looking for a manga focusing on a "genius that defies all the rules and all the normal conventions." It doesn't have to be that he intends to but his talent is such that he is able to step outside the normality. Damn its sorta hard to explain. I kind of got this idea from the manga Piano no Mori--where Kai, is basically a prodigy similar to like Mozart as in he creates new forms of music, new ways of playing the classics,he doesn't exactly follow the music sheet and this is not really appreciated by the current music world especially in japan where they insist on following a fixed music piece, with rules and everything. The people love listening it but the music world, the instructors don't accept it. Not much room for creativity like they are just not ready to accept the revolution. Kai is like uninhibited and just free of all the rules.

Something like the above. I hope you guys understand. I just basically want a prodigy character who defies all the normal rules, all of society's rules etc and it doesn't have to be music. It can be anything from say fighting, dancing etc.

What i don't want is a character that is not extremely talented. so don't want those mangas with characters who work hard for like 20 or so chapters and then beat a certain prodigy at that field etc. Something that is quite generic in shounen sports and stuff like characters who lack talent and are really hard working. so basically lol don't want hard working characters. Also please NO YAOI AND SHOUNEN AI. Any other genres are acceptable and mangas with good art would be appreciated.



Last edited by John21 at 4:41 am, Apr 28 2010

________________
Angel Beats--best anime of the 2010 spring season

have you tried The Breaker? It has a genius that literally defies the rules and normal conventions and he does step outside normality. it's a fighting manhwa and it's awesome =D not sure if that's your thing but give it a shot

Addicted to Curry: Makes curry outside the norm
Bowling King : Unique bowling style
Aiki : Fights in a weird way
Iryuu - Team Medical Dragon : Exceptional surgeon
Liar Game : He's just smart but the female lead is pretty annoying
Nodame Cantabile: She plays the piano in her own style
Yakitate!! Japan : Lots of weird baking
Death Note : Kills people outside the norm
Shamo: Uses his own fighting style
Historie: Genius in ancient time
Ore to Akuma no Blues : Well it's about Robert Johnson...
Kuroko no Basuke: Unique basketball playing
Vagabond: Well he created his own martial arts...

@vinnieroe---hell yea have read the breaker, my profile picture is from chapter 59 which just came out lol. Its an awesome awesome manga but well am already reading it lol. Thanks a lot though for suggestion

@deva--thanks for ur suggestions, some of them i haven't read yet so will try those out.

________________
Angel Beats--best anime of the 2010 spring season

Count Cain

________________
<b>Reading</b> <!--m_gen--><a href='http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=1859' title="Click for series info"><u>Love Lucky</u></a><!--m_gen_end--><BR><b>Recommended</b> <!--m_gen--><a href='http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=5920' title="Click for series info"><u>B Gata H Kei</u></a><!--m_gen_end--> <3 <!--m_gen--><a href='http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=24665' title="Click for series info"><u>Conveni-N</u></a><!--m_gen_end--> XD<BR><!--img--><img src='http://myanimelist.net/signature/chulian1819.png' border='0' alt='User Posted Image'><!--img_end-->

I have been putting off reading(probably never will) Count Cain because i heard there are hints of shounen-ai in it and I just can't read stuff with any shounen-ai in it at all.

________________
Angel Beats--best anime of the 2010 spring season

Count Cain and its sequel Godchild do not contain any shounen-ai. However, there's no romance or anything in it and almost no prominent female characters except Cain's very pretty adopted sister- but she's a kid, so I don't think a guy would be interested in her. So, it's really not a male-oriented manga. However, if you are ready to accept a really uncommon shoujo, you should try it.

I second Death Note and Count Cain. I also agree that Count Cain isn't shounen-ai, it is more a isolated young lord ended up dependant on his only friend/servant.

Also try

Banana Fish - certifiable genius who runs a street gang. I don't want to spil it but it gets complex without being confusing. A must-read!
Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna Piano and logical genius with inferiority complex towards brother.
Shounen Mahoushi - 2 naturally talented magicians with act independant of the magical community.
Full Metal Alchemist - Genius alchemist who, while affiliated with the government, often acts independantly with his brother.
Akagi Mahjong genius who has his own style (I've not finished this so couldn't say how it plays out)
Yasha - Only a few chapters scanlated but seems to be genius opposing organisation he works for.
Mx0 - Not sure if he's a genius but he is very ingenious and he acts outside school rules. There is a touch of the irritating 'hard work can overcome a lack of natural talent' towards the end though.


In anime you might want to check out Code Geass as well for a rebellious genius. Hope this helps though I suspect you will prefer some more than others.

________________
The pen is mightier than the sword...and considerably easier to write with.

Everything I was going to recommend has already being suggested.

Well, I'll just second Yasha , Akagi , Shounen Mahoushi and Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna.

About Banana Fish - Once again, people will go on and on about how this is BL- but I'm pretty sure it isn't. But somehow, I don't think you'll like it very much because you seem to be into 'sweet' romance- and nothing in Banana Fish is the least bit sweet; it's very coarse and brutal and has lots of 'adult' themes, rape, etc. Still, it definitely fits the 'genius defying all rules' criterion, and is really a very good manga.

Another thing- Count Cain is not BL; not every manga that doesn't have the romance tag and has a predominantly male cast is shounen-ai / yaoi, you know.

Edit-
I get the feeling you might like Sanctuary - and yeah, it has romance; but again, not the cute type- more cruel and dark.

________________
<!--url_type_2--><a href='http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm' target='_blank'><u><!--img--><img src='http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/19.jpg' border='0' alt='User Posted Image'><!--img_end--></u></a><!--url_type_2_end--><BR><BR><!--url_type_2--><a href='http://www.dragonflycave.com/newpay.aspx' target='_blank'><u><!--img--><img src='http://www.dragonflycave.com/wpay/ninetales.gif' border='0' alt='User Posted Image'><!--img_end--></u></a><!--url_type_2_end-->

@cuthien---will read banana fish since its been recommended so much. Am reading full metal alchemist and i tried out spiral as you suggested but just found the main character annoying because he always just thinks he is below his brother, a notion i just don't like personally. After i read banana fish, i will try out the others.

@cyclamen---you were right about Sanctuary, its pretty good and thank god its completely scanlated because its quite interesting. I actually don't mind adult themes, i just can't oh damn how do i explain this lol don't like any hints of any kind of boy love, any kind of interaction of that nature whatsoever between men. anyways am trying here lol will read banana fish. Even though i prefer atleast some females to be in the cast, i don't mind predominantly male casts.

________________
Angel Beats--best anime of the 2010 spring season

Yeah, Banana Fish is great, but I should warn you that there is indeed gay stuff in there (not just the subtext between the genius and his Japanese friend), which I'm sure will make your skin positively ooze with fear. But don't worry, the real gay guys are mostly villains. Just like they are in real life, right?

________________

Hikaru no Go - (hikaru totally doesn't belong into the go world)
Cat Street - a lot of genius outcasts together
Mars - a love story about a girl and a boy. The boy is a professional motor racer.
MC Law - A weirdo kid that is a brilliant lawyer and has some unorthodox ways of solving things.
Darker Than Black might have the same aspects for being an manga about the 'unbeatable black reaper' and for the fact Hei doesn't act like a human, but also doesn't act like a contractor.
Death Note, a lot of genius kids that go against each other. Especially those from Wammies House aren't ready for society.

I second Fullmetal Alchemist.
Count Cain isn't too bad even if you're afraid for shounen ai. Cain is totally into poison.

@John21 whoops sorry >.< i read the latest breaker after that then I realized lol

Battle Royale has one of these.

one, a manhwa about a musical genius who goes into the industry to defy its conventions and bring down the system.