romance, drama, seinen, action, adult type of manga, I just finished reading Banana Fish...it was a treat. This manga and Sanctuary are probably my favorites manga of all time. Any other completely scanlated manga like that? I need something that focus on characters' development while having a great story and as realistic as possible.
TIA

perhaps Eden---its got romance, drama, action, is adult but realistic.....its like an apocalyptic manga sort of. There is some realism involved and a whole lotta tragedy.

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Angel Beats--best anime of the 2010 spring season

7 seeds? It's kinda dark and fairly realistic, I think. Yeah, it's got some really dark undertones. And it gets fairly brutal later on.

@john21: Good suggestion for Eden, already read it though.
@vampirebanana: Interresting, but looking for a manga that has been completely scanlated.

shamo it's not really completely scanlated but it's nearly at the latest ones.search for romance...the romances of the main character end tragically,but its definitely very dark

3x3 eyes I don't know whether it's dark enough for you but the main characters are constantly in deep shit.some of the last volumes aren't scanlated yet.....around 37 to 42

rebirth it's dark.there is romance but again,not completely scanlated.I think it's ongoing

psychometrer eiji I don't think it's really dark but it focuses on really sick crimes

blade of the immortal might fit perfectly but isn't finished yet

berserk it fits except for the romance but I haven't read really much of it so perhaps there is something to come?

vagabond at least for more than half of the series it's quite dark

kilico

perhaps I could remember some more but this should keep you really busy for a while

edit:AH sorry I overread the realistic-part.cause of that only shamo vagabond and kilico might be of interest dor you

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@jelzin89: great suggestions nonetheless. I've read/reading most of them. I'll check out kilico.
keep it coming!

dance in the vampire bund
raiders the story itself isn't very far yet.so perhaps it's a bit too short for you
tenjo tenge not really the sunniest manga.has a really dark past too
akumetsu not much romance but reading is like a rush
togari
holy land
Xblade can't remember whether it's seinen
until death do us part
shingetsutan tsukihime

far from realistic but you might like it.
I hope there are some good sugestions.I need more....

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Monster? You don't have it on your lists. You should try it if you liked 20th Century Boys (it's even better).

I can't think of any but i'll comment on the ones already suggested if that's any help.
I agree with Monster. It doesn't have romance but is really dark and psychological and deals with morality a bit. And very realistic, nofantasy components.

Akumetsu too, although it has one very unrealistic trait.

Togari is quite dark, very unrealistic as it deals with a guy from hell destroying the manifestations of sins. I would also say it has the worst ending ever, but apparently (after I just looked it up again) a sequel started (although it hasn't been translated yet)

I stopped reading holy land because of all the explanations about various fighting techniques, but it is realistic fighting.

Tenjo tenge is dark but I abhor it. It made no sense to me and was a waste of time in my opinion.

until death do us part doesn't seem very dark (I haven't read all that many chapters) apart from the whole vigilante thing, but is quite good.

Berserk has romance and all the other things on yor list except that it's set in a fictional universe that has daemonic magic/monsters.

Hmmm... I'm not sure how realistic Monster really is, actually. I know of people who are considered as sociopaths and none of them actually really behave like Johan nor does Johan really fit into the Dr Hare's PCL-R list or any other psycho-therapist's definitions of "sociopathy/psychopathy". I think it's more like drawing upon Hollywood/mainstream definitions of sociopathy. If you can go along with that, then maybe you'll enjoy it.

Freesia and Tropical Citron maybe? I haven't read them, but they sound about right.

Also, Jiraishin - Not adult, but it does have the 'mature' tag.

Alive! and Blue Heaven - However, I don't think they have romance.

Sure, Monster isn't very realistic when compared with actual literature; but if you put it up against all the other manga on this planet (which are usually either stupid or smutty or most probably both), I definitely think it comes out on top.

@Calstine: Ahh... I see. But then again, I'm not really big on most conspiracy-esque stories anyways. Well, to each their own.

Edit: maybe Bokurano ? Its themes of realism will partly depend on whether you consider mecha to be realistic or not. But it's quite dark and fairly realistic, when it comes to themes of war, humanity and so on.

And also, you're probably really hard-pressed to find something like Banana Fish 'cos Banana(a shoujo) is far more hard-boiled/realistic/edgy than a lot of actiony seinen I've read yet very emotionally sensitive/moving like shoujo/josei, something lacking in a lot of shounen/seinen. For example: until death do us part is fun to read but it is no way very realistic 'cos it stretches belief quite a few times, in order to create a sense of action and excitement.

Apart from the titles listed here, I can only think of another title but it has no action yet it's somewhat dark, realistic, edgy and depressing and has the kind of emotional sensitivity you might be looking for: Knife

And also, what do you consider realistic? Or dark?

Last edited by VampireBanana at 8:45 am, May 2 2010

Benkei in New York? You'll probably like it if you like Banana Fish and Sanctuary.

I wasn't dissing your opinion or anything - and it's not like Monster is my favourite manga; I just wanted to let makoz know that reading it wouldn't be a complete loss. I'm pretty sure it's way better and more 'realistic' than Freesia, Dance in the Vampire Bund and Shamo anyway.

*sighs* And I was hoping to not turn this thread into some discussion about manga 'cos this is not the right place. I was simply trying to end the discussion... though.

You see, realism and reality, "better" and so on... are all relative. So what I consider "good" might not be something you'd enjoy and vice versa. I enjoy Vampire in the bund, and a lot of other titles you'd probably dislike.

Besides, we all live in different realities and have different opinions, mindsets, worldviews, biological makeup and so forth... thus, all these are variables that affect our outlook on life and how we interact, interpret and even attain an understanding/enjoyment of various media. <--- trying to summarize without typing a 3 paragraph long reply.