Manga: Recommendations

[Sapphire]

7 Seeds. My brain cannot even. Wow. This is Jurassic Park, Battle Royale, Lost, Walking Dead, Swan Song, and pure fucking awesomeness. I haven't freaked out this much since I don't know when. I can't believe this is Josei and not Seinen. Completely unpredictable series. This is probably the best manga I've ever read, and probably one of the best works of fiction I've read PERIOD.

Warning: This manga is also terrifying at some points. I think there is a scene straight out of Izumi Kyouka's Kōya Hijiri, a work known for its horrific sublime imagery. The author of 7 Seeds is very thoughtful, and I think one of the genres here is Mystery because the whole story is a tumultuous journey of shocking reveals that just make sense. I think I might come out of reading this a little traumatized.

Silver/Gold. Two WTF series. Josei series. Smut. Emotional roller-coaster ride. Lots of sex and crazy twists. Unpredictable. Gripping. Best SMUT author I've read.

-

I am rendered utterly incoherent, nearly speechless because I've been on a week long manga bender and I'm in the middle of crying in flabbergasted, amazed and painful wonder at 7 Seeds which I'm on volume 7 of. When I'm coherent I might write a proper review. But then, I said that about Swan Song... Swan Song is good but 7 Seeds takes all the best elements from all of the above series I mentioned and turns it into one incomprehensible orgasm of literary fun.

In these works, there is very little of that despicable "Japanese Slapstick" obvious humor which tends to be so prevalent in mainstream manga.

As these works are all Josei, I daresay the characters are a bit more authentic and a bit less conventional than your average run of the mill manga. I suppose these would be called Josei rather than Shounen because there's no heartwarming give it your all and defeat evil as one last trumpcard bullshit. There's no happy-go-lucky believe in yourself and you'll win crap. The characters in these works climb the harsh mountain of success one step at a time and arrive with fingernails covered in blood and tear-soaked eyes. It gets to the nitty gritty and stays there and wrenches your heart with simultaneous emotions of compassion and fear all the while.

Don't spoil yourself with synopsis'. Just dive in.

[Deadlift]

Dogs: Bullets & Carnage by Shirow Miwa

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit by Motoro Mase

Dogs for the amazing art and comedy, and Ikigami for the satirical ideological discourse.

[Munsu]

Yo!

Is anyone reading or has anyone read Ookiku Furikabutte (Oofuri/Big Windup!) and can tell me something about the manga?
The Anime is really, really good and I doubt the manga can keep up with it, but I'd like to give it a try
however I've read somewhere that the manga is more shounen-ai than shounen, is that true?
(that would ruin everything, especially because there are quite a few interesting girls)

The Anime has so many "bro-fist" moments that it's hard not to smile throughout every single episode
however there will hardly ever be a third season which is why I have to resort on the manga

Shounen-ai? Hmm, I didn't get that vibe really. There's certainly a bromance thing going on, but it's nothing different than what was featured in the anime. Both seemed like the same to me, so if you liked the anime I don't see how you wouldn't enjoy the manga.


Anyways, haven't been following much manga for the last year, what's everyone reading, particularly new mangas from last year and on to recommend?

[Munsu]

So, it's that time of the year when I'm looking for more manga to read... series that at the very least have a little bit of action.

What have you guys been reading lately, and anything new that has piqued your interest?

The only new to me ones that I've begun reading are Akame ga Kill and Onepunch Man, two that were being discussed in this forum.

[NeoCybercoin]

Those two are great. Especially Onepunch Man. God-tier artwork right there.
There's also the korean mangwha or whatever you spell it. The Breaker and the sequel The Breaker New Waves. Pretty awesome.

[Munsu]

Those two are great. Especially Onepunch Man. God-tier artwork right there.
There's also the korean mangwha or whatever you spell it. The Breaker and the sequel The Breaker New Waves. Pretty awesome.

Yeah, I've been reading The Breaker since pretty much the beginning, really enjoy it, though this 2nd portion has been quite slow... but picking up as of late.

[Archangel]

- UQ! Holder, sequel to Negima

- Teppu, hiatus is over

- Shokugeki no Soma, cooking manga with shounen battle elements

- Assassination Classroom, i don't even know how to describe it but there's action and it's pretty interesting.

[Munsu]

- UQ! Holder, sequel to Negima

- Teppu, hiatus is over

- Shokugeki no Soma, cooking manga with shounen battle elements

- Assassination Classroom, i don't even know how to describe it but there's action and it's pretty interesting.

Do I need to read Negima to get into UQ? I should read Negima regardless, though now I don't recall if I had begun reading the manga a while back or not.

Thanks for Teppu, completely forgot to continue that one.

Was curious about Assassination Classroom a while back, but wasn't too sure on it.

[Archangel]

It's not strictly necessary to read Negima for UQ, at least not so far.

[Augury]

Kingdom and Kubera have been two series that I've been looking forward to lately. Are there any particular genres you're interested in?

[Munsu]

Kingdom and Kubera have been two series that I've been looking forward to lately. Are there any particular genres you're interested in?

I had those on my list, but didn't give them a second look... will get right on them, Kubera
in particular.

Genres... na', at the moment I just want something that at least has a spec of action.

[shinta|hikari]

Gokukoku no Brynhildr.

Kimi no Knife also ended recently. Definitely worth a read.

[Munsu]

Gokukoku no Brynhildr.

Kimi no Knife also ended recently. Definitely worth a read.

Will definitely try those to, Gokukoku from the same mangaka as Elfen Lied. Kimi no Knife is from a mangaka who has quite a few works I've wanted to give a try for a while now.

[Augury]

I just marathoned Kimi no Knife. It's quite good; I'll second the recommendation.

[MasterOfMoogles]

I just finished Alyosha!, it ended in May (36 monthly chapters), and would recommend it.
The quality I like most is that the main character just doesn't screw around. None of this talking to the badguys thing, just put the knife through their head and be done with it.
There is a good mix of comedy (super assassin trying to live a normal life) and serious plot elements (assassin organizations, etc).

[shinta|hikari]

I would support that recommendation if you really like comedy. The action and story is definitely secondary.

[Death BOO Z]

while randomly browsing through mangas, I came across Oni-dere:
http://www.mangareader.net/340/onidere.html

genre: highschool, romance, comedy.

and it's actually pretty good.
the story is about a young high school couple, the guy is normal, sensible 'nice guy', while the girl is the top delinquent of the the school (and surrounding area), and they can't let anyone find out about them!

good points about the story:
A. it begins when they're already a couple, so we are spared the horrible, tedious stage of "will they or will they not" drama that always seems to take the bigger portion of the story.
B. Almost zero echhi fanservice, which is a plus for me. no pantyshots, no "sorry, I fell down and what's this? I am groping you", and none of that "people seeing each other naked" bullshit. I know some people like that sort of thing, but I don't.
C. good characters, everybody has a shtick that actually works for them, so it doesn't really feel that the series gathers too much redundant characters. the core cast remains the core cast through most of the story.

140 chapters, which is readable in a day or two. I recommend.

[Archangel]

The art is kind of garbage and it's pretty unimpressive overall, unless that sort of humor does it for you i wouldn't recommend it.

[rockmanj]

With Bleach and Naturo ending (I can't believe I have been reading Naruto since I was a teen), I am going to need to find something to fill those holes (phrasing!). Any established or up and coming series out there that you all know of?

[Archangel]

Are you looking for more shit or something actually good in the shounen genre?