I'm looking for two things.. The first one should be pretty easy..
A typical weak to strong, but it can be anything.. It doesn't have to be action or martial arts, it can be sports (soccer, basketball, ping pong, etc), writing (from beginner to more talented), artist, or what have you.. As long as it's from weak/beginner to strong/professional/well-received..

It'd be good if there was action, romance, OR comedy. It doesn't need all three.
More importantly, it needs to be COMPLETE. Preferably completely translated.
It CANNOT be like Veritas or The Breaker, where it has a sequel that's on-going (or in Veritas' case it left it so there should have been a sequel but as far as I can tell there isn't).
If there is a sequel I'd like for that to be complete also.
Axed/Rushed Endings are fine as long as there's an actual ending, not something implying there will be a sequel or that the story keeps going.. If it has a spin-off that doesn't necessarily contribute to the story then that's fine.

If you're just going to send me this link, as you can tell I've around found it..
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?category=Weak%2Bto%2Bstrong_& filter=scanlated&perpage=50
I don't need help searching, I've explored the tag cloud and done specific searches enough.. Also, it doesn't let me filter out series which have an on-going sequel or something something.

To summarize..
-Weak to strong in some sense
-Completed story (preferably completely translated)


The second thing I'd like is something with an epic quest/MMORPG feel. Allow me to elaborate as not everyone gets the same feelings from MMOs I may.
It should focus on one character or a small group of characters, and have a lot of interaction with other people which may or may not be recurring. There should be various quests (if there's one main one there should be side ones too) which they have to go and do..
It doesn't have to be fantasy, it can be sci-fi or supernatural or even a modern drama (although that would be difficult) so long as it has focus on a small group (or one person) with interactions with a lot of other minor characters, and involves completing a lot of different tasks..

So SAO would not work at all.. It has a VRMMO as a back-drop but imo it doesn't feel like a MMO/quest story at all.. The Legendary Moonlight Sculpture on the other hand does fit.

In short..
-Either one main character or small group with lots of minor characters
-Lots of different tasks to be completed (maybe lots of small arcs or an episodic manga)

Thank you.

________________
Earn Gift Cards for Wii, PSN, XBL, LoL, and more.
My lists are a mess, and most aren't public, and the public ones are still being updated.
（╯°□°）╯︵ (.□. \）
"Hindsight is fifty-fifty"

Eyeshield 21

not sure about the MMO feel but they have 1 goal, and they go through many hoops to reach it

________________
"Fools" Said I, "you do not know,
silence like a cancer grows"

Just to be certain, you know I was asking for two different things right. o.o;

Eyeshield 21 I consider more suitable for Weak to Strong but I haven't read it yet..
I'll check it out, thanks. =) Not sure why I was putting it off. >.<;

________________
Earn Gift Cards for Wii, PSN, XBL, LoL, and more.
My lists are a mess, and most aren't public, and the public ones are still being updated.
（╯°□°）╯︵ (.□. \）
"Hindsight is fifty-fifty"

I was just reading the description for Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka and I remembered this thread.

I read this and immediately thought of Bakuman

Second criteria reminded me of 1/2 Prince. Same group of characters doing stuff. And whadduya know, some quests get done. The plot kind stalls in the middle with the singing and stronghold stuff (not even sure what was going on there), but don't let that stop you. I really like it when it gets to the Kenshin part. (Yep, it's a reference to Rurouni Kenshin, lol.)

(I've seen the SAO anime and feel baited by the first couple of episodes. Even though I prepared myself for the harem aspects, I hated how dominant the romance was. And I'm normally a shoujo/yaoi reader too. Less emo-angsting over nothing and more heads rolling!)

Maybe Tower of God as well? It's generally focuses on the same characters passing through several challenges, aka climbing the tower in this manhwa. (Though, sometimes they're splintered off into other groups.) Main character is kinda OP. Slow start, but guaranteed to suck away all your free time. (I spent a whole weekend just reading this when I started.)

If you want, you can click the link in my signature and read the official English versions before going off to the scanlation versions.

Only downside is their translations are kinda strange in some parts and the typesetting drives me nuts (former typesetter/editor here). Plus, you might encounter some confusion on names and stuff when you go read scanlation stuff... Anyways, my guess is that the official versions are draft versions to gauge popularity before they throw some real money at the American market. Strangely enough, the English versions have better resolutions than the actual Korean versions!

Last edited by SilverStorm at 9:57 pm, Nov 25 2013

@sunder
Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka isn't completed, but I guess it can't hurt to chck it out, thanks for the suggestion. =)

@weirdesky
Yes, I've read Bakuman and I rather enjoyed (the majority of) it. It's one of the reasons I'm looking for more "weak/beginner to strong/professional."
Thank you. =)

@SilverStorm
I agree with you for most of 1/2 Prince, but I felt like it deviated more and more off base until pretty close to the end. I don't remember the end anymore so I guess I better reread it (I read the light novel).

I only read the SAO light novel but I was quite disappointed by it. I didn't find the romance too strong or over powering in it, but the writing was pretty weak (or the translation was but I don't think it's that). I found the character development weak and their motivations and such were horrible. If I looked at it from a psychological point of view there would be questionable content as well. >.>;; Morally questionable, but let's not get into that.
The only part of SAO I enjoyed overall was some action in different environments, but overall I'd agree with you. u.u''

I'll definitely check out Tower of God, I've been putting it off but based on your recommendation I'll definitely take a look sooner rather than later.
And yes, I'll be using the link in your signature, thank you. =) Well, probably. Dx I'll figure it out one way or another..
I've dealt with projects being picked up and done by different groups before so I hope it's not as bad as the worse I've encountered.. Thank you for the warning, it is much appreciated. =)

________________
Earn Gift Cards for Wii, PSN, XBL, LoL, and more.
My lists are a mess, and most aren't public, and the public ones are still being updated.
（╯°□°）╯︵ (.□. \）
"Hindsight is fifty-fifty"

Magico (IWAMOTO Naoki) may be considered an "epic" quest, but I didn't really like it.

Yes, it does fit, although unfortunately I've read it. u.u''
Personally I thought it started out well enough, but it fell apart near the middle (I think before it was near getting axed). The ending wasn't well done either (there are better ends even for axed/rushed endings).

Thank you. =)

________________
Earn Gift Cards for Wii, PSN, XBL, LoL, and more.
My lists are a mess, and most aren't public, and the public ones are still being updated.
（╯°□°）╯︵ (.□. \）
"Hindsight is fifty-fifty"