OKAY OMG I'M HERE TO FIND MY LITERARY CRUSHES. Thanks largely to hobbitelf518 and my pals over at this thread. 😀 You know exactly where I'm coming from, girls!

So, like, has anyone found a manga equivalent of Mr. Darcy? As I said in that other thread: A man who is pure, devoted and generous to a fault - who is oh-so-proper and stiff-upper-lip and yet given to stunningly heart-throbbing romantic confessions at just the right time... But is also generally a bit abrupt/awkward and socially misunderstood - who is proud, distant, apparently misanthropic and a bit of a loner. (Except that he's secretly a wuv-bear with a heart of cotton-candy.)

From this source, here's a Darcy quote:

Quote from Mr. Darcy

"By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased."

HEH, HEH, HEH. Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!

Or Heathcliff, who is the original hot bad-boy, wild and dangerous and yet totally, almost creepily devoted to the woman he loves, heart and soul - and yet who has a dark past and a shadowy thirst for vengeance threatening to consume him.

Quote from Heathcliff

"And I pray one prayer–I repeat it till my tongue stiffens–Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you–haunt me, then! The murdered DO haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts HAVE wandered on earth. Be with me always–take any form–drive me mad! only DO not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I CANNOT live without my life! I CANNOT live without my soul!"

Wow, um. Scary. 😲 AND YET SO HOT. Goddammit, Heathcliff. You're not even my type, and I can't resist...

I'm also looking for a male protagonist like Mr. Rochester - yet another loner, bound by duties that do not allow him to love, and yet harboring a heart so full of banked passion that, in the end, his duties crumble before it. A man that becomes better for the sake of his love, that matures through that love, that starts out harsh and ill-adjusted and yet softens in a believable and really quite beautiful way.

Quote from Mr. Rochester

I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you–especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I’ve a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you–you’d forget me.

SOB Oh, Mr. Rochester! No, I won't forget you! Like I could!

And, last but certainly not least, I'm looking for Erik, you know, from The Phantom of the Opera... A damaged and wounded soul that hides away from society and conceals his true identity - who thinks himself hated and thus kind of is - who yearns for a woman of beauty and light, and yet himself remains chained in absolute darkness. A man who is prisoner of his own grief, and yet finds an inexplicable tenderness within him to reach out to something that is filled with joy... Even if he never quite manages to get it (or does he?). A man who is physically and/or psychologically deformed, yet falls in love with a woman who is all-too-perfect... A woman that he knows is too good for him...

Quote from Phantom of the Opera

"I tore off my mask so as not to lose one of her tears... and she did not run away!...and she did not die!... She remained alive, weeping over me, weeping with me. We cried together! I have tasted all the happiness the world can offer... If I am the phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so. If I am to be saved it is because your love redeems me."

Characters like these, please? And I mean adult men, not, um, teens. Unless they fit the bill really well. Any genre is okay! Shoujo, josei, shounen, seinen, yaoi... As long as there's a male lead that resembles one of the above characters!

The only one I can think of at present is the male lead of Hana no Namae, who resembles the Phantom of the Opera. <3 Thankfully, he's redeemed at the end.

MOAR PLZ!

No. Go read novels by Georgette Heyer.

Read 'em already, bebeh! <3

I can't help but desperately hope for manga heroes that resemble these literary hunks!

Holy cow, @tartufo! You're seriously my partner in crime! *hugs tartufo!! How I constantly long for a Mr. Darcy! My heart skipped several beats when I read Pride and Prejudice back in high school. Then it skipped several mooooar when I watched Colin Firth BE him in the wonderful 5 hour BBC version... and then I just fell in love with the music and cinematography for the Keira Knightley version... *le sigh... Since I love this ultimate chick-lit (though it's more like, legit lit), I couldn't help but also read the quirky Pride and Prejudice and Zombies... I don't know if you've read it, but Mr. Darcy has a "talent with words" for lack of a better term.

Oh, Mr. Rochester...

how can one forget that passionate kiss he lay on dear Ms. Jane Eyre that thunderous night... I think my face turned red when I read that part.

And oh, my... the Phantom! I got the chills when I read the novel... quite more bloodthirsty and misunderstood in comparison to Michael Crawford's interpretation. Awww man, now I want to listen to my 1986 Original London Cast soundtrack! Gaaaaaaaah! *looks for iPod.

Anyways, I fail for being unable to suggest something at the moment... *hangs head in shame. But I'm keeping an eye out for this deliciously marvelous thread!

^If you liked BBC's P&P, check out the North & South miniseries... similar story and quite good as well.

Quote from tartufo

I can't help but desperately hope for manga heroes that resemble these literary hunks!

I can't really think of any... and I've read a lot of manga. I guess you might consider Kanata Kara. The male lead at least has long black hair, is brooding, has a darkish past, and spends the entire manga protecting the girl.

Man, Colonel Brandon is so much better than any of those guys.

Twilight

Quote from Mo-Dean

Man, Colonel Brandon is so much better than any of those guys.

How could I forget Colonel Brandon! *swooooooooooon. I'd add Mr. Knightley (though... I'm going to overlook the awkward age-gap... especially

how he actually cradled little infant Emma when he was 16 years old) .

what the.... oh man, why did you always asking for something quite hard to find? 😮
well, maybe you can try to read Harlequin.
I guess there are a lot of character fit in ur description. 🙂

ꉂꉂ(ᵔᗜᵔ*)笑

i can list manga with those chars, but they aren't translated yet. They are based on a novel manga, i really want to read it though.. so i keep them on my custom wish list.
sorry tartufo, i tried looking since yesterday but couldn't find any.. i don't know who mr.darcy, heathcliff.. my romance novel is Gone With The Wind. Romance novels aren't my reading 😛 I'd prefer suspense, thriller, historical or fantasy tho..

[img]https://i.imgur.com/lHjrfaR.jpg[/img]

Hello tartufo~!

I think I have a few that might fit the bill:
A House in Venice
Eternal Sabbath
Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan

Avatar by tassyn.livejournal.com

Reading: Kingdom, Sangokushi, Historie

haha i feel like i'm in my high school english class all over again.

Quote from chris930421

haha i feel like i'm in my high school english class all over again.

AND WASN'T THAT EVERYONE'S FAVORITE CLASS? 😀 😀

Thanks so much, Odette! I knew this would be a thread you'd have recommendations for!

And comel, please do list even the untranslated ones. If nothing else, I can ogle the raws... @___@;

I just realized that the male lead of Hapi Mari is kinda Darcy-ish. He's got the misunderstood pride, the loner tendencies, the wealth, the staunch loyalty, the sharp tongue hiding a soft heart, the righteous attitude of a man with a conscience (even if he's, like I said, misunderstood as being just plain arrogant), etc. Not exact Darcy material, but a close enough match!

And maybe the lead of Midnight Secretary, non-literary as it is, is a cross between Heathcliff and Erik? A milder cross, but still... With the complex of being a monster and of holding most of the human race in contempt (though really, he himself fears rejection) - not to mention the obsessive and non-rational fixation on a woman that consumes him (although, thankfully, it ends happily for them both).

Gah, neither are very deep or literary, but they're rollicking stories with near-match male protagonists, anyway!

Here from my wish list:
Ame ni Nureta Tenshi
Ichiman Pound no Hanamuko
Bara to Houkan
Kamen no Hanayome
Hanayome to Yobareru Hi
Fujitsu na Koibito
Eien no Koi no Mahou
Nessa o Kakeru Koi
Ryuusa no Koi
Reikoku na Playboy
Sono Kekkon ni Igi Ari
Tsuioku wa Nami no You ni
Yanushi no Daifugou
Usotsuki na Cinderella
Risou no Tsuma no Takurami wa
..All of them based on a novel manga.. you can find more on based on a novel section though. Most aren't scanlated... 🤢

[img]https://i.imgur.com/lHjrfaR.jpg[/img]

Ok, this probably only kinda fits the description, and it is VERY SLOW, and the only reason I am recommending it may be because the heroine who is also an actor plays the part of young Cathy for awhile, but it really is SO SUPER GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if you haven't read it already, check out:
GLASS MASK : http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=260
The story hasn't been licensed in English but there are translations online 😀

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