Please recommend manga

I am currently reading (when I have the time and can find them)...

Mahou Sensei Negima (fantasy/action),Girl Friends (schoolgirl shoujo-ai), AIKI (martial arts), Octave (ex-idol drama), Cyborg Jiichan G (over-the-top sentai comedy), Chirality (postapocalyptic superheroics/genderbending romance), Koe De Oshigoto! (educational/drama/comedy about voice acting), Franken Fran (hilarious gore/horror/comedy), Deadman Wonderland (super power drama), Emerging (drama/horror about a pandemic), Nana to Kaoru (BDSM romance), Futari Ecchi (educational/sex comedy).

...and yet, I'm looking for more. What do you recommend?

Also, I'm looking for one that I have forgotten the title to: it is similar to Utena in that the main character is a girl who wants to be a prince. It is set in a near future high school where girls have the ability to manifest weapons which boys can then wield. The boys then fight duels, with the weapons (and the girls who can manifest them) going to the victor. Naturally the main heroine is the only girl who can wield weapons instead of manifest them. Yeah, very Utena-inspired. Anyone got a clue what this is?

Chirality? I've only seen that in Japan.

As usual, I'll recommend Claymore.

I just finished reading Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles. I'm not sure I would recommend that one. It's very interesting, but it's mind-bogglingly convoluted. CLAMP went way overboard on the plot complexity. (Ironically, by far the least complicated main character is the big ninja guy.)

Bakuman, written by the team that wrote Death Note. It's the story of two boys that want to become mangaka and have an anime made of their work. It's great art and story.

Freezing, Some time in the past some interdimensional monsters attacked earth. Heroes rose up and stopped them. Since then there has been a education program to train girls and boys that have the ability to stop the monsters' attacks that happen sporadically. It mainly follows a freshman who is the brother of one of the heroes. The story also follows his partner who is considered one of the most powerful of the school.

Gantz, A crazy story about a people getting killed and resurrected to take part in what appears to be a game of some sort. It's insanely gorey and NSFW. If you like Deadman Woderland you probably will like this.

Liar Game, It's the story of a girl who gets involved in a strange game where a company gives participants x amount of money and sets other participants to acquire the other participants money. The rules are... you may use whatever means to acquire other participants money save for killing them (i think). You must pay back all of the money you are loaned. You may keep any of the money you acquire. If you cannot pay back the loan, the company will do whatever it can to get the money back from you (this side has not yet been explored but used as a threat). If you get through a round and wish to not go on to the next round you can buy your way out by giving half the money back that you won. It's been a while since i've read it and read the explanation of the rules, but anyways... this girls meets a guy who is extremely good at cons and together they set out to "survive" at first, but then their objective becomes to take down the company.

Change 123, Story of a girl with multiple personality disorder due to be raised by 3 of the top martial artists in the world... Each style results in a new personality forming...and a guy that falls in love with her.

Ketai kiyoshi Hitman Reborn, A meek freshman is told he is to become the head of one of the biggest mafia family's in the world and because there are people that don't like this decision and will be coming after him which is why Reborn is there to train him.

History's strongest Disciple Kenichi. A nobody kid who gets picked on looks to find martial arts training and stumbles into a dojo that is inhabited by several of the top martial artists in the world that are legendary. They accept him as their disciple and start training him...the result being that stronger people keep coming after him.

Holyland, story of a bullied kid that is on the verge of suicide and such... This causes him to obsess over mastering a single punch that he learns from a book... and wandering the streets leads to getting into confrontations with thugs... this leads to fame which leads to people coming after him which leads to him needing to learn new things and such. It's a good story that discusses street fighting and combat moves.

I could go on, but i think that is enough....for now.

I'll second both Claymore and Change 123. Also, add Eyeshield 21 to the list. So far, it's the only "sports" manga I've been able to read and it's easily one of my favorite.

btw... There are two "History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi" One of these is a finished short series that is cool and the other is an on going series... they are both based on the same concept and the first part of the latter series is very similar to the full series of the former... but it's not exact. Its because the latter is written and based on the former series...

Naruto. Naruto is about ninja, but these ninja can do much more than real world ninjas. Thy can use jutsus that allow them to breath fire, multiply themselves, create illusions, and it goes on indefinitely. So battles that take place are truly epic, ranging from hand to hand combat (Which can be some of the most awesome battles.), to terrain destroying jutsu battles.
The main character(Naruto) is a boy around the age of 14 that is training to be a ninja. Within Naruto is sealed the 9-tailed fox, the most powerful being in existence, capable of causing tsunamis with it's tails. He doesn't know this, but the adult villagers do, and they hate him.
It has some really complex stories, as well as mind blowing battles and some really, really sad scenes.

I highly suggest it.

Thanks for the suggestions, and feel free to keep them coming! I have read a lot of Liar Game and like it a lot. I have read a fair amount of Gantz also...I love the art but am of mixd feelings about the story. I also keep hearing about the History's Strongest Disciple and Hitman Reborn; a lot of people seem to like those.

if you've read some of Gantz you should know that in the future issues that the rules of "the game" start to fall away and finally collapse at some point...at which point it is called third and final phase of the story where parts of the history of the gantz ball is revealed, and an assumption of why the ball exists, but the ultimate why has not been answered just yet... i assume that it will be answered by the end of the story... Phase 3 left me a little annoyed though at first because it's a long way to go to for a classic outer limits twist.

Liar Game seems to be on hiatus or something at the moment and the finish of the current round has not yet been scanlated or they think they finished it but didn't...or they count the finish as before the explanation or something...

HSDK is a good comedy/fighter/romance with a good amount of Fan Service as is Hitman Reborn, save for without the fan service aspect. I would suggest both series to anyone even though there are low points and at least Reborn is a bit repetitive, but is still a good series.


As far as more series...

Veritas, It's a series about a punk that runs across a master martial artists that ends up training him over a period of time... Then one day a group of people who know the martial artists turn up and more or less force him to join a school for martial artists.

Baby Steps, A guy who's known to take perfect notes in class and uses it to get get straight As... and people borrow his notes... one day a girl asks to borrow his notes, something ends up happening and he finds out he has really good eyes and thats awesome for Tennis.

Kampfer, guy gets a mysterious stuffed animal that comes to life and a bracelet appears on his wrist... and when he is around other people who have these bracelets he turns into a girl and he must fight in mortal combat against some of these others...hilarity and problems ensue.

Kurohime, this a bit weird to describe as the story starts on a guy that is a quick fire gunner...but the real main character is kurohime, who is the most powerful gun mage ever and hooks up with the other character who has always looked up to her... the story is badass and the so far the first part is more of the set up for awesome battles to occur.

Yureka, a boy logs into the world to find that an NPC has somehow been attached to his character. What's happening in the world and why this NPC got linked to him is a mystery.

1/2 Prince, an avid girl mmo player is taunted by her brother, that girls attach themselves to guys and have it easy cuz they get gifts and such. She gets angry and since a new MMO is coming out she decides to make a warrior and a guy in that game...however in that game all players must look like they do in the real world, but because she is the first player to have ever logged into the game, as a reward the devs allow her to change gender... so she becomes the only transgender character in the game. She keeps this a secret... and of course hilarity ensues due to various things... This one is based on a internet novel that is being or has been translated within the last year and if you look it up i'm sure you can find the free english translation online as it is complete and the manga itself is slow to actually be made even though it is massively popular.

Beach Stars, A bunch of girls have their volleyball club closed due to some issue or another. They get the idea to form a beach volleyball club and state as their quest to beat a certain person... It's loaded down with fan service and funniness and is a nice light read.

Mysterious Girlfriend X, the adventures of a weird girl that keeps scissor in her panties and can use them to cut things to bits really fast and a boy... it's a romance.

Super-Dreadnought Girl 4946, giant girl fights giant monsters...eats boy for more power, but throws him up before she kills him... it's a romance...an interesting romance.

The Sacred Blacksmith, A female knight who's not very good apparently has a problem and seeks out the aid of a black smith. He makes katanas through some magic or something and he some how special...and there are swords that turn into people... yeah there isn't much plot so far >.>

The Legend Of Maian, Kid that is the descendant of a legendary knight that brought peace to the world by sealing the most powerful mage in the world, but is the blacksheep of the family due to sucking as swordsman apparently, accidentally releases the mage and is bound to her... They quickly pulled into a plot and they are sent on a mission to save the world ^.^

Fairy Tail, A girl mage joins a mage guild called Fairy Tail and adventures occur.

+C Sword and Cornett, Princes discover a plot that brain washes the royal line. One escapes to have his beliefs challenged by seeing the world while stuff happens back at the royal manor and such...

Skip Beat, A girl moves away from her home because she believes that she will be marrying the guy she goes with who becomes famous. Once she finds she has been lied to her personality changes into hatred and gloom and declares that she will destroy the guy by way of becoming a bigger star than he so as to crush his dreams of being the best...

Gunmm (Battle Angel), girl wakes up in a science lab after she has died. sHe's a merc and finds the world a whole different place... don't know much else. It's an awesome read as far as i have gotten into it, but i'm not far into it.

Sankarea, guy obsessed with death experiments on bring back a cat from the dead. Popular girls wanders into where he is experimenting. They hit it off. Her father is obsessive and so when he comes after her she kills herself believing that the guy has figured out the zombie potion...he has, but there's a problem with it... now they must figure out how to bring her fully back from the dead ^.^

I will have to second Durraken's suggestion of Kurohime.

I consider it to be my #1 favorite manga!

Some fun, shorter reads...

Pretty Face: Boy gets in accident, thought to be dead by everyone, wakes up a year later with the face of his crush. Pretends to be her missing twin sister while he looks for her.

Kashimashi: Boy meets girl. Boy becomes girl.

I highly recommend Gunnm, although I have yet to find the newer series of it.

7 Seeds is another good manga. It is a story about people who were secretly signed up for... pretty much apocalypse insurance... basically they were signed up without them knowing (i think, I'm not 100% on that any more). Different people and groups of people find themselves waking up in a bunker from cryo sleep... when they leave the bunker they find that they are surrounded by an alien landscape and after some time, it's discovered that it something like 10,000+ years in the future and some cataclysm apparently happened on Earth and they were saved and set into pods so as to defrost when earth had returned to hospitable. Save for the fact that it's a long time in between scans/next issue, it's a great story...however unless you plan on keeping a record of what's happened to some degree you get lost due to the story covering several groups and what happens to who and why and who is who is kinda confusing after a while if you have to wait for the next issue... that's the only reason I haven't read it lately...once I caught up and then waited for the next issue I couldn't remember or care about the story of each person any more.... but there is only 50-ish issues so not that much of a problem if you like it.

Cage of Eden, This is a great story. Returning from a school field trip a plane crashes. When they look outside, they find an unfamilar world and as they venture from the crash they start to find creatures that have been extinct on earth for millions of years. Again this one is hard to keep up with, but if you are willing to I'd suggest it to anyone. It's very much in the same vein as Lord of the Flies, so if you like that type of setting, read it.


There's this awesome one I can't remember that I read a few years back that I lost track of because it ran out of issues. Wish I could find it. Basically, there is some sort of accident in a subway, He's locked in, everyone is dead, and if he doesn't try to get out so will he. As he gets out of the train and makes his way to the surface he finds some people (good and bad) and then when he reaches the surface he is confronted with a desert and no knowledge of what happened. If any of you know what this is called please let me know.

I suggest Ranma 1/2. It's the story of a boy who turns into a girl, a father who turns into a panda, and the weird chinese curse that did it to them.

The story: A martial artist named Genma takes his son, Ranma, on a training journey to Jusenkyo, the training ground of the cursed springs. Unbenownst to them the curse of the spring are quite real, and any one who falls into a spring there takes the form of whatever drowned in that spring. Ranma falls into the spring of drowned girl, while Genma takes a dip in the spring of drowned panda. Fortunately the change is reversed by hot water, but cold water changes them again. This complicates things slightly as Ranma is set to be engaged to one of the daughters of Genma's friend. And of course, those can't be the only 2 people who've taken the Jusenkyo plunge. Other characters have fallen into the springs of drowned cat, pig, duck (I'm still trying to figure out how a duck drowns), and yeti riding bull while carrying eel and crane (don't ask).

you know i keep on forgetting Ranma 1/2... i thought it was only an anime...not a manga? but if it's both which is better and how much do they diverge?

Fullmetal Alchemist?



The Elric Brothers, Edward and Alphonse. Ed is the titular Fullmetal Alchemist (although most people assume his little brother, the hulking suit of armour, is actually him Ed hates that) Due to an alchemical experiment gone wrong, where they attempted the one taboo of alchemy, the brothers are now searching for a way to give Ed back his right arm and left leg, and to get Al his real body back. But the odds they have to go up against seem endless, even with help from other alchemists and members of the Amestrian military...will the brothers ever find what they are looking for, and discover the truth behind the legendary Philosophers stone?

And no one has mentioned this psycho why?;



Hellsing is definitely worth a shot, in my opinion. Fairly short, but well done and, really, theres something about a headcase like Alucard that always makes me smile
The Hellsing Organisation is the ultimate weapon of the British Crown when it comes to hunting the undeda and other freaks. The secret to their success? One of the most powerful living weapons in the known world; the rogue Vampire Alucard.
But have even Hellsing met their match when forced up against the last remnants of a long dead organisation, the mysterious and terrifying Millenium Group and their Last Battalion?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Yotsuba&! and Azumanga Daioh - Both slice-of-life comedies, both written by the same guy. The latter is a very, very direct inspiration on the anime by the same name (a lot of the anime follows the manga panel-for-panel) and is pretty much a staple. AzuDai follows a group of friends through highschool, while Yotsuba&! focuses on the day-to-day life of a curious five year old girl. Since the group in AzuDai is a bit older, there are some slightly risque jokes in it, but both series are pretty much appropriate for all ages. A friend of mine swears that nobody should read AzuDai until they've been out of highschool for at least four years, because it's such a good portrayal of friends hanging out and doing nothing that it will nostalgia bomb you if you're old enough to miss school, whereas younger folks will just go 'eh, what's the big deal about this?'

Franken Fran is usually the third I recommend, but you seem to already have that covered.

I'd second Hellsing except I totally lost track of wtf was going on by the later chapters.
So of those others have said;
Second:
Freezing, HSDK,Change 123, Pretty Face, Kampfer, Beach Stars, Mysterious GF X, The Legend of Maian(I sit in their TLers channel 24/7 <3 Scantily) The Sacred Blacksmith, Sankarea, Veritas, Kurohime, 1/2 Prince, Yureka

So I'll do it the easy way. Here's a list of every manga I read currently.
http://pastebin.com/zrpi64Rb

if the slayers are "manga" then go with that..not sure what you consider manga

Sgt. Frog! Come on my fellow Pekoponians! Give it up for the amphibious conqueror that gets so distracted by Gundam models, that he forgets to take over the world!

Chibi Vampire. 15-year old Karin Maaka is a reverse vampire trying to live with her normal vampire family and go to school at the same time. Comedy/slight romance.

Code Geass: Queen. Series of silly vignette stories set in the Geass-verse, but basically told from, and primarily about, the women in that universe. There's also a series set from the guy's POV as well, iirc.

Aira is a good read about a girl that training to be a gondolier on Mars.. after all the polar ice caps have melt and flooed the planet. A bit science ficonty a slice of life and supernatural stuff mixed in for good measure!

Spice and Wolf is good too about a wolf god taken human form that traveling along with a mechant, the wolf god wants get back home. Who knew economics could be so interesting..

I'm not a very hardcore manga reader, but I did really dig Dark Horse's Museum of Horror collections. Great stuff.