Oh, that lucky number.
Zuka-chan ;_; (i.e. pic unrelated, but who cares? I love Shirobako.)
Before anything else, I want to thank KaiPercival for the meaningful questions (s)he sent to me on ask.fm. I decided to turn those answers into a blog post, because I haven’t really written here for more than a week, and I’m also unmotivated at the moment to write a truly new content.
Perfect illustration of the current state of my mind–so gloomy and uninspired. Also, Zuka-chan. ;_;
Without further ado, here are some of my personal recommended manga, chosen at random. And by that, I mean the following manga titles were chosen without specific genres or length in mind as long as they have are already complete. Not all of them are already released in English, though. In no particular order:
1. AI ga Tomaranai! (A.I. Love You)
The only Akamatsu Ken manga I ever read when I happened to lend the physical volumes from a friend. It’s standard comedy-harem-ecchi combination that’s also very similar to Ah! Megami-sama in terms of its premise and, of course, the three sisters and their archetypes. From what I remember, the MC wasn’t a complete jerk like *cough* a certain *cough* brainless breansprout. What I’m trying to say is that this is one of those unpopular, pretty decent comedy/ecchi/harems that I truly enjoyed. (MAL; Genres: Ecchi, Romance, Harem and Everything Nice)
2. Azumanga Daioh (Azuma Kiyohiko)
According to what I read and heard, this is the predecessor ‘cute girls doing cute things’ SOL anime (Not sure if the same is true with the manga). It’s mostly 4-koma; some chapters are occasionally drawn in conventional panels especially when the a sub-story is longer than what 4-koma could tell. Sometimes it is light-hearted and funny but other times has weird and surreal things going on in it. (Looking closely, maybe that was what inspired Arawi Keiichi to draw Nichijou? Or even Sano Nami to unleash her limitless imagination in Sakamoto desu ga?) Perhaps, this one was really aimed to weird people? (MAL; Genre: Cute Girls Doing Cute Things and Some Weird Stuff You Probably Won’t Understand Even After You Finish Watching This So You Don’t Have to Try Comprehending That Surreal Stuff at All, That is My Advice)
3. Cat Street (Kamio Yoko)
This one is brief, but it felt long when I read it because I happily took my time reading it. It’s the type of manga that it’s so engrossing to the point that I didn’t want to quickly flip the pages. It’s tagged as shoujo and romance, but Cat Street is really something more. One, it actually recognizes the struggles within a person, not only the problems people face without, and how one can face and overcome these struggles. Two, it’s a tale of knowing one’s self, accepting past failures, and moving forward. Yeah, it’s simply the stuff I really like. (MAL; Genres: Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Identity Crisis)
4. Emma (Mori Kaoru)
Set in Victorian era England, it’s a tale of the titular maidservant of a retired educator. She falls in love with the tutor’s student, son to an upper middle class family. In short, Emma carefully touches the old thing known as the forbidden love of the rich and the poor. I don’t know if anyone is into dramatic romances (Oh, I think one of you is), but this one is a dramatic romance done right. It just knows when to pull the strings with its twists and turns that aren’t too unpredictable–and that’s fine, because it also knows when to destroy one’s expectations. Plus, the art is so lovely, which does justice to its historically romantic setting. (MAL; Genres: Historical, Romance, Slice of Life, Seinen, and Drama–How could MAL miss this)
5. Game Over (Mizutani Fuuka)
Well, if you’re looking for a fast read that is worth your time and fluffy feels, this manga is for you. You can basically get the whole story from its synopsis, but what’s charming in this manga is the way everything unfolds. It’s not so straightforward, but it’s not a confusing meandering of narration either. It’s kind of poetic, and I love that quality of it. (MAL; Genres: Romance, Slice of Life, Josei, Shotacon)
6. Koe no Katachi (Ooima Yoshitoki)
You might have already heard about this, because there was an anime adaptation announced last year (it’s gonna be theatrical, though). So this is how it began: you have a naughty/fun-loving boy that potentially turns into a bully when a partially deaf girl transfers into the boy’s elementary school. You can picture how bad things turn out for the girl, and eventually the bad deeds of the boy bounced back unto him. The girl left and transferred schools again, leaving the boy with creeping guilt even as he grows up. Flash forward to high school and they find each other again, thus, the boy’s (and everyone else’s) journey to forgiveness, acceptance, and friendship. Note: this can be so hard to read sometimes because of the concentrated ugly truths it packs in each punch. Brace yourselves. (MAL; Genres: Drama, Romance, School, Shounen, Life is Horrible, Katawa shoujo)
7. Kyou no Asuka Show (Mori Taishi)
Uh, how do I put it. It’s basically ecchi, but I really enjoyed reading this. So there’s this girl whose name is Kyouno Asuka, a beauty who can make every guy gaze at her with amazement every time she walks by. Unknown to her, her deeds are unintentionally ecchi (suggestive for the guys), but what really makes her charming is her love for life, to the extent that she might want to butt in other people’s businesses–which annoys the said people at first, but later makes them think on the brighter side and want to thank her. It’s ecchi and it’s also inspiring–the gap just makes it funny. I bet I’ll never find a good, ecchi manga like this one. (MAL; Genres: Comedy, Guilt-ridden Ecchi to some, Guilt-free to others, Slice of Life, Seinen)
Kai’s questions helped me realize I don’t read complete manga that much, and that I’m running out of titles to recommend to him/her whenever (s)he will ask for new ones. In other words, do you have any completed manga recommendations that you’d like me to read? (Please avoid suggesting ecchi-harem-magic-school-overpowered-MC-stupid-girls titles. They’re my pet peeves right now.)
Anime Vios 
Hey, just want to let you know that I nominated you for the Liebster award, which helps give our blogs exposure. You can see my post on it here. Also while I’m here, I’d like to thank you for being a loyal follower. http://dranimaniacunscripted.com/2015/04/05/liebster-award-nomination/
Thanks for nominating me! I’ll get back to it once I’ve published some content to obscure my recent 2015 Liebster nomination. Doing consecutive Liebster is not my style. I hope you understand. 🙂
Not a problem, do what’s best for you.
You might have read some of them but:
Horimiya. My absolute favorite.
14-sai no Koi. By the same mangaka who did *Game Over*, which is a side-story of this.
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san. This one is in the same vein of *Tonari no Seki-kun*.
All these 3 are fluffy feel good manga, very much enjoyed them.
I’d put Horimiya on-hold after chapter 39, even though I really liked (and to some extent, still do) the manga. I’m silly like that.
I’m reading 14 sai no Koi, which is the first of the two that I’ve read. Mizutani Fuuka is a fine mangaka. I really like her works so far. Her simple art and simple stories just blend really well.
I can’t say I’m a fan of Tonari no Seki-kun manga. I watched the anime and read a bit of the manga, and I prefer to see the work in animated format. But I’ll take note of that suggestion.
Thanks!
Interesting manga. I think I read “Cat Street” before, but I don’t remember anything about it anymore. I’m very interested about “Koe no Katachi”.
Cat Street was really good, it really left a lasting impression on me. 🙂
Yes, I suggest you pick up Koe no Katachi. 😉
I’ll check it out. . .one of these days. When I’m in the mood. I’m still in a bit of a slump, like you. I’ll probably devour manga when I regain my energy. Thanks for the this interesting list.
And unfortunately, I haven’t get to any of your recommended titles yet..
Still haven’t even started on my Rosario+Vampire 2, lol.
No worries. 😉 Just take your time. (Though I’d like to see your reaction on Asuka Show soon haha)
I enjoyed the anime adaptation of Emma.
I did, too. But quite a lot of ‘extra’ parts, which were still worth reading, were cut from the anime.
I make it a point to always recommend Hoshi no Samidare whenever someone’s asking for manga recommendations (’cause, chances are they haven’t read it). Very underrated battle manga that doesn’t have the overpowered MC archetype. Do give it a try 😀
I’ll also throw in Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa. It’s a relatively short romance (with some ecchi, but it’s not that bad), that actually has very clear developments.
Thanks for the recommendations, Leap!
Seems like Hoshi no Samidare isn’t exactly underrated, but it sure is underappreciated. Not a lot of people have read it, according to MAL stats. I might have to wait for Kiss to host the series, though.
The latter is underrated, with MAL rating below 8.00. But its length seems friendly, I’m more than willing to give it a try. 🙂
Ah, yes, underappreciated 😀 It’s ranked high in MAL for a manga that isn’t all that popular, so I’d assume everyone who did read it found it good (as the case with me). Hmm, might be under ‘Wakusei no Samidare’.
Kagami’s author has a bad habit of getting his works axed, so people were giving it a hard time.
Woah, you’re right. Found it at Kiss, so I might be able to read it soon. Haha. Thanks!
It seems the author published his works in Shounen JUMP, which isn’t really the best magazine for shounen manga. From what I hear, Shounen JUMP is really bad at choosing series to axe. That might have something to do with the general tastes of the magazine’s readers, though. Popularity polls and stuff.
We already talked about Koe no Katachi before. But AI love You, for starters, is by my favorite mangaka. Also, although I just recently started to read it, I have found used copies at a nearby comic store. The only downside is they are missing 2 of the 8 volumes. I am still thinking of getting it, since it is a fairy good series from how far I am in, only around chapter 10, but yeah I could picture recommending it. I think I might check out Azumanga Daioh, although the only 4 panel series (in terms of reading, some have good anime adaptations) I have actually liked so far is Yandere Kanojo.
I haven’t read other Ken Akamatsu stuff, but I genuinely enjoyed A.I. Love You. It’s ironic that my first few manga were actually from the ecchi group, which is something I try to avoid but still stumble upon. Well, yeah, some ecchi are just good.
I guess my friend was lucky to get all volumes then. The copies he got were from a thrift store, judging by the looks.
I don’t read too much 4-koma series, though I figured I should try some more. Is Yandere Kanojo something you’d recommend to me?
It is still ongoing, with over 70 chapters. It is more aimed for Shojo, and well, I like it, and I think it is fairly funny and cute sometimes from what I remember. Granted I have not read it in a year, but still want to go back to it. A lot of people also want to see an anime for it. But anyway, I think you might like it.
I have to cut back on my ongoing manga backlog, so I might have to wait until it finishes. Thanks for mentioning it, though!
I should probably add, although I am uncertain if this is true (but it is in the same magazine as Akame ga Kill which is monthly), that it is a monthly series.
Aww, long waiting time every chapter. That’s it. I’ll just wait for it to finish!
That is fine. I am also thinking of trying to catch up at some point as well.