Forum - View topicOfficial Manga Recommendation Thread (please read 1st post)
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NeburPT
 Posts: 101 Location: Portugal |
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Thank you for your replies
 I'm not really a fan of seinen manga because of the gore, and while some of my favorite series may be terribly violent (like the ones I quoted on my previous post), I also love titles like Gogo Monster, Solanin, Real or Pluto, so you can pretty much recommend me anything - although "transitional" manga, as classicalzawa said, does seem the right thing for me to read at this time.
I have already read two of the series that you recommended: the first volume of Banana Fish and Twin Spica. Starting with Twin Spica, as it is the one I most enjoyed, I was kinda caught off guard by it - at first glance, due to the artwork, with simplified and somewhat childish characters in their appearance, it seems like something directed at a younger or at least the "all-ages" type of public. Then as I continued reading and assimilating the artwork, I got through it and began to actually see beyond it. The manga seems very sincere, honest and warm, although it deals with a lot of pain - especially from a child's confused point of view. From the start it's a pretty open and emotional story, and I quite enjoyed the setup (the theme of space exploration reminded me of planetes as a coming of age story) and the flashbacks (the identity of lion-san and the last goodbye). I'll definitely continue reading it, although I'm afraid it might exagerate the tearjerker moments in the future to the point they may feel forced or unreal. Regarding Banana Fish, it felt a bit like reading an early Naoki Urasawa's title - the Katsuhiro Otomo's influenced artwork, the mistery surrounding Banana Fish, the over-the-top action scene: pole vault prison break! It does feel like a seinen, except for the weird hommosexual undertones as they felt out of place, too frequent (the mafia boss and his underling both have a thing for the main character, which in turn may have something for the japanese journalist?), and in contrast to the setting. This is only the first volume and still feels a bit early to form a full opinion as I'm intrigued about the outcome of the "banana fish" investigation and how will the story continue to develop. Next up, Nana and Emma, and I'll investigate the series all of you have mentioned 
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dandelion_rose
 Posts: 657 Location: Kuala Lumpur |
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Hello all,
I've decided to start learning Japanese. What manga would you recommend to help me learn Japanese? I'm at a rather basic level, but I really don't want those 'Japanese conversation' books that new language learners or tourists tend to get thrown with. I bought Watashi ni xx Shinasai (Missions of Love), because it is a children's series and has plenty of furigana, but it might be at a level that's too advanced for me. If anyone has any recommendations for manga I can use to help me learn Japanese, that would be much appreciated! This isn't a 'requirement' or anything, but just in case someone might want to know what I already like: some of my recent favourite manga / anime that I read or watch (translated or subtitled): Tactics, D.N.Angel, Galaxy Angel (anime only). I generally like cute characters with some light adventure, perhaps with a love story or a bit of BL / shoujo ai thrown in. I don't like those adventure-fight shounen manga that stretch for 66 volumes or something, although I do like stories about wandering ronin, like Kurogane. Thank you very much! Arigato gozaimasu! 
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hyojodoji
Posts: 583 |
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I think probably ordinary textbooks are better to learn Japanese, but if you dare choose manga as textbooks, this article may be useful to you. A Philippine manga fan wrote a blog article titled 'Learning Japanese through manga'. http://www.punkednoodle.com/champloo/2008/05/26/learning-japanese/ Shōgakukan released the bilingual edition of Doraemon. http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4092270119/ How about Cardcaptor Sakura? http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4063197433/ The English edition would help you to read the text, when it is difficult for you to grasp the meaning of a Japanese sentence. http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/browse/item/86757/4/1525/36 御健鬭をお祈りします。 |
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dandelion_rose
Posts: 657 Location: Kuala Lumpur |
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Thank you so much! The Filipino blogger was really great help!
I can't believe I forgot about Doraemon! My family collected almost all of the volumes in Malay prior to Fujio F. Fujiko's passing. I also enjoyed the Cardcaptor Sakura anime immensely. Both are really great suggestions! Thank you so much once again!
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hyojodoji
Posts: 583 |
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It's a pleasure. |
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NeburPT
Posts: 101 Location: Portugal |
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Can anyone recommend good manhwa titles and authors? I loved Youn In-wan's work (Blade of the Phantom Master, Island) and enjoyed mostly the artwork of Shaman Warrior and Bride of the Water God. Who are the references in this type of manga and what are the major works published in english?
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poonk
 Posts: 1490 Location: In the Library with Philip |
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Set1229
 Posts: 146 Location: Pittsburgh |
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I am looking for some Shoujo, Shounen (outside of the ones that have anime on Cartoon Network/Toonami), Seinen or even kodomo manga,
I liked CCS, reading Rozen Maiden (thank you cdjapan for letting me import!), Kenshin, working on Shugo Chara, Hellsing and Tokyo Mew Mew, Angelic Layer was good but the ending was cheesy for me, did not have a good reaction with Tsubasa's second half at all. Now I prefer cute designs, but are not required (how unmanly of me), fantasy, running gags, funny faces for jokes, sci-fi robots (besides giant mechs), living dolls, mythological (Matantei Loki, Saint Seiya for examples), split personalities where one side is completely harmless and loveable is a definite Now I can handle dark stuff, but these have a much longer, much more negative effect than they are intended to when it comes to my emotions; mass extinction/most or all of the world is gone by the end, physical or sexual cruelty towards children that look young and I also get emotionally discomforted in a fearful manner when people's own families are trying to kill them. spoiler[Gaara from Naruto for example] |
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RAmmsoldat
 Posts: 1261 Location: North wales coast |
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you tried soul eater? sounds like that would tick a fair few of your boxes.
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vashna
Posts: 1313 |
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I was going to bring up Soul Eater as well. It has a darker theme to it, being essentially about well death, but it ends up pretty positive and often focuses on the humorous side of things. Split personalities made me think of Air Gear, where one of the characters is thrust between an exceedingly violent personality on one hand and a remarkably effeminate one on the other. As for sci-fi robots that aren't giant mecha so to speak, have you ever tried Steam Detectives? It has an interesting twist on robotic units.
I hope that some of these suggestions help! Recently, in real life, I started taking martial arts classes and I've been curious about something. For obvious reasons, the majority of martial arts manga seem to focus on Japanese styles. I wanted to know if there was anything based around the style I'm studying. I'm going to guess this is unlikely because I'm a Tai Chi Ch'uan/Taijiquan student, but I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. The closest analog in the Japanese traditions would be Tessenjutsu (Fan Combat), but I'm also unsure if there was a manga or anime series that revolved around this style either. Thank you. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7357 |
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...So I want to try out more yaoi. I haven't read too many....well ok, I've rented a couple of shonen-ai from the library and have read all of the Fumi Yoshinaga stuff because she's awesome no matter what she does and I will throw money at anything with her name (but other than Ooku, there hasn't been anything new by her to come out in America, sadly). But the sex scenes make me squick, my uncle is legally married gay and I can't help but think of his as my default real life gay person, so kissing is fine (certainly something I've seen my uncle do like any normal married couple) but sex scenes....try to suggest something with those as a minimum? I can't tell if Fumi Yoshinaga's manga has a lot or a little, but if it's more than that....no. Also, everyone (or the catcher anyway) seems to be in pain during the sex scenes, I think it's what makes me squick so much. So I know I'm probably missing part of the purpose with asking for fewer sex scenes, but think of it as trying to ease me in? So what are some good ones? I also recall reading Seduce Me After The Show by Est Em, but that didn't do it for me (but I did read the JManga preview for Working Kentauros, wtf?)
Also, are there any science fiction ones? I like scifi to begin with after all, it only seems natural. I recall a few science fictiony ones in some of Yoshinaga's short yaoi story collection ones. And preferably in print, it's an Otakon wish list after all (and there always seems to be some people in the artist alley selling their "gently caressed" yaoi for cheap) |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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Ai no Kusabi is a sci-fi BL novel, as opposed to manga, series. I've never read it, but I've seen the original OVA and enjoyed it. Might be worth you tracking that down.
Fake was my gateway BL title. It was released by Tokyopop, so might be a bit difficult to find now, but it's totally worth it. There's no sex until the last volume and it's pretty tame compared to a lot of BL. The plot and characters, especially the relationship between the lead couple are developed really well. It's set in New York and centres on 2 policemen. There is also a series which was reviewed on here recently called Only Serious About You. The reviews can explain it much better than I can, so: Volume 1 Volume 2 I'm largely past my BL phase so can't really think of anything else I'm afraid, not unless you want totally cliche high school romances and office worker stories. Sadly, a lot of yaoi is very cliched. |
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poonk
Posts: 1490 Location: In the Library with Philip |
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Also Rin! , a short 3 volume series from June. Another one I find myself re-reading all the time. A really lovely story about a boy who finds the nature of his relationship to his archery sempai (& older brother's friend) changing as he hones his skill. I hope that helped a little. Since the level of explicitness doesn't bother me, it's sometimes difficult to remember where each title lies on that spectrum but I'm pretty sure these would be worth checking out. |
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NeburPT
Posts: 101 Location: Portugal |
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I second that and would also recommend Defense Devil, D.Gray-Man, Claymore and Deadman Wonderland (this one has a dark tone, but since you've liked Hellsing...) as far as shonen is concerned. |
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NeburPT
Posts: 101 Location: Portugal |
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Having watched and read Puella Magi Madoka Magica recently, I'm looking for more manga that works as a deconstruction/subversion of a genre (like Bokurano or Gantz) or that is "self-aware", providing some commentary/satire on the manga business (I'd like to read Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga...) or fandom (like Genshiken). What other examples can you think of that include these characteristics?
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