Molester Man (cuz someone already said onani master)
Berserk (its an aquired taste that takes a few chapters before you realize why its #1 on the charts)
Magi
one piece
Hetakoi
the Breaker
and
G.E. Good Ending (because of your profile)
"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend." - Bruce Lee
TeamDaiGurren said: Molester Man (cuz someone already said onani master)
Onani Master Kurosawa's story was written by an online doujin novelist and Molester Man is based off a 2chan thread, and they carry no aesthetic or thematic similarities. One is a romance manga and the other one is a dark coming of age story. They're nothing alike and have no relevance to one another, really. They are both illustrated by YOKO a doujin mangaka and that's the only connection they have with one another.
Seconding Onani Master Kurosawa.
Oyasumi Punpun
Eden: It's an Endless World
A Distant Neighborhood
Parasyte
Bokurano
Endo Hiroki Tanpenshuu
Great Teacher Onizuka
Holyland
Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer
Hotel
Mars
SaiKano
Tsukihime
Blood Alone
Suicide Island
Wandering Son
Sakuranbo Syndrome
Dorohedoro
Nana
Solanin
Ok so once upon a time ... I made an EXTREMELY long list for a dude who was just getting in to manga ... I'm pretty sure that he hadn't read any yet so I picked out alot of my favorites (but could be wrong), anyways just gonna copy and past that since it really might help to some degree ... The genres are also rather diverse as I tried to include manga of a plethora of different sub-genres (although not ever sub-genre is included, like I don't believe I posted many if any psychological manga within this list) ... and sorry if there are repeats.
Ok the list is quite long since I basically picked every manga I have read that I would consider worthwhile to read, of course some are better than others but anyways here goes (will also create a table of contents at the bottom to seperate them in to different genres in case you want to look through a specific genre):
- Air Gear (Shounen, this is a slightly more mature series for being a shounen but not quite seinen, the series has a rather interesting way of fighting and is on the longer side of things if you are looking for a long shounen series that isn't like Naruto/Bleach/One Piece/Fairy Tail since this has a slightly darker tone to it, don't usually like shounen action series, especially when the male MC is the arrogant type but didn't mind this one, other things to note are that their is a slight romance and that it does have lower levels of ecchi but isn't a major theme of the series)
- Akkan Baby (Shoujo/Shounen, This series is actually somewhat unique in that it has a lot of things you don't normally see, for starters the plot is more of a shoujo topic dealing with teen pregnancy while both characters as well is the art is more shounen, I actually quite enjoyed this series and you probably will too if you hate melodrama since this does a good job of containing drama but practically nothing like "he said, she said" drivel you see in seinen/shoujo romances, things to point out, this is slightly more mature and does contain references to sexual content however is NOT a hentai and if there is any nudity (can't remember) it is above he waste, also it is only 12 chapters long or about 3 volumes I believe long)
- Anagle Mole (Shounen, a more light hearted and battle type shounen, not exactly main stream as the setting and plot are too some degree unique however it is neither a "dark shounen" (I'll explain what that is in a bit) nor is it a shounen that is almost a seinen, I believe there is a slight romance developing however I can't be certain as I don't usually keep up w/ manga once I catch up to the current scans so haven't read any of the newer chapters)
- Area no Kishi (Shounen, Sports manga about soccer, rather like it despite not like sports manga in general for the most part (note that I don't LOVE IT, just like it), there is also some romance in the manga however I can never tell if it is going somewhere or just going to crash and burn)
- Ares (Shounen, a rather interesting Manwha about a mercenary group, this would definitely belong in the category of shounen that are almost seinen, the series is pretty good however there are some slow parts in the series which annoyed me since the releases were slow however it is fully completed now and might not be noticeable to someone who is not reading at like 1 chapter a month)
- Aphorism (Shounen, (saw this on your PTR list, it is actually a pretty interesting series as well as pretty dark and somewhat gory, these types of shounen I refer to as "Dark Shounen" which is basically any shounen that has that sort of twisted atmosphere, it doesn't necessarily have to be gory but it's sort of creepy how the art makes it seem like it shouldn't be too dark but since it is it just adds to the twisted feeling the manga gives off, anyways it is kind of interesting however the whole male character having another self that is all powerful while he himself is weak, shy, etc. (basically stereotypical male shounen archetype) bothers me a bit)
- Beelzebub (Shounen, A very comedic yet also action packed series, the first 40 chapters or so I loved, after that it started alternating between semi-original and just another mainstream shounen battle manga just w/ a cooler MC which disappointed me after the first 40 chapters which were hilarious and awesome at the same time, however overall a good read and probably one of the better on-going long running shounen series out there in my opinion)
- Beck (Shounen, sort of close to being a seinen as it deals with some more mature themes, it actually was a semi-enjoyable series and I really did like the fact that the music aspect of it was focused on rock and even mentioned some of my favorite artists (except never once did it mention Led Zeppelin which I found odd, but meh), However I am going to warn you that later on in the series, as the romance aspect of it gets more serious (still not the main focus of the manga though) it does get somewhat melodramatic which I didn't appreciate too much)
- Berserk (Seinen, My favorite manga, it is a rather dark medieval/fantasy manga with a very big world (which I like) and a very strong but silent male MC who carries with him a lot of hatred and resentment, it is a very good manga if you can stomach the darker moments in it (nothing twisted just ... rather bleak and sad at times) but none-the-less very intense and rather gory most of the time, also since it is rather long you would imagine it has the same drawback as plenty of other long running series in that it is repetitive however due to the large world it actually stays pretty unique which I appreciate quite a bit.)
- B Gata H Kei (Seinen, this is a 4-koma romantic comedy (4-koma equals each page is 4 sections), it is actually a rather light-hearted and comedic romance story with enjoyable ecchi (tbh I hate the overused types of ecchi, like guy walks in on girl changing, fall down stairs and honka honka or even just wind blowing up skirts), in this series the ecchi comes more from the female MC who idealizes sex and rather emberassed (due to the fact she is practically a school idol who is supposed to be experienced, however actually still is a virgin), makes it her goal to pull aside some schmuck to take her virginity and be down with it, and then commences the plethora of failed attempts where she slowly starts to fall for the male MC and give up on her dream of having like a harem of 200+ men or some ridiculously high number like that, also is a rather good romance without too much drama since it is more of a romantic comedy)
- Black Cat (Shounen, former assassin for a scary organization slowly gains emotion and is changed after meeting a special person, years later the manga starts with him and a rather clever guy he met on his travels, the series is about this former assassin "black cat" as a bounty hunter taking down bounties without killing, it was ok but tried to present this dark past and yet have this sort of cheesy and innocent atmosphere to the whole manga which is one reason I usually don't like shounen (the whole, instead of killing this guy who tried to kill me, let's be friends) ... anyways while I am bashing it I don't mean to say it was bad, it was actually a very good series)
- Blood Lad (Shounen, Kind of your stereotypical shounen but then not really either, similar in that aspect then to Anagle Mole, a rather interesting series that has it's moments, now I haven't read it for awhile and the problem with many shounen series that start out interesting is they become repetitive however I didn't read far enough in to this one yet to be able to tell but I will say that it is definitely worth checking out.)
- Bloody Monday (Shounen, this is labeled as action but there actually isn't a whole lot of fighting, revolves around a hacker who comes across plans to basically kill a ton of people, now he may be a hacker (technically ex-hacker) but he does have a strong sense of justice and so helps out how he can, the series is ok if you like the more suspenseful and strategic type of series)
- Boku ni Natta Watashi (Shoujo, a romance, actually not one of the better shoujo out there either to be honest however it doesn't really have anything to complain about either, I should warn you that there is I believe some sexual content but again, with shoujo, smut will only ever show upper body if anything at all)
- Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu (Shoujo, This I believe you actually probably won't like but felt like mentioning it since I'm trying to be diverse and don't have too many sad manga, It isn't a tragedy but is pretty intense as far as drama goes and is pretty sad at times, again this contains sexual content but nothing to extreme)
- Brave 10 (Seinen, Actually a little disappointed that this series ended (saw the anime and assume the bit of the manga not translated yet was the end of the anime), when I first start reading it I loved it, I love series set in the past with a bad ass male character THAT ACTUALLY KILLS, so I was rather enjoying it, if you do read it just be prepared for a rushed ending (believe it wasn't popular enough in Japan and thus cancelled, anyways cool seinen manga set in the sengoku period (Nobunaga, Tokugawa, Hideyoshi, Yukimura, Masamune, etc.) so if you enjoy samurai stuff you might like it)
- Break Blade (Shounen, a rather darker toned shounen series for a few reasons (mainly due to things dealing with the main character, how he grew up unable to harness the world's power source, or how the girl he loves is married to his best friend, stuff like that) however it sort of lightens up to some degree, (as for the romance, there is some, the best friend is the king and actually forced to marry that girl so you know, it isn't like the best friend wants to be in that position either), I haven't read recent chapters but the plot actually did seem to be picking up last time I read it)
- Chou Dokyuu Shoujo 4946 (Shounen, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU CHECK THIS OUT ... at this point if you have followed the link you might be saying "Why? I mean I get it might be good, but it looks like a romance between a giant and a normal kid 0_0", but if I said "Look at the art bro" would you get it? Compare it to Denpa Kyoushi for a second, In fact the reason I started reading Denpa Kyoushi was because it was by the author who wrote this, now admittedly, the series went on Hiatus for a LONG time and I believe actually was forced to have a rushed ending which is a little bit sad but up until that point it was actually a pretty unique and enjoyable manga)
- Claymore (Seinen, another rather dark and somewhat sad toned medieval/fantasy manga, this is however a little bit less gory/dark than Berserk but the two are very similar in many ways, The main difference is that the MC in this series probably doesn't start off as OP as the person in Berserk however she doesn't stay the runt of the litter for the entire series)
- Curry naru Shokutaku (Seinen, Slice-of-life / Romance, there are slight instances of ecchi as well but mostly just a comedic slice of life centered around cooking with hints of romance here and there, thought I should mention this series since it was sort of different (don't think I have read any other manga about cooking))
- Dance in the Vampire Bund (Seinen, a pretty good series, it does have some good action and a pretty interesting plot, the only warning I will give is that there is quite a bit of nudity at times, and the plot starts to sort of ... drift, although that might be a problem with me (releases are very slow and since I was reading the new release like every two months it's possible I just forgot what happened))
- Deadman Wonderland (Shounen, another Dark Shounen, this one isn't as gory as aphorism but again contains that rather dark almost horrific tone to it, I believe the manga is actually on hiatus, or was, so might wanna pick it up later since their isn't much worse than picking up a manga on hiatus, hoping for a return, but after 2 years the author decides to scrap it)
- Dousei Recipe (Seinen, didn't mind the ecchi in this series although if I remember correctly it is pretty prevalent, the reason being this is a romance that starts with the main couple already together and just started living together, (hate the chase and most ecchi never actually have a conclusive ending, why read a romance that just has the herp derp male MC go "I couldn't decide, I would rather be friends with all than go out w/ one" -_-, anyways you might like it, it really just is a sort of plotless romance manga or atleast didn't have a strong plot yet from where I caught up to the manga)
- Drifters (Seinen, another gory and intense manga, again a fantasy manga however you really can't call this the medieval period, reason being the setting is sort of like middle earth however with one key difference, there are "drifters", famous people throughout the course of history who were thought to have died but in reality were pulled out and dropped in to this world where it is sort of like an all out battle, I really like the plot (never seen a manga like it before to be honest) and it really is pretty interesting plus the main character is a more trigger happy type of character, by the same author as Hellsing if you are familiar with that, however I prefer this series Swords > Guns when it comes to action scenes in my opinion)
- Freezing (Seinen, this is pretty much a dark shounen however classified as a seinen, too be honest I actually stopped reading it cause of a certain ... twisted event I just didn't feel like dealing with at the time, of course my friend assured me it is over quickly and all it's just ... Well I'll definitely pick it up again (actually had forgotten about it, got reminded while making this list to pick it up again), anyways aside from that it kind of has a good plot, however it is also kind of all about cute girls going off to battle and is pretty ecchi)
- Gakuen Babysitters (Shoujo, this is actually rather a gender-neutral series however I believe comes out in a shoujo magazine hence it is labeled as shoujo, Basically in my opinion this is the ultimate "pick-me-up" manga, whenever I read/watch something depressing enough that I just find myself keep on thinking about it, or just has an ending I didn't like I turn to this, just read a chapter and all negative feelings are gone. Anyways it's basically about a high schooler and his baby brother who find themselves orphaned after their parent's anniversary vaction meets with an unfortunate accident, the chairman of a certain high school takes them in under the condition that the older brother volunteers at the daycare (apparently quite a few of the teachers have children) and is really just a warm-hearted story about taking care of the toddlers, should also note it's not like he doesn't not want this or finds it torturous, he is an extremely responsible older brother, their may be more to it but since I only read a chapter when I stumble across a tragedy or an unacceptable ending I haven't caught up to the scans (which I guess is good since it is a monthly manga and if some cliff hanger did occur I could just move on assuming it is resolved in the next like 10 chapters))
- Gamble Fish (Shounen, basically a type of battle manga without the use of actual fighting but instead using gambling, a rather ecchi manga as well and contains some more mature themes)
- Gangsta. (Seinen, Ok so I really like this manga just cause of the number of things that I surprisingly haven't seen before as well as the tone, but anyways the two main characters are a jigolo and a deaf "experiment gone wrong" swordsmen, as well as an ex-prostitute/ex drug addicted sort of female side character, and the tone is sort of dark however this series is set in a more present day, the action scenes are pretty nice)
- Hellsing (Seinen, as I mentioned earlier this is more of just an all out gory manga with a sort of ridiculous plot (not necessarily bad ... but pretty out there), the series was ok and actually really enjoyed it a few years ago when I read it)
- Immortal Regis (Shounen, another dark shounen, this series is actually somewhat sad and I believe gets a whole lot sadder in the sequel if I'm not mistaken but aside from that, their is an interesting plot throughout most of it, I wouldn't say it's the best but I thought I should mention it)
- Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru (Seinen, This is another sports manga, this time about karate and actually is quite a bit of action too as alot of fights are held unofficially and of course that means are more like street fights, the series is pretty good just progress moves pretty slow since it is 500 chapters apparently and believe that it is only around chapter 100, and releases come out rather slowly, this all adds up to being a rather slow manga if waiting for releases.)
- Kimi wa Pet (Josei, this is actually a pretty interesting manga even though it is rather dramatic and somewhat of a love triangle which I usually hate with a passion (to the point that I avoid practically every manga which features 2 main characters of one sex and 1 main character of the other if the tag romance is on it), however this manga is really rather unique, I should warn that it is more mature (both in content and in the general tone, the romance isn't like "you are the one for me and the only thing in my life") Which I suppose I enjoyed to some extent)
- Koe de Oshigoto! (Seinen, a rather comedic ecchi I had come across awhile ago and had actually forgotten about until making this list, anyways releases for this manga are sadly almost non-existant, however, the series was rather interesting, about an older sister basically pressuring her younger sister into being a voice actress for her eroge company... I'm not sure if you will like it but again it is sort of unique in it's own way and so it's a stretch but you may like it)
- Koi wo Suru no ga Shigoto desu. (Seinen, Ok so this actually doesn't have the greatest plot in the world, or even the most original characters, however noticed you liked Oretama and it is basically somewhat the same type of manga, an adult ecchi romantic comedy, this series is actually more focused on the romance and really doesn't have too much in the way of plot, but basically a more adult romantic comedy)
- Koibana Onsen (Seinen, pretty much the same as the title above, perhaps a bit longer and has more side characters however basically a romantic comedy that is more adult rated and not a whole lot in the way of plot)
- Koukou Debut (Shoujo, Ok, so ... it is sort of an insult to put this after the last two works, I mean the quality is just ... Anyways if you can stomach shoujo at all I strongly recommend checking this one out, it isn't one of the more childish ones (the ones you probably find annoying) or smut (basically think of shoujo smut equivalent to seinen's that are classified as adult, maybe slightly less graphic, but just slightly), most shoujo at the maturity level of Koukou Debut however this series does not, however the series is extremely well done)
- Kuroko no Basket (Shounen, To be honest started reading when I was younger, a little bit too hyped for my taste (the tone of the manga, not any fans, not a hipster 0_0) basically it is another good sports manga but again, is a little bit too "in the moment", may like however if sports are your thing there are probably better ones out there (not really too big on sports manga myself so haven't ever put too much effort in to looking for "the best")
- Kyou Kara Ore Wa!! (Shounen, a very funny delinquent manga, I also appreciated that this wasn't one of those delinquent manga's where they actually fought with honor, the Main character (while actually being strong) would usually resort to foul tricks to beat up people (basically a troll), was very refreshing to see an anti-hero like him in manga, the art might be hard to get used to but it was pretty funny)
- L-DK (Shoujo, This does have some melodramatic drama in the first arch ... so you would have to get through that but the series is pretty good and a nice series if you can get past that, a rather enjoyable manga, although the monthly releases kill me, >.< biggest complaint w/ shoujo is that they are all monthly)
- Last Inning (Seinen, a more serious toned sports manga about baseball, the difference with this manga is that it isn't told from the perspective of a player but rather is told from the coach (was falsely arrested, former principle, knowing he is amazing at baseball, talked him in to returning to his former school to coach a team of misfits in return for getting him out of jail)
- Love Lucky! (Seinen, same as koibana onsen or Koi wo Suru no ga Shigoto desu., basically an adult ecchi romance story, this one is a tad bit longer and actually has a nice set-up though ... again after they start dating it pretty much turns in to sex just like the other two series)
- Luck Stealer (Shounen, 0_0 I'm shocked this is labeled as shounen ... Well assume this is seinen cause the tone, characters, not a thing about this screams shounen, anyways it's rather tragic, it's about a man who can "steal" people's luck if he touches them, he has a daughter and she was born without any luck so he needs to steal luck in order to keep her from dying in some tragic luck (no luck = unlucky = super unlucky = dead) so in order to pay the cost of raising a daughter and to keep her alive he becomes an assassin for an organization, the manga is pretty darkly toned and rather sad but also really interesting)
- Majeh (Shounen, a pretty good manwha, in fact I own most of the volumes (of course I'm surprised it is now called Majeh, I knew it as King of Hell), but anyways it is pretty comedic however when shit does go down it is also pretty cool since the MC is actually pretty powerful, overall a good shounen series if you just want comedy and action)
- Maoyuu Maou Yuusha - 'Kono Watashi no Mono Tonare, Yuusha yo' 'Kotowaru!' (Shounen, I thought I should mention this since it is similar to some series you like, having said that it is also rather unique, it is basically "what would happen if the hero, instead of slaying the demon queen, teamed up with her to create a better world?", it sounds fruity but it really isn't, not too mention the author actually named the characters thing like "silver prince" "hero" and "Demon Queen", it was a pretty interesting manga from what I had read although again the releases were rather slow)
- Mars (Shoujo, Best romance I have read by far for a plethora of reasons 1) because it didn't drag out the lead up to them being a couple (IE they got together early on), 2) because it did go past "Holding hands" (IE yes they did have sex, not why it was better but prefer more mature romances over the kind that never progress). 3) No love triangles. 4) The story didn't just focus on their relationship but also covered their environment as well as their goals and aspirations (environment = things like parents, and inner or exterior conflicts that were either overcome alone in some cases or together) and 5) Probably the biggest reason why I loved it so much, It is labeled as psychological, the author brilliantly used hints of psychological to give the most cliche archetypes in shoujo Handsome Delinquent Male MC and Nerdy Shy Female MC and gave them truly unique and deep personalities, honestly I have never seen another manga that has done so well at developing the characters as this one)
- Momoiro Heaven (Josei, I recommend this series for two reasons, first of all the art is a softer/rounder style which (for me personally) does make it look actually pretty good (not the biggest fan of shoujo art usually tbh), but more importantly because of the plot and the female MC in particular, first off, I love the female MC's personality in this series, it really is unique and quite enjoyable, also the plot itself is rather funny, after her father's death and her mother in bed rest at the hospital it is up to her to provide money for the hospital bills as well as for her and her younger brother, so she inherits her dad's pen name and starts writing novels in his place ... however ... the novels are erotic novels and there is quite a bit of comedy built up on her always either thinking of new material or getting called by the editor and having to reword her manuscript in school)
- Noblesse (Shounen, I'm not sure if you are familiar with webcomics (basically manwha which go straight to online, are in color, and often not actually published therefore the lack of them on MAL for the most part), however this is one of the bigger ones and rather interesting, first off the color itself is pretty cool and the plot is actually really sick as well as the cast, basically a pretty cool action, also NO it is not about vampires (not assuming you hate/like vampires) that is just a common question asked about it)
- Orange (Shoujo, Great shoujo manga with refreshing cast of characters and a very unique and inventive plot ... sadly I think it might have been cancelled due to a dispute with the magazine and the author... not sure.)
- Otoyomegatari (Seinen, This is sort of a more laid back and chill romance, really not too much drama at all, and rather kind of a slice of life following a married couple, sort of takes place in like a tribe of nomads I think, slightly more on the mature side however not really)
- Pastel (Shounen, an extremely slow paced romance, and not something I would recommend if there weren't a lot of other shounen romances that actually have the couple dating right before the end, I can't really say I approve of this manga or say it is great (I for some reason, despite being a guy, hate seeing romance where the female MC is "the school idol" often, although that's usually cause the male MC is a useless sack of rocks that can only think "she is so beautiful, I'm so lucky" ... and yes this is that type of romance) anyways maybe if you ever find yourself craving a shounen romance that does have the main couple going out but ... well anyways yeah it's basically not something I would re-read)
- Private Prince (Josei, This is a smut, in other words their is quite a bit of sexual content and the plot is only slightly there, it actually isn't really that great of a smut either however felt I should recommend atleast one and thought it would be safer to recommend one that actually had more of the shounen type of art)
- Psyren (Shounen, This is another dark shounen, It is rather interesting and somewhat of a much darker version of another manga I thought I should mention, Busou Renkin, however it is actually rather dark and is another kind of survivalist manga although I believe in this manga they are only dropped in to the danger for lengths of time, sort of like Aphorism)
- Rec (Seinen, actually not given a demographic oddly enough however the fact it contains mature content and the MC is a male who is not in high school or younger it is pretty clear that it is Seinen, anyways this is a rather drama free and happy seinen romance, it isn't as shallow as Love Lucky!, Koibana, etc. so you might actually enjoy it for it's romance)
- Samurai Deeper Kyo (Seinen, Really liked this manga (actually own all 38 volumes), anyways what I probably liked most about it is the main character (my avatar is a pic of him with red eyes photo shopped on), anyways it is a pretty good series if you are looking for a manga with a powerful main character who is "classy-arrogant", don't ask me how that works but basically the type of arrogance that is more troll than retarded, would consider Naruto to be the annoying type of arrogant)
- Sankarea (Shounen, honestly if this was an action, from what I have read so far, despite the fact it is ecchi, I might classify this as a dark shounen, but the tone isn't dark nearly enough for that, anyways it is basically a romance with a guy and a girl he brings back to life after witnessing her tragic death, pretty popular right now (I think), and pretty ecchi + comedic, might like it)
- Saruyama! (Shoujo, It actually contains alot of shounen characteristics as well and is actually more gender neutral of a manga, the series is actually pretty good and I enjoyed it quite a bit, a very good, straightforward romance, of course it has a little bit of drama but nothing too much and if you don't mind shoujo art I recommend this one (as well as the others tbh) over the shounen/seinen romances (I look at it like this, when you are looking for action you don't start by looking at shoujo, so why, when looking for actual romance (not ecchi/harems) would you start by looking at shounen, of course I don't judge series on art but I could see where that would be a concern))
- School Shock (Shounen, another rather interesting shounen manga, also has some romance, and if I remember correctly it is pretty close to being a dark shounen, however to be completely honest I read this series a long time ago and there weren't too many chapters at the time, it looked like it would be a good series however I can't guarantee that since I haven't read enough of it at this point, having said that it is worth checking out)
- Sensen Spike Hills (Seinen, Very similar to Welcome to the NHK and another I will recommend later in terms of tone, this series however isn't really focused on psychological, it does however also contain the two of the characters smoking weed and does contain sexual content, While their is some romance I doubt it will be a happy ending in that regard, the series is actually about a group of three who have found out a local mob boss has bribed the admissions person at Toudai to give him the answer key to the acceptance test, they basically plan to steal it and use it for themselves, rather darkly toned)
- Shi ga Futari wo Wakatsu Made (Seinen, A pretty cool action anime, the main male character uses a sword despite it being modern times (makes for cool fight scenes but ... well can't look for logistics in manga), he is also blind and relies on a pretty nifty system to see although not much, anyways some pretty cool action definitely worth checking out some time)
- Sun-ken Rock (Seinen, This is a pretty cool manga, it is comedic at times, has sick fight scenes, does have romance as well as is definitely for mature audiences however what I also like about it is that it's about gangsters, anyways a really good manga and actually one of the first I caught up on after about a 4 month break from manga/anime)
- The Breaker (Shounen, definitely a more mature shounen, actually a very cool martial arts manga and I did enjoy it quite a bit, also enjoying the sequel The Breaker: New Waves quite a bit too, the fight scenes are pretty cool and I actually don't mind the fact that the main character starts out a weakling or is so hell bent on justice)
- Tripeace (Shounen, This manga is hard to explain, it is hard to explain why it is great however ... It is good, it is very interesting, definitely worth the read, I really can't explain it, but it actually is an amazing work for what it is)
- Übel Blatt (Seinen, If you want a more adult action that also has a hint of a harem yet doesn't lose the action aspect to it you might enjoy this one, it is pretty ecchi however the majority of the manga is actually a rather dark tone, basically the male MC is on a path for revenge, long story short, half his comrades abandon him when they go to kill the demon lord, they actually succeed in killing it, however those who abandoned the true heroes, fearing for their reputation, killed the true heroes and claimed all credit, the MC lived just barely and now is hell bent on revenge for crimes against both him and his comrades, pretty sick series)
- Unbalance x Unbalance (Seinen, Ecchi and probably slightly more on the mature side of things ... However I have to warn you, I believe that the ending is rushed and kind of disappointing (not read it myself yet) but leading up to that point I actually liked the series, the other bit of warning ... It is by the same person as freezing and somehow carries that same tone (I would say "Panicky" however that is right) but yeah, kind of an atmosphere that always keeps you on edge)
- Vagabond (Seinen, a pretty cool sword fighting manga if you don't want some far out plot, a rather down-to-earth series, somewhat tragic at times with some of the side characters, also has some sexually explicit scenes among other things, All in all a rather interesting series however if you are looking for a clearly fictional plot might want to look for something else)
- Velvet Kiss (Seinen, This is much like the adult ecchi seinen's I recommended earlier (Love Lucky!, etc.) in terms of content however that's where the similarities stop, this series actually has a plot and isn't all happy either, the tone is rather dark and their is a very strong and good plot behind it all, you might actually like this quite a bit)
- Veritas (Shounen, Kind of on the verge of being a dark shounen however the main character with his oblivious and arrogant attitude probably helps to keep as a shounen, anyways it definitely was an interesting series, and really liked the intense atmosphere of the school, however I believe it got cancelled so it had a rushed ending, though I could be wrong about that)
- Vinland Saga (Seinen, Ok so .... This is very similar to Claymore or Berserk, sort of ... This is not a fantasy however it contains the same level of dark action, however in this series it focuses around a viking and some of the themes are pretty heavy and rather accurate (things like when the Norse started adopting Christianity, it meant that they stopped believing in Valhalla and saw the pillaging as the definitely going to hell but they had no other way to live, so they began living lives knowing they were a despised race that could only find food by stealing it (this theme doesn't come up until later in the manga but was actually a historically accurate))
- Wolf Guy: Ookami no Monshou (Seinen, Word of warning, this might be the darkest manga I have read, I can't remember one darker, and actually stopped to let it finish before reading it because I really couldn't stand reading from chapter to chapter ... Anyways ignoring that bit this was an extremely cool manga, loved the set-up, the fights and the art wasn't bad either)
- World Embryo (Shounen, Another dark shounen, the series is somewhat tragic however their are slivers of hope here and there that I do believe will get brighter, the manga itself isn't actually too great in terms of action however it doesn't have some pretty good scenes and a rather interesting plot as well as the development of the story itself is rather interesting a lot of the time)
- Worst (Seinen, I say Seinen however honestly it could go either way but I would be betting it is seinen just to the general atmosphere of the series, basically it is a delinquent manga, however it is actually more serious and about things like inner school fighting as well as schools challenging eachother (sounds corny but trust me it isn't), the author has actually written quite a few series so if you do like this one you could go check his other works, they all happened in the same world at different times, and are all about delinquents, the only complain is that ALOT of the important characters (and btw there are alot of important characters) look the same, I mean they have subtle differences but the manga only comes out once a month so it is hard to remember who is who)
- Yesterday wo Utatte (Seinen, Similar in tone to Welcome to the NHK or Sensen Spike Hills, the key difference being content, this manga does not contain drug use or sexual content (yet, too early to tell if it will go in that direction), also this manga might contain a bit more actual romance)
- Yankee-kun to Megane-chan (Shounen, I can't really explain why but it somehow gives off the same feel as Denpa Kyoushi, it is a rather good comedy / slice of life and very (and I do mean very) slight romance) I high recommend reading this series as it really is similar to Denpa Kyoushi)
So ... The list is quite long but in the Table of Contents (which should make it easier to pick and choose what you want) I'll make sure to Bold the manga that either I believe you will really like or manga that I really liked but anyways:
I do remember now after looking over the list, he was a big fan of Denpa Kyoushi and a few other series, so some of my commentary or even manga are included due to that bias, you could probably just ignore that.
Pirating_Ninja said: Ok so once upon a time ... I made an EXTREMELY long list for a dude who was just getting in to manga ... I'm pretty sure that he hadn't read any yet so I picked out alot of my favorites (but could be wrong), anyways just gonna copy and past that since it really might help to some degree ... The genres are also rather diverse as I tried to include manga of a plethora of different sub-genres (although not ever sub-genre is included, like I don't believe I posted many if any psychological manga within this list) ... and sorry if there are repeats.
Ok the list is quite long since I basically picked every manga I have read that I would consider worthwhile to read, of course some are better than others but anyways here goes (will also create a table of contents at the bottom to seperate them in to different genres in case you want to look through a specific genre):
- Air Gear (Shounen, this is a slightly more mature series for being a shounen but not quite seinen, the series has a rather interesting way of fighting and is on the longer side of things if you are looking for a long shounen series that isn't like Naruto/Bleach/One Piece/Fairy Tail since this has a slightly darker tone to it, don't usually like shounen action series, especially when the male MC is the arrogant type but didn't mind this one, other things to note are that their is a slight romance and that it does have lower levels of ecchi but isn't a major theme of the series)
- Akkan Baby (Shoujo/Shounen, This series is actually somewhat unique in that it has a lot of things you don't normally see, for starters the plot is more of a shoujo topic dealing with teen pregnancy while both characters as well is the art is more shounen, I actually quite enjoyed this series and you probably will too if you hate melodrama since this does a good job of containing drama but practically nothing like "he said, she said" drivel you see in seinen/shoujo romances, things to point out, this is slightly more mature and does contain references to sexual content however is NOT a hentai and if there is any nudity (can't remember) it is above he waste, also it is only 12 chapters long or about 3 volumes I believe long)
- Anagle Mole (Shounen, a more light hearted and battle type shounen, not exactly main stream as the setting and plot are too some degree unique however it is neither a "dark shounen" (I'll explain what that is in a bit) nor is it a shounen that is almost a seinen, I believe there is a slight romance developing however I can't be certain as I don't usually keep up w/ manga once I catch up to the current scans so haven't read any of the newer chapters)
- Area no Kishi (Shounen, Sports manga about soccer, rather like it despite not like sports manga in general for the most part (note that I don't LOVE IT, just like it), there is also some romance in the manga however I can never tell if it is going somewhere or just going to crash and burn)
- Ares (Shounen, a rather interesting Manwha about a mercenary group, this would definitely belong in the category of shounen that are almost seinen, the series is pretty good however there are some slow parts in the series which annoyed me since the releases were slow however it is fully completed now and might not be noticeable to someone who is not reading at like 1 chapter a month)
- Aphorism (Shounen, (saw this on your PTR list, it is actually a pretty interesting series as well as pretty dark and somewhat gory, these types of shounen I refer to as "Dark Shounen" which is basically any shounen that has that sort of twisted atmosphere, it doesn't necessarily have to be gory but it's sort of creepy how the art makes it seem like it shouldn't be too dark but since it is it just adds to the twisted feeling the manga gives off, anyways it is kind of interesting however the whole male character having another self that is all powerful while he himself is weak, shy, etc. (basically stereotypical male shounen archetype) bothers me a bit)
- Beelzebub (Shounen, A very comedic yet also action packed series, the first 40 chapters or so I loved, after that it started alternating between semi-original and just another mainstream shounen battle manga just w/ a cooler MC which disappointed me after the first 40 chapters which were hilarious and awesome at the same time, however overall a good read and probably one of the better on-going long running shounen series out there in my opinion)
- Beck (Shounen, sort of close to being a seinen as it deals with some more mature themes, it actually was a semi-enjoyable series and I really did like the fact that the music aspect of it was focused on rock and even mentioned some of my favorite artists (except never once did it mention Led Zeppelin which I found odd, but meh), However I am going to warn you that later on in the series, as the romance aspect of it gets more serious (still not the main focus of the manga though) it does get somewhat melodramatic which I didn't appreciate too much)
- Berserk (Seinen, My favorite manga, it is a rather dark medieval/fantasy manga with a very big world (which I like) and a very strong but silent male MC who carries with him a lot of hatred and resentment, it is a very good manga if you can stomach the darker moments in it (nothing twisted just ... rather bleak and sad at times) but none-the-less very intense and rather gory most of the time, also since it is rather long you would imagine it has the same drawback as plenty of other long running series in that it is repetitive however due to the large world it actually stays pretty unique which I appreciate quite a bit.)
- B Gata H Kei (Seinen, this is a 4-koma romantic comedy (4-koma equals each page is 4 sections), it is actually a rather light-hearted and comedic romance story with enjoyable ecchi (tbh I hate the overused types of ecchi, like guy walks in on girl changing, fall down stairs and honka honka or even just wind blowing up skirts), in this series the ecchi comes more from the female MC who idealizes sex and rather emberassed (due to the fact she is practically a school idol who is supposed to be experienced, however actually still is a virgin), makes it her goal to pull aside some schmuck to take her virginity and be down with it, and then commences the plethora of failed attempts where she slowly starts to fall for the male MC and give up on her dream of having like a harem of 200+ men or some ridiculously high number like that, also is a rather good romance without too much drama since it is more of a romantic comedy)
- Black Cat (Shounen, former assassin for a scary organization slowly gains emotion and is changed after meeting a special person, years later the manga starts with him and a rather clever guy he met on his travels, the series is about this former assassin "black cat" as a bounty hunter taking down bounties without killing, it was ok but tried to present this dark past and yet have this sort of cheesy and innocent atmosphere to the whole manga which is one reason I usually don't like shounen (the whole, instead of killing this guy who tried to kill me, let's be friends) ... anyways while I am bashing it I don't mean to say it was bad, it was actually a very good series)
- Blood Lad (Shounen, Kind of your stereotypical shounen but then not really either, similar in that aspect then to Anagle Mole, a rather interesting series that has it's moments, now I haven't read it for awhile and the problem with many shounen series that start out interesting is they become repetitive however I didn't read far enough in to this one yet to be able to tell but I will say that it is definitely worth checking out.)
- Bloody Monday (Shounen, this is labeled as action but there actually isn't a whole lot of fighting, revolves around a hacker who comes across plans to basically kill a ton of people, now he may be a hacker (technically ex-hacker) but he does have a strong sense of justice and so helps out how he can, the series is ok if you like the more suspenseful and strategic type of series)
- Boku ni Natta Watashi (Shoujo, a romance, actually not one of the better shoujo out there either to be honest however it doesn't really have anything to complain about either, I should warn you that there is I believe some sexual content but again, with shoujo, smut will only ever show upper body if anything at all)
- Boku no Hatsukoi wo Kimi ni Sasagu (Shoujo, This I believe you actually probably won't like but felt like mentioning it since I'm trying to be diverse and don't have too many sad manga, It isn't a tragedy but is pretty intense as far as drama goes and is pretty sad at times, again this contains sexual content but nothing to extreme)
- Brave 10 (Seinen, Actually a little disappointed that this series ended (saw the anime and assume the bit of the manga not translated yet was the end of the anime), when I first start reading it I loved it, I love series set in the past with a bad ass male character THAT ACTUALLY KILLS, so I was rather enjoying it, if you do read it just be prepared for a rushed ending (believe it wasn't popular enough in Japan and thus cancelled, anyways cool seinen manga set in the sengoku period (Nobunaga, Tokugawa, Hideyoshi, Yukimura, Masamune, etc.) so if you enjoy samurai stuff you might like it)
- Break Blade (Shounen, a rather darker toned shounen series for a few reasons (mainly due to things dealing with the main character, how he grew up unable to harness the world's power source, or how the girl he loves is married to his best friend, stuff like that) however it sort of lightens up to some degree, (as for the romance, there is some, the best friend is the king and actually forced to marry that girl so you know, it isn't like the best friend wants to be in that position either), I haven't read recent chapters but the plot actually did seem to be picking up last time I read it)
- Chou Dokyuu Shoujo 4946 (Shounen, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU CHECK THIS OUT ... at this point if you have followed the link you might be saying "Why? I mean I get it might be good, but it looks like a romance between a giant and a normal kid 0_0", but if I said "Look at the art bro" would you get it? Compare it to Denpa Kyoushi for a second, In fact the reason I started reading Denpa Kyoushi was because it was by the author who wrote this, now admittedly, the series went on Hiatus for a LONG time and I believe actually was forced to have a rushed ending which is a little bit sad but up until that point it was actually a pretty unique and enjoyable manga)
- Claymore (Seinen, another rather dark and somewhat sad toned medieval/fantasy manga, this is however a little bit less gory/dark than Berserk but the two are very similar in many ways, The main difference is that the MC in this series probably doesn't start off as OP as the person in Berserk however she doesn't stay the runt of the litter for the entire series)
- Curry naru Shokutaku (Seinen, Slice-of-life / Romance, there are slight instances of ecchi as well but mostly just a comedic slice of life centered around cooking with hints of romance here and there, thought I should mention this series since it was sort of different (don't think I have read any other manga about cooking))
- Dance in the Vampire Bund (Seinen, a pretty good series, it does have some good action and a pretty interesting plot, the only warning I will give is that there is quite a bit of nudity at times, and the plot starts to sort of ... drift, although that might be a problem with me (releases are very slow and since I was reading the new release like every two months it's possible I just forgot what happened))
- Deadman Wonderland (Shounen, another Dark Shounen, this one isn't as gory as aphorism but again contains that rather dark almost horrific tone to it, I believe the manga is actually on hiatus, or was, so might wanna pick it up later since their isn't much worse than picking up a manga on hiatus, hoping for a return, but after 2 years the author decides to scrap it)
- Dousei Recipe (Seinen, didn't mind the ecchi in this series although if I remember correctly it is pretty prevalent, the reason being this is a romance that starts with the main couple already together and just started living together, (hate the chase and most ecchi never actually have a conclusive ending, why read a romance that just has the herp derp male MC go "I couldn't decide, I would rather be friends with all than go out w/ one" -_-, anyways you might like it, it really just is a sort of plotless romance manga or atleast didn't have a strong plot yet from where I caught up to the manga)
- Drifters (Seinen, another gory and intense manga, again a fantasy manga however you really can't call this the medieval period, reason being the setting is sort of like middle earth however with one key difference, there are "drifters", famous people throughout the course of history who were thought to have died but in reality were pulled out and dropped in to this world where it is sort of like an all out battle, I really like the plot (never seen a manga like it before to be honest) and it really is pretty interesting plus the main character is a more trigger happy type of character, by the same author as Hellsing if you are familiar with that, however I prefer this series Swords > Guns when it comes to action scenes in my opinion)
- Freezing (Seinen, this is pretty much a dark shounen however classified as a seinen, too be honest I actually stopped reading it cause of a certain ... twisted event I just didn't feel like dealing with at the time, of course my friend assured me it is over quickly and all it's just ... Well I'll definitely pick it up again (actually had forgotten about it, got reminded while making this list to pick it up again), anyways aside from that it kind of has a good plot, however it is also kind of all about cute girls going off to battle and is pretty ecchi)
- Gakuen Babysitters (Shoujo, this is actually rather a gender-neutral series however I believe comes out in a shoujo magazine hence it is labeled as shoujo, Basically in my opinion this is the ultimate "pick-me-up" manga, whenever I read/watch something depressing enough that I just find myself keep on thinking about it, or just has an ending I didn't like I turn to this, just read a chapter and all negative feelings are gone. Anyways it's basically about a high schooler and his baby brother who find themselves orphaned after their parent's anniversary vaction meets with an unfortunate accident, the chairman of a certain high school takes them in under the condition that the older brother volunteers at the daycare (apparently quite a few of the teachers have children) and is really just a warm-hearted story about taking care of the toddlers, should also note it's not like he doesn't not want this or finds it torturous, he is an extremely responsible older brother, their may be more to it but since I only read a chapter when I stumble across a tragedy or an unacceptable ending I haven't caught up to the scans (which I guess is good since it is a monthly manga and if some cliff hanger did occur I could just move on assuming it is resolved in the next like 10 chapters))
- Gamble Fish (Shounen, basically a type of battle manga without the use of actual fighting but instead using gambling, a rather ecchi manga as well and contains some more mature themes)
- Gangsta. (Seinen, Ok so I really like this manga just cause of the number of things that I surprisingly haven't seen before as well as the tone, but anyways the two main characters are a jigolo and a deaf "experiment gone wrong" swordsmen, as well as an ex-prostitute/ex drug addicted sort of female side character, and the tone is sort of dark however this series is set in a more present day, the action scenes are pretty nice)
- Hellsing (Seinen, as I mentioned earlier this is more of just an all out gory manga with a sort of ridiculous plot (not necessarily bad ... but pretty out there), the series was ok and actually really enjoyed it a few years ago when I read it)
- Immortal Regis (Shounen, another dark shounen, this series is actually somewhat sad and I believe gets a whole lot sadder in the sequel if I'm not mistaken but aside from that, their is an interesting plot throughout most of it, I wouldn't say it's the best but I thought I should mention it)
- Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru (Seinen, This is another sports manga, this time about karate and actually is quite a bit of action too as alot of fights are held unofficially and of course that means are more like street fights, the series is pretty good just progress moves pretty slow since it is 500 chapters apparently and believe that it is only around chapter 100, and releases come out rather slowly, this all adds up to being a rather slow manga if waiting for releases.)
- Kimi wa Pet (Josei, this is actually a pretty interesting manga even though it is rather dramatic and somewhat of a love triangle which I usually hate with a passion (to the point that I avoid practically every manga which features 2 main characters of one sex and 1 main character of the other if the tag romance is on it), however this manga is really rather unique, I should warn that it is more mature (both in content and in the general tone, the romance isn't like "you are the one for me and the only thing in my life") Which I suppose I enjoyed to some extent)
- Koe de Oshigoto! (Seinen, a rather comedic ecchi I had come across awhile ago and had actually forgotten about until making this list, anyways releases for this manga are sadly almost non-existant, however, the series was rather interesting, about an older sister basically pressuring her younger sister into being a voice actress for her eroge company... I'm not sure if you will like it but again it is sort of unique in it's own way and so it's a stretch but you may like it)
- Koi wo Suru no ga Shigoto desu. (Seinen, Ok so this actually doesn't have the greatest plot in the world, or even the most original characters, however noticed you liked Oretama and it is basically somewhat the same type of manga, an adult ecchi romantic comedy, this series is actually more focused on the romance and really doesn't have too much in the way of plot, but basically a more adult romantic comedy)
- Koibana Onsen (Seinen, pretty much the same as the title above, perhaps a bit longer and has more side characters however basically a romantic comedy that is more adult rated and not a whole lot in the way of plot)
- Koukou Debut (Shoujo, Ok, so ... it is sort of an insult to put this after the last two works, I mean the quality is just ... Anyways if you can stomach shoujo at all I strongly recommend checking this one out, it isn't one of the more childish ones (the ones you probably find annoying) or smut (basically think of shoujo smut equivalent to seinen's that are classified as adult, maybe slightly less graphic, but just slightly), most shoujo at the maturity level of Koukou Debut however this series does not, however the series is extremely well done)
- Kuroko no Basket (Shounen, To be honest started reading when I was younger, a little bit too hyped for my taste (the tone of the manga, not any fans, not a hipster 0_0) basically it is another good sports manga but again, is a little bit too "in the moment", may like however if sports are your thing there are probably better ones out there (not really too big on sports manga myself so haven't ever put too much effort in to looking for "the best")
- Kyou Kara Ore Wa!! (Shounen, a very funny delinquent manga, I also appreciated that this wasn't one of those delinquent manga's where they actually fought with honor, the Main character (while actually being strong) would usually resort to foul tricks to beat up people (basically a troll), was very refreshing to see an anti-hero like him in manga, the art might be hard to get used to but it was pretty funny)
- L-DK (Shoujo, This does have some melodramatic drama in the first arch ... so you would have to get through that but the series is pretty good and a nice series if you can get past that, a rather enjoyable manga, although the monthly releases kill me, >.< biggest complaint w/ shoujo is that they are all monthly)
- Last Inning (Seinen, a more serious toned sports manga about baseball, the difference with this manga is that it isn't told from the perspective of a player but rather is told from the coach (was falsely arrested, former principle, knowing he is amazing at baseball, talked him in to returning to his former school to coach a team of misfits in return for getting him out of jail)
- Love Lucky! (Seinen, same as koibana onsen or Koi wo Suru no ga Shigoto desu., basically an adult ecchi romance story, this one is a tad bit longer and actually has a nice set-up though ... again after they start dating it pretty much turns in to sex just like the other two series)
- Luck Stealer (Shounen, 0_0 I'm shocked this is labeled as shounen ... Well assume this is seinen cause the tone, characters, not a thing about this screams shounen, anyways it's rather tragic, it's about a man who can "steal" people's luck if he touches them, he has a daughter and she was born without any luck so he needs to steal luck in order to keep her from dying in some tragic luck (no luck = unlucky = super unlucky = dead) so in order to pay the cost of raising a daughter and to keep her alive he becomes an assassin for an organization, the manga is pretty darkly toned and rather sad but also really interesting)
- Majeh (Shounen, a pretty good manwha, in fact I own most of the volumes (of course I'm surprised it is now called Majeh, I knew it as King of Hell), but anyways it is pretty comedic however when shit does go down it is also pretty cool since the MC is actually pretty powerful, overall a good shounen series if you just want comedy and action)
- Maoyuu Maou Yuusha - 'Kono Watashi no Mono Tonare, Yuusha yo' 'Kotowaru!' (Shounen, I thought I should mention this since it is similar to some series you like, having said that it is also rather unique, it is basically "what would happen if the hero, instead of slaying the demon queen, teamed up with her to create a better world?", it sounds fruity but it really isn't, not too mention the author actually named the characters thing like "silver prince" "hero" and "Demon Queen", it was a pretty interesting manga from what I had read although again the releases were rather slow)
- Mars (Shoujo, Best romance I have read by far for a plethora of reasons 1) because it didn't drag out the lead up to them being a couple (IE they got together early on), 2) because it did go past "Holding hands" (IE yes they did have sex, not why it was better but prefer more mature romances over the kind that never progress). 3) No love triangles. 4) The story didn't just focus on their relationship but also covered their environment as well as their goals and aspirations (environment = things like parents, and inner or exterior conflicts that were either overcome alone in some cases or together) and 5) Probably the biggest reason why I loved it so much, It is labeled as psychological, the author brilliantly used hints of psychological to give the most cliche archetypes in shoujo Handsome Delinquent Male MC and Nerdy Shy Female MC and gave them truly unique and deep personalities, honestly I have never seen another manga that has done so well at developing the characters as this one)
- Momoiro Heaven (Josei, I recommend this series for two reasons, first of all the art is a softer/rounder style which (for me personally) does make it look actually pretty good (not the biggest fan of shoujo art usually tbh), but more importantly because of the plot and the female MC in particular, first off, I love the female MC's personality in this series, it really is unique and quite enjoyable, also the plot itself is rather funny, after her father's death and her mother in bed rest at the hospital it is up to her to provide money for the hospital bills as well as for her and her younger brother, so she inherits her dad's pen name and starts writing novels in his place ... however ... the novels are erotic novels and there is quite a bit of comedy built up on her always either thinking of new material or getting called by the editor and having to reword her manuscript in school)
- Noblesse (Shounen, I'm not sure if you are familiar with webcomics (basically manwha which go straight to online, are in color, and often not actually published therefore the lack of them on MAL for the most part), however this is one of the bigger ones and rather interesting, first off the color itself is pretty cool and the plot is actually really sick as well as the cast, basically a pretty cool action, also NO it is not about vampires (not assuming you hate/like vampires) that is just a common question asked about it)
- Otoyomegatari (Seinen, This is sort of a more laid back and chill romance, really not too much drama at all, and rather kind of a slice of life following a married couple, sort of takes place in like a tribe of nomads I think, slightly more on the mature side however not really)
- Pastel (Shounen, an extremely slow paced romance, and not something I would recommend if there weren't a lot of other shounen romances that actually have the couple dating right before the end, I can't really say I approve of this manga or say it is great (I for some reason, despite being a guy, hate seeing romance where the female MC is "the school idol" often, although that's usually cause the male MC is a useless sack of rocks that can only think "she is so beautiful, I'm so lucky" ... and yes this is that type of romance) anyways maybe if you ever find yourself craving a shounen romance that does have the main couple going out but ... well anyways yeah it's basically not something I would re-read)
- Private Prince (Josei, This is a smut, in other words their is quite a bit of sexual content and the plot is only slightly there, it actually isn't really that great of a smut either however felt I should recommend atleast one and thought it would be safer to recommend one that actually had more of the shounen type of art)
- Psyren (Shounen, This is another dark shounen, It is rather interesting and somewhat of a much darker version of another manga I thought I should mention, Busou Renkin, however it is actually rather dark and is another kind of survivalist manga although I believe in this manga they are only dropped in to the danger for lengths of time, sort of like Aphorism)
- Rec (Seinen, actually not given a demographic oddly enough however the fact it contains mature content and the MC is a male who is not in high school or younger it is pretty clear that it is Seinen, anyways this is a rather drama free and happy seinen romance, it isn't as shallow as Love Lucky!, Koibana, etc. so you might actually enjoy it for it's romance)
- Samurai Deeper Kyo (Seinen, Really liked this manga (actually own all 38 volumes), anyways what I probably liked most about it is the main character (my avatar is a pic of him with red eyes photo shopped on), anyways it is a pretty good series if you are looking for a manga with a powerful main character who is "classy-arrogant", don't ask me how that works but basically the type of arrogance that is more troll than retarded, would consider Naruto to be the annoying type of arrogant)
- Sankarea (Shounen, honestly if this was an action, from what I have read so far, despite the fact it is ecchi, I might classify this as a dark shounen, but the tone isn't dark nearly enough for that, anyways it is basically a romance with a guy and a girl he brings back to life after witnessing her tragic death, pretty popular right now (I think), and pretty ecchi + comedic, might like it)
- Saruyama! (Shoujo, It actually contains alot of shounen characteristics as well and is actually more gender neutral of a manga, the series is actually pretty good and I enjoyed it quite a bit, a very good, straightforward romance, of course it has a little bit of drama but nothing too much and if you don't mind shoujo art I recommend this one (as well as the others tbh) over the shounen/seinen romances (I look at it like this, when you are looking for action you don't start by looking at shoujo, so why, when looking for actual romance (not ecchi/harems) would you start by looking at shounen, of course I don't judge series on art but I could see where that would be a concern))
- School Shock (Shounen, another rather interesting shounen manga, also has some romance, and if I remember correctly it is pretty close to being a dark shounen, however to be completely honest I read this series a long time ago and there weren't too many chapters at the time, it looked like it would be a good series however I can't guarantee that since I haven't read enough of it at this point, having said that it is worth checking out)
- Sensen Spike Hills (Seinen, Very similar to Welcome to the NHK and another I will recommend later in terms of tone, this series however isn't really focused on psychological, it does however also contain the two of the characters smoking weed and does contain sexual content, While their is some romance I doubt it will be a happy ending in that regard, the series is actually about a group of three who have found out a local mob boss has bribed the admissions person at Toudai to give him the answer key to the acceptance test, they basically plan to steal it and use it for themselves, rather darkly toned)
- Shi ga Futari wo Wakatsu Made (Seinen, A pretty cool action anime, the main male character uses a sword despite it being modern times (makes for cool fight scenes but ... well can't look for logistics in manga), he is also blind and relies on a pretty nifty system to see although not much, anyways some pretty cool action definitely worth checking out some time)
- Sun-ken Rock (Seinen, This is a pretty cool manga, it is comedic at times, has sick fight scenes, does have romance as well as is definitely for mature audiences however what I also like about it is that it's about gangsters, anyways a really good manga and actually one of the first I caught up on after about a 4 month break from manga/anime)
- The Breaker (Shounen, definitely a more mature shounen, actually a very cool martial arts manga and I did enjoy it quite a bit, also enjoying the sequel The Breaker: New Waves quite a bit too, the fight scenes are pretty cool and I actually don't mind the fact that the main character starts out a weakling or is so hell bent on justice)
- Tripeace (Shounen, This manga is hard to explain, it is hard to explain why it is great however ... It is good, it is very interesting, definitely worth the read, I really can't explain it, but it actually is an amazing work for what it is)
- Übel Blatt (Seinen, If you want a more adult action that also has a hint of a harem yet doesn't lose the action aspect to it you might enjoy this one, it is pretty ecchi however the majority of the manga is actually a rather dark tone, basically the male MC is on a path for revenge, long story short, half his comrades abandon him when they go to kill the demon lord, they actually succeed in killing it, however those who abandoned the true heroes, fearing for their reputation, killed the true heroes and claimed all credit, the MC lived just barely and now is hell bent on revenge for crimes against both him and his comrades, pretty sick series)
- Unbalance x Unbalance (Seinen, Ecchi and probably slightly more on the mature side of things ... However I have to warn you, I believe that the ending is rushed and kind of disappointing (not read it myself yet) but leading up to that point I actually liked the series, the other bit of warning ... It is by the same person as freezing and somehow carries that same tone (I would say "Panicky" however that is right) but yeah, kind of an atmosphere that always keeps you on edge)
- Vagabond (Seinen, a pretty cool sword fighting manga if you don't want some far out plot, a rather down-to-earth series, somewhat tragic at times with some of the side characters, also has some sexually explicit scenes among other things, All in all a rather interesting series however if you are looking for a clearly fictional plot might want to look for something else)
- Velvet Kiss (Seinen, This is much like the adult ecchi seinen's I recommended earlier (Love Lucky!, etc.) in terms of content however that's where the similarities stop, this series actually has a plot and isn't all happy either, the tone is rather dark and their is a very strong and good plot behind it all, you might actually like this quite a bit)
- Veritas (Shounen, Kind of on the verge of being a dark shounen however the main character with his oblivious and arrogant attitude probably helps to keep as a shounen, anyways it definitely was an interesting series, and really liked the intense atmosphere of the school, however I believe it got cancelled so it had a rushed ending, though I could be wrong about that)
- Vinland Saga (Seinen, Ok so .... This is very similar to Claymore or Berserk, sort of ... This is not a fantasy however it contains the same level of dark action, however in this series it focuses around a viking and some of the themes are pretty heavy and rather accurate (things like when the Norse started adopting Christianity, it meant that they stopped believing in Valhalla and saw the pillaging as the definitely going to hell but they had no other way to live, so they began living lives knowing they were a despised race that could only find food by stealing it (this theme doesn't come up until later in the manga but was actually a historically accurate))
- Wolf Guy: Ookami no Monshou (Seinen, Word of warning, this might be the darkest manga I have read, I can't remember one darker, and actually stopped to let it finish before reading it because I really couldn't stand reading from chapter to chapter ... Anyways ignoring that bit this was an extremely cool manga, loved the set-up, the fights and the art wasn't bad either)
- World Embryo (Shounen, Another dark shounen, the series is somewhat tragic however their are slivers of hope here and there that I do believe will get brighter, the manga itself isn't actually too great in terms of action however it doesn't have some pretty good scenes and a rather interesting plot as well as the development of the story itself is rather interesting a lot of the time)
- Worst (Seinen, I say Seinen however honestly it could go either way but I would be betting it is seinen just to the general atmosphere of the series, basically it is a delinquent manga, however it is actually more serious and about things like inner school fighting as well as schools challenging eachother (sounds corny but trust me it isn't), the author has actually written quite a few series so if you do like this one you could go check his other works, they all happened in the same world at different times, and are all about delinquents, the only complain is that ALOT of the important characters (and btw there are alot of important characters) look the same, I mean they have subtle differences but the manga only comes out once a month so it is hard to remember who is who)
- Yesterday wo Utatte (Seinen, Similar in tone to Welcome to the NHK or Sensen Spike Hills, the key difference being content, this manga does not contain drug use or sexual content (yet, too early to tell if it will go in that direction), also this manga might contain a bit more actual romance)
- Yankee-kun to Megane-chan (Shounen, I can't really explain why but it somehow gives off the same feel as Denpa Kyoushi, it is a rather good comedy / slice of life and very (and I do mean very) slight romance) I high recommend reading this series as it really is similar to Denpa Kyoushi)
So ... The list is quite long but in the Table of Contents (which should make it easier to pick and choose what you want) I'll make sure to Bold the manga that either I believe you will really like or manga that I really liked but anyways:
I do remember now after looking over the list, he was a big fan of Denpa Kyoushi and a few other series, so some of my commentary or even manga are included due to that bias, you could probably just ignore that.
I love you Pirate man. Booked marked this thread because of your post. Ty
I'm gonna plug what is probably my personal most favorite: Dorohedoro
Based on your profile I think you'd probably enjoy it. Kinda hard to describe but it's an awesome mix of action, black comedy, a cool setting and tons of great characters. It's probably the one manga where I can't find a single character to dislike. I also love the hell out of the art style which fits the manga perfectly:
TeamDaiGurren said: Molester Man (cuz someone already said onani master)
Onani Master Kurosawa's story was written by an online doujin novelist and Molester Man is based off a 2chan thread, and they carry no aesthetic or thematic similarities. One is a romance manga and the other one is a dark coming of age story. They're nothing alike and have no relevance to one another, really. They are both illustrated by YOKO a doujin mangaka and that's the only connection they have with one another.
Seconding Onani Master Kurosawa.
Oyasumi Punpun
Eden: It's an Endless World
A Distant Neighborhood
Parasyte
Bokurano
Endo Hiroki Tanpenshuu
Great Teacher Onizuka
Holyland
Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer
Hotel
Mars
SaiKano
Tsukihime
Blood Alone
Suicide Island
Wandering Son
Sakuranbo Syndrome
Dorohedoro
Nana
Solanin
I think it's a visual novel and I have no idea if you should read it =l. I've heard the manga did a good job of adapting one of the 3 routes, but it's a pretty famous VN, so people will probably let you know eventually.
I'm also filled with pure-hearted ulterior motives.
btw...should i go for the light novel for tsukihime before the manga?
Tsukihime is a visual novel, not a light novel. It's fine to read the manga first, because the manga covers Arcueid's route which you would be reading first anyway (that or Ciel's route) and is actually a good adaptation. Just be aware you'll have to read the VN to get the full story, the Far Side routes are a lot different and not adapted anywhere. Plus there's Kagetsu Tohya to read after finishing the VN.
Just avoid the anime like your life depended on it.
Berserk
Akumetsu
Eden It's an endless world
Planetes
Vinland Saga
Ubel Blatt
Blaster Knuckle
Dorohedoro
Uzamaki
Blame!
Biomega
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Kickstarter for Rokujouma is fully funded. Good work everyone. Lets wait for the result of our hard work together.
