I was thinking of starting to read Freesia by this author, but
I'm open to suggestions about better mangas of his to start with.
I've never read any of his works, but I have read Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
and MPD Psycho(Are these works similar to this author's works?)

Thanks!

Freesia is considered the best out of Matsumoto Jiro's works. It's probably better to start with that one and then, if you liked it, work your way through the others.
But I think it's fair to warn you that if you are female (which I'm pretty sure you are), you will probably not like Freesia. The way the author depicts women is really pathetic and way too harsh (at least in most of the female readers' eyes). It's not really like MPD or Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service in terms of the depiction of humans and their behaviour. I think Freesia is most comparable to Sanctuary.
But of course, MPD and Kurosagi are also very gritty, dark, and mature-themed (even though I think Freesia has much more explicit content than either of them), so if you liked them both, then you'll probably like Freesia.
The manga that is often compared to MPD Psycho is Homunculus. Then there's also; Monster
Eden
Nijigahara Holograph
Himizu
Shamo
Blue Heaven
Parasyte
Alive!

- I know you asked only for Jiro's stuff, but since you can get those off of his author profile page, I just thought I'd recommend these as well.

Last edited by calstine at 11:14 pm, Apr 14 2010

If you want to read similar works to Freesia, you should read more Matsumoto Jiro. His works have recurring themes of war going on, sex, drugs, revolutionaries. The short story collections are a great way to start Yuretsuzukeru and Kakumeika no Gogo. Freesia might feel a bit too much if you're not used to his style (or might not).

If you also liked MPD Psycho and Kurosagi Shitai Takuhaibin, then check out at least Nijigahara Holograph and Kiseijuu as calstine recommended. And I'd add to that Arigatou

There's also Blue Spring, Tekkon Kinkreet, and if you like them, anything by [m]Matsumoto Taiyo[/m]. Also check out Bakune Young

Majo is a bit different, but you should check it out too.

Calstine already recommended Alive! and Blue Heaven by Takahashi Tsutomu, but I'd rather recommend Jiraishin and Bakuon Rettou (the latter being one of my favorites). But all works by him are worth reading.

Last edited by 狂気 at 3:38 pm, Apr 15 2010

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Far-off places with sweet sounding names.

HAHAHA OHWOW! I'll have to disagree with you on that, bad things often do happen to his characters, but his female characters are a lot stronger than what you'll find it most other manga. And most fans of Freesia I've met were female.

btw I think Tropical Citron is probably his best work.

Tropical Citron Very trippy and fairy tale like, if you like the strangeness of Freesia than you'll probably like this
Uncivilized Planet 3 childhood friends who struggle to survive on a dystopian planet. The main character spaces out quite often like Kano does in Freesia, This manga is more of a slice of life.
Keep on Vibrating Collection of strange and erotic stories
A Revolutionist in the Afternoon Another collection of short stories with mostly a communism motif.(his weakest work, but it's still good.)

Last edited by revilenigma at 4:38 am, Apr 15 2010

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If you want just to try it, maybe oneshots will be better to start with. Keep on Vibrating and A Revolutionist in the Afternoon have some light, romantic twisted stories.
Personally, I like Matsumoto's women.

I totally agree with this; it's the main reason that I can't really get into his manga. With a lot of his work that I've read, it seems like the entire goal is not just to objectify the women, but to debase them. Particularly some of the stories in Keep on Vibrating contained so much rape and bestiality that it all just seemed nasty and pointlessly misogynistic and really got to me. The last story in that anthology I loved, though, even though it was comparatively sappy; kind of hilariously, his author's note for it is all "I fucking hate sappy stories like this" XD

Anyway, even that aside, ALL his stuff is dark dark DARK and really cynical, but sometimes it works - I liked almost every story in A Revolutionist in the Afternoon (one of them actually managed to justify bestiality!) except for The Footmen Flee, and his series that just ended in Erotics F about the two girls trying to kill each other (edit: Becchin to Mandara) seemed interesting. Tread carefully if you're going to attempt to get into his work.

no none of his manga is as repetitive as kurosagi corpse delivery service or as bad as that disjointed nonsensical crap mpd psycho

be prepared for weirdnes, hallucinations, sexual abuse and lots of drugs though

#1: I do feel that his works protray women in a negative light, but the mangas themselves are too amazing for me to complain about the occasional whore. And at least they're better than the shoujo female crapheads.



#2: Freesia's depiction of women aren't TOO bad, and I wouldn't really compare it to Sanctuary. In Sanctuary women play an inconsequential, not even merely supportive role, as opposed to Freesia, where the character is significantly affected by the women around him.



#3: ABSOLUTELY agree! It's like one of those reverie quest ballads in which the hero finds himself waking up 100 years later. Completely phenomenal.

Moving along to recommendations, I think that Bradherley no Basha and Brigit's Supper would be worth reading.