Good Manga for Old Farts - Take 2
Manga
This is a follow-up to my initial Good Manga for Old Farts interest stack.
The concept remains the same, it's a list of mangas that should appeal to old farts like me, who are too old to find fun in shonen characters getting stronger, cliché fantasy or in vanilla school romance tropes.
The main drive is that the manga should have some personality, with decent and properly written characters, laid-back humor, an interesting context and / or a subtle story. Good art and page layout are also appreciated. No violence porn or excessive fan service either, I like authors to focus on something else than these simple devices, although I'm not against them at very small doses when they serve the story. The manga may have been adapted in anime or not, I only address the mangas here.
There are probably some spoilers in my comments so skip them if you're worried about that.
The concept remains the same, it's a list of mangas that should appeal to old farts like me, who are too old to find fun in shonen characters getting stronger, cliché fantasy or in vanilla school romance tropes.
The main drive is that the manga should have some personality, with decent and properly written characters, laid-back humor, an interesting context and / or a subtle story. Good art and page layout are also appreciated. No violence porn or excessive fan service either, I like authors to focus on something else than these simple devices, although I'm not against them at very small doses when they serve the story. The manga may have been adapted in anime or not, I only address the mangas here.
There are probably some spoilers in my comments so skip them if you're worried about that.
Manga, ? vol, 2025
Me:-
Author:9
It may be a bit too soon to be that positive on a new manga. I just read three chapters after all. But as of now, I'm hooked : great art, great writing, a lot of personality, likable characters, a quite intriguing context. I really look forward the next chapters.
Manga, 3 vol, 2024
Me:-
Author:9
I really liked this manga, the topic is original and the art is very good, the characters are pretty endearing and there's a slight fantastic vibe added to it that is not unpleasant, even though there's nothing central in it. It's very lively and at the same time quite profound and empathic. This only sad thing about it is that it has probably been axed and although the mangaka tried to wrap it up as well as possible, it still leaves a taste of an unfinished tale. But this is still a great read as it is and a manga with a lot of personality.
Manga, ? vol, 2021
Me:-
Author:8
This manga is basically a slice of life about a guy who enjoys a slow life. He manages to drag all the people around him in his approach and allow them to get away from their tense daily habits, even for short times. Some chapters are emotional and fun, some are less of a success. The art does have personality and the whole is rather lively. The problem is, like in many choral mangas where the author wants to introduce many characters, you'll have to endure many consecutive chapters with some character you're not really fond of, until you're back with one you like. And it's almost impossible to avoid since the main character does not really have any serious problem, the challenge of this manga is to show his impact on the other characters. So the reading experience is unequal, sometimes it's great, sometimes it's less so. But the chapters with Granny are just too good and very emotional, so this manga is worth reading if only for them.
Manga, ? vol, 2022
Me:-
Author:8
This manga focus on the girls who lost the romance contest and find themselves using the same (un)lucky guy as a confident. It's quite lively, the characters are really well written and likable and I really like the art, the character design and the layout of the pages. It's a really nice and endearing read, also often quite funny. Probably one of the best school mangas. Tha anime is quite good too.
Manga, ? vol, 2022
Me:-
Author:8
A nice fantasy school manga, with a proper main character and nice art. It's well written and the characters are quite likable. It's not exactly original but it definitely has personality.
Manga, ? vol, 2024
Me:-
Author:8
I read the first chapter a while ago and was not convinced, having the feeling that it would be a cliché-packed, pseudo-erotic nonsense. Months after, I read some recent chapters and found them a surprisingly pleasant read, so I banged the whole available chapters and fact is that I enjoyed it. I like the idea that the male guy's body is eroticized (not sure it's an actual english word but you get the idea) by the lady as much as the other way round, and the chemistry between the two do work. It also includes some nice wholesome scenes and in the end makes quite a good little romcom with a real personality.
Manga, ? vol, 2024
Me:-
Author:8
The exact opposite of most manga trash fantasy, with boring isekai, overpowered characters, lambda personality, and basically no challenge. Here we follow a young kid which in his daily struggles to survive as an adventurer without particular talent or skill. And it's quite good, the art is average but the young lad has enough grit to make us want to follow him. Very little magic, that's fantasy as I like it.
Manga, ? vol, 2025
Me:-
Author:8
Disguised behind a simple romance between a boy and a god (in the shinto sense of the term), this manga, with some Ghibli vibes, tells in my opinion more about the concept of inheritance and family history. It's quite nice, soothing and feel good. It has a real personality, characters are pleasant and the art is nice. It probably won't appeal to people who look for edgy stuff, but for people like me who look more for positive stories and characters than anything else, this is a good read.
Manga, ? vol, 2025
Me:-
Author:8
I initially was cautious about this one, as I found the art a bit fragile and was not sure where is would be going. But after more than 15 chapters, I can say that this manga has an interesting personality, I'm not completely sold to the characters yet, but the world is pretty intriguing and there a lot of interesting ideas. Quite a promising work.
Manga, 3 vol, 2020
Me:-
Author:8
Quite an original take, a sort of roadmovie involving a suicidal girl traveling with an immortal and a god. It's a story about how to deal with traumas and has a nice bitter-sweet feel, ending in a rather positive vibe. The art is good and the characters are complex, likable and well written. Certainly an adult manga (in the sens that it talks about difficult issues) but a pretty good one.
Manga, 3 vol, 2020
Me:-
Author:8
The theme of survival alone after an apocalypse is not exactly original but that's fine because that's not exactly what this manga is about. It's about a single survivor of an android military unit which keeps fighting because it never got any instruction that the war was over, who suddenly meet human survivors coming from underground refuges. The art is nice, the characters endearing and it's well written and paced. The only drawback is that the end is quite abrupt, probably the manga was axed, but the mangaka still manage to bring some sort of proper closure. A good read.