I have just re-read Monster and 20th Century Boys and now I'm in the mood for some rich stories.
- Seinen
- Completely scanlated if possible, or at least long enough for some judgement

TIA

21st Century Boys?
Pluto
Homunculus
Sanctuary
Kiseijuu

Since spawnblade already said a lot of the things I was going to recommend (I second everything on that list except Sactuary, which I haven't read, and maybe Homunculus, because I haven't finished it + don't want to recommend something that's good for the first few volumes then pulls a bleach)

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first notes (---) are extremely abridged summaries. following notes are pointless comments.

Blade of the Immortal
--- girl's parents are raped and killed. man kills his sister's husband (and his sister dies, too iirc) + wants to redeem himself. girl meets man. girl tells man to redeem himself by avenging the death of her parents.
--- historical fiction w/worms, immortals, and the justification of revenge.
--- also has a take-it-or-leave-it element of nihilism that's subtle throughout the series and then pulls an energizer bunny in the epilogue.
--- minor pedophilia + incest themes warning. the major ones are the other way around though (daughter likes dad, kid likes old man) + it's not mutual, which makes them bearable.
--- NOTE: Download the torrents (or from the scanlation sites themselves). Most (if not all) read-online sites have the chapters all mixed up. Also the scanlations >>>>>> Dark Horse's version 9.5 times out of 10. Legit scanlations are fairly rare though iirc; most of them are just DH's version scanned + cleaned.

Blame!
--- uhh. net genes and stuff. hard to summarize lmao. the only summary i can give you: guns.
--- probably one of the extremely few hard(?) scifis that I've actually enjoyed.
--- so basically this is sci-fi. with a million and two guns.

One Outs
--- man loves to gamble. man is average at baseball, but is phenomenal at manipulating people. man beats everyone else at baseball by reading them + manipulating them. man is scouted by a baseball team that's dying out.
--- genius character.
--- this is a psychological gambling manga under the guise of a baseball/sports manga. fair warning. could still be fun for baseball fans, but (1) that's not what the emphasis is on and (2) you don't have to be a sports fan to love it. i hate sports myself lmao.
--- art does not improve, but the story is more than worth it.

Liar Game -- incomplete
--- girl is swindled into playing a series of gambling games. girl sucks at life. 200 million yen is stolen from the girl and she is on the brink of major debt. girl asks a swindler to help her out. they become a team + they continue the games together.
--- stupid/naive/childish POV character, genius main character (it's like sherlock holmes -- lead character is watson, but a lot of the focus is on holmes)
--- POV character grows from annoying to increasingly bearable to lovable (albeit still a bit irritating/embarrassing at times) because yay character development. just stick with it.
--- also a psychological gambling manga.
--- art improves, and you learn to bear with the over-exaggerated faces.

Afterschool War Activities
--- alien purple balls appear (just bear with it). highschoolers need to fight to "save" the nation.
--- better if you've lived in korea as a high-schooler, esp. as a korean, or at least have korean parents, frequent korean forums, etc, but this isn't at all necessary to enjoy it. it's just that the series could lose a lot of its charm otherwise.
--- the scanlators do a great job in trying to abridge + present the nuances behind a lot of the plot elements, but a lot of the things won't really hit home (and may even seem exaggerated/nonsensical) unless you've experienced the specific tensions, politics, etc. of Korea as a Korean yourself.

Kasane (MATSUURA Daruma). ---incomplete
--- ugly girl is bullied + has depression/self esteem issues. she has a ~magic lipstick~ that lets her temporarily switch her face with another person.
--- doesn't start to shine until it reaches the mid-twenties (chapter-wise), and it obviously hasn't been scanlated that far yet, but enough chapters have been released that you should be able to judge for yourself whether you want to continue it.

Hoshi no Koe
--- girl likes boy. boy likes girl. girl has to go to a bunch of different planets to fight aliens. they text each other after separating, but the distance + time gradually separate their hearts, too.
--- extremely short, so i say read it even if you don't like the summary/beginning/etc.

Holyland
--- boy is bullied. boy reads a book on fighting. boy becomes the best fighter on the streets.
--- basically street fighting manga with gangs and drugs.
--- it has a lot of realistic descriptions, which makes it seem believable. and it is believable, just not realistic. i hear it's based on the author's real experiences, but the "author's real experiences" were (from what i've heard) only valid for him because he was 180+cm and over 200 lbs of muscle to begin with.

Shin Angyo Onshi
--- man has a magic pendant thingamajigger. pendant thingamajigger is OP. man uses pendant thingamajigger to save people + --- episodic at first, but a complex-ish story gradually reveals itself
--- better if you're familiar with certain korean/asian folk tales


The following I haven't read yet, but I hear are fairly similar in caliber/genres to Monster + 20CB:
Vagabond
Berserk
Mushishi
Vinland Saga

Last edited by PinkStarBePink at 1:16 am, Aug 19 2014

Thank you! Actually I've read all but Sanctuary, it's been on my wishlist for ages, I should dig it up now. Btw I totally agree with PinkStarBePink abt Homunculus, I expected much considering its author and first volumes, but it was a let down

@PinkStarBePink:
Thank you, I've been wanting to read Blade of the Immortal and Kasane too. I've read Liar Game and Holyland (love its author), as well as Vagabond, Berserk, Mushishi and Vinland Saga

One Outs sounds great, if it's not for your rec I'd skip it, sports isn't my cup of tea. Will read Blames because it's one of the extremely few hard(?) scifis that you've actually enjoyed lol, I'm not much into scifi either.

I've seen people raving abt Afterschool War Activities, and sure Shin Angyo Onshi is a must-read, but since I'm not much into Korean stuff/manhwa, they remain on my waitlist

Well, they are pretty unique, the usual recommendation would be stuff from the same author, such as Billy Bat
Pineapple Army (Too bad there is only some chapters scanlated)
Master Keaton
The last two only as the artist though.

If you are looking for seinen recs, then:
Dorohedoro
Blame!
Shuto Heru

________________
This week's favorites:

- Golden Kamui





ççççççç[Ô .Ô] tsutopodus© will eat your manga and steal your cats!

Also check all high-rated and completed works by Ha Il-Kwon (like Annarasumanara) and Fukumoto Nobuyuki (very good despite the rough art).

oh crap haha i obvs wasnt paying attention while writing my previous post. that first paragraph was supposed to be continued by: ", so a lot of these titles arent all that similar to monster/20cb aside from the fact that theyre all seinen + some of them are also psychological."

and haha you read the whole thing. thanks.wasnt expecting that. + lol yeah youve read a lot. i probably should have checked your lists first but too late now. my bad.

and anyway glad i helped

edit: oh and i second annara but it's also korean so idk. to your waitlist it goes?

Here are some recs similar to monster/20CB, mainly mystery seinen with a good plot, none of them on your lists :
Seizon - Life
Old Boy (You might have already watched the movie... I find it better than the manga, but it's still worth a read.)
The Hour of the Mice
Himitsu (Shoujo, but don't let that deter you, it's a good one)

@tsuto: Thank you, I've read everything scanlated by Urasawa Taking Blame! and Shuto Heru.

@MondSemmel: Thank you, I've just bookmarked some by Fukumoto!

@PinkStarBePink: my lists are outdated and sometimes I totally forget about stuff on wishlist anw xD Thank you once again, and you got me curious abt annara, but it has to wait until I finish all things I get from this thread xD

@oneeyed: I read The Hour of the Mice, don't know if I forgot to put it in my list or it's filed under a different name, but thanks a lot! Seizon and Old Boy look so promising, Himitsu too (yeah the only time I include shoujo in my search is when I look for cute stuff)