OK, so I'll be as specific as I can be. I'm making my "to-read" list but I can't seem to think of any manga.

These mangas are in the list:

1. Kekkaishi
2. Kimi no Iru Machi
3. Koukou Debut & Enren Debut
4. Nabari no Ou
5. Vampire Knight
6. Air Gear
7. Soul Eater
8. Kuroshitsuji
9. Law of Ueki & Law of Ueki Plus
10. Lovely Complex
11. Natsume Yuujinchou
12. Bokura ga Ita
13. Naruto

Shounen/Shoujo?: Either one is fine, as long as the storyline is nice and the art is current. I'd prefer it if the manga was made during the 21st century.

Art: I want clean art and smooth lines. I'm not really into the bulky, muscular men if you're going to suggest something shounen. Well, maybe they can be accepted if they're not the focus of the manga (like Major Armstrong in FMA). The art can be like the mangas in the above list, too.

Story: The plot can be about anything but I'd prefer stories that have characters with complex and/or deep relationships. To be more precise, the relationships that have big impacts like the bond between Naruto and Sasuke, Edward and Alphonse, or maybe the bonds between the Vongola Guardians and Tsuna from Reborn! The relationships can be romantic or not. They can be between friends or brothers. For a breath of fresh air, I'd like some action or some twists that would really get the plot going. I'd like to stir clear from too much shoujo. But a little bit would be fine.

Do not recommend: Yaoi (but shounen-ai would be fine I guess), Yuri, Shoujo-ai, pointless smut, hentai, loli, shota...

Length?: Preferably something that's more than 30 chapters long...

Scanlated?: Yes please!

Ongoing/completed?: Either will be fine. But if the manga's ongoing, I hope that the scanlations are not far behind...

This is as specific as I can get. Any help would be very much appreciated.

07-Ghost, definitely. Pretty much everything boils down to tight friendships... Same with +Anima. Really clean art in both series.

xxxHolic and many CLAMP mangas probably qualify!

Himitsu shows a developing really tight friendship between the two lead investigators, and in fact the investigative team as a whole.

20th Century Boys features friendship as one of the major themes. EDIT: Whoops, made in 1999! So doesn't quite make your 21st century list.

Golden Days, Silver Diamond, The Betrayal Knows My Name and Komatta Toki ni wa Hoshi ni Kike! have implied shounen ai, but it's very mild. Slightly heavier shounen ai is implied in Vassalord.

REAL, Slam Dunk and Ookiku Furikabutte are FANTASTIC sports series in which friendship is the main driving force (I think so, anyway!). EDIT: Again, the first two were made in the 1990s, so don't make your list. Sorry!

Saver has plenty of uber-tight friendships.

Flower of Life is an amazing story of friendship. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. Not 30 chapters long but 4 volumes long, if that helps?

Enjoy!

Last edited by tartufo at 5:33 am, Jun 28 2010

I'd drop air gear I read a majority of it (up to like chapter 210), its somewhat entertaining, more so in the beginning. Then it kinda loses direction with the plot. Its like it goes from a manga that could be about competative motorized skating to some sort of scifi-fantasy battle manga.

I reccomend Ubel blatt and claymore

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Feed your head.

Superior though the scans from vol 3 to vol 8 are in a very bad quality
Id
Kurohime
Kandachime a bit short
Nana to Kaoru depends on what you call "pointless smut"
Shi ga Futari wo Wakatsu Made
Chrno Crusade
Kanata Kara
Vampire Juujikai

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"Thus is our treaty written, thus is agreement made
Thought is the arrow of time, memory never fades
What was asked is given, the price is paid"

Aww darn it, i don't think you'll like the art at all (not current), but the friendship between Killua and Gon in Hunter x Hunter is very strong and a central point in the manga. , and Gon is a naive island kid. Killua watches Gon's back and Gon instills some humanity in Killua. [/m] There are a lot of excellent bonds in this manga, actually. It's shame the art is a little retro. The fighting and action are excellent in it, and the series is very well done. The anime follows the manga closely (- the ova's)

I second Chrno Crusade, thought i preferred the anime. Chrno's and Rosette's relationship is a long lasting and tight friendship. It is deepened by the fact that . The two withstand all sorts of ridicule, deception.

Gakuen Alice and Kodomo no Omocha might be too shojo-ish for you. They both deal with friendships between children. Quite a few tight bonds in gakuen alice (mikan-hotaru, natsume-ruka), but the manga might be a bit to relaxed & cute. Between the protagonists in Kodomo no Omocha.

I can only think of more retro stuff at the moment... ahahaha....




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Image from Gangsta -> Full Image Link http://www.k4.dion.ne.jp/~babyrock/page030.html

OMG. Totally second Hunter x Hunter, it's one of my favorite series and has the best friendships I've ever seen in manga. It takes a lot tired old shounen cliches and makes them interesting again, even if the art isn't exactly stellar, you should definitely read it!

Also, if you haven't already read it, Hikaru no Go is a great read as well. The art is a bit shaky the first few chapters but quickly develops into the crisp, beautifully realistc style the artist is known for (see Death Note and Bakuman).

Alive is another awesome manga. The art starts offpetty mediocre, but by the timeskip it's amazing. It also takes a rather typical shounen plot and makes it interesting.

The relationships are really good in Cross Game. You might also find Cat Street appealing. If you are not entirely strict on the age of the manga, you should also try Angel Densetsu or Get Backers.

Last edited by moski at 12:33 am, Jun 29 2010

@Tartufo: I’m definitely going to give 07-Ghost a shot once I get free time on my hands. Golden Days, Silver Diamond, and The Betrayal Knows My Name have all piqued my interest so I’m going to read them, too.

I’ve been thinking of reading Ookiku Furikabutte ever since I finished the series. Mihashi is soo cute. I like Abe and Mihashi’s friendship in the story.

@darknova42: Thank you for the tip about Air Gear. I think I’ll drop it since the other reviews say that it goes downhill at one point in the plot… I’ll check out Claymore though.

@Draconic: OK, I think I’ll read Chrno Crusade and I totally fell in love with the cover art of Vampire Juujikai but I don’t know why. Anyway, I’ll read those two.

@faraway: You just gave me a lot of good reasons I should pick up Hunter x Hunter. I haven’t watched the anime, and this is a little retro, but I think I’ll give it a shot. You got me at “instills some humanity.”

And yes, Chrno Crusade is a definite go.

@Magical_Poof: I’m not sure with Hikaru no Go but I’ll give it a try. The reviews were pretty much positive so I’ll put in my two cents worth.

For some reason the cover art of Alive is drawing me in. My curiosity… it can feel something. Will read.

@Moski: I don’t know about the others, but I might try Get Backers and Cat Street.

Thank you very much for replying to my post. This is great help since I'm not really good with picking out what I read... I'll read the mangas I said I'll read once the school decides it's high time to be considerate about the students and gives us a second summer vacation.

Cat Street
Dengeki Daisy
Gokuraku Seishun Hockey Club
Kaichou wa Maid-sama!
Kimi wa Pet

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One piece - Well I'm pretty sure it's not a 21st century. The art is alright. But their friendship is serious. This way one of the reason why I read/watched One Piece in the first place. It kind of makes you feel envious of their friendships and there are times when it gets touching (:

Fairy Tail - Im not sure when it's made but the art isn't bad either. Haven't really read it for a while but I think there are some tight bonds (:

Both manga are not completely scanlated ):


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There's a lot of mangas/manhwas/manhua worth reading (for example half prince, but please give some more Information about what you like. Some mangas maybe (you had some on your public lists but no rating?)
But really helpful would be the knowledge of your favourite genres!
Categories, as well. Revenge, first love, crossdressing, vampires, rated T, etc. there are so many...

But anyways, some recommendations:
Half Prince
Flowers of Evil
Akumetsu - bit bloody but really good (art is nice as well, even if it's no masterpiece)
Tokage
Hikaru no go - the art gets better and it's a wonderful shounen-work
Let Dai - shounen ai, but hey, it's very good
Peter Panda
Cat street
Global garden
Vampire game - hm...I notice I'm totally ignoring your wish for the art (21st century), but the art is wonderful in all the works I'm writing here, so come on
Omae ga Sekai wo Kowashitai nara
One - *w* this goes to my reread list...
Running Through the City In the Sunset
superior
tista
Tenshi ja Nai!!
basara - it's old, very dramatic, but heck, if you want to read a genderbender classic that just keeps your reading, go ahead!!
click
Double arts
Houkago Hokenshitsu
Ibara no Ou
Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan - just one volume, sry
My girl


I know perfectly well that you wanted a series with at least 30 chapters. I believe you mean those chapters with only twenty pages per chapter, since there are also a lot with 30 pages or even 45, 50 pages! Anyway, all of these works besides the first are completed. And some of them only possess two or three volumes.

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nice storyline, current art (21st century) with clean & smooth lines, (no bulky muscular men), plot with complex and/or deep relationsships (big impacts, romantic possibly but not necessary), actions or twist for getting the plot going + not too much shoujo, longer than 30 chapters