Hi!
I'm a major manga junky but I've downloaded more manga than I can read or even sift through over the years! So I'm hoping I can turn to some other manga junkies out there for some recommendations! ^^

I'm looking for some well-written romance manga filled with drama that have deep and profound themes. I love manga that makes me go "omg, that's so f*cked up!" or manga that can make me cry too... lol. I also enjoy high school, slice of life romance manga (that may or may not necessarily deal with super profound themes). Thanks in advance! <3

A few titles related to this request that I absolutely love are:
- Ayashi no Ceres (Ceres: Celestial Legend)
- Mars
- After School Nightmare
- Mekakushi no Kuni (Land of the Blindfolded)
- Sunadokei (Sand Chronicles)
- Bokura ga Ita (We Were There)



Last edited by water_angel at 11:42 pm, Jan 24 2008

Kare Kano


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Mittsu no kokoro ga hitotsu ni nareba...
Hitotsu no seigi wa hyakuman pawaa.
- Getter Robo -

Aishiteruze Baby, might not be the "omg messed up!!" but has the "I CAN'T STOP CRYING" factor to it, lol.

I commend you about Mars <3 and Afterschool Nightmare, and I second the suggestion on Kare Kano (endure the -sometimes- clustered and confusing panels of the first volumes, and you'll be rewarded ^^V . Great plot, great cast, great angst and romance).
Then I can suggest you (there's quite a range of genres, I hope you'll enjoy at least some of them):
Clover (the CLAMP one. Very dark and moving and pretty, with the bonus of not being too long or complicated like other works by this team of mangaka. )
Real Fake Princess (historical, drama and love and sacrifice and oh-so-pretty clothes XD)
Victorian romance Emma (after the first two volumes the art improves exponentially. Romance and drama to boot ^_^)
Hana no Koe (very moving )
Kagen no Tsuki (this is very good. It has romance, supernatural, angst, some humour, coming-of-age, glamourous musicians - without the soap-opera-ish route and long-windedness of Nana [by the same author, Ai Yazawa] - . And the end is very... cathartic and sad and sweet and... lovely)
Made in heaven (well, again, you can say there's quite enough of the f***** up factor here, and drama and romance)
Mucha Kucha Daisuki (mooooving ;.;. Starts comical, turns drama-y along the way)
Lovesick(the only pseudo-incest manga I've actually liked so far, because of the sensitive/sensible approach to the subject)
Dear Mine (It's about love between a child and a young teenager girl. Very sweet and.. well, pure, despite the premises)
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P.S.: by the same mangaka of Afterschool nightmare I'd suggest you also Diamond Head (a bit of slice-of-life flavour, themes are quite deep, and you get a moving twist too ) Shoujo Ningyou (be sure to get the side story too), and X-Day (thought-inducing).

Last edited by elianthos at 4:05 am, Jan 25 2008

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Motomi Kyousuke is DA (WO)MAN ;D
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=14467&p ost=382161

Anything by Ai Yazawa?
That would include
Paradise Kiss
Nana
Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai
Gokinjo Monogatari
and various others

I'd recommend paradise kiss the most

Thanks for all the wonderful in-depth recommendations everyone! I really appreciate your input! ^^ Since you all have taken the time to suggest manga for me, I'll at least post a reply regarding your suggestions! =D For the stuff that I haven't read yet, I will definitely take a look into them! Thanks again! <333

Finished/read most of/read up to date:
- Kare Kano
- Vampire Knight
- Mucha Kucha Daisuki
- Diamond Head
- Shoujo Ningyou (along with the side story ^^)
- X-Day
- Kagen no Tsuki
- Paradise Kiss
- Nana

Read some thus far:
- Bitter Virgin
- Aishiteruze Baby

Have not read yet, but have in my collection:
- Real Fake Princess
- Lovesick
- Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai
- Gokinjo Monogatari

Have not read yet and need to download/purchase:
- Goong
- Clover
- Victorian romance Emma
- Hana no Koe
- Made in heaven
- Dear Mine

Lol, you're not the only manga junkie here.

7 Seeds (a cool romantic survival story)
Cat Street
Cynical Orange
Dawn Tsumetai Te
Eden no Hana
Global Garden
Hoshi no Koe (one volume, but very touching; highly recommended)
Hyakuman Tsubu no Namida
Koukou Debut
My Girl
Nadeshiko Club
Partner (definitely has the "Omg, that's so f*cked up" feeling)
Penguin Revolution
Saver
The Hour of the Mice (VERY highly recommended)
Vanilla Ice (funny to the extreme)
xxxHolic (don't worry, no explicit stuff in this one; a personal favorite)
Asa mo, Hiru mo, Yoru mo
Forever Honey (a oneshot, but makes me cry everytime)
Suki ni Natte mo Ii no?

Finally, there's Skip Beat!. This one is also a personal favorite, and I highly recommend reading this one.

Hehe, of course I'm bound to find plenty of other manga junkies *here*! ^^ Thanks for all your recommendations! I haven't read a lot of them so I'll definitely look into these too! X3

Finished/read most of/read up to date:
- Cat Street
- Koukou Debut
- Penguin Revolution
- xxxHolic (I actually love this one too! <3)
- Skip Beat!

Read some thus far:
- Eden no Hana
- Global Garden
- Partner
- Asa mo, Hiru mo, Yoru mo

Have not read yet, but have in my collection:
- Vanilla Ice
- Forever Honey
- Suki ni Natte mo Iino?

Have not read yet and need to download/purchase:
- 7 Seeds
- Cynical Orange
- Dawn Tsumetai Te
- Hoshi no Koe (I did watch the animated OAV though!)
- Hyakuman Tsubu no Namida
- My Girl
- Nadeshiko
- Saver
- Hour of the Mice

[m]Yamato Nadeshkio Shichi Henge[/m] is funny

Koukou Debut
Bitter Virgin [seinen, though]
Asa mo, Hiru mo, Yoru mo
Haou Airen - this is a Shinjo Mayu series, so it contains EXTREME amounts of smut. It also has violence, and consensual rape. You WILL think "OMG, THAT'S SO FUCKED UP", trust me on that.>_> But it won't be a good way to think about it, like Mars or whatever.

READ IT IF YOU DARE. It's a pretty fucked up manga, and the whole fucked-up shit begins at Volume 4 [well, it's from the beginning... but Volume 4 is what makes it fucked up more xD]

You've been warned. >_> Read it at your own risk

Last edited by Dubby at 6:19 pm, Jan 25 2008

You know Dubby, I also moderated your series comment on Haou Airen, and I had to edit it for foul language. Try to keep the swearing minimal please. (Not that I don't think the concept of "consensual rape" is messed up. It doesn't even make sense... An it is horribly disturbing. Still... avoid excessive swearing please.

I just finished reading After School Nightmare after you said you read it and..

It is bloody amazing.
Seriously,
no words can sum up how friggin amazing it is.



Last edited by Pomegranate at 9:05 pm, Jan 25 2008

Thanks a lot! ^^

Dubby: I've read Haou Airen too and yeah it is pretty jacked up to say the least... lol.

Pomegranate: I'm glad you were able to enjoy it! If you liked After School Nightmare you would probably like a lot of Mizushiro Setona's other works as her manga are predominately of that genre and are interesting, well-written and thought compelling.

Some titles additions ^_^ :
Basically anything by Toume Kei: someone already mentioned the hour of the mice. Also, I'd suggest Lament of the Lamb (it's also a complete series, pretty good. ) . Finally, by the same author of Mars, ES (Eternal Sabbath) and Cesare.
and now...a top fav of mine: Kaze Hikaru . Think roughly 'Kenshin for girls', with the bonus of no super-uber moves and super-uber fighting skills (suspension of disbelief, adieu ^^; ) and gender bending for a higher goal. And romance, and drama, and blood, and comedy, and lotsa kimono and katana oh yeah <3.
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And... if you look for smutty romance, eh... go either for Kayono 's or Yoshihara Yuki 's works: Otoko Hime, B-Men Kazoku, Itadakimasu, Sheherazade (personally, I like Kayono's art a lot, but Yoshihara's stories are better). Also, some cute stories (some nudity, but usually with little or no smut and pretty art) are Shimaki Ako 's ones . Shinju Mayu... I'd rather not comment (or recommend , for that matter) on her works ^_^;;; .
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Shoujo, slice-of-life, not too deep, very funny with adorable characters <3: Lovely Complex .
Oh, and Men's School: shoujo with males protagonists, and from their POV, quite the treat .
Kanno Aya is a mangaka with quite the range of genres in her works: Forever Honey is a very moving oneshot from her, while Kokoro ni Hana wo is a heart-warming slice-of-life about a all-adopted-males family. Otomen is high-school and very funny, but she's also working on historical and action/darker manga.
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Last but not least : if you feel like getting a horror fix, complete with deep themes, aliens, a bit of ecology, AND romance (because it's definitely there, and it's one of the main - though not shown very often - key elements of the plot), try Kiseijuu (I don't know if you'll like the art, but I gradually became accostumed to it and now i like it: very effective and clear).

Last edited by elianthos at 11:25 am, Jan 26 2008

________________
Motomi Kyousuke is DA (WO)MAN ;D
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=14467&p ost=382161