Good fantasy epics. The closest thing to a good fantasy is maybe Berserk and even that is quite a stretch, it's more like a dark fantasy if anything. No good fantasy worlds like LotR, in fact no true fantasy worlds at all. It saddens me since I'm a big fan of it. And I don't mean fantasy as in the One Piece world for example, I'm referring to "classic fantasy" so to speak.

And I still hope to one day read a manga with a loser protagonist that gets rejected by every single girl, gets tricked by them and humiliated. I just think that'd be interesting to see, closer to reality than pretty much every harem.

I got some in mind:

-A bittersweet or hopeful love story-
I'm not a big fan of love stories, mainly because most are very bland to me. I did found some love stories I really enjoyed, Ressentiment and Boys on the run, but those love stories are a bit...Harsh, sad, mean, little to realistic of the outcome, which I don't mind but still looking for a love story that ends where the couple doesn't end up together but they are able to move on with their lives (Bittersweet) or the couple still have problems with one another but you can till they MIGHT stay together if they can work out their differences (Hopeful).
Something like that.

-Pointless over the top sex and violence...But with a deeper meaning-
I love over the top sex and violence, but I like when it's done right. PERFECT examples are: Peepo Choo, Ressentiment, and Ichi the killer. All those series have ton of sex and violence, but if you take out all of those stuff, you still get a GREAT story.
If you look at Peepo Choo and take out all of the sex and violence, it's a story about culture difference (America and Japan), criticizing the mainstream entertainment and learning to be yourself.
I WANT MORE SERIES LIKE THAT!

-A personal adventure-
Fullmetal Alchemist is a perfect example of what I'm talking about, but I do have one problem with the series...The ending. I'm not saying the series ending is bad, but how it end was a bit too ridiculous.
How can I put it with out spoiling the ending:
Try think of the first 3/4 of the film ROCKY, and add Street Fighter: The movie for the ending.
That might be a little harsh, but if Fullmetal Alchemist ended like the first anime, not bittersweet, but more of a personal event, I will enjoy the original series more.

-A good slice of life-
Sorry, I can't find that ONE slice of life series I can enjoy.


________________

Something called reality.
I get so sick of the glamour, sugar coated, pink stuff they try to plug every single time. Or is it the wimpy kid characters that grow in a couple of months to be badasses? It is so annoying to see that it makes me sick.

Overweight or ugly people as protagonists or as real people.
How often do you see the ugly girl or guy get romance or a more important part in a story? How often do you see them portraying their real emotions and not just dwelve on the fact that they are fat and hence miserable?
I want real people damnit, people with feelings, not comical relief or just to contrast with the other "beautiful characters".

True fights.
Fights where people get actually hurt and who suffer the consequences for their actions.

Role models.
This is a more subjective field. But i can't help to notice how role models in manga are nearly non-existent. Valued by beauty rather than what is inside them or their actions, that should not count.

Philosophy.

Truthful, compeling stories.
I've been finding some of these but they are so rare that it just feels like a shame. There's plenty of pretentious, shallow, weak, incoherent stories out there. Give me some more good stories please, the art doesn't need to be good, the characters don't need to be perfect (in fact that's a bad thing), the development and story don't have to be epic.

Proportionate and accurately depicted cars.

This. Totally agree with you; this is what usually degenerates a good story.

________________
Ganbare Seishuu! Ganbare Seishuu!

BL that's a long series.


As for the other things people say are missing, I think it's time to leave the Shounen/Shoujo genres! (:

I read some series that are kind of like that:
Saikyou Densetsu Kurosawa A 40 year old man going through a mid-life crisis.
I personally like story, it's slow but very well written. As for the art style...UGLY! I can handle the art style but many ppl can't handle how ugly and blocky the art style is.

MBQ A comic book artist living in L.A trying to make it big, an A level cop dealing with horrible past memories, fast food worker who wants to be a film maker, and a young underground musician trying to deal with LIFE!
I love this OLE manga series. Though the action and humor are over-the-top, the series is about everyday life.

Peepo Choo Same guy that made MBQ : A young american hardcore otaku dreaming to live in Japan, A fake ass punk wantabe trying to get laid, a young sexy model dealing with sexism ...Oh, a rising up yakuza acting like an american gangster and a killer that loves to kill.
Again, the manga series is over the top with the action and humor, but if you can handle gore and cruel humor, you will fall in love with this series.

Ressentiment Imagine a world if sims dating games and H-Game were put in virtual reality, SOUNDS GREAT?
Well, a 30 year old man gives up on real women to date fictional girls.
Even though the setting is fiction but characters are realistic. Very, very, realistic.
I won't spoil the ending, but let's say it ends in a real...Harsh...VERY harsh way.

Boys on the Run Same guy that made Ressentiment : A 30 year old virgin trying to find love. He found the perfect girl, he screw up BADLY is his relationship with her and now trying to find a way to fix it.
There's a live action movie base on this series if you want to watch that instead.

________________

^^
ALL of this. I can't even begin to tell you how much I want to see a realistically proportioned fat woman/man who wasn't desperately trying to get skinny/comedic relief/ or merely there as contrast. I would particularly love to see fat women portrayed as loving their bodies and not giving a shit about what others have to say. I've met so many awesome, intelligent and witty women who aren't ashamed of their weight and who own it proudly, but sadly they're never given the time of day in manga.

I also really wanna see realistically portrayed women who genuinely enjoy sex and aren't ashamed of it in non hentai/adult/ecchi mangas. It's difficult to find a manga where they aren't criticized/villified/ or patronized if they're not sweet virginal vapid and submissive, which is apparently the highest ideal a woman should aspire to be. /sarcasm

I also get annoyed when I see guys being criticized for being too "girly" and then "correcting" their behavior and vice versa for girls being too "manly." I really like mangas that openly challenge the gender binary, but again, nearly impossible to find.







________________
Perdition Prison- where there are no guards, no rules and no escape. Only the strong survive: http://perditionrp.freeforums.net/

@ Lucky23

Saikyou Densetsu Kurosawa is a great manga! I've read it and truly enjoyed the portrayal of the main character. But it is rare.
Your suggestions sound interesting, some i've never heard of before.

As for slice of life stories a few just came to mind, i'm sure there are more good ones and more i can remember since it's one of my favorite genres.
Solanin
Always Together
See You in Eden
Aruku Hito

I am agree with the thread starter
its really hard to find manga that makes u know a lot about Gun / Survival
or we can called it "Real Science" maybe
because H.O.T.D ... i know a lot about Gun, Psychology, How to Shoot ~
Cage of Eden.. how to Survival in the Jungle / Forest , Disease , ( the most informed manga for me )

How about Gunsmith Cats ?
That series knows a lot about real guns.

________________

Deep mysteries that make sense and doesn't have deus ex machina to suddenly give the protagonist a way to solve that mystery.

Hard to find : Real antiheroes, with no moral sense whatsoever, who do whatever the hell they want, and mostly terrible things. Like Revy in Black Lagoon.

Even harder : Gambler or swindler protagonists or anything where the hero uses his brain to pull gambits on the people around him. Said gambits should be smart enough to amaze the reader as well. I guess Kurosaki in Kurosagi is a bit like that. Or Lawrence in Spice & Wolf, though this one is a bit far-fetched.

________________
<!--img--><img src='https://i.imgur.com/YtOi9Fg.jpg' border='0' alt='User Posted Image'><!--img_end-->

some thing like Annarasumanara
where it actually has a deep meaning, not the usual annoying friendship and romance themes

I think antiheroes are heroes that fights for good morals but not afraid to kill. Black Lagoon...All of those character are bad guys. lol
Personally, try reading Ichi the killer , JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders , Zetman or Dorohedoro

As for the other one:
Kaiji
Death Note
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable



Oldboy might work for you, but watch the live action movie. The film is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than the manga. The manga isn't bad but the film is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good.
Or read Pluto


Personally you should read:
Ressentiment
Boys on the run
The Legend of a Strongest Man
There's a lot a deep meaning in those series. Some of which are pretty damn harsh to bittersweet.

Last edited by Lucky23 at 9:57 pm, May 29 2012

________________