Manga Recommendations Thread

[Atria35]

Kitsune-centered?

You mean as in fox-spirit centered? I... No. I no of absolutely no manga that center around a kitsune. That might be a little too specific.

Edit: Scratch that. I know about a few. But they're ecchi.

[impact777]

I have a question concerning the following manga:
-20th Century Boys
-Bakuman
-Koko ni iru yo! (I'm Here!)

Could you please tell me, if there any bad content like "bad religion" in them? Thanks a lot!

[blkmage]

I've read all of these and there's nothing objectionable in any of them.

[Atria35]

20th Century Boys- Hmmm. Very, very rare, briefy nudity, no real sexual content, and as far as religion goes, Friend does start a cult that gains power over the Vatican (far from the main part of the story, but it does become semi-important at one point). One or two priests mention that they have histories in gangs.

Bakuman- There's really nothing objectionable in this one. Religion isn't mentioned, no nudity... There is talk about how to sell a manga, and for one author, she's told that she needs to put in fanservice to draw young male readers into the story that she was trying to write. It becomes a major issue for her, and she is given materials on how to draw proper panty shots. One of the people giving her advice is a total letch, but she's saved from that rather quickly. But I will say that as per the fanservice thing, this manga goes into a great deal about manga, genres, making it.... That's a conversation that you would (and the actual mangaka for Bakuman probably did at some point) hear in the Shounen Jump offices. Thankfully, though, it's not a particularly major plot point.

I've never heard of the third one, sorry! But the first two are absolutely fantasic, and I really recommend them!

[impact777]

Wow! That was fast! oO Thank you Atria and blk!

[wildpurplechild]

Kitsune-centered?

You mean as in fox-spirit centered? I... No. I no of absolutely no manga that center around a kitsune. That might be a little too specific.

Yeah, I'm not looking for 9 tailed fox mangas like Naruto, just a manga with a Kitsune as a main character or adorable mascot that is freqeuntly featured.

[Atria35]

Yeah, I'm not looking for 9 tailed fox mangas like Naruto, just a manga with a Kitsune as a main character or adorable mascot that is freqeuntly featured.

...
...
... It shows up in an arc of Aria, but that's all I can think of.

Again, all the ones I know of that do that are ecchi I didn't think that was what you were going for.

EDIT: Scratch that, I know two that aren't: Kitsune no Yomeiri and Inuyasha (side charrie in Inuyasha). Hope this helps!

[steenajack]

I have a specific question about a specific manga: Tsubasa Chronicles. Is Ashura-o male or female? I haven't gotten that far in the manga or anime of Tsubasa, but I know (even though I've never read RG Vega) from wiki that Ashura-o is genderless. If that were the case, I'd be okay because Ashura-o looks (and in the anime SOUNDS) explicitly female. But, in the Tsubasa Chronicles review here, the reviewer stated that in RG Vega [spoiler] it is found out that Ashura-o is male casturated at birth[/spoiler] I haven't seen anything on the internet to confirm this. Could someone help me? I'm so confused. It seems that no matter what, Ashura-o (in Tsubasa Chronicles) is pretty much female. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

[AnimeGirl]

I have a specific question about a specific manga: Tsubasa Chronicles. Is Ashura-o male or female? I haven't gotten that far in the manga or anime of Tsubasa, but I know (even though I've never read RG Vega) from wiki that Ashura-o is genderless. If that were the case, I'd be okay because Ashura-o looks (and in the anime SOUNDS) explicitly female. But, in the Tsubasa Chronicles review here, the reviewer stated that in RG Vega [spoiler] it is found out that Ashura-o is male casturated at birth[/spoiler] I haven't seen anything on the internet to confirm this. Could someone help me? I'm so confused. It seems that no matter what, Ashura-o (in Tsubasa Chronicles) is pretty much female. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Been trying to figure out myself. I'd say this Ashura-o (originally from RG Veda) is female, but I am not sure myself. However, she looks and sounds it. In Celes, however, King Ashura (the one Fai sealed) is male. Though they are both "Ashura" you can tell they look DIFFERENT. Celes Ashura looks male, RG Veda and TRC Shura arc Ashura look female.

I hope that helps some. ^.^ I've finished the anime, not read that arc in the manga, however.

[Atria35]

I have a specific question about a specific manga: Tsubasa Chronicles. Is Ashura-o male or female? I haven't gotten that far in the manga or anime of Tsubasa, but I know (even though I've never read RG Vega) from wiki that Ashura-o is genderless. If that were the case, I'd be okay because Ashura-o looks (and in the anime SOUNDS) explicitly female. But, in the Tsubasa Chronicles review here, the reviewer stated that in RG Vega [spoiler] it is found out that Ashura-o is male casturated at birth[/spoiler] I haven't seen anything on the internet to confirm this. Could someone help me? I'm so confused. It seems that no matter what, Ashura-o (in Tsubasa Chronicles) is pretty much female. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Okay, I have a definitive answer- Ashura and Ashura-o are two different people. Ashura-o is Ashura's father, and is male. Ashura is Ashura-o's....child. You see, because Ashura-o was a cruel murderer, his son Ashura was cursed to be genderless so that the line couldn't be continued. The reason he/she is constantly referred to as 'she' is because English does not have a gender neutral pronoun for referring to people.

Backup: http://myanimelist.net/character/4205/Ashura-ou
http://myanimelist.net/character/3350/Ashura

[steenajack]

Thank you guys so much for the info on that. I was refering to "Ashura" the genderless one. I do know that his/her father is in fact male, but thanks for the info on that anyway.(Why must they have similar names? MORE CONFUSION! XD!) Anyway, this info helped a lot. Thank you guys very much. XD!

[AnimeGirl]

Thank you guys so much for the info on that. I was refering to "Ashura" the genderless one. I do know that his/her father is in fact male, but thanks for the info on that anyway.(Why must they have similar names? MORE CONFUSION! XD!) Anyway, this info helped a lot. Thank you guys very much. XD!

Is "genderless" Ashura the one who looks female in Shura arc??? I hope so!

[airichan623]

Is there any good Kitsune centered manga?

there's the obscure Kon Kon Kokon by Koge-Donbo! (available in English from Broccoli Books, I have one volume). The main character is basically tackled by a little girl who's actually a kitsune who claims to owe him a great debt. This leads to the appearance of other Japanese yokai (monsters/ mythological creatures). Rated E by broccoli books.

[steenajack]

Is "genderless" Ashura the one who looks female in Shura arc??? I hope so!

Yes, he/she is. No worries AnimeGirl, Ashura from the Shura arc is either genderless..or possibly in fact female. The refer to her as a "king" apparently in the manga, but sometimes (so I've been told) that term is used for both male and female rulers.

Here's the proof: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King

In rare cases women have been crowned as kings instead of queens, such as Jadwiga of Poland and Christina of Sweden.

[Atria35]

Is "genderless" Ashura the one who looks female in Shura arc??? I hope so!

Yes. His/her father is most definately manly looking- it's the genderless one that looks like a girl.

[wildpurplechild]

there's the obscure Kon Kon Kokon by Koge-Donbo! (available in English from Broccoli Books, I have one volume). The main character is basically tackled by a little girl who's actually a kitsune who claims to owe him a great debt. This leads to the appearance of other Japanese yokai (monsters/ mythological creatures). Rated E by broccoli books.

Ok, thanks I'll check it out!

[Tamachan319]

Is there any good Kitsune centered manga?

As well as the series Airi recommended (which by the way, it's adorable!), there's a kitsune in xxxHolic, but it's not really the center. (xxxHolic does have a fair amount of objectionable stuff, however.)

[animewarrior]

Hey guys I need a good dose of shoujo manga! Preferably a more mature storyline, without harems unless it's a stereotype breaker.

Here's what I've already read:
- Kare Kano (want to collect)
- Fruits Basket (collecting)
- NANA (<3! .. need to read more...)
- Paradise Kiss
- Ayashi no Ceres = Ceres: Celestial Legend (emotional series...)
- Sand Chronicles (buying volume 8 soon...)
- High School Debut (purely for fun)
- Full Moon o Sagashite (surprised me! <3 fell in love and bought on eBay)
- Time Stranger Kyoko (fun)
- Honey & Clover (art style/wandering storyline lost my interest around vol.5)
- Captive Hearts (meh...)
- Vampire Knight (alright.. anime is excuted better in my opinion)
- the Wallflower (purely guilty pleasure on a whim...best for days when I want to laugh)
- Ouran Highschool Host Club (anime is excuted better...art design isn't a fav)
- Honey Hunt (alright...cute at points)
- Shinobi Life (don't be deterred by the covers! seriously nice stuff)
- Love Attack (fun <3)
- Punch! (a little short- 3 volumes)
- Nodame Cantabile (dislike... I love music but I just CANNOT get past the art)
- La Corda d'Oro (bored me and dropped after 2 volumes)
- Tsubasa: Those with Wings (own series)

Right now I'm reading Skip Beat! & The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross for fun. Ordered Beauty Pop through the library (haven't read any yet) & reading Hana-Kimi scans. I'm also reading After School Nightmare (only for mature readers please) which deals with some interesting subject matter.

But I'm looking for a highschool/college romance with MEANING, character development, and a bit of everything. Thanks in advance. As shown by the titles above I'm fine with sex scenes as long as they are dealt with tastefully. Fanservice for fanservice's sake is disliked. Sorry this post is a little long. God Bless <3

[Atria35]

Hey guys I need a good dose of shoujo manga! Preferably a more mature storyline, without harems unless it's a stereotype breaker.

But I'm looking for a highschool/college romance with MEANING, character development, and a bit of everything. Thanks in advance. As shown by the titles above I'm fine with sex scenes as long as they are dealt with tastefully. Fanservice for fanservice's sake is disliked. Sorry this post is a little long. God Bless <3

Well, since some of the titles you listed are actualy Josei, I might also throw a few of those in there.

Delicious Relationship- I'm about 5 vols, in, nothing particularly quesitonable, about an adult woman from a rich family who must get a job in a restaurant when her family falls into povery. And she loves food. Not highschool/college, but really good.

Please Save My Earth- older shoujo, sci-fi, about highschool kids who find that they were reincarnated from aliens into humans because they loved the earth so much. Some implied homosexuality because one of the guys was a female alien, and the romantic feelings from that carried over a bit.

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan- While this does follow adults and there is implied abuse, this is also one of the most beautiful romance manga I've ever read.

1/2 Prince- not of Japanese origin, but about a girl in HS that's playing an MMORPG online, and has to deal with the tangled romantic relationships both online and offline. Somewhat awkward, since her avatar is a guy (she wanted to prove a point to her brother so she has one of the opp gender- and it's the only one where the player is the opp. gender than their avatar in the whole game, but only she knows that), and a guy is romantically interested in her avatar. Played for laughs at first, but he figures out he's a girl and is now romantically interested in the girl.

Dangeki Daisy- one of the foremost shoujo manga at this point. No fanservice for fanservice from what I've read, and very much in line with what you'd like.

Aishiteruze Baby- about a guy that must take caare of his young cousin, and the romance that blooms with his classmate on the way. In the beginning he's a bit of a playbot, but only a few conversational implications of this are in the story.

Land of the Blindfolded- like Dengeki Daisy, a very highly regarded shoujo. About a girl who ca see people's future with a touch, and a boy who can see into the past with a touch. She tries to stop the events, he doesn't. Relationship stuff happens.

Lovely Complex- great romantic comedy. About the relationship that blooms between a tall girl and short boy.

[blkmage]

Kimi ni Todoke.

[Kura Ookami]

I'm looking for some manga in Japanese with furigana. Here's a list of what mangas I'm reading or have read in English. Does anyone know whether any of these have furigana?

Berserk
Catagory Freaks
Gacha Gacha
Gakuen Alice
Hanami
Hayate the Combat Butler
Life
Kare Kano
Pastel
Sensual Phrase
Shugo Chara
Vampire Knight

[Atria35]

^ The ones with Furigana tend to be the ones aimed at a lower age dempgraphic, about 13 or younger. Several ones do have Japanese with furigana counterparts-

Gakuen Alice
Shugo Chara
Vampire Knight
Hayate
Kare Kano

Hanami I doubt- it looks like it's not manga, but Manhua, and originally in Korean. The others are obviously for an older demographic, and don't have furigana. In fact, since at least one of those is SERIOUSLY pornographic, you might want to delete the name from your list. This is a family-friendly site, for the most part!

As rule of thumb for which ones have furigana, the manga that run in these magazines tend to:
-Anything Ribon
-Anything Hana To Yume
-Shonen Jump
-Shonen Sunday
-Shonen Magazine Comics
-Margaret
-Gangan Wing Comics
-Monthy Gangan

And ones that don't: Other magazines including
-Young Jump
-Young Animal
-Ultra Jump
-Dengenki Comics
-Kadowaka Comics

[Kura Ookami]

Thanks for the answer. I've checked out Hanami and it doesn't look like there's a japanese version of it at all. I've found out what magazines each of them was originally serielised in.

ヤングアニマル(Young Animal)
ベルセルク (Berserk)

マガジンSPECIΑL(Magazine Special)
ガチャガチャ (Gacha Gacha)

週刊少年サンデー(Shounen Sunday)
ハヤテのごとく (Hayate the Combat Butler)

別冊フレンド(Bassatsu Friend)
ライフ (Life)

花とゆめ(Hana to Yume)
学園アリス(Gakuen Alice)

なかよし(Nakayoshi)
しゅごキャラ (Shugo Chara)

LaLa
ヴァンパイア騎士 (Vampire Knight)
彼氏彼女の事情 (Kare Kano)

月刊コミックバーズ(Comic Birz)
カテゴリ:フリークス (Category Freaks)

少女コミック(Shoujo Comic)
快感フレーズ (Sensual Phrase)

So anything with shounen in the title? Would that mean that anything with shoujo in the title would have furigana too?

[Atria35]

Thanks for the answer. I've checked out Hanami and it doesn't look like there's a japanese version of it at all. I've found out what magazines each of them was originally serielised in.

So anything with shounen in the title? Would that mean that anything with shoujo in the title would have furigana too?

Well, the three 'Shounen' magazines I've listed are associated with Shounen Jump (in fact are different branches of it). But surprisingly, not necessarily. There are some magazines with Shounen and Shoujo in the title that aren't for kids. Basically, go for school-aged stories. Sensual Phrase obviously is for an older age bracket. Gacha Gacha- again, obviously for an older bracket. They will not have furigana in them. The other ones are easily identifiable as ones for children/young teens.

I have no information on Category Freaks, so I can't say anything about that one, though. It's not in the manga database- I think it's an American-made manga.

[MasterDias]

I believe one of the major ways you can tell what demographic something is aimed at is by the furigana amount. Furigana tends to imply Shounen/Shojo and once you get up to Seinen/Josei it gets rarer. So, yeah, if you look into shonen or shojo titles...you should be able to find something with furigana in it.

Well, the three 'Shounen' magazines I've listed are associated with Shounen Jump (in fact are different branches of it).

Shonen Jump, Shonen Sunday, and Shonen Magazine are all owned by different publishing companies; Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Kodansha respectively

[Atria35]

[quote="MasterDias (post: 1416242)"]
Shonen Jump, Shonen Sunday, and Shonen Magazine are all owned by different publishing companies]

.... I hate my friends. I have GOT to stop taking what they say at face value!

But yeah, as you go up, the less furigana it has in it.

[steenajack]

Okay, since I'm officially an anime fan, I thought I'd try some of Osamu Tezuka's stuff for historic-sentimental-curiousity purposes. I want to find out WHY he's called "The God of Anime/Manga". Can anyone recommend me anything by him that is good and fits the content below? (And yes, I've already decided to try Astro Boy, Metropolis, and Pluto)

Violence: This one depends. I won't read/watch anything graphic or excessively gorey/bloody, but so far things like Lord of the Rings, Twelve Kingdoms, and Tsubasa Chronicles (manga) don't bother me so much. (Although I do plan on watching/reading FMA and Rouroni Kenshin.) I'm able to take more in manga than in anime, since the blood is all black and white.

Language: Mild swears don't bother me, but I generally don't want to watch anything with usless and unessesary just-for-the-heck-of-it swearing. If the swearing has a meaning, I'll be fine. Also, if they start dropping the f-bombs and using God's and Jesus' names as a cuss-word, that's usually when I drop a series. S-bombs or iffy, if it's only once or twice or a few, I'm fine. But if they spout it a buncha times, it just kinda turns me off.

Sexual Content/Nudity: This is where I'm the most sensative. PLEASE no sex scenes, or explicit nudity. I can take undetailed-non-sexual nudity, and a VERY LIGHT amount of fanservice. (Princess Nine will probably be has far as I go when it comes to fanservice.) I can take LIGHT sexual humor, something similar to the content level of +Anima would be acceptable. OH, and no yaoi/yuri/hentai/incest/anything-sexually-immoral please. No accidental-same-gender-kisses-and-the-like, or characters who are explicity homosexual and express such...even when it's lightly implied it's kinda iffy. >.<! To all these things though, there is one exception: if I can skip a chapter that is "filler" and contained [insert objectional content here] I'd be happy to skip it if neccesary.

Religious: Just about anything can go here, so long as it isn't blasphemous to my faith. ! However, and IDK if this counts, when things get very REALISTICLY emotionally/psycologically intense (such as accurate portrayal of psycologial disorders and whatnot), that's a bit iffy. It depends on what they show, how it's all portrayed and whatnot.

Also, and this is possibly one of the most IMPORTANT NOTES, the work HAS to be lisenced in America so I can watch it LEGALLY. I'll only watch/read it if I can do it by legal means.

[Atria35]

^ Erm. Tezuka wrote over 700 manga series in his lifetime. Narrowing that down, you can get Ayako, Black Jack, MW, Ode to Kirihito, Dorodoro (this one is a social commentary, about a boy who must get his body parts from 48 demons by defeating them- don't know how sacreligious that would be to you), Adolf, Phoenix, Next World.

All have violence, nothing terribly graphic, but all are also social commentaries. You might have to read up a bit on the time period they were written in. That doesn't make them bad stories at all, though!

You can also find them all on Amazon if you want to read the descriptions. THere were too many for me to do it for each!

[steenajack]

Those titles sound great, although I may not be trying out Ayako and MW....a leetle bit of adult content there. eh-he. But, thank you so much still. Black Jack, Ode to Kirihito, Dorodoro, Pheonix, Nextworld....and maybe Adolf sound right up my ally. ! Thank you so much for those titles.

[Atria35]

Those titles sound great, although I may not be trying out Ayako and MW....a leetle bit of adult content there. eh-he. But, thank you so much still. Black Jack, Ode to Kirihito, Dorodoro, Pheonix, Nextworld....and maybe Adolf sound right up my ally. ! Thank you so much for those titles.

You're welcome. I couldn't believe so many of his titles had come over, myself!