Forum - View topicrecommendations for a sorta-newbie?
|
|
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
veela_chan
Posts: 4 |
|
||
|
Hey y'all, I've been into anime for as long as i can remember, but only really started reading manga properly about 18 months ago - currently loving Furuba, Chobits (which i've just finished), Sgt. Frog, Eerie Queerie, Genshiken and Negima - I know a lot of manga runs for dozens of volumes, so obviously it's hard to keep abreast of multiple series all at once, but what would you guys recommend for a fan of breezy, quirky, action/romance/comedies (similar to the ones above)? I'm also torn between the whole idea of reading a manga before watching the anime or vice versa... what order does everyone generally do it?
|
|||
|
|||
yusuke1022
 Posts: 141 |
|
||
|
Dragonball is a needed manga! no romance but a perfect blend of action and comedy. also One Piece
|
|||
|
|||
hanachan01
 Posts: 504 |
|
||
|
Since you seem to be okay with yaoi, I'd suggest Gravitation. It's a really funny(and insane!) manga, but it centers on the romance between Shuichi Shindou, an up-and-coming pop singer and acclaimed romance novelist Eiri Yuki. It's quite good, but if you want a more story driven version of Gravi, you should check out the 13 episode anime TV series also(and the OAV if you're brave!). It's a completed series(although there are curently new chapeters being printed in Japan, but those have been written years after the conclusion of the main series and are unlisenced), and it runs for 12 volumes, all of whic have been printed in the US.
Also, although it's currently out of print, I'd suggest One I Love, a one-volume short story collection by Clamp. It's rather cute, and since it's one volume, you don't have anything to commit to. You could probably find it on eBay easily(though I got my copy at last weekend's AnimeNext). |
|||
|
|||
Wolverine Princess
 Posts: 1100 |
|
||
|
If you like Eerie Queerie, you should read Gravitation. It's about a wanna-be pop star that falls in love with a popular romance novelist, and currently the most popular BL comic in America.
EDIT: Damn, someone beat me to it. 
|
|||
|
|||
|
hanachan01
Posts: 504 |
|
||
Sorry 
|
|||
|
|||
LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
|
||
|
You might enjoy Marmalade Boy - A girl's seriously weird parents meet another couple, decide to divorce then marry the other couple who have a son of their own. Confusion, stress and love follow.
MeruPuri - A girl dreams of just having a cozy little home, a loving husband and enjoying the little things in life but instead she gets a boy coming through her heirloom mirror... Ouran High School Host Club - Romantic Comedy where a poor girl scholarship student at a rich kids' school breaks an $80k vase and is blackmailed into paying for it by working for the "Host Club" Suki - Written by CLAMP! Hinata, a high school student, who lives with only 2 teddy bears, meets a new neighbor who turns out to be her new teacher and something more... Fake - Ryo and Dee are two New York City cops who are partners and Dee wants to become just a bit more to Ryo than a simple "partner". This story can be a little explicit but there is more than just the relationship between Ryo and Dee. Hana-Kimi - Mizuki travels to Japan and enrolls into an all-boy school just to be near her (yes, HER) track-and-field idol Izumi Sano. Not only do they end up classmates but also roommates. And Mizuki tries desperately to hide her real identity and her true feelings. W Juliet - Ito Miura, a classic tomboy, meets the new transfer student, Makoto Amano, who has a HUGE secret and if anyone finds out about Makoto's secret, Makoto will have to go home to fate that Makoto doesn't want. I'm sure that you will find something to enjoy. |
|||
|
|||
|
Wolverine Princess
Posts: 1100 |
|
||
|
Here's some more BL manga. (None of these are explicate or rated "M", by the way.) I'm too lazy to describe them myself, so the descriptions here are taken from the ANN encyclopedia:
Our Kingdom (Bokura No Oukoku): "Akira has just lost his grandmother and is now living alone, then he is suddenly adopted into a new family. The Takatou family who are one of the major business tycoon in Japan, discover Akira who is one of 2 candidates to be taking over the head of the family. The other candidate Rei, Akira's cousin, has other things on his mind besides trying to get the candidacy, rather his main interest is to be with Akria." In my opinion, it's the best series DMP is releasing. Descendants of Darkness (Yami no Matsuei): "Even after death, life is full of paperwork and criminals. Tsuzuki Asato is a 26 year old, happy-go-lucky, and dorky shinigami (god of death) whose job is to makes sure that those who are dead remain dead and stay in their proper realms. Even though he's had this job for over 70 years, he is in the worst division with horrible pay. He also has a knack for not keeping partners (since shinigami work in pairs), but now he seems to have one that will stick around; stubborn, smart-mouthed, serious and defensive 16 year old, Kurosaki Hisoka. With each case they investigate, they come closer to the conspiracies of the serial killer Dr. Muraki Kazutaka. From the plots of Muraki, to other cases, and the dramatic events of the shikigami (animal gods) world, afterlife is very busy. Amidst all this, Tsuzuki's relationship with Hisoka is growing stronger and closer...but there is a dark past to how Tsuzuki died that will not give him peace." I've heard Viz censored a blowjob out of volume 4. I'm not aware of any other edits they made, but just letting you know it's prone to future censoring. Earthian: No encyclopedia description for this one, but basically it's about two angels -- one fighting for Earth's salvation, and the other for it's destruction -- who fall in love. It's a classic series written by Yun Kouga, who also wrote- Loveless: "Ritsuka's life has never been normal. At the time of his older brother's murder, he lost all of his memories and became a different person. He feels he's never been loved for who he is. Enter a mysterious 'adult' friend of his older brother, Soubi, who always wears bandages around his neck. Carved there is 'Beloved'... Because he was Seimei's warcraft, someone who, with the 'sacrifice', (Ristuka and Seimei are 'sacrifices') fights psychic battles using spoken word. Ritsuka must deal with Soubi's feelings for him. Does Soubi care abut him because Seimei told him to... Ritsuka is angry that Soubi might not even care about him for who he is, but he still fights alongside of him on the search for Nanatsu no Tsuki, his brother's killer. One interesting and wonderful fact that draws many girls to this series: it has catboys. This story focuses on relationships and is very clearly shounen-ai, or yaoi. Ritsuka must kiss or often lick Soubi during fights for strength... But he's 'Loveless'." This actually isn't a very well written summary. "Wonderful" and "interesting"? Summaries are supposed to be objective and neutral! This was obviously written by a fangirl. It says "very clearly yaoi or shounen ai", but it is in fact shounen ai, meaning there's no explicate sex. Knowing what magazine a series runs in is a good indicator of the content you'll find inside, and I believe this one ran in the same magazine as Saiyuki and Weiz Kruez, so no, you won't find any porn here. Il Gatto Sul G: I don't think this one has an encyclopedia entry. It's about a violinist with multiple personality disorder. One side of him can't live without his music, the other despises it and resorts to self mutilation to prevent his other half from playing the violin. The second best series DMP has. If you like teen angst, you'll be in heaven with this one. Hope that helps! |
|||
|
|||
|
LydiaDianne
Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
|
||
|
BTW if you want Romance Manga but with darker over-tones, you might try Fushigi Yugi, Ceres & Alice 19th all of which are written by Yuu Watase, my favorite Manga-ka, even over CLAMP, especially since she finishes her series.
While there is some comedy, the storylines can be and are dark. They deal with murder, rape, betrayal, imagined betrayal, evil magic, good magic and quirky characters. |
|||
|
|||
|
hanachan01
Posts: 504 |
|
||
|
I can't believe I never thought of MBoy! It's my favorite manga!
|
|||
|
|||
|
veela_chan
Posts: 4 |
|
||
|
Crumbs! Well that's certainly enough to keep me going for a while, so thankies to all! Oh, "One i love" is indeed in print here in the UK, (it's nice to see a stand-alone book/collection like that; it means you don't have to commit to buying a whole series what can run into the 20s
 ) and my local Forbidden Planet has just expanded its manga section - which is both a blessing and a curse as now i'm spoiled for choice - so I shall be a-hunting away this summer! <3
|
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group