Recommend me a manga.

[loserpersona]

There are so many various titles in so many various genres that getting random recommendations isn't really guaranteed to give you something to talk about with this girl. Have you considered maybe asking her personally for recommendations? Then you'd get to read what series she keeps up on and that would make it easier to talk to her about them. Of course, you run the risk that she likes genres that you don't care for then. =P

....I love One Piece, so that'd have to be my recommendation. ^^;

 

[Yokai]

I hear Berserk is pretty good.

Berserk, provided you're cool with massive amounts of blood, guts, and unabashed nudity, is absolutely brilliant. It's absolutely massive in scope and is by far the best fantasy-themed manga to ever come out of Japan. The characters are very well-written, and it has a complex setting and multifaceted plot that escapes the usual FIGHTAN AND TRAINAN montages that makes up many similar series. The art is practically godlike, too. The amount of detail on a single page is mindblowing, and it's no surprise it's taken Miura twenty years to get this far.

It's pretty much the only manga I've bothered to read every volume of in the last few years. It's also incredibly grimdark, although it certainly has its moments of humor and optimism. It really isn't for the squeamish though, what with all the nightmarish demons, rape victims, religious horror and buckets of blood, but if you can brace yourself a bit, it is spectacular.

Okay, done.

 

[mireko]

Looking back, here are some more:

Spoiler: Yeah, I'm reposting my own recommendations from another thread. I make no guarantees that these are in your preferred genre.

-Hayate x Blade: Comedy/action about a girls' school with bokken fights (it's not kendo, as there aren't that many rules). Somewhat yuri-ish, has some good fights and characters.

-Aria (the first two volumes are called "Aqua"): Just a very calm, relaxing story about gondoliers on Mars. That's most of the story right there, it's best when read slowly, taking in each gorgeous scenery shot and reflecting on the significance of what the characters are doing. Interestingly, there is actually some philosophy in here too.

-Strawberry Marshmallow: Yeah, this title doesn't do it any favors. Still, it's a really funny and wry comedy. One of very few comics that have actually made me laugh out loud when reading it.

-Kashimashi: Okay, so the plot is a little crowded with silliness. There are aliens in this, and they wear spandex for basically no reason whatsoever. Nevertheless, it's a surprisingly moving story about a (possibly transgendered) boy who accidentally gets killed (by the aforementioned aliens) and also accidentally brought back to life as a girl. The result is a love triangle between her and her two closest friends. One of very few Yuri mangas to be (legally) translated for us, so it's definitely worth it if you have any interest in the genre at all. Bizarrely, the manga has a completely different ending from the anime (it's a love triangle, you can probably figure out what this means).

-Blame!: Long, dark story about a person going through an endless, bleak mechanical city. There's practically no dialogue in this, but the art carries the story really well.

-Iono-sama: They only ever translated one volume of this, but it's a sweet and funny Yuri manga about the queen of an unnamed European country traveling the world gathering, um, consorts. It's written by Fujieda Miyabi, so it's much fluffier and happier than that description makes it sound.

-Moyashimon: Agriculture. More engaging than you'd think.

-Fuan no Tane:A collection of short and really, really short horror stories. Some of them are creepy, some are not, some are just goofy. Definitely worth reading for the creepy ones though.

-Gyo: Another Junji Ito manga. This time about zombie fish with robot legs. Really. Not as good as Uzumaki, but worth it for the awesomeness of a fucking shark breaking into a house. Not an anthropomorphic shark, an actual photorealistic shark with robot legs. For real. Also worth it for the fucked up Enigma at Amigara Fault bonus story (unrelated to the story).

-Mushishi: Guy can see invisible creatures in past-Japan, travels and helps people.

-Tomie: Yes, another Junji Ito manga. I rate it higher than Gyo but not as high as Uzumaki, but it's definitely one of his better works. The plot can be summarized as "immortal demon girl kills and eats people and reproduces by being dismembered".

-Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan: Miyabi Fujieda yuri manga. At this point you're either going to read it or avoid it.

-K-ON!: Fuck yes.

-Amanchu!: By Kozue Amano, author of Aria. Diving. Relaxing.

-Shoujo Sect: Calm, relaxing y-Hah! Got you, it's porn this time.

-Sasameki Koto: God, I really do recommend a lot of yuri, don't I. I really like the protagonist of this one though. No matter who you are, you'll relate to her. Coincidentally, she looks a bit like the main character of

-Aoi Hana: Like a less silly and frivolous version of the above (or vice versa with the other thing vice versa'd as well). Yuri. People living and having relationships. Incredibly beautiful for a romance manga.

-Miyuki-chan in Wonderland: I've read this two or three times and I'm still not completely sure what the hell it is. CLAMP does erotic fantasy, I guess.

-Sunshine Sketch: Ume Aoki. Moe in wideface.

-Azumanga Daioh: Has anyone not read this or seen the anime?

-Yotsuba: By the author of Azumanga Daioh, but softer. Reaches Calvin & Hobbes levels of awesomeness sometimes.

-Let's play with Kaoru-kun!: I may just be fucking with you at this point.

-Boogiepop Phantom: Actually, don't read this. The anime is better.

-Death Note: I am just fucking with you at this point.

 

[Koroviev]

Well... There is always this one:

But that seems to obvious, considering my avatar.

There is also this one:

and this one:

and this one:

All three are great and have loads of action to keep you interested.

If you want just pure action with only a bare minimum of story, DBZ is great as well.

You have terrific taste in manga.

 

[Lullabye]

All these gamers here and not a one recommends a damn good game manga.
Well manhwa in this case(korean but w/e)
It's my favorite, and its called Yureka(or iD_eNTITY)

 

[Nouw]

Dragon Ball.

What? It's flippin' addicting.

 

[hypovolemia]

Action:
Vinland Saga: Vikings. Do I need to say more?
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Seriously, read all of it. It's fabulous and awesome.
One Piece: A very silly manga about pirates.
Shingetsutan Tsukihime: Much better than the anime, which might or might not exist.

Questionable:
Blood Alone: It's about a vampire hunter/writer/whatever living together with a young vampire girl who really doesn't want to be one. Very heartwarming.
Deadman Wonderland: I actually don't know much about this one, but I have heard a lot of interesting things about it. Anime adaptation starts this month.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica & Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: Deconstructing the magical girl genre. Much more like Silent Hill than Sailor Moon.

No action:
Yotsuba: It's great. Funny, heartwarming and cute.
Mysterious Girlfriend X: The only manga that made me want to have a girlfriend.

(No PORN. I hear their is manga and anime porn, And I don't want to experance it...)

Boku no Pico. Remember that name and never watch it. (Or do, and broaden your horizons.)

 

[tzimize]

I hear Berserk is pretty good.

Berserk, provided you're cool with massive amounts of blood, guts, and unabashed nudity, is absolutely brilliant. It's absolutely massive in scope and is by far the best fantasy-themed manga to ever come out of Japan. The characters are very well-written, and it has a complex setting and multifaceted plot that escapes the usual FIGHTAN AND TRAINAN montages that makes up many similar series. The art is practically godlike, too. The amount of detail on a single page is mindblowing, and it's no surprise it's taken Miura twenty years to get this far.

It's pretty much the only manga I've bothered to read every volume of in the last few years. It's also incredibly grimdark, although it certainly has its moments of humor and optimism. It really isn't for the squeamish though, what with all the nightmarish demons, rape victims, religious horror and buckets of blood, but if you can brace yourself a bit, it is spectacular.

Okay, done.

Yep. Best manga I've ever read. Simply fantastic, BUT SO SLOW!"!#!"¤!#¤!"#¤

Other good ones:
Battle Angel Alita
Yotsuba

 

[loc978]

I mean, as long as you're not looking for deep, engaging dialog and a complex story...

 

[thePyro_13]

Fullmetal Alchemist. I've yet to see anything that is all around better.

Ranma 1/2 is my favourite due to its comedy. It's funny, has some tongue in cheek violence and even spawned a whole bunch of now-common tropes.

 

[mysecondlife]

Hajime No Ippo.

It's a manga about boxer. You may say to yourself "I'm not a boxing fan".

Neither am I. but I love this manga. good story + some laugh out loud comedy.

It starts off with bit of cliche. But I say that's because this manga began before I was born (most likely. I am 21 years old). Stick with it, it gets really good.

anyways, I strongly recommend it. The link's at the bottom.



Summary

Throughout his childhood, Makunouchi Ippo has always been picked on by his fellow classmates. Long hours helping his mother run their family business, a fishing boat store, has left him without the time to make friends and so he remains an introverted loner, doomed to be beaten day in and day out. Although he hates being bullied, he hates himself even more for not being able to fight back against his tormentors.

"What is it like to be strong?" he asks himself as he stares at his clenched fist. "I want to be strong." His encounter with Takamura Mamoru, a professional boxer, leads to the discovery of a dynamite punch that opens up the doorway to a whole new world where that dream can become a reality. At the Kamogawa Gym, Ippo now trains with the aspirations of becoming a professional boxer and discovering what it means to be strong.


http://www.mangafox.com/manga/hajime_no_ippo/v01/c001/1.html

 

[lapan]

I will recommend 2 of my all time favorites:

Battle Royale

An almost perfect adaption of a great book. It has good character design, even the most unimportant characters have a well written backstory.


Vagabond

It has a realistic artstyle, and is definitly one of the better samurai mangas out there.

 

[acosn]

Firstly, if you're concerned about getting a few eye fulls more than you ever, ever wanted always check the front cover of any manga you read. People are anal about seeing it even online so its just a matter of looking for some sort of warning that's on the cover. There's always a disambiguous "Adults only" type message on the cover that's always done in English. That and the obvious stuff- hentai isn't talking about chickens wearing neck ties.

That aside?

Full Metal Alchemist- Good anime. Good Manga. Worth your time even if you're not really even into the Japanese stuff.

Black Lagoon- contains it's fair share of gore, some nudity and rather adult subject matters. Think of it as Grand Theft Auto goes to South Asia. Still, even if it's a bit obscure its one of those manga that's worth the time because the folks that make it actually take the time to make sure each printing is worth the read rather than the weekly crap you can get treated to elsewhere.

Berzerk- High fantasy meets Japan and has a baby with Diablo 2 basically. Big swords, big demons, and utterly unnecessary gore, and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

Appleseed- Holy obscura batman! You might not recognize the title but it's done by the same guy who came up with Ghost in the Shell. Except it doesn't have gratuitous sex (at least nothing that sticks out in my mind at any rate.) in every book of it. I'd throw down ghost in the shell but it's a bit of a mind fuck to read and the movies are much the same to watch. And you also said you didn't want the prawns so I'd advise against it. Usually I don't like having to re-read the same manga three times to make heads or tails of it anyways.

Trigun- One of the best anime to come around in the last two decades, and it's manga is worth the read as well.

Fairy Tail- light reading, low arching story and mercifully despite it being one of those manga that'll probably hit 500-700 chapters before they finally can it it's not actually that far in. It's not intellectual but of everything I'm reading right now it's the one I actually look forward to the updates.

Yostuba!- Probably one of the best slice of life manga.

Xxxholic- No, it's not pornographic. Xxx is meant as a variable, though I'll be damned if I'm not asked about that every time I mention it. Slice of life manga with a twist. Semi-average kid is constantly haunted by spirits till he cuts a deal to work part time with a mysterious woman who runs an antique store only to discover that she's a witch of sorts that "helps" people with their vices (hence the title.) and in return she deals with the spirits that plague him.

As for where to find it?

Well, first I'll always advise that if you can, always get a hard copy. If you don't want to buy them (Understandable. The biggest reason manga fairs so poorly in the US is because the publishers have absolutely no business sense about how it's digested. We don't want big glossy covers and printing done on pricey paper.) borrow them from the library. I can't honestly think of a library that didn't carry at least some. Even if you're not buying them you can at least send the message to someone that there's interest.

After that? Many mangas don't make it outside of Japan. Some get canceled and some never make it. A lot of them you can't physically find anymore anyways. That's when you turn to the internet. I'd start with Bleach Exile's library of manga and Animefreak's manga updates. Use google if you have to ask where they are.



That's probably more than enough to get you started though. Of course it'd probably just help if you simply asked her what she reads.

 

[GrimTuesday]

All these gamers here and not a one recommends a damn good game manga.
Well manhwa in this case(korean but w/e)
It's my favorite, and its called Yureka(or iD_eNTITY)

iD_eNTITY is pretty fucking cool, although i haven't read it in a while.

Read Cromatie High School,

it has everything, romance, action, humor, gratuitous nudity... ok, I'm lieing it's just really fucking funny. Basically it's about a normal guy who goes to a school full of delinquents and hilarity ensues.

 

[Trucken]

Battle Royale

An almost perfect adaption of a great book. It has good character design, even the most unimportant characters have a well written backstory.

"Tails is tails, whoever calls it."

LOVE Battle Royale. I agree with lapan, you should definitely give it a try.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Naruto. I love the story and alot of the characters.

I think it's a bit more appealing in Naruto Shippuuden.

The battles are more spectacular and the main characters lets goofish.

 

[loserpersona]

iD_eNTITY is pretty fucking cool, although i haven't read it in a while.

Read Cromatie High School,

it has everything, romance, action, humor, gratuitous nudity... ok, I'm lieing it's just really fucking funny. Basically it's about a normal guy who goes to a school full of delinquents and hilarity ensues.

And... Freddie!
...sadly enough, despite my love of Queen, it took me for freaking ever to get that joke. -.-;

Hmm. I've always been really really fond of Excel Saga manga, though it isn't as popular as the anime it seems.

 

[SckizoBoy]

(I almost typed in mango...)

I like things with action, and story. So can anyone go off of that? I'm willing to try new things, so Just give me your favorite. (No PORN. I hear their is manga and anime porn, And I don't want to experance it...)

SO PLEASE JUST HALP.

First bit... *grin* if that's the case, Malaysian mangoes are probably the sweetest (as far as I'm aware).

OT: 'action, and story', and I should be unsurprised that no-ones recommended this but:

Spoiler: A twist on the girls-with-guns genre

It's very thought provoking and you have a hard time whether you believe the 'good guys' really are. Some of the arcs have great action (granted it is just one-on-one fighting or shoot outs) set pieces and the anime adaptations are pretty good (first one's a bit too shiny, second one was a bit weird for me due to the cast change). And it's a subtle, if depressing, story once you get into it. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I found it a good read.

 

[Admiral Stukov]

and this one:

Aaaaaand what I came here to say has already been said.

 

[Di'kut]

Parasyte. Good stuff.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! Fellow Parasyte fan, UNITE! I actually own a couple of the volumes on the manga.

Other than Parasyte, go for Shin Angyo Onshi.