Help me rekindle my relationship with manga

[Departure Song]

Posted this as a note on Facebook...

Hello all.

It has come to my attention that I'm not actually into anime.

But! I want to start at least picking up some manga and starting my own little collection.

However, because I know nothing about it, I want to hear what some of your favorite series are! Leave a comment on this note with any and all suggestions... and please make sure it's something I could easily find at Borders/Barnes & Noble/library/etc.

I've read most of Yu-Gi-Oh! (I was really into it when I was a kid...), the first volume of Fruits Basket (and will keep going with the series hopefully), and the first volume of Wolf's Rain (which I also should continue with). And Karlee lent me DNAngel, which was awesome.

So... that's all I've read. Things I like include fantasy/horror/mystery elements, not too much action, and only some romance (not too much). I like humor, too, but it has to be *intelligent* humor. ;) Other than that, I'm not picky at all, and I'm pretty much open to anything.

I really, really appreciate it!

 

[foreign contaminant]

the last manga i picked up that i really enjoyed was dororo, by osamu tezuka. it's only three volumes long and they're reasonably priced. for that matter, pretty much tezuka anything is worth your money.

there's also emma, a romance story about a victorian-era maid. the art in it is pretty top-notch. it's very hard to explain its appeal, but if you like it, you'll know by the end of the first volume.

 

[Momoharu]

I really like all the Shonen Jump manga (One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, ES21) so I might recommend those to you, but they're kinda action-y. I'm not too good with stuff outside shonen manga, but Death Note's a really interesting series, and Ouran High School Host Club's a really nice series too.

 

[Keltena]

I agree with Death Note - really, really interesting. Petshop of Horrors is also fantastic, though maybe a little hard to find the first series... Yu Yu Hakusho is, at the very least, amusing, and Case Closed (a.k.a. Detective Conan) is in my opinion a series of very good mystery stories.

 

[spaekle]

Most of what I like is either action-ey or anime rather than manga, so I'm kind of at a loss here. :V DN Angel is very, very good though.

You might like Tarot Cafe; it's a Korean manwha with a lot of supernatural-type stuff going on. I like the artwork, anyway.

I found Angel Sanctuary really long and confusing, but I have friends who really like it.

Everyone in the world has seen/read Death Note and the fanbase is quite facepalm-worthy a lot of the time, but it's still worth looking into, I think.

I was going to suggest Paranoia Agent for horror/mystery/mindfuck awesomeness, but I'm not sure if there's a manga of it, and if there is I'm not sure if it's readily available in the US. Still a great anime series if you're willing to look it up though.

 

[Erif]

Meh, i don't rad manga if I can practically watch the same thing as an anime. :/

But there is one series I'm current;y reading and/or loving. Muhyo and Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, that is. I know, it sounds stupid, but it's really good, IMO. Its a dark fition (kinda like a horror, but not really scary)/supernatural/fantasy, and it's about a genius kid, Muyho, and his assistant, Roji, who are both practitioners of Magic Law(which will be explained in the book). Basically it's about ghosts, unwanted spirits, and these practitioners have to go around and send these powerful spirits to heaven or hell, which isn't always easy. This isn't all the book is about though, so it won't keep you bored. I would definitely consider checking this out, at least the first book.

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

for that matter, pretty much tezuka anything is worth your money.

Agreed, he's one of the only manga artists whose work I really appreciate and like. Comics of his I liked are Vampire, MW and Adolf (my favourite). Looking forward to Blackjack, Dororo and Gringo.

As always, I reccomend Naoki Urasawa's Monster. I really love this series, and it's finished so you won't have to wait between volumes.

While I was never a big fan, I always thought Fruit Basket was okay-ish, but it really starts spiralling to hell and nonsense and pointless drama the nearer you get to the end. So disappointing.

 

[Dannichu]

Seconding Detective Conan/Case Closed as a really great mystery series, and I recommend Pet Shop of Horrors as a good horror manga.

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

As for humour: Yotsuba&? I like it a lot.

 

[foreign contaminant]

yotsuba&! is my favorite manga. is it smart humor? i don't know, but i love it so much regardless.

 

[Dannichu]

Oh god, me too. The humour is indiscribable... reading it makes me feel happy to be alive :D

 

[spaekle]

While I was never a big fan, I always thought Fruit Basket was okay-ish, but it really starts spiralling to hell and nonsense and pointless drama the nearer you get to the end. So disappointing.

Urgh, yes. Fruits Basket starts out all fun and happy and stays that way until volume 6 or so, at which point the fun slowly starts to drain away until all that's left is pointless drama. I stopped caring about it long before it ended, just because it wasn't the same series any more. :\

Also, DN Angel's anime sucks. I've already had my rant about that somewhere else though. :V

 

[hopeandjoy]

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and xxxHoLic are both really good. They're by CLAMP so they're CLAMP-y, though.

The first half is Happy-Fun-Times and the other half is What-the-Effing-Crap. In a good way. But it is an mind screw. (

Spoiler

In the climax, which Sakura and Syaoran is which? Are the parent Sakura and Syaoran the ones from CCS? Why does everyone except Watanuki forget Yuuko? How is Yuuko dieing and holding to conversations at the same time? Who the effing crap is Ass Chin anyway?

) That doesn't mean it's not well done and strangely beautiful. And yes, you need to read both. Or you'll be even more confused.

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

Bah, you've shut down a good portion of what I read by putting that it's gotta be smart humor. And not so actiony.

That leaves...

What about Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy? A manhwa set in the Warcraft universe, but it's not so heavy with the universe's elements, I personally think a non-fan could get into it, though it has a fair amount of action. (unless I was mistaken and you are one, in which case, cheers!) It's 3 volumes, so it's not long at all.

Everything else I read is probably not something you would enjoy, based on your criterion.

 

[Dewgong]

probably death note, as people have already said.

hmmm i don't know if you enjoy yaoi like i do so idk about recommending stuff from my stash of that

 

[Frosty~]

Seconding Yotsuba& x3

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni is pretty great, although I've heard it's quite different to the Anime. Only three volumes have been released outside of Japan so far, but it's worth checking out because it has an insane plot.

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

20th Century Boys is also awesome if you like mistery. It's by Monster's creator so it has the same kind of feel (but with a completely different plot).

 

[surskitty]

CLAMP is really good at making pretentious series, which might be to your taste but I dunno. The art bothers me a lot though.

Claymore is awesome enough that even Verne thinks it's awesome. The main male character is pretty irritating, but he doesn't show up much and he mostly vanishes to make room for attractive girls in spandex with realistically-sized boobs fighting awesome monsters. I don't like how the artist draws faces, and the anime's pretty dumb, but the monster designs are so awesome. Go forth!

 

[goldenquagsire]

CLAMP is really good at making pretentious series, which might be to your taste but I dunno. The art bothers me a lot though.

also, from most of the CLAMP stuff I've read, there is a HELL of a lot of romance (which I actually like quite but that's irrelevant).

seconding both Death Note and Monster. also, gonna recommend Godchild by Kaori Yuki. apparently it's actually a sequel to her earlier stuff, but I don't think that matters hugely. it's nicely gothic and mysterious.

also, I've only just started reading it, so I can't say how the series as a whole pans out, but I'd also suggest The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service by Eiji Otsuka. I can safely say that it's the first manga I've read that genuinely freaked me out. it really is quite graphic at times, but it's quite interesting.

 

[spaekle]

also, gonna recommend Godchild by Kaori Yuki.

Yeah, check that out too; it's by the same person who did Angel Sanctuary, and I liked it a lot better.

For CLAMP stuff, I liked Tokyo Babylon; most other stuff by them* I thought was okay but didn't care enough to continue. I did like what I read/saw of XXXHOLiC though.

* by this I mean Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, Chobits, and maybe a couple other things I don't remember right now. I haven't read a whole lot of their stuff. :V