I'd like to read a manga (or manhwa) aimed at a female audience that is longer than about 15 volumes, that is EPIC!

I'm not looking for just a long-running girl's manga, I'd like it to have adventure, war, life or death situations, prophesies, that sort of thing. Also, I know I'm asking for shoujo / josei, but I don't want it to be too focused on romance; I'd like the plot to do more than just provide obstacles for the fated couple to overcome and live happily ever after (is this asking too much from girls' manga?).

Examples : Basara, Red River, Angel Sanctuary, Please Save My Earth, Moon Child, The Twelve Kingdoms (novels)

Not something like these - InuYasha (too episodic, not much character development), Fruits Basket (loved it, but it's only concerned with one family, so it's not really epic), Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (I started reading it, but the whole premise is too focused on the two characters ending up together, which seems kinda boring), From Far Away (too focused on romance). I've read a lot of Watase Yuu's work, and although I enjoyed them and it has some of the elements I'm looking for, I find they are usually too melodramatic and heavy on the romance (maybe with the exception of Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden.

I'm not looking for a manga devoid of romance, but I'd like it to balance out with other elements rather than take over the whole story.

Shounen / seinen recs are welcome as long as they aren't action heavy, aren't episodic, and they have good character development.

No slice of life, yuri, hentai, ecchi, mecha please.

________________

you listed all I know except vampire game. and maybe, but just maybe ng life - it's similar to please save my earth. but it's only 9 volumes. hope I helped.

________________
if there is an option between "to do" and "not to do", I will always choose the latter.

"what kind of crazy, twisted conclusion is that...?" - banana bread no puding

I've actually read NG Life, but I'll check out Vampire Game! Thank you!

________________

i know of a manga called karneval http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=16211
its only 5 volumes but its really good :3 then there is also shiawase kissa sanchoumehttp://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=5114

________________
just living my life like any teenager would, facing the world, dealing with all the things that come at me. im not the special yet not that all normal, just somewhere in the middle ground :3.

Well... it's a shounen, but PSYЯEN has a relatively intricate and epic plot. You might also take a look at Id (also shounen, though).

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (I reccomend the anime) fits well. It has lots of action, adventures, death situations, and has lots of female leads. (I noticed that most of the manga you mentioned liking have female leads, so you're probably looking for something similar.) Even though it's in the magical girl genre, it's definitely gets darker as the series continues.

1/2 Prince is funny, contains a female lead, and it's sort of a cross between a shoujo and a shounen. This manga is very similar to 12 Kingdoms: the heroine is weak in the beginning but gets stronger and the heroine actually takes part in the fighting instead of doing something like healing or staying in the background.

Ghost Hunt is a manga from the same author as 12 Kingdoms. This series is all about solving paranormal mysteries and while it does offer less action scenes it makes up for it with intriguing mysteries. The heroine is a bit weak in the beginning but gets stronger.

I think there's more but that's all I remember...

EDIT:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya fits. Not technically directed at a female audience, but it has a somewhat eccentric female lead and she affects the world and her surroundings in epic ways. Plus, it's funny.

Last edited by crumpets_and_tea at 11:34 pm, Dec 27 2011

Even though it's shounen I really liked Samurai Deeper Kyo. What really unique about it is it contains very strong characters and romance!! And it is narrated through the mind of the female lead so I live it!! And it's like 30 vols long!! And ignore the ecchi tag cause there's like 3 cases max, and it actually makes u wish there would be more. Highly recommend it!!!

It really isn't...


Ciel
Princess, but the scope is a little too large, maybe. Too large for the author to ever finish...
Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä is quite epic, if relatively short.

Alright I went though a fit because of this lol
try these
9 BANME NO MUSASHI
Saver

~Hope I was of some help ~

[quote=Aikanaro]

Do you say this because it's technically a seinen? I was a bit confused at first by what you meant so I went back to look at the summary and genre. I was a bit surprised--it says shoujo in the title but it was classified as seinen...

Anyway, you're right--so I edited my post. I still recommend it though, even if it doesn't technically fit one criteria it pretty much fits everything else anyway.

Have you read Tokyo Crazy Paradise? Its good, but im not sure if you would call it EPIC.

[quote=crumpets_and_tea]

Ugh, typical. Shoujo just means Girl. In particular, Mahou Shoujo is a very common phrase in anime and manga that means "Magical Girl"--the main character of the series is a Magical Girl. Most Magical Girl series are not targeted to women, they're targeted to dirty men and boys that want panty shots. So just remember, if you see the word "shoujo" without "shoujo manga" in any official Japanese media, it _just_ means "girl". And this series isn't "technically" a seinen, it's obviously a seinen.

Seriously, it's people like you that make thoughtless generalizations through pattern-recognition that give bad names to those in the western world that choose to bear the title of "otaku". Weeaboo is a more fitting term for those that don't know at *least* as much as I've said here (well, if they choose to lay claim to false knowledge about such subjects. There are obviously plenty of people that don't read manga at all that are neither weeaboo nor otaku )

Anyway, I am going to insert my opinion into this thread and say that One Piece is good for everyone, including girls, despite being blatantly a Shounen manga. There exists no manga more epic or with better character development. I know a few "epic" shoujo manga (in that they are adventure stories with action and are very long), but they have shit for character development, so I don't recommend them to anyone.

Last edited by HikaruYami at 12:53 am, Dec 28 2011

You pretty much left me speechless with your list of positive examples. Pretty much everything I would have suggested is in there. However, I have a few additional suggestions.

If you enjoyed Moon Child, Shimizu Reiko has another amazing, 27-volume-long epic. Kaguya Hime is excellent... however, I hesitate to suggest it, because, although all of the volumes are available in Japanese, only a few volumes have actually been translated.

7 Seeds (20 volumes, ongoing) by the author of Basara also has a rather epic storyline. However, it is not a fantasy epic like most of your examples. If anything, it leans more toward sci-fi.

Another series targeted toward girls that has a fair number of volumes is Banana Fish. It is also non-fantasy, but in my mind, it qualifies as an epic.However, there is no romance between the lead characters.

I would suggest Yakumo Tatsu (19 volumes, complete), but only 3 volumes have been scanlated. Again, no romance; the lead characters are both guys.

I hope these are helpful.

________________
≡ Youtube ≡ DeviantART ≡ Roseille Scans

While you are correct that 'shoujo' actually means 'girl,' you are the one making 'thoughtless generalizations' and giving a bad name to a genre by saying that most mahou shoujo series are targeted towards 'dirty men and boys that just want to see panty-shots.' The fact of the matter is that the majority of this type of manga/anime is directed at young girls, Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura being famous examples. That ironically means that they are shoujo in categorization of demographics. Therefore, assuming that a mahou shoujo (magical girl) title is a shoujo is not as far-fetched as you make it sound.

Judging by your attitude, and the fact that you are falsely convinced that a title revolving around an idiot who eats meat all the time is the most 'epic' manga with the best character development, I would say that you are the one who 'happens to stumble on' the minority of mahou shoujo series, tagged as ecchi or hentai, building your misconception.

By the way, 'weaboo' is a derogatory term for a Western person who always prefers Japanese products, is engrossed in the Japanese culture, and curses his/her non-Japanese heritage. Thus, high knowledge of Japanese media is inherent in the meaning of the word, and saying that they 'don't know much' about Japan is obviously flawed and contradictory.

________________

It's not that long but I believe it really suits your needs: Immortal Rain. It has action, mysteries an drama. And that best part: It's not heavily based on the love!

________________
Keep Calm and Soy Un Dorito ~ Lee Taemin