It's even funnier to parents than to kids; I am absolutely certain the mangaka must be a parent. Note that it's more the dad's friend Jumbo who shows attraction to the elder neighbor's daughter; I think animewarrior mixed these two up. Anyhow, both are probably more like late twenties, and the elder daughter appears to be early twenties (there's three sisters, a middle schooler, a high schooler and an employed adult still living at home, which is common in Japan.) The problems he mentioned are very mild in comparison to most manga with similar problems. Frankly, I've seen considerably worse in Asian prime time TV programming.

I'll have to go off and cogitate more. I would suggest one of my favorite Japanese reads, 'Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou', which might be available in Chinese; unfortunately it isn't in English. It has a couple mild moral issues, however:

[spoiler]Two things. First, two 'female' human-shaped robots kiss a couple times during the series. It was completely unnecessary yuri fanservice that is jarringly out of place in this story. The excuse for it is that their data interchange ports are in their mouths, but of course it is played up as much as you would expect. Fortunately, it doesn't come up too often.

Second, another human-shaped robot, apparently a renegade, runs around out in the woods naked. (Barbie-doll nudity, but it's the thought that counts with these things.)[/spoiler]

A thoughtful, sweet, unchildish slice-of-life story with zero violence, zero religious/spiritual/occult, (except the unspoken theological questions posed by the existence of fully human-like, fully self-aware robots) and gorgeous artwork..

All of these, of course, are things you should read first before Mom, since we just can't possibly know her like you do.

[minakichan]

On 'Case Closed' aka 'Detective Conan', the manga and the anime aren't quite on the same level. Go read through a couple issues of the manga and see what you think. (Still... violent stuff? This is almost down to the level of Bambi's mom getting shot off camera = violent movie!)

Yeah, I've kind of been a Conan fanatic for nearly a decade and still read the manga regularly (again, it's HUGE in Asia), but I'm still certain that it's not something my Mom would read. I mean, yeah, the Japanese age demographic is actually 9-40, but the reputation, especially in Taiwan methinks, is that it's a kid series that parents watch with their kids, and then begrudgingly buy toys for them. At any rate, she probably wouldn't really enjoy watching the escapades of the Shounen Tantei-dan.

As for the Bambi comment, the reasoning I used with my dad at the time was "Well, Snow White has murder in it! Are you saying that that's inappropriate?!" and he ALMOST bought it >< gaaaah.

Yotsuba&!

Oh, I actually think this one would be great! I actually haven't read much of it, but it's cute and sweet, right? My mom has this weird love of watching random people's little kids jabber, hahaha. As for perversion, hmmm.... is it tamer than Crayon Shin-chan? That's probably the limit-- nothing far worse than innocent little kids' bathroom jokes.

Will look for it!

Aria

I think even Aria might be too fantastic (just in world-setting), but I'll take a look.

[quote]'Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou', which might be available in Chinese]

Oh, I think this one is quite popular. I think the yuri might be a bit much, even if it's kind of fake and not integral to the plot... that kind of stuff really pisses my mom off, like a same-sex kiss is worse than a hetero sex scene to her. At any rate, robot kind of stuff... she's like, really, really into the whole humans-are-God's-creations-and-shouldn't-play-God thing and robots-absolutely-absolutely-cannot-be-cognizant-and-saying-so-is-blasphemy (she complained through all of I, Robot) so... I don't know if she'd like that. That's really specific huh o_O

Thanks so much for you help, guysss!! I totally don't know of anywhere else I could ask this kind of thing.

[EricTheFred]

is it tamer than Crayon Shin-chan? That's probably the limit-- nothing far worse than innocent little kids' bathroom jokes.

Shin-chan is actually cruder, but that's toilet humor, which is a different category. Still, I don't think you really have too much to worry about in this respect. The adult male characters are decent people but (except for the rarely seen neighbor father) single and still in their late twenties or possibly early thirties. The series focuses on the little girl main character, and nothing we see or learn of the adults doing is truly inappropriate.

The main character is an adopted child being raised by a single father, and I personally suspect the occassional flirting and attraction is thrown in to eliminate the possibility that the single dad or his friend might be homosexual (from what I understand, a homosexual man raising a child would be frowned upon in Japanese culture.)

At any rate, robot kind of stuff... she's like, really, really into the whole humans-are-God's-creations-and-shouldn't-play-God thing and robots-absolutely-absolutely-cannot-be-cognizant-and-saying-so-is-blasphemy (she complained through all of I, Robot) so... I don't know if she'd like that. That's really specific huh o_O

Yeah, this bit just totally disqualified YKK for your mother, I'm afraid. One of the robots is the main character, and the story basically focuses on her gradual discovery of joy in 'life', so to speak, and the world around her.

Still thinking. This is a fun challenge, actually.

[minakichan]

OK, went around quite a few bookstores (and bought wayyy too much manga for myself ^_^)

Haven't been able to find Yotsuba&! volume 1 anywhere, unfortunately, buuuuut! I think I might have hit the jackpot. Spotted a volume of Kami no Shizuku (Les Gouttes de Dieu), which is really popular in Taiwan, and explained it to her; I think she actually showed some interest after I explained the story and how hugely popular it is (my aunt seems to really want to read it) and agreed to read it~ I think it might be perfect-- mellow, mature, and with small eyes. I only hope there isn't anything inappropriate about it-- reading the first couple chapters, looks pretty safe so far. Wish me luuuuck!

[EricTheFred]

Heh. Now that's something I would never have come up with. I ran across a reference to it once before and made a mental note to check it out, but never have. I may need to, now.