Manga Rec Thread

https://mangadex.org/title/19e5e8f6-ff67-4698-b644-6cae7f374d2e/saenai-riman-to-yankee-joshi-kousei

Corporate Slave Otaku x Yankee Delinquent JK

Spoiler: Their Relationship Dynamic

Both characters feel decently developed and the age-gap romance isn't creepy (yet, I'm on chapter 8 so far), mostly because it's being driven by disarming honesty rather than misunderstandings.

Cute romance about a cliche situation but above-average execution.

 

Oshi no Ko

https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/titles/100191

From the same author as Kaguya-sama Kokurasetai. Its about idols, mystery and the darkness of the entertaiment industry.

I have been avoid it for a while and it was a great thing because it got me hooked really good especially the mystery part. It does have its twist that you will not see coming.

 

Kekkaishi e no Tensei

https://mangadex.org/title/f7901d23-e934-468e-88de-f407f478cd24/kekkaishi-e-no-tensei

Isekai but not as bad as usual. MC starts as a slave with a special skill, and then big-adventure plot happens to other people while MC just survives and builds a life.

Spoiler: Misleading Page

 

I can second this.

It's pretty good. MC isn't overly powerful or anything but ends up in a fortuitous situation considering how slaves are treated generally. The first half (so far) ends up going full speed on the Railroad of Despair, but the MC manages to keep going and find himself another slice of happiness. It's one of those things where the MC just wants to live and be happy but Fate is like "Nah, you're going to get wrapped up in all the bullshit whether you like it or not" and it's both funny and depressing at the same time.

 

funny manga

Spoiler: Dorei wo choukyoushite_harem_tsukuru

Nobleman: *buys demon loli slaves that were used as onaholes by a fat bastard* I am going to turn them into the perfect harem

Teaches them how to read, write, speak, cook, take care of themselves, throws out all the expensive plates and stuff and buys more solid stuff so they won't have to clean sharp fragments*

Demon Girls: *the only words they know starting out are insults because of their previous master*

Nobleman: *reminding them to eat slowly so they don't choke and that they don't have to beg for food, gives them jewelry that designates them as members of the noble class so no one bullies the but then goes out later to pay for any gifts people gave them*

Author: *Writes a hentai prequel so you know exactly what was happening to them before delinquent nobleman bought them*

 

The twist is going to turn you off or not. Beware.

Spoiler: Developments

The first family that the MC joins gets killed in a coup including the decoy/first love interest.

 

Actual manga recommendation.
kimi wa 008

it's basically History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi x Kingsmen. By the author of HSDK.
I had no idea that this was a thing, and it's weird seeing all of these reused character designs.

The only character I don't really like is the lady-spy in charge of the seduction course.
She doesn't look like a sexy lady spy, she looks like a stripper.
Which might be the point, but... I can't tell which layer is the deception here.

Spoiler

Yor from Spy x Family looks like a sexy lady spy. Dignified, elegant, sexy, deadly.
This character looks like... she's about to jump out of a birthday cake and start taking her clothes off.
Which might be part of her cover, naturally, but...
She's just not suble enough. Like the lady-spy from Assassination classroom but even less subtle.

I mean, you can just directly see her nipples through her shirt, she says things like 'tee hee' and does the 'oops I dropped my pen' trick in the first minute of class starting.

It just feels like she's leaning into the sex-appeal far too blatantly.
A seduction-based spy should imply things, not just wave her nipples in your face and somehow magically make you collapse from that.

Still, aside from her the characters are all pretty cool.
The protagonist is a braver and more assertive version of Kenichi (although he's currently not very good in a fight) and the main girl is 'what if Shiguri was Miu?'

Edit: Later on that same character does take on a more serious tone and say that you can't just assume that half of the population of the world (all men) are fools, because it'll come back to bite you.
But...
Well, it sure feels like she's taking her students pretty lightly. Given that her opening gambit was so blunt and unsubtle.
Maybe it was deliberate? She wants it to be obvious to her students that she's tricking them?
Maybe not.

Granny is way better at this class than the lady is.
She teaches body-language and manipulation, instead of just 'how to wave your tits in a man's face'

 

Yor is an assassin, not a spy. She can spy if needed, but her "specialization" is murdering people. Since she was a pre-tween, poor woman.

 

So?
That has nothing to do with what I said.
She looks like a sexy lady spy, in her classy-but-sexy strappy-dress that she uses to get close to her targets.

 

I liked Kenichi but as it went on every female character grew more and more titillating until I had to say, "OK, that's too much boobs."

 

008 kinda starts at that max level, every girl has big tits and will have her clothes torn off mid-flight.

Personally, I preferred Kisara anyway. The tomboy cat-loving girl with the small boobs.

 

[Drive]

It's a oneshot of a girl who wants to stand out. It reminded me why I love manga, after a very long time of just reading trash.

It made me feel happy.

 

The way each of those 'turns' is just a callout to another isekai manga is great.

 

I thought Saitama was the strongest dude in fiction.
I was wrong.
Saitama with his cock out is the strongest dude in fiction.
Super Sayian Blue aint got nothing on Super Saitama Dick out, no Pants Mode.

Read OPM.

 

Responding to this becuase another manga I'm reading hit the same points.

Sakamoto Days.
It's basically "What of John Wick didn't experience a huge personal tragedy, and just retired and got fat running a corner-store with his wife instead?"
It starts out looking like a gag manga, but quickly turns into an action one.
It's pretty good.

That aside...

Spoiler

If we're talking about female assassins/agents using their feminine wiles to get the drop on people, I think 'Harmless middle-aged woman' is a much more useful disguise to take than "I literally look and act like a prostitute."
If nothing else, you're not actively attracting attention to yourself at all times.

For context, that dude that she floored with the wrist-throw? The one who dodged a gunshot point-blank?
He's a literal mind-reader. Actual telepathy. That's how he pulled that shit with the blindfold.
And she still floored him like the punk kid that he is.
He never saw it coming.

I especially like how she's in some of the earlier panels when the assistant is being loud and boisterous, but she's so out of focus that you don't really look at her.
You might be vaguely aware that there's another adult staff-member in the room, but you aren't looking at her.

I love that shit.

 

What got me into this manga was that the MC looked like the coach from Slam Dunk. He does slim out but that is like his super mode and even if he was fat, he is still very skilled.

 

I want to recommend Witches by Igarashi Daisuke. I'm not really sure how to describe it except it's a series of extremely surrealistic stories about witches. The stories are really interesting and have a certain mystery that drew me in and made me keep reading despite how weird and confusing it can be. The artwork is fantastic and really compliment the surrealism of the stories with similar art work. The stories tend to be "spiritual tradition vs modern technology" but I don't think that's really a drawback. It's a short series, at 6 chapters, but the chapters are pretty long.

My favorite chapter is "Thief of Songs" which really clicked with me more than any other chapter. I can't really explain why that chapter stuck with me so much, but even if I felt iffy about some of the other chapters that one was good enough that it made them worth reading.

 

I recommend Yuusha Goikkou no Kaerimichi. Its a oneshot that tells the story of the heroes after they return from the journey to beat the demon lord. I recommend you read it blind as the story is really thoughtful.

 

Yotsuba& might be ending soon. The last volume had Yotsuba looking over school backpacks so her going off to school might be a fitting conclusion

 

You know, I should start reading this again. I stopped after it went on hiatus for fucking ages, and kind of stopped checking if it had started back up after a while.

 

Chinese manhuas worth recommending: Rich Player, Perfect World, The Pinnacle.

 

...manhua comics are garbage. 99% are garbage. There are very, very few that gets my attention.

 

Same with webtoons. I was really upset when The Breaker Third Wave finally came out.

 

Yeah, I haven't really been feeling Eternal Force despite how much I liked parts 1 and 2. Though New Wave took a 20+ chapters to really ramp up. I was sort of expecting part 3 to pick up a little after part 2 but it feels a little like trying to rehash part 1. I just wanna see Siwoon's story finish out, I don't really care much to see him act out what Chun Woo did with him.

 

Sure, why not.

Bibliomania — (2016 to 2018)

Spoiler: sample

"Alice had woken up in Room 431 of a mysterious manor. "You must not leave this room," warned the Serpent, but she paid it no heed and her body began to rot... Will she be able to escape the cursed manor?"

There's not many words to actually describe this. It's a surreal and magical manga with beautiful art.

Dai Dark — (Ongoing)

Spoiler: sample

From the same author of Dorohedoro, Q Hayashida, comes Dai Dark. A gory, wacky, sci-fi dark comedy set in the far flung future.

"Zaha Sanko’s body has great and terrible powers–they say that possessing his bones will grant you any wish, even the desire to become ruler of the universe. But Sanko is still a teenage dude with his own life, and he isn’t about to let every monstrous lowlife in the galaxy rip him limb from limb. He and his skeletal buddy Avakian will use their dark powers to fend off any murder attempts while they search space for whomever put this curse on Sanko’s bones…because killing them might end the madness."

Abara — (2005 to 2006)

Spoiler: sample

i_

From the same author who made Blame! Biomega, and Knights of Sidonia, comes Abara.

"A vast city lies under the shadow of colossal, ancient tombs, the identity of their builders lost to time. In the streets of the city something is preying on the inhabitants, something that moves faster than the human eye can see and leaves unimaginable horror in its wake."

If you can digest Nihei's niche for his visual storytelling and emphasis on atmosphere, then Abara is a great place to start with his works.

Soloist in a Cage — (2018 to 2021)

Spoiler: sample

I'll be honest: this is an amazing manga that got axed and ended up having a rushed ending. It's short at just a meager twenty chapters but impactful with it's detailed, crosshatched art nontheless.

"Chloe and her baby brother Locke were born in a prison the size of a city: a walled-off collection of ramshackle buildings full of dangerous criminals who live bleak and isolated lives. Their parents are gone, leaving Chloe to care for her brother. When a trio of soldiers manage to break out of the prison, Chloe goes with them but loses Locke during the escape. After years of training, Chloe returns to the prison city with one goal: to find her now 11-year-old brother and get him out of that hellhole, no matter what it takes."

 

Jesus H* Christ, that's one attractive giant mothgirl god-snek waifu.

*) the H is pronounced 'ecchi'

 

I Don't Really Get it, but it Looks like I Was Reincarnated in an Another World

is degenerate as hell and is exactly like what I would have imagined the regular SB/SV/QQ semi-intelligent shitposter would be like if isekai'ed to another world and become a cute girl with big boobs.

Even her main attack is just sufficient velocity.

Spoiler: Is just a steam engine. Totes.

 

Skip and Loafer
Just an honest and unapologetic high-school comedy drama, with two differences: it's seinen and the main character is female. The setup is a typical 'country mouse in the big daikon of Tokyo', but the execution is quality: not only are the members of the friend group quickly fleshed-out, I actually like most of them.