Manga Rec Thread

[Amazon Climber]

I keep hearing that this is good, but I went to check it out and it was mid, but then I hear this... and that doesn't sound like what I read at all?

Is it Kono Sekai ga Game da to, Ore dake ga Shitteiru
By Usber?

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Nope, it's the other one: Kono Sekai wa Fukanzen Sugiru.

 

[iamnuff]

Nope, it's the other one: Kono Sekai wa Fukanzen Sugiru.

Click to shrink...

Hmm. Reading that manga now.

I dunno. The main character kinda seems like an idiot?
Like, he's been locked in a game-world for over a year and he's... continuing to do his job? Literally a year of unpaid work while being imprisoned in the game because he thinks that maybe the developers will let him go if he does a good enough job?

I understand that everybody's gotta find a way to cope with this shit, but him getting mad and bitching out the other debuggers who showed up for daring to use the dev-console?
You're the weird one for not doing it. Like anybody cares what 'proper bug-testing etiquette' is in this situation.

Honestly, it feels like the villains of this scene are way more reasonable than the MC, so the author had to belatedly have the guy blurt out that they love to murder, rape(?) and torture npcs, so that the MC would look better in comparison.

Like, I get that some people might have empathy for the npcs and other people would not, and how that could cause conflict between the two groups...
But this feels too hamhanded.

Edit: You get an expaination of why he won't use debugger-mode later (all of his friends used it and fucked themsleves up by getting caught in a jump-loop or phasing into your ground/flying off into the sky and never coming down) but... most of those feel like problems that could be easily solved by debugger mode?

Like, he's leaving his friends to suffer fates worse than death because he's too scared to toggle Noclip on for 2 seconds to pull a dude out of the ground, or use Flymode and a rope to haul the lady out of the instant-death trap that she's constantly dying-and-reviving in.
Rather than just stupid, now he actively seems like a bad person?

I get the impression that the author knows about game-glitches, but hasn't actually use a debug-mode before.
Edit2: And then an AI takes over the little girl's body and tasks him with removing all of the other debuggers debug-permissions, so that they stop messing up the game and it can actually be released.

... that's obviously not going to happen, right? Dozens of people had their conciousness trapped in this game for over a year. There's absolutely no way they're going to be able to ship this game at all. That's why all the bug-fixing is such a moot point to begin with.
Even if they can fix whatever issue is preventing them from logging out, a game that kidnapped dozens of staff members for over a year is going to be scrapped just as soon as the people inside are rescued, and the technology used to create it will probably be abolished.

Edit3: Wait, the bug reports he sends off ARE resulting in bugs being fixed?
What the fuck?
The dev team are still working on the game?
Then why havn't the freed the testers?

 

[Secret Secretion]

Is it Kono Sekai ga Game da to, Ore dake ga Shitteiru
By Usber?

Cos that's the only thing that comes up when I search 'quality assurance' on my usual manga site.
On another site there's Kono Sekai wa Fukanzen Sugiru, by SATOU Masamichi, but there's zero chapters available.

Click to shrink...

That's the one I'm reccing. Sorry to hear it was mid for you. It makes sense, the plot isn't really anything great, I'm just delighted by reading about the game. If it was nothing but chapters of players complaining about Nekomimineko (because they blew New Communicate Online's budget on animating catgirl ears) on the forums, I'd be happy enough, which is not a ringing endorsement of the main character and his adventures.

 

[Amazon Climber]

Hmm. Reading that manga now.

I dunno. The main character kinda seems like an idiot?
Like, he's been locked in a game-world for over a year and he's... continuing to do his job? Literally a year of unpaid work while being imprisoned in the game because he thinks that maybe the developers will let him go if he does a good enough job?

I understand that everybody's gotta find a way to cope with this shit, but him getting mad and bitching out the other debuggers who showed up for daring to use the dev-console?
You're the weird one for not doing it. Like anybody cares what 'proper bug-testing etiquette' is in this situation.

Honestly, it feels like the villains of this scene are way more reasonable than the MC, so the author had to belatedly have the guy blurt out that they love to murder, rape(?) and torture npcs, so that the MC would look better in comparison.

Like, I get that some people might have empathy for the npcs and other people would not, and how that could cause conflict between the two groups...
But this feels too hamhanded.

Edit: You get an expaination of why he won't use debugger-mode later (all of his friends used it and fucked themsleves up by getting caught in a jump-loop or phasing into your ground/flying off into the sky and never coming down) but... most of those feel like problems that could be easily solved by debugger mode?

Like, he's leaving his friends to suffer fates worse than death because he's too scared to toggle Noclip on for 2 seconds to pull a dude out of the ground, or use Flymode and a rope to haul the lady out of the instant-death trap that she's constantly dying-and-reviving in.
Rather than just stupid, now he actively seems like a bad person?

I get the impression that the author knows about game-glitches, but hasn't actually use a debug-mode before.
Edit2: And then an AI takes over the little girl's body and tasks him with removing all of the other debuggers debug-permissions, so that they stop messing up the game and it can actually be released.

... that's obviously not going to happen, right? Dozens of people had their conciousness trapped in this game for over a year. There's absolutely no way they're going to be able to ship this game at all. That's why all the bug-fixing is such a moot point to begin with.
Even if they can fix whatever issue is preventing them from logging out, a game that kidnapped dozens of staff members for over a year is going to be scrapped just as soon as the people inside are rescued, and the technology used to create it will probably be abolished.

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I don't think there's ever a question that he's just as crazy as the rest of the testers. He's just focusing his crazy on the belief that everything is going to be okay if he just does his job. Everyone he meets reacts to his dedication that way in one form or another. And I'm pretty sure he and some of the other testers discuss the fact that no, even if testing gets them out of there, this game absolutely isn't getting released at the end of this process.

 

[Guardian Box]

I have a bunch of good ones that haven't been mentioned yet:

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Wanted to comment on some of the manga you recommended.

Do Chokkyuu Kareshi x Kanojo

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Mangadex sums it up pretty well: "Meet Shinichi Honda and Mako Wakamiya. One's a boy, and the other's a girl. But both don't hesitate to say exactly what's on their mind IN CAPITAL LETTERS."
It's short, hilarious, and generally one of the best non-harem romcoms I've ever come across.
Completed.

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I may just not like romcoms in general I suppose, since I didn't really care for this one and dropped it after a few chapters.

Solte the Traveler

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High fantasy Roadside Picnic. Our protagonists are on a quest to reach the center of a magical wasteland full of reality-warping anomalies and strange artifacts, while being pursued by an elite military squad. Only a few chapters are out, but it's pretty great so far and the author (Mizukami Satoshi) has an amazing track record.
Ongoing.

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It's slow-going with infrequent updates, sadly, but otherwise it's been pretty good so far. Wish there was more of it, since it's getting really intense right now story wise.

Melancholia

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A short-story collection by Dowman Seyman (Voynich Motel, Nickelodeon, Oddman 11). I... really can't explain exactly why this is so amazing without spoiling the whole thing, unfortunately.
Completed.

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No kidding. If someone asked me to describe what this manga is about, I'd just stare at them in the eyes without blinking hoping they would just go away.

But yeah, it's great all around. Heartily recommended.

 

[AckSed]

Have you read Dungeon Meshi and want something like its party dynamic in a humourous manga? Do you want a weird male lead and distinctive female party members who aren't interested in him, because his childhood friend is and they think it's the cutest thing?

If so, Is It Odd That I Became an Adventurer Even If I Graduated From the Witchcraft Institute? may interest you.

William has always, always wanted to be an adventurer. He's no Naruto, though, but a quiet, bookish sort with thinking that's at right angles to common sense. He graduates as a full Wizard, which would get him a post at any royal court or magical university, but his teachers are understandably concerned; magically-inclined adventurers are dropouts at best. Nevertheless, he won't be swayed, and purely by accident stumbles upon an unique party to team up with. Cue complete crushing of their beginner quest. From then on, each quest is its own mini-arc, and we learn just how strange William and his backstory is.

 

[Amazon Climber]

Liberta feels like it'd be right up QQ's alley: It's about the adventures of a punk vampire cutie on the run from vampiric assassins, and the cute girl she rescues from another vampire that immediately falls head over heels for her.

Spoiler: And who's somehow even thirstier than the vampire

It's not high art, but it's fantastic popcorn manga: The art is competent, the girls are incredibly cute, the plot doesn't do anything novel but doesn't fuck anything up, and we get tailsex scenes, plural. What more could you ask for?

 

[evildice]

Anyone remember that bland anime about the Tamer ("weakest class") who tamed a cat-girl ("strongest race") and had a few lucky-ecchi moments but mostly nothing happened while he gathered a platonic harem of girls from different species?

This is not about that one, it's about the one where the Tamer tames a sexually aggressive cat-girl at her request because she's plateaued in terms of power and she wants to get stronger. It works, they fuck, and then she helps coax him into taming a vigorously sexual harem of very strong women from different species.

https://mangadex.org/title/496c4cde...oujo-boukensha-ga-ore-no-juuma-ni-natte-imasu

Rise of the Outlaw Tamer and His Wild S-Rank Cat Girl

It's not actually good, but it's a bit refreshing to see the familiar trope situation -- except with these people behaving a bit more like actual people.

 

[Arc-on-Fire]

Sensou Kyoushitsu (The Bugle Call)

The year is 1294, and war rages. Ryuka, the bugler of a small mercenary band, is endlessly thrown into battle after battle, but longs for the day that he can fulfill his wish of becoming a real musician. One fateful day, however, Lucas's latent powers awaken and his life takes a drastic turn. Under the guidance of the Pope, Lucas is tasked to become a key player in the war and lead the fight against the Empire and its agent of destruction, the Garland. Burdened by this dangerous mission, Lucas still longs for the day that he may see his wish come true...

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This one was a real fun read: you have a varied and unique listing of powers being used creatively in medieval combat. With a cast of strange and down-to-earth characters, it's was odd at first - seeing the lack of common manga tropes, but that made it even better. In full honesty! I like it. Give it a read.

 

[Renko]

Recently got myself reading this one.

Spoiler

source: read

The whole thing's pretty f#cking wild! It's like something that came out from this very website!

The art and characters are 11/10! The plot? I can't explain it!

Just try and check it out!

 

[Svaleryn]

Recently got myself reading this one.

Spoiler

source: read

The whole thing's pretty f#cking wild! It's like something that came out from this very website!

The art and characters are 11/10! The plot? I can't explain it!

Just try and check it out!

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Ah, yes. Rosen Garten Saga. The only series with femboy idol geoups out of Camelot, a woman grows a dick and fucks a basilisk unril it ahegaos, Beowulf is an even bigger gigachad than his original legends, the Arabian faction has futuretech, and the promary reason for the tournamnet is serial rapist Siegfriend fucking died

 

[AckSed]

To whoever recommended AKB49 - The Rules Against Love, thank you. With a dynamic I can only describe as 'three parts Idolmaster, two parts shonen determination, one part Hololive genuineness' this is about the rise of a schoolboy as the up-and-coming female talent in the multi-format AKB idol group, silently supporting his crush as she tries to become a full member. No, he didn't plan this, but he's giving it everything he's got, and I can't help but root for him. Her. Both.

 

[evildice]

The whole thing's pretty f#cking wild! It's like something that came out from this very website!

Click to shrink...

Ah, yes. Rosen Garten Saga. The only series with femboy idol geoups out of Camelot, a woman grows a dick and fucks a basilisk unril it ahegaos, Beowulf is an even bigger gigachad than his original legends, the Arabian faction has futuretech, and the promary reason for the tournamnet is serial rapist Siegfriend fucking died

Click to shrink...

Yeah I've given it a few chapters, and it's fucking bonkers.

Can't binge on it, but the jokes haven't gotten stale yet, so I'm going to keep reading for now.

 

[Somebody]

Recently got myself reading this one.

Spoiler

source: read

The whole thing's pretty f#cking wild! It's like something that came out from this very website!

The art and characters are 11/10! The plot? I can't explain it!

Just try and check it out!

Click to shrink...

Ah, yes. Rosen Garten Saga. The only series with femboy idol geoups out of Camelot, a woman grows a dick and fucks a basilisk unril it ahegaos, Beowulf is an even bigger gigachad than his original legends, the Arabian faction has futuretech, and the promary reason for the tournamnet is serial rapist Siegfriend fucking died

Click to shrink...

Yeah I've given it a few chapters, and it's fucking bonkers.

Can't binge on it, but the jokes haven't gotten stale yet, so I'm going to keep reading for now.

Click to shrink...

Rosen Garten Saga: low stakes Records of Ragnarok if Records of Ragnarok had been written during No Nut November. The sheer horny it contains cannot be overstated or exaggerated.

Which makes the fact that it actually has both a semi-decent plot as well as some pretty interesting driving questions pretty fucking amazing.

 

[evildice]

Not sure if I can count this as a rec per se, but this one is better than I'd expected:

https://mangadex.org/title/4e0ab019-afcb-4fd9-98eb-fcb28cf7fc81/toaru-kagaku-no-mental-out

"A Certain Scientific Mental Out"

The story of a powerful psychic in a dangerous city who doesn't really want to have super-powered fights.

Spoiler: Amusingly Self-Aware

 

[Secret Secretion]

Not sure if I can count this as a rec per se, but this one is better than I'd expected:

https://mangadex.org/title/4e0ab019-afcb-4fd9-98eb-fcb28cf7fc81/toaru-kagaku-no-mental-out

"A Certain Scientific Mental Out"

The story of a powerful psychic in a dangerous city who doesn't really want to have super-powered fights.

Spoiler: Amusingly Self-Aware

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I read the first chapter and I'm finding it very funny. A good riff on the ojou character.

 

[evildice]

I read the first chapter and I'm finding it very funny. A good riff on the ojou character.

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I picked it up because I was reading a fanfic involving the characters (whom I'd never seen in other media) and found it -- not exactly good, but much better than I'd expected from a double spin-off.

 

[Secret Secretion]

I picked it up because I was reading a fanfic involving the characters (whom I'd never seen in other media) and found it -- not exactly good, but much better than I'd expected from a double spin-off.

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Funny, I'm in the middle of reading that too. I'm surprised at how similar the SI is to canon Misaki.

 

[Arc-on-Fire]

Nick & Lever

The story of two foreign men living in Japan.

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Nick, with his stylish hair, and Lever, with his dazzling eyes behind his sunglasses, are a HOT & CRAZY foreign duo who will face any obstacles that come their way!
The genius Kyogoro Miyata, who wastes no time in drawing, unleashes a shocking high-speed manga. Nick and Lever are finally here!

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amazing stuff.

Spoiler

 

[AckSed]

Yuki Nee-chan no Kannou Gokko is about Shin and Yuki, two childhood friends helping each other appreciate some good literature... by acting out the pervy scenes in Yuki's books. Buuut Yuki's two best friends are also curious about where she keeps going. Cue the shenanigans.

The hook are the erotic misadventures, but refreshingly they fumble through the stages of denial into 'no we're actually dating'. It also doesn't shy away from depicting sexual situations.

 

[Digital_Devil]

The Summer Hikaru Died.

I picked this up because I saw a meme one too many times and wondered what the context for this page would be.

Spoiler

Turns out it's a supernatural psych-horror-mystery skirting Lovecraftian in nature about Yoshiki and "Hikaru" who are trying to figure out what it is that took over Hikaru's body after he went missing for a few days 6 months prior. A lot of it is Yoshiki dealing with his grief over his best friend being dead and struggling to cope with playing friendly with the thing wearing his skin. The rest is the two of them delving into the mystery surrounding their small town and trying to figure out what "Hikaru" really is and how his presence is causing an influx of "impurities" attacking people and causing issues in town.

It's very good at the psych-horror and mystery aspects with fantastic art for all the weird shit going on but toes the line into BL pretty closely at times. Chapter 1 lays it all bare basically first thing with some face melting and serious emotional pleas on "Hikaru's" part and it only really gets more fucked up and emotional from there. It's 21 chapters so far but it's kind of a dense read. I really like it so far.

Spoiler: Face Melting

 

[shadowdice]

The Summer Hikaru Died.

I picked this up because I saw a meme one too many times and wondered what the context for this page would be.

Spoiler

Turns out it's a supernatural psych-horror-mystery skirting Lovecraftian in nature about Yoshiki and "Hikaru" who are trying to figure out what it is that took over Hikaru's body after he went missing for a few days 6 months prior. A lot of it is Yoshiki dealing with his grief over his best friend being dead and struggling to cope with playing friendly with the thing wearing his skin. The rest is the two of them delving into the mystery surrounding their small town and trying to figure out what "Hikaru" really is and how his presence is causing an influx of "impurities" attacking people and causing issues in town.

It's very good at the psych-horror and mystery aspects with fantastic art for all the weird shit going on but toes the line into BL pretty closely at times. Chapter 1 lays it all bare basically first thing with some face melting and serious emotional pleas on "Hikaru's" part and it only really gets more fucked up and emotional from there. It's 21 chapters so far but it's kind of a dense read. I really like it so far.

Spoiler: Face Melting

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oh I know that manga

a few different manga with similar feels all seemed to show up at the same time which made remembering the titles weird for me

 

[Somebody]

Ryuu to Ayumu Nariagari Boukensha-dou.

Basic gist: Healer gets kicked out of party for being a weakling, finds a dragon, gains superpowers and waifu that makes him DA STRONGEST IN DA WORLD! AND TITS!

Like, by God, the sheer Tatas-to-panel ratio in this manga hits close to 0.5. This madman of an artist has put tits on a dragon, in both forms!

Why you should read it: first of all, the art. Even if you hate the story, even if you hate the premise, even if the rest of my spiel can't convince you, read it just for the artwork. It's a fucking treat.

Secondly, while the premise reeks of low-effort revenge fantasy, I have hopes for it yet. The protagonist's not starting from rock-bottom—he's a B-rank healer at the start of the story. He's also not being officially kicked out by the party leader—that's his childhood friend, the sole S-rank in their party, and she absolutely fucking adores our protag. The kicking out was unofficial, involved betrayal, and was an attempted murder to boot. I have high fucking hopes for when she finds out what the fucknuggets have been up to. It's also highly unlikely that the protag's gonna get revenge—he's honestly startlingly timid, in the dorky fashion, and seems to be attempt to move on without them dragging him down.

Third, the waifus are top-tier. We gotta someone who looks like FGO's Drake, Best Dragon Waifu, and smoky potion-selling herbalist who literally leaves her tits out hanging for everybody to see.



Zatsuyou Fuyojutsushi Ga Jibun No Saikyou Ni Kizuku Made

Basic gist: Buff Support gets kicked out of party for being useless, stalker childhood friend takes opportunity to snag him for her ultra-famous super-guild. Oh, and the kicking out happens after he saves his original party from a complete party wipe at the hands of the level 97 Floor Boss.

Why recc: Art style, again. Also, tall waifu guild leader. Also also, pretty interesting twist on Buff support—basically, buffs require the buffed target to formally accept the buffs first, or else the "Grantor", or Buff wizard, can't Buff them. Grantors start off with less stats than other classes in exchange for basically being able to more easily Buff themselves. Protag's also got most of his utility coming not from his biggatons, but support skills. Protag's also got a unique style of buffing that's a result of extensive research and some degree of innate talent, but ultimately isn't something that only he can use alone.

 

[Digital_Devil]

Zatsuyou Fuyojutsushi Ga Jibun No Saikyou Ni Kizuku Made

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Second this one.

Wim is an interesting protagonist, partly because he doesn't immediately start to recover from all the abuse of his old party once people start treating him nicely. Also, despite his downer personality you start to see him be a bit more proactive about fighting in the more recent chapters, 21-23 or so, due to how his buffs work and what he does to himself to be able to fight at the highest level. It takes a little for things to really get rolling, but once they do it's hard to put down.

 

[Somebody]

Second this one.

Wim is an interesting protagonist, partly because he doesn't immediately start to recover from all the abuse of his old party once people start treating him nicely. Also, despite his downer personality you start to see him be a bit more proactive about fighting in the more recent chapters, 21-23 or so, due to how his buffs work and what he does to himself to be able to fight at the highest level. It takes a little for things to really get rolling, but once they do it's hard to put down.

Click to shrink...

Also, it's interesting to note that some of Jackass Party Leader's personality issues actually justify why he's throwing Wim away the moment he shows the possibility of not being an absolute weakling, and you can see some of how Wim became who he is through the way his "replacement" is gradually being broken down by the rest of the party.

 

[Aldarion]

I will recommend D.Gray man here. It is possibly the best manga I had ever read, even if its current update schedule is awful. Manga itself is excellent, with interesting story and the world that only gets deeper as the manga goes on. And it also has what is possibly the best protagonist in any manga, period. I have written on both topics in more detail: manga, protagonist.

Art varies from so-so in the first chapters to outright beautiful in the newest ones. Though middle chapters' art, while messier, has this dark Gothic feel that makes it rather unique.

Premise itself is also rather interesting if you are interested in supernatural. Basically, you have a fat demonic man who takes people's souls and uses said souls to power demonic kill bots. To oppose him, Catholic Church had established an order of demon-hunters - Exorcists - who use divine crystal ("Innocence") to destroy said demonic kill bots. Oh, and demons themselves "level up" by killing people, while Innocence crystals level up by killing demons.

And this is just surface level. There are several twists (spoilerific, so I won't discuss them here) that turn the entire story on its head. Multiple times.

 

[Megaolix]

The author of I'm Dating a Dark Summoner cooked a new manga.

NTR (Netori) Life With a Married Medusa Woman

Bookstore manager Tenma hasn't shown up for work or called in today. His employee, Asuka, worried about him, goes to his house and discovers... he's been petrified by his medusa wife! But surely they can return him to normal?

Tenma left a letter saying that if anything happens to him, Asuka should take care of his wife. But Asuka is a guy who can only get excited by other mens' wives. Also, and most importantly for the plot - hot medusa wife.

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As you can expect from the other series, suggestive shots and comedy will be plenty. Can our MC win against his inner NTR dude?

 

[Digital_Devil]

Reiwa no Dara-San

Very interesting comedy manga with a bit of horror and mystery sprinkled in. It follows siblings Hinata and Kaoru Misogiya as they get uncomfortably chummy (for the god at least) with local Curse God Yamatagi Madara, who they call "Dara-san". While Dara's job is keeping a handle on the curse from snake god sealed in the mountain and humans usually fear getting close to her, Hinata and Kaoru absolutely do not care about any of that, opting instead to go up to the restricted area nearly daily to spend time with her. At one point they even convince her to let them build their models in her house in the spirit world. I really enjoyed watching Dara and the kids relationship develop and how much she comes to care for them despite her initial apprehensions due to her position.

After the first few chapters, each one starts with a flashback to how Dara eventually became what she is. This is where the horror/mystery part is for the most part and I ended up enjoying it more than the proper chapter for the most part. It's just enough to suck you in before moving on to the present day and whatever the siblings are bothering Dara about this time. I went into every chapter excited to see that little bit more of the backstory and it kept me hooked. The story in general is built on Japanese Occultism, so there's a good deal of it mentioned but not necessarily fully delved into.

All in all it's a really fun series for the most part and I highly recommend it. Especially if you're into the "kids make friends with dangerous monster who is awkward about the friendship" type stories.

Also, fair warning the younger brother, Kaoru, crossdresses and there's a couple risque shots of him throughout the series and a couple jokes about how much he likes older women.

 

[Secret Secretion]

Hagino-san Wants to Quit the Wind Ensemble is so damn comfy. It's crudely drawn and the mangaka has made interesting choices with word bubbles, but that really just adds to its charm. It's a school band slice of life with each chapter another form of avoiding practice.

Spoiler

...Am I doing something wrong? I'm pasting

https://i.imgur.com/ckLkqea.png and https://i.imgur.com/ilTPf1I.png

into the insert image url popup, it appears on my post before I post it, but not in the Preview....

 

[TheMidnightRook]

...Am I doing something wrong? I'm pasting

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If I had a nickel for everytime I had to remind people that embedding from imgur is broken...

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