Here is a list of manga titles to get you started with the medium. To the experienced readers, feel free to recommend some titles that you feel are well suited for first-time readers.
A *Manhwa* - Manga read Left to Right instead of Right To Left Last updated at post 48 |
georgiApr 11, 2010 2:55 PM
 |
| Fullmetal Alchemist Claymore Death Note |
 |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion Berserk Full Metal Panic! Hellsing all of these manga's have anime's based off of them and in the case of berserk you really need to read the manga after you watch the show but they are all fantastic, i really cant read lighthearted school comedy novels, not enough suspense, blood, action, sweet or tears for me. |
| For beginners i would highly recommend: Hellsing (for gore lovers) (Horror, fantasy, Action) Love Hina (Comedy, slice of life) Bakuman (Romance) (Also tells how much it takes to get a manga made) Franken Fran (ONLY FOR THOSE WHO WANT FUCKED UP SHIT) (Horror, FUCKED UP) |
 |
capster said: Franken Fran (ONLY FOR THOSE WHO WANT FUCKED UP SHIT) (Horror, FUCKED UP) Now that caught my eye :) gotta check that out |
 |
| Special A, La Corda d'Oro Kou Kou Debut... They are very simple and easy to read, and they grab your attention if you like romance comedies. I would recommend Ouran because a lot of people tend to like it but when I lent it to my friend who is a beginner she said it was difficult to get a grasp of what's going on because there is so much happening at one time. |
 |
| well its fine =P beginners have their own paces so it would depend on the person....like me when i started out nothing was really complex and to hard to understand for me =P nice rec's keepem coming ^.^ |
|
| I think some of the best manga for beginners are some of the ones I read when I started reading manga: - Aishiteruze Baby - Ichigo 100% - Mx0 - Shin Angyo Onshi |
| Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
| Hmm, beginner's manga? I'd pick popular titles like: Ranma ½, Naruto, and Dragon Ball They should be fast reads especially for watchers of the related shows. They have a deep enough world full of characters to get excited about, and not too much weird or unexplained Japanese terminology like Excel Saga or Pani Poni Dash. Action is fairly easy to follow. For CLAMP titles, I'd pick Cardcaptor Sakura or Chobits. It gives you a flavor of the CLAMP style of romances, and preps you for later series like Tsubasa Chronicle. Also Azumanga Daioh for the four-panel comic style. I started with these titles when I first got into manga, and they are abundantly available at public libraries. |
| ...really? im trying everywere to find last...well not everywere but the couple of stores i went to in guam didnt have chobits......or not the last volume which is the one i want...and unfortunately the last couple volumes of fruits basket werent available (in books...online they are =P) |
|
| Dream Saga Ultra Maniac Urukyuu Cyber Idol Mink Kamichama Karin |
| @TheUnknownMerc: I fixed the links on the first post, so they work correctly now. Inu-yasha Zombie Loan Parasyte Lone Wolf and Cub Priest (most of these are things I used to read when I first started out, so I consider them beginners material) |
xMatronxMalicexJan 21, 2009 4:09 PM
|
| sorry were they not working ? ill update it in a sec =P |
|
| Other than those that were already mentioned: Detective Conan (Case Closed) Mahou Sensei Negima! Dragon Ball (contains the Story of both Dragonball and Dragonball Z) |
 |
| oh forgot dragon ball....i gotta go so i dont have time to update the rest now....ill update it tomorrow at school or once i get home ^.^ but keepem coming =P |
|
| Sailor Moon Ragnarok Saiyuki Trigun Battle Angel Alita |
|
| Oooh, Battle Angel Alita and Inuyasha; those new readers are in for a surprise when they get to the graphic part of the graphic novel. |
| hmm inuyasha....ill wait to put that up cause alot of people have been saying its just a point less series...although it may just be the anime =P ill wait for more opinions on it ^.^ |
|
| Hmmm.. Fruits Basket is the first manga I ever picked up, so I recommend that one as well... |
| |
| So, uh. What qualifies as a beginner? I'd consider myself pretty new (having read less than 20 series), but I don't really understand why my tastes in manga would be different than someone whose read a lot of it, especially considering how many anime I've seen. Anyway, some generally enjoyable manga, that I've enjoyed as a "beginner": Yotsuba&! Genshiken Mushishi Franken Fran Death Note Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou |
| karin i agree...but fruits basket....hmm i dono as a first...its a good series but starting a bit after the 8'th volume it gets a bit complicated and revolves around each character which might be hard to keep track of for a newbie...but i agree its a good one especially to start with if you can get paste the constant character switching thingy =P |
|
| Right now, this list looks like a "manga you must read before you die" list than a list of manga for beginners. Here are my comments on some of the series on post 1 at the time of writing this: I'll say right here and right now: a beginning reader should never read a slife-of-life series as their first manga series. Slice of life is more character-oriented than plot-oriented, and that will bore anyone who cannot fully appreciate the depth of the characters. (Can you find a slice-of-life series that actually has a purpose other than to the chronicle the ordinary and semi-ordinary events in the character's lives?) Skip Beat is not good for beginners to the shojo genre, as the series' uniqueness cannot be fully appreciated by someone who does not get the stereotypes and cliches of the genre. It also doesn't help that there are several cases where the reader does not get the comedic parts because of a cultural barrier. Cardcaptor Sakura may be rated All Ages by Tokyopop, but that does not mean that anyone can read it. I know someone who did not finish the first chapter because they were so confused as to what was happening from page 1 that they were extremely frustrated. You cannot avoid a spoiler for another CLAMP series if you read TRC all the way through first, so TRC is definitely not a good starting point. |
aly_angelflightJan 22, 2009 4:08 PM
| Here is some more i forgot to write Dakedo Happy Paradise - Slice of Life, Shoujo, Drama Dice - Shoujo, Romance, Comedy Fukushima Metamo Kiss - Comedy, Romance, Shoujo Full House Kiss - Shoujo, Romance, Comedy Milk Crown - Romance, Comedy Milk Crown H - Romance, Comedy Milk Crown Lovers- Romance, Comedy |
| thanks aly_angelflight and i fully agree...i have no idea if people are posting series that they like instead of series that are good for beginners so your input is well appreciated... i fully agree with all of your points...especially your first one...but also if all depends on who is reading it...but yes i do see your point... but also this isnt a list that you must read it all...just some to get you started...thats all |
|
| Thanks for putting Yotsuba. My 9-year old niece got volume 1 of that, and it's an easy to understand slice-of-lifer. Re: Cardcaptor Sakura = advanced? I dunno; they just need to know she has to collect cards in chapter one. This was one of the first mangas I read and they still put it in the kids section. If that's still too confusing, then there's Angelic Layer, which is more your basic battle tournament manga. She basically plays and either wins or loses. But definitely not Magic Knight Rayearth - the story plot and drawings are convoluted. I have reservations about Fruits Basket since I only bothered to get as far as the anime series in the manga but it is classic shojo so if you find you like the genre it's a good representation of it. Plus, they now have the larger book edition which combines several volumes. Also I have to ponder whether there is a point to recommending a series that hasn't ended yet. Unless the stories are self-contained, the reader might feel frustrated that they haven't finished it and wants to move on. Yu Yu Hakusho is a nice read as well. It starts off with a handful of characters and very short adventures, and then progresses to multiple chapter ones later, but the format is still figuring out a puzzle or fighting an opponent. As with Dragon Ball, the cast of characters is reviewed often so you don't get lost. |
| Negima has a whole mess of characters to remember, and then all the spell casting in Latin, so I'd save that for intermediate reading, after Love Hina. It belongs more on the manga bucket list than a beginner's plate. |
Angus said: Thanks for putting Yotsuba. My 9-year old niece got volume 1 of that, and it's an easy to understand slice-of-lifer. I'm fairly sure that Yotsuba&! is the only manga in existence that everyone could love. Hell, even /b/ loves 404 girl. |
| For the NGE classification i'd say, Seinen, Psychological, Sci-fi, Super Robot would fit the bill. |
| Also remove Trigun Maximum. That's a continuation of Trigun. I don't think people would understand it jumping right into that one. |
| I can't believe no one has already mentioned this. Bleach, it was the third manga I read, and is pretty popular as far as I know. Also, its a weekly release. Bleach - adventure, anime, comedy, drama, fantasy, shounen, supernatural. Another good one is Yu Yu Hakusho. Its a good, but not very recent. Sorta DBZ era I think. Yu Yu Hakusho - action, anime, fantasy, shounen. My personal favourite manga, Historys Strongest Disciple Kenichi. It's a good story about a weak guy who becomes the disciple of the strongest dojo in history. It's a funny manga with martial arts and torture (training) all together. Historys Strongest Disciple Kenichi - action, anime, comedy, ecchi, martial arts, shounen. Lastly, Iron Fist Chinmi (aka Tekken Chinmi). Its not that well known, and it's not on many online scanlation sites as far as I can tell. It took me a while to find this, but I wanted to read it since it was the first manga that I read (it was an actual manga book which a mate let me borrow). Its a martial arts manga, but its not very serious, which makes it light hearted and funny :P Tekken Chinmi - action, adventure, comedy, martial arts. Since its difficult to find, I'll post the mangafox link (its the only online scanlation site I could find with it). - http://www.mangafox.com/page/manga/series/2908/tekken_chinmi/ |
konpachiJan 26, 2009 7:04 AM
 |
| I would suggest Bleach as well since that's technically the first manga I started reading. Fruits Basket would be a good one for people that like that genre, I'm sure if people have read novels before they could keep up with it revolving around one character more, especially if they've read the previous seven manga. Vampire Knight may be another one since it's pretty easy to understand and a lot of people really seem to enjoy it. perhaps even Absolute Boyfriend [Zettai Kareshi] since it's only 6 volumes and it's pretty amusing as well as a quick read. |
naikou said: So, uh. What qualifies as a beginner? I'd consider myself pretty new (having read less than 20 series), but I don't really understand why my tastes in manga would be different than someone whose read a lot of it, especially considering how many anime I've seen. Anyway, some generally enjoyable manga, that I've enjoyed as a "beginner": Yotsuba&! Genshiken Mushishi Franken Fran Death Note Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Well it's not that your tastes would be any different, but from how I understand it, this topic should be to point out some manga that is easy for people to read if they don't know much about Japanese culture.....it can get confusing when you just start. But seeing how most of us start off by watching anime........that point becomes kinda moot. |
~ Nothing makes us as lonely as our own secrets ~      |
| I'd also suggest Kajika (shounen, comedy, action)... one shot, so it shouldn't take u too much time to read it, especially if u r confused about "in what order do I read this??"... and it's Toriyama goodness :D everyone should be able to experience Toriyama goodness, also if they're not willing to read 42 issues of DB lol |
| Hanazakari no Kimitachi e is what really & truly made me a huge manga fan. It was one of the first shoujo stories i read and loved without having an anime counterpart <3 I bought each volume religiously until it ended in 04. It's defenitely a good series to start off with :) |
TheUnknownMerc said: thanks aly_angelflight and i fully agree...i have no idea if people are posting series that they like instead of series that are good for beginners so your input is well appreciated... i fully agree with all of your points...especially your first one...but also if all depends on who is reading it...but yes i do see your point... but also this isnt a list that you must read it all...just some to get you started...thats all I agree with you too. Personally, i had some probs with enjoying Skip Beat fully coz just like you've pointed out, due to the cultural barrier. There were just certain comedic parts i really couldn't grasp T_T I'd like to thank those who posted their suggestions, tho am not really new to manga reading, new inputs are always appreciated.. I'll keep checking for when i'd have more free time.. |
| Keroro Gunsou (SGT frog) Reborn! (Katekyo Hitman reborn) Both are comedy slice of lifes but Reborn is slightly funnier if you dont get all the gundam references in Gunsou. also Gunsou has some echii moments. |
| I would say Allumage and Shaman King or Trigun |
Ultimately, there is a freedom to take the consequences (Terry Pratchett)     |
| I think a short manga is the best for a beginner The first manga i tried to read was Naruto but i got bored pretty quickly and the length of it intimidated me since i was a beginner. I asked my friend who got me into manga and he recommended: Parallel, Comedy, Ecchi, Romance manga Its a fairly unknown manga but its what got me started :) |
| yes...when it comes to beginner....start with small series...1-2 volumes...then work your way up to more and more untill you can handel up to 8 volumes....then go for more =Pthen your good to go XD |
|
| please suggest me something like Berserk and something like 20th Century Boys |
| you should add rurouni kenshin suzuka and negima |
 |
| Uwha!! Those mangas are good!! I've only looked at tibits of it most of them though.....I'm surprised you didn't add Vampire Knight and I don't think you had Ouran.....even though it's ongoing, they're both incredibly popular in the Shoujo category I started off with Naruto, got scared at the length and all the way it's completely different than the anime (always read manga first is my new motto) so shorter ones like Ultra Maniac and Koukou Debut were good. I then read Ouran cause the anime left me wanted more and then I just fell in love....Gomensai for cheesy term. Okie Dokie...... Hana Kimi--Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Gender Bender Koko ni Iru Yo--Romance, School, Drama He Dedicated to Roses (Manwha)--Comedy Cat Street--Drama, Romance, Shoujo Ouran High School Host Club--Comedy, Drama, Romance, Harem, Shoujo Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles--Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Shounen One Piece--Action, Adventure, Comedy, Shounen |
fluxin42Nov 21, 2009 8:07 PM
 |
| MY FAVORITE LIST: X Clover Tokyo Babylon Fullmetal Alchemist Black Bird Godchild Vampire Knight Fairy Cube Bamboo Blade Tsubasa: Resevoir Chronicle xxxHolic Chobits Nabari no Ou D. Gray-man Alice 19th Imadoki Aria/Aqua Legal Drug Mushi-Shi Black Butler Pandora Hearts Otomen Trinity Blood Natsume Yuujinchou .hack//Gu + Bara no Maria Jyu Oh Sei Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Barajou no Kiss Gaba Kawa .hack//XXXX Nightmare Inspector Yami no Matsuei Record of a Fallen Vampire MOST HATED LIST: Naruto .hack//legend of the twilight Juvenile Orion Rosario+Vampire Code Geass Shiki Tsukai Mobile Gundam Suit Seed Psychic Academy Hot Gimmick Kagetora |
| I updated the list of mangas. I did not include everything that has been previously mentioned, but if you feel that something should be added to (or removed from) the list, please let me know. |
| A past can last a lifetime. How to Read Manga! | AnimeBytes | iMangaScans |
| I'm a beginner here but I really don't like long chapter-having manga, especially the one which has anime series based on it, like Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Gintama, etc. Of course, I will try reading it, but I want for some 40-60 chapters-having manga recommendations, so please, give me something. I would really appreciate that! |
  |
More topics from this board
» Introductions ( 1 2 )georgi - Mar 11, 2009 |
89 |
by Alpha_230
»»
Jul 17, 2023 1:25 PM |
|
» Guide to Posting Imagesgeorgi - Feb 14, 2010 |
4 |
by slowlydil
»»
May 13, 2023 2:30 PM |
|
Sticky: » Where to read?37wallflower73 - Feb 11, 2009 |
31 |
by StardustCursader
»»
Aug 15, 2021 6:11 AM |
|
» What Are You Currently Reading? ( 1 2 )georgi - Dec 8, 2009 |
55 |
by Genzai-Sensei
»»
Jul 13, 2021 1:42 AM |
|
» Manga of the Month Nominationsgeorgi - Feb 13, 2011 |
32 |
by ozy
»»
Feb 27, 2017 3:39 PM |