Manga Recommendations Thread

[Exlon]

Otomen - .... Um, perhaps 13+? I wouldn't say the content is any worse than Ouran, and I don't remember any implied homosexuality to boot.

Black Butler - The main character has summoned and made a contract with a demon. If you're still with me here, I would put the content a little higher, at about 15-16+, with some fighting, and.... and... jeez. It's been so long and the fandom has warped my memories of it >.>

Okay, sounds good. ^^ For Otomen anyway, I don't feel like I know enough about Black Butler to buy it (is it better as an anime?). I guess I'd just wonder about graphic scenes with blood or gore or something. I don't know though.

Oh, and I guess I wasn't clear. When I said "rating," I kind of meant personal rating, like how good you think it is.

[Atria35]

Oh! Well, I rather enjoyed Otomen. I was surprised. It's not my favorite, but I don't like a whole lot of shoujo, so liking it is a big thing in and of itself.

The Black Butler anime and manga are waaay different. Not even really comparable story-wise. There's no real graphic scenes with gore or anything. Some blood and fighting? Yes. I'm rather indifferent to the story as a whole, but it's just not my thing. I'm sure that there's someone else who'll say that it's pretty good and you should check it out.

[MangaRocks!]

I love Otomen, and would definitely recommend it! (Here's why. )

[SakuraMist]

Alright, read your suggestions. XD Here goes.

I am tempted by FMA, but I didn't know the Hexagram would be more offensive to Jews. Huh. (Well, it is the Jewish star, twisted, to be honest.) Black Jack...I tried the Anime but wasn't too thrilled.

Tsubasa? I heard somewhere they change genders a whole lot, or something like that. Can someone elaborate?

Trigun I may take a look at. :3

Hikaru No Go-Ghosts in stories don't bother me at all. XD It's always fun having a good ghost story.

Naruto-Not something I was ever interested in.

One Piece-The anime bored the daylights out of me. XD

Ouran-I admit, Bishis are my guilty pleasure, but I hear that there are twins pretending to be gay, and two very prominent transvestite characters? (I know there was one in Kenshin, which didn't bother me, but he wasn't in every single novel XD)

[Atria35]

Alright, read your suggestions. XD Here goes.

I am tempted by FMA, but I didn't know the Hexagram would be more offensive to Jews. Huh. (Well, it is the Jewish star, twisted, to be honest.) Black Jack...I tried the Anime but wasn't too thrilled.

Tsubasa? I heard somewhere they change genders a whole lot, or something like that. Can someone elaborate?


Ouran-I admit, Bishis are my guilty pleasure, but I hear that there are twins pretending to be gay, and two very prominent transvestite characters? (I know there was one in Kenshin, which didn't bother me, but he wasn't in every single novel XD)

FMA- Well, the Star of David is mainly used by regular Jews to proclaim their faith, so that's why I feel that it's offense to Christians/Christianity is minor.

Black Jack - I don't like the anime, either >.>" Wanted to kill Pinoco

Tsubasa- I'm not sure where people got the idea that they changed genders, but no one changes genders. Ever. They do go from world to world, though....

Ouran - The only 'transvestite' is Haruhi, because out of practicality, she wears a boy's uniform (it's what she could afford and since everyone thinks she's a guy, she just.... doesn't care, really, since she thinks it would make a big fuss and doesn't want it). Oh! Wait! Her dad. Yeah, it's mentioned, but he's not gay and does dress in guy's clothes every time you see him. And he's not a major character. The twins do pretend to be gay for eachother because they know it draws in the yaoi fans, but they never even kiss, and aren't really gay for eachother.

[Maokun]

The twins pretense of being gay is definitely played ironically and for laughs and it's later expanded that they are actually attracted to a girl. There are two transvestite characters indeed, but neither of them are gay. One of them does it for laughs and for his job and the other is not even trying: she's just androgynous-looking and she doesn't really like frilly girly clothing.

As for the Hexagram in FMA, I don't think there's a reference to any kind of existing symbol religious or not. When you are trying to make a magic circle look properly mystical (in the way dictated by our collective unconscious imagery), you just use lots of circles and triangles which are bound to look like an existing symbol without actually being one.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Atria *shakes fist*

[SakuraMist]

Ohhh. Okay. Maybe I will try Ouran then. :3 I just needed someone to elaborate a bit. You guys are awesome. *hugs*

I just tend to dance around symbols is all. XD But you explained it better. Thank goodness for this forum

[Atria35]

EDIT: Ninja'd by Atria *shakes fist*

Bwahahahaha!

Anycase, FMA has a surprising amount of good themes that are definitely in-line with Christianity. I'm pretty sure there are a lot of Christians on here that can attest to it, that were unsure of whether they'd like it but ended up really doing so.

As for the Hexagram in FMA, I don't think there's a reference to any kind of existing symbol religious or not. When you are trying to make a magic circle look properly mystical (in the way dictated by our collective unconscious imagery), you just use lots of circles and triangles which are bound to look like an existing symbol without actually being one.

..This is true, actualy, since I've been attempting to draw my own for my fantasy story, and you can't really get away from any sort of pattern that even *seems* to have some sort of mystical connotation- even if it's completely non-intended. Especially when going for straight lines somewhere in there.

[Exlon]

Ouran - I love the manga, just saying. Although I'm pretty sure Haruhi's dad says he's "bi" (in defense to being called "gay"), and he does dress in women's clothes at least the first time he shows up. Misuzu is just weird and likes frilly things I think. But he was married once, so...whatever.

I don't really let that stuff bother me though, as it's not thrown in a TON, and it's more thrown into a humorous light.

[SakuraMist]

Eh. I changed my mind about Ouran. It's too much for me from what I see. I really don't feel comfortable reading it, to be honest. I read some more on the Wiki and I really didn't like it. I'll check out the others you guys recommended.

I DID however rent Trigun, so hopefully that will be good.

[Cherubiwomon]

Speaking of Manga, I think I liked the manga version of Sailor Moon more.
Anyone else ever read it and compared it? :3?

[Firefox]

Are there any good or decent manga series with talking animals or humans who live with animals?

[Atria35]

Are there any good or decent manga series with talking animals or humans who live with animals?

Do you have any content issues? Because I can think of a few that might fit the bill...

+Anima- children who gain the powers of animals/understand them explore their world.

Ginga Densetsu Weed- about talking dogs

Ginga Nagareboshi Gin- Prequel to Weed, and again about dogs. The stories are pretty stand-alone, so you can read one without reading the other.

Beast Master - shoujo romance about a boy that 'gets' animals

Fruits Basket- about a girl who lives with a family of people who can change into animals

Inu Jikan - about a girl who loves dogs

What's Micheal - It's kind of like Garfield for Japan.

[Maokun]

Filling a regrettable lapse in Atria's Memory (:P):

Hoshi no Samidare: a group of people is chosen to save the earth and each one of them is given a talking guardian animal to guide them.

[SakuraMist]

Hey again guys. :3 I've been reading a few different manga series, and am loving them all. XD But...Hikaru No Go. I fell in love with this series. XD Problem is, my local libraries only carry the first three (which I have now) and only a couple of the later volumes.

Does anyone know of any mangas that are similar? I like a story to go along with it, as well.

[Atria35]

... Bakuman, Whistle!, the anime Chihayafuru (manga has not been licensed).

Hikaru no Go is really mostly in a league of it's own- I haven't found much that's really all that similar. Closest is Chihayafuru and Bakuman, I think.

[SakuraMist]

Chihayafuru was shown to me by a friend of mine, and I will be watching it soon. :3 Bakuman looks pretty interesting. I'll see if I can find it.

[_GazeRockMei_]

I've been reading Pandora Hearts recently and I have to say, a very excellent manga! If you like violence, plot twists, and mystery, you'll love this. It's also a bit dark, and I caution about some "suggestive" themes that crop up every now and again. But it has beautiful art work and the plot is addictive. n_n

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

So, I have been reading A Game of Thrones and lovinggggggggg it to pieces, and it has made me want some more high fantasy in my entertainment because I've been sorely without. I would just go read fantasy novels, except they're all too long because that's apparently part of the genre is that they all have to be at least three 1k page books and most of them suck. I enjoy the genre enough that I can enjoy mediocrity in the genre, but because they are all so long that it takes way too much time just for enjoyably mediocre. However, manga usually take much less time to read unless they're incredibly long shonen, so is there any high fantasy manga that I should check out? Anime are also welcome, but I have a feeling there's more manga than anime in this department.

[Neane]

So, I have been reading A Game of Thrones and lovinggggggggg it to pieces, and it has made me want some more high fantasy in my entertainment because I've been sorely without. I would just go read fantasy novels, except they're all too long because that's apparently part of the genre is that they all have to be at least three 1k page books and most of them suck. I enjoy the genre enough that I can enjoy mediocrity in the genre, but because they are all so long that it takes way too much time just for enjoyably mediocre. However, manga usually take much less time to read unless they're incredibly long shonen, so is there any high fantasy manga that I should check out? Anime are also welcome, but I have a feeling there's more manga than anime in this department.

So, HIGH fantasy and NOT DARK fantasy ehh?

There is not much.....

There is The Twelve Kingdoms [Lord of the Rings: The Anime]
And there is also the Record of Lodoss War OVA.

And there is also the The Heroic Legend of Arslan OVA. [Highly Recommend.]


For manga: All of the Maoyuu Maou Yuusha saga is pretty much the only HIGH fantasy manga I have read...all the others are either Shoujo or stuff like *******!! [As a student of the ways of Economics, I recommend it. It is more inline with Economics than Spice and Wolf.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Well, I mean, high and dark aren't exclusive. I just said I am reading Game of Thrones, a series pretty infamous for it's ridiculous death count,

[Atria35]

^ Okay, I don't know many manga in the 'high fantasy' department, and I apologize for most of these being shoujo titles and having the 'person sucked into a fantasy world' thing, but there's
-From Far Away
-Dawn of the Arcana
-Akagami no Shirayuki Hime
-Basara
-Amatsuki

and you should definitely be checking out the anime
- 12 Kingdoms

[Neane]

Well, I mean, high and dark aren't exclusive. I just said I am reading Game of Thrones, a series pretty infamous for it's ridiculous death count,

Well, stuff like Claymore and Berserk, Ãœbel Blatt are Dark Fantasy. [To be perfectly honest: Berserk would fit your needs, just as a warning it gets pretty intense with the content.]
That sort of stuff seems to be more popular.

Another one that comes to mind that best fits your needs of being dark and being a pretty good fantasy is Shin Angyo Onshi.

High Fantasy is more of a western concept.

I recommend that you join a manga forum like mangaupdates, go there and ask in the forums there. I highly recommend it.
It will be more helpful for you then this little site.

[Maokun]

I support Neane's recommendations. They are the closer to Games of Thrones (I'm another fan) that you can find in anime, I believe.

[Exlon]

So...how about reading the Black Butler manga after watching the anime series? I know they start to diverge early-ish on, but I just wondered how that might turn out, since whether I start with the manga or the anime of a series, I tend to think less of the other when I get to it.

I didn't like the Ouran manga as much because I'd seen the first one or two episodes, then I read on with the manga, and didn't like the anime as much because I knew everything that happened. So it seems like whichever comes first, the other is thought less of? Or maybe I just need to do anime first, and then manga second if the manga truly is better.

I do like the Black Butler anime the way it is, so I don't know how it'd be if I read the manga. Suggestions?

[Atria35]

If you accept them as two different stories, with different merits, then go for it. I enjoy the first FMA anime for it's own merits, while I like the manga for entirely different reasons. I think they're both fine in their own ways.

If you read fanficiton, then that might help that analogy. Fanfiction occurs with the same premise as the original story, with similarities, but can be good regardless of how it differs.

[Exlon]

At least from what I've read of the summaries of the volumes released after the finish of the anime series, it seems like the manga somewhat follows the string of the anime's plot. Maybe some differences in circumstances, but basically the same situations (say, a string of kidnappings, but the reasons are different). I finished watching Black Butler by the way, I liked it, even though it was kind of creepy here and there. And if the manga is going to follow the string of the anime, I don't think I'll be able to read it (there's a difference when you're stuck staring at a still image compared to watching a screen that flashes something horrendous at you for just a moment).

So! That's one manga off the list. Now, first time considering, but how is Pandora Hearts? I noticed it was rated 16+, and I was curious as to why. I thought it might be interesting, and different from the slice of life stuff I normally read.

[Exlon]

I've only just put together that Usagi Drop is the same as Bunny Drop. How is that series? How would you rate the content as it extends to the most recent volume (5)?

EDIT:
Actually, never mind, I read about how the latter half of the series went and it doooesn't sound good. Oh well.

[Atria35]

I've only just put together that Usagi Drop is the same as Bunny Drop. How is that series? How would you rate the content as it extends to the most recent volume (5)?

EDIT:
Actually, never mind, I read about how the latter half of the series went and it doooesn't sound good. Oh well.

Either watch the anime (which only covers the first half of the series and ends on a lonvely family happiness forever as father and daughter note) or read until the 4th volume of the series. At that point you could drop it and everything would be just fine.

[Neane]

I am thinking of getting more into CLAMP, what would you consider to be their best works?

Pretty much the only CLAMP manga I have read are: X/1999 [Pretty much a seinen series dispite the fact that this series has prettiful artwork and flowers flying everywhere.] and Chobits.