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| Absolute Boyfriend (manga) |
Decent |
As with other Yuu Watase series, the art is depressingly average. If you took off Satoshi's glasses and bleached his hair, he and Night would be twins. The ending comes a bit out of nowhere. Otherwise, it's a decent but ultimately forgettable series. Night's antics are cute, and Riiko is one of the more interesting Watase heroines. |
| After School Nightmare (manga) |
Excellent |
Dark, sinister, and strange, this is a wonderful horror series. The imagery is bizarre and surreal, and while some of the students' "Night Class" forms are a bit cliché, a good number of them are inventive and meaningful. Overall, the art is lush and beautiful, though some side characters are difficult to tell apart at times. Of course, the most interesting thing about this series is how it handles issues of adolescence and identity, particularly gender identity. Mashiro's conflict is unique, but also universally relatable. Highly recommended. |
| Alice 19th (manga) |
Bad |
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| Alice in the Country of Hearts (manga) |
Good |
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| +Anima (manga) |
Good |
My first manga along with Fruits Basket. It's cute and largely inconsequential. It has some good lessons about tolerance and being yourself. The characters are easy to tell apart and their +Anima forms are cool. I would recommend it to a younger child, perhaps eight or nine. |
| Aria (manga) |
Good |
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| Azumanga Daioh (manga) |
Very good |
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| Bakuman. (manga) |
Very good |
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| Barefoot Gen (manga) |
Excellent |
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| Beauty Pop (manga) |
Decent |
It's a cute series. If you're a fan of shoujo manga and you see it at the local library, go ahead and give it a try. The main character Kiri is likeable in her snark and apathy, and the hairdressing angle is fairly unique. The art is cute but kind of bland, and the main guy is one of those annoying tsunderes who complains all the time for no reason. The side characters are cute though, and even Narumi becomes kind of endearing after a while. |
| Black Butler (manga) |
Good |
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| Black Cat (manga by K. Yabuki) |
Decent |
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| Buddha (manga) |
Masterpiece |
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| Buffalo 5 Girls (manga) |
Good |
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| Cardcaptor Sakura (manga) |
Good |
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| Ceres: Celestial Legend (manga) |
Excellent |
This one is almost a masterpiece. It has great twists, exciting action, some fantastic characters, and deals with the touchy subject of gender politics in a mature, intelligent, and interesting manner. It is by far Yuu Watase's best work. However, while it includes in full force many of Watase's strengths as a creator, the flaws common to her work are also here as well. The main couple's romance is mostly bland and uninteresting, and an ingenious twist at the end about Touya's true origin and purpose doesn't entirely remedy that. The art is bland and forgettable, with some characters being pretty difficult to tell apart at times. There is also Watase's tendency to use rape as an excuse for good drama, which mars the intelligence of the themes by occasionally treating men as though they are all rapists. However, though these flaws are major enough for me to knock this series down one letter grade, it is still a fantastic manga that I hope will be remembered for years to come. Kagami is a fantastic antagonist, and the Progenitor has a surprising amount of depth to him as well. The moral grey areas are handled well here as Ceres' murderous misandry is treated as just as harmful as the Progenitor's sexism. Many of the side characters, such as Shura and Chidori, have stuck with me long after I finished the series. |
| Chibi Vampire (manga by Y. Kagesaki) |
Decent |
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| Chobits (manga) |
Very good |
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| Cirque du Freak (manga) |
Good |
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| Clover (manga, CLAMP) |
Decent |
A beautiful, beautiful mess. It's unfortunate that the story is completely incoherent, because the art is absolutely breathtaking. |
| Crescent Moon (manga) |
So-so |
Eh. |
| D.N.Angel (manga) |
So-so |
Eh. |
| Death Note (manga) |
Very good |
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| A Drunken Dream (manga) |
Excellent |
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| Emma (manga) |
Very good |
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| Fairy Cube (manga) |
Decent |
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| Fruits Basket (manga) |
Masterpiece |
My absolute favorite manga, and I could talk about it all day. I love every one of the characters, even the less-than-wonderful ones, more than any others. Their stories are so exquisitely crafted and so genuine that it's hard not to get teary-eyed at the more tragic parts. There is nary an out-of-character moment in the series. Takaya-sensei is remarkably honest with her creations, letting them run free within the narrative. The art is simple, especially later on (I know my friend had some serious trouble telling characters apart in later volumes, but I wasn't bothered by it), and not really anything to write home about. However, Takaya-sensei is very talented when it comes to drawing wonderfully subtle and nuanced expressions, and backing those up with body language that often says much more than the mere words on the page. She is also a master at using shading and panel layouts to convey complex tones and emotions, and as a result, many of the pages are truly beautiful to look at. Her layouts are creative and easy to read, with some lovely transitions. Highly recommended, though if you're a shoujo manga fan, you've probably already read it :) |
| Full Moon O Sagashite (manga) |
Good |
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| Fullmetal Alchemist (manga) |
Masterpiece |
My second-favorite manga. If you're looking for a good long-running shounen series, you really can't do better than this one. The main characters have a complex backstory and are immediately likeable and easy to root for. The story is truly epic in scale, a difficult-to-achieve quality I can only ascribe to a couple of series, but always brings it back to the two brothers in the end. (And speaking of endings, this one is pretty incredible.) There is a surprising amount of moral ambiguity in this series, though it remains very optimistic in tone throughout (compare to the 2003 anime, which is much more cynical). I can't talk about this series without mentioning the women. The female characters in this manga are strong, diverse, and three-dimensional. Even some of the side characters, like Maes Hughes' wife Gracia, really stand out. The art is clean and coherent, and the characters easy to tell apart. The fights are exciting and inventive, often incorporating a scientific element. |
| Fushigi Yûgi (manga) |
So-so |
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| Genkaku Picasso (manga) |
Decent |
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| Genshiken (manga) |
Very good |
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| (The) Gentlemen's Alliance Cross (manga) |
Not really good |
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have pure, undiluted SHOUJO injected into your veins via IV? Read Gentlemen's Alliance Cross. It's Arina Tanemura at her most shoujo-y. Poor ex-yanki girl at a rich kid school? Check. Implausible uniforms, giant sparkly eyes, and ridiculously detailed hair? Of course. Crossdressing shota best friend? Yep. Secret twins? Naturally. Victorian wasting disease? Would it really be shoujo without it? I'll admit it's a bit of a guilty pleasure for a shoujo-lover like me, but even I can only take a couple of chapters at a time xD Unless you *LOVE* shoujo, stay the heck away from this one. |
| (The) Heart of Thomas (manga) |
Masterpiece |
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| Heaven's Will (manga) |
Not really good |
Eh. |
| Hellsing (manga) |
Decent |
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| High School Debut (manga) |
Excellent |
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| Hikaru no Go (manga) |
Very good |
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| Honey and Clover (manga) |
Excellent |
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| Iguana Girl (manga) |
Excellent |
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| Imadoki! Nowadays (manga) |
Decent |
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| Inuyasha (manga) |
Weak |
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| Karakuri Odette (manga) |
Very good |
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| Kitchen Princess (manga) |
Excellent |
This one has kind of a Fruits Basket vibe, so it's really no surprise that I love it xD The first few volumes are nothing special, but I encourage you to read on. It really tugs on your heartstrings later on with really genuine characters and drama. There's a pretty serious tragedy that occurs at about the halfway point, and I think this is the point where the series goes from "Good" to "Excellent." Unfortunately, though, the art stays bland and unremarkable. Still, I highly recommend it. |
| Lychee Light Club (manga) |
Very good |
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| Marmalade Boy (manga) |
Decent |
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| Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (manga) |
Bad |
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| Monkey High! (manga) |
So-so |
Completely average, middle-of-the-road shoujo series with tedious characters and bland art. Also, Love*Com called--it wants its gimmick back. |
| Mr. Mini Mart (manga) |
Good |
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| Mushishi (manga) |
Masterpiece |
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| My Heavenly Hockey Club (manga) |
Decent |
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| NANA (manga) |
Excellent |
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| Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days (manga) |
Awful |
Eh. |
| Not Simple (manga) |
|
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| Ouran High School Host Club (manga) |
Good |
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| Paradise Kiss (manga) |
Excellent |
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| Peach Fuzz (OEL manga) |
Not really good |
I read it when I was pretty young. I don't think I even realized it was an OEL. It's pretty cute, but otherwise just kind of bland and inane. Might be good for a child. |
| Pet Shop of Horrors (manga) |
Good |
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| Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo (manga) |
Good |
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| Planetes (manga) |
Excellent |
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| Princess Tutu (manga) |
Awful |
I'm pretty hard on bad adaptations of good anime, because this thing really doesn't need to exist. You could read an awful manga with terrible art, or you could watch a terrific and unmatched anime series. Your choice. |
| Rurouni Kenshin (manga) |
Good |
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| Saiyuki (manga, K. Minekura) |
So-so |
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| Saiyuki Reload (manga) |
So-so |
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| Socrates in Love (manga) |
Decent |
Eh. |
| Stargazing Dog (manga) |
Good |
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| Tekkonkinkreet (manga) |
Good |
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| They Were Eleven (manga) |
Very good |
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| To Terra (manga) |
Very good |
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| Train Man: A Shojo Manga |
So-so |
Just watch the movie. |
| Tsubasa, RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE (manga) |
Decent |
Up through about volume 21, this series is very good and I highly recommend it. It's a very fun shounen adventure series with great art, and the Acid Tokyo arc even has moments of greatness in it. However, the ending completely falls off the rails. I recommend reading through the Acid Tokyo arc and then making up your own ending. I guarantee whatever you come up with will be better than the actual ending. |
| Wish (manga) |
Very good |
Short and sweet tearjerker. The characters are really cute and I shed a tear at the ending. The art isn't the best I've seen from CLAMP, but even CLAMP at their worst is prettier than most other manga. Recommended. |
| With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child (manga) |
Excellent |
A touching and educational family drama. It gets a little sentimental at times, but it's actually a lot more evenhanded and honest than most stories of this type. Sachiko is a very strong character (I love stories focusing on parents!), and Hikaru is a very realistic portrayal of a severely autistic child. The one major downside is that, due to the mangaka's untimely passing, the story remains unfinished and the hurried conclusion in the final volume is mostly storyboards. However, this one is so good that the lack of an ending hardly drags it down at all. Highly recommended. |
| Wolf's Rain (manga) |
Awful |
I'm pretty hard on bad adaptations of good anime, because this thing really doesn't need to exist. You could read an awful manga with so-so art, or you could watch a terrific and unmatched anime series. Your choice. Also, they completely and thoughtlessly change the ending, so in essence this manga ends up meaning nothing. |
| xxxHOLiC (manga) |
Masterpiece |
By far my favorite CLAMP series. The artistry is excellent, probably my favorite out of any CLAMP work. They give it a unique high-contrast look that mimics ukiyo-e prints and creates a creepy, somewhat mystical tone that in any lesser series would be achieved by burying the artwork in oppressive screentone. Yuuko is probably one of my favorite female manga characters of all time. Watanuki's development from whiny, spastic teenager to wise shop owner is well-done and meaningful, and his relationships with Yuuko, his crush Himawari, and especially his classmate Doumeki are complex and multi-faceted. This series is bogged down a little in later volumes by its ties with its (lesser) crossover series Tsubasa, but the ending more than makes up for it. Despite its flaws, I couldn't bear to give it any rating besides "Masterpiece." |
| Yakitate!! Japan (manga) |
Excellent |
One of the funniest comedies I've had the pleasure of reading. A great parody of the shounen tournament formula with some very delicious-looking food. It drags itself out a little too long, but for the majority of its run it is hilarious, creative, and off-the-wall insane. The art is also very good. Recommended. |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! (manga) |
|
I can't rate it because it's too nostalgic. I was obsessed with this series when I was seven. |
| YuYu Hakusho (manga) |
Good |
This one's a fairly standard shounen tourney series, but I'm a fan of Togashi's style. The characters are likable and play off each other well, and the fight scenes are awesome. Recommended if you like shounen tourney, especially Hunter x Hunter. |
