@mikako17 : That's interesting. I've read maybe two or three webcomics, so I had no idea I might have had an easier time finding what I'm looking for there ^_^ I'll be sure to give those a shot. Thanks!

@residentgrigo : Ah, Neuro. A lot of fun, in a very twisted way. I was pretty worried the mangaka would go the "sadistic demon finds love with a simple human girl" route, but it didn't happen, thank all the gods! Reversal and Mother Sarah are on my computer; haven't got around to reading them yet. Ghost Hunt is pretty murky on the romance front, but then again Ono Fuyumi's like that. Love her writing. Jabberwocky sounds insane, which is (more than) fine by me. Chang ge xing and In full bloom look promising - I prefer smart plots to mindless fighting, though smart fighting would come out on top any day. I've been meaning to check out the Nijuu Mensou anime; now I have an incentive Thanks!

I was under the impression that all the Gunslinger girls were in love with their handlers, though?

I can explain Gunslinger Girl (and the "romance" aspect) if you want if you never tried it as it´s a borderline masterpiece.
Strong Female Lead has over 1800 votes and is thus the most popular tag. I always wanted to know what await so i turned off Doujinshi, Romance and Yuri and went to town (while watching Twiligh Zone) after seeing only 9 pages. The result were wild to say the least and my favorite was a gang rape hentai. "Quality" tagging in the practice ...
Here we are again after filtering out the trash:
34-sai Mushoku-san No romance but she has an estranged young daughter.
Attack No.1 I don´t remember a vocal romance in the anime but i guess i am wrong? Wiki says she has a dead lover and the last episode on youtube showed a dude dying in a truck accident.
Kenrou Densetsu Parts of this universe kind off as it is 100% nihilism.
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica Hups forgot. No Utenia but the anime and movie 3 are a 7/10. Where are the GL tags coming from?
Nijuu Mensou no Musume The anime had none.
NOiSE (NIHEI Tsutomu) A short one so no romance.
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Do not look at the the 2 manga but the anime (better then KLK as it had a consistent tone) did the whole slut thing right with Panty and Stocking had shit taste in men that went nowhere. Panty had sex like crazy but no romantic feelings to the end until... The ending is the king of trolls!
Okobore Hime to Entaku no Kishi Has some romance but is inconclusive if i remember.
Oldman None as of now.
Online - The Comic It is ok but a love story may be coming later.
Ordinary± Probably but i jumped off early.
Osen Should be romance free.
Rakia What the hell is even going on ?
Rash!! A romance is kind of there but goes nowhere cuz of the author like all his manga. Same for Angel Heart at the end but i never touched season 2 so they maybe become lovers on the last page of that.
Reinouryokusha Odagiri Kyouko no Uso Hups. Forgot it. Just like Liars Game in the romance field.
Reincarnation no Kaben Who knows but it is ok-ish.
Sakura no Ichiban! Generic and the romance i left a bit in the air or something.
Senki Zesshou Symphogear Don´t care. For singing mechs i go Rahxephon.
Shangri-La The love subplot was barely there and went nowhere like time anime. Meh.
Shinazu no Ryouken Generic girls with guns(some of is hentai has quality writing). While we are at it. Of the Mashimo Girls with Guns trilogy i only finished Noir. It as ok-ish but i don´t care. The other ones had more random GL shipping and are forgotten today.
Shinakoi Very generic and who knows ?
Shoujo Fight The romance is in the background but should come out.
Shoujo Kidan Makora I bit confusing but i guess no romance.
Sommelière Another endless food or drink manga. I think that a romance subplot comes later as they all have one.
Souten no Koumori Hard to say with this ending to a overall nice short from the FMA lady. Her Raiden-18 has co-stars.
Space China Dress (Magazine) Shonen fighting No. X. Who knows later.
Steins;Gate - Boukan no Rebellion This unneeded spin-off should have none.
Stone Ocean She does have a former lover and love interest. The first chapter or so are a bit crap towards her but the manga is good overall even if she is replaced by her daddy in the middle. But don´t start here as confusion awaits.
Sukeban Keiji It´s a mess if you ask me and she her romantic subplot should get more prominent later.
Suiiki None but no Mushishi.
Taiho Shichau zo Hups forgot. No love story or any story.
Tenkuu Shinpan Another generic survival/action manga.
Tetsuwan Girl There is a background love story.
Tokage Is style over substance but the romance is maybe in the last chapter in the background.
Tokyo ESP I jumped of very early and Ga-rei (and it´s romance) went nowhere so expect the same here as it is nearly identical.
Tista Another generic shonen action thing but no real romance.
Touhou Ibarakasen - Wild and Horned Hermit Is a whatever Moe manga.
Umimachi Diary Hups forgot. May get one later.
Un-Go - Ingaron They co-star and i don´t get their relationship. The anime is ok.
Visitor Very generic so i don´t care.
Watashi no Taisetsu na Tomodachi Is ok i guess.
Yamagutsu yo Hashire!! Female mountain clumping. Ok.
Yaoyorozu Girl It´s ok and should have none.
Yondemasu yo, Azazeru-san Like Neuro bit less interesting or without a clear lead.
Yoru wo Utau Kodomotachi Confusing so i can´t really comment.
Young Gun Carnaval Rushed action series No.X. She is an unlucky in love lesbian.
Yozakura Shijuusou I don´t know how important the romantic subplot becomes as i have quit.
Yumekui Merry It´s ok and i don´t know how important the romantic subplot is.
Zero - Kage Miko Shouldn´t have one but it is generic(read my review) so play the first 3 games. Only the 3rd one has a dead lover subplot.
Zi Bu Yu She is 9 so who knows.
Finally 20 Seiki Shounen has secretly a female lead to a degree. She has a very subtle romance too but it is not important. Happy is a vocal romance but i goes nowhere and Monster has borderline co-stars. She is 100% love with Tenma but is he? The cry in each others arms at the (very dark) end. Naoki Urasawa is the king of kings.

Here a last though experiment: "Strong Female Lead" has 31 pages but if you cut out the romance only 10 remain. Strong Female Readers listen up!
You need to be 2/3 in love all the time .
If i cut romance from "Strong Male Lead" it goes from 21 to 11 so i only need to be in love for half the day.

Last edited by residentgrigo at 3:20 pm, Feb 27 2016

________________
I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

Sure, I don't mind if you explain Gunslinger girl to me. I've always wondered what the deal was with the girls and the guys who seem to be making sure they complete their assignments(?), but large age-gap romances/crushes were never my thing, especially when it appears to be central to everything the MC does, so I never bothered to watch past the 2nd or 3rd episode of the anime (that was before I knew manga even existed, so of course if I ever try it out I'll read the manga, 'cause I prefer the original medium except in rare exceptions like Ghost in the Shell)

Thanks for the list! I'll check them out.

And that's an interesting thought experiment

Last edited by calstine at 8:42 pm, Jan 31 2015

I am not going to lie my lady. Gunslinger started as as a loli hentai doujinshi so that is very bad especially if you consider that the manga is a commentary on lolicon but eg. Hellsing started out as hentai too and at least 10% of mangaka do some form of porn on the side. Not a joke.
The girl have to take drugs so their body won´t reject the cybernetic body parts and other drugs that make them love their handlers unconditionally. This can unsurprising lead to insanity and the have a storyline about that early on. First Generation: Henrietta(gang rape victim and presented as the lead)/Rico( birth defect) have a clear brother sister relationship with their handlers. Triela(secretly the lead and the victim of sexual slavery) is 100% romantically in love with her handler (they are the best characters) who treats her like a daughter and he and his later partner devote their lives to her. Claes and her dead handler had a father daughter thing going on and she can´t go on missions because the girls are imprinted on one person alone.
Second Generation: They are older teens and the drugs/cybernetics combo is working better so they get to live longer and function more normally. That i the plan at least. The one vocal character is Petrushka who has a sexual relationship with her handler later on which is an inversion of what he had going on with his superior in the force who went of the grid to raise her child. These are all genuine feelings as the story makes clear over time but the narrative is very nihilistic and the ending is highly memorable (and presents another interesting age gap thing).
Why this ran in a shonen publication i can´t even fathom but i have seen the wildest thing in all sorts of magazines. I have seen things you people wouldn't believe.

In the third and last original GiTS manga Koukaku Kidoutai 2 Motoko(?)has random lesbian tentacle sex i just remembered at the end . That one and 1.5 were never adapted in any from as especially 2 is the most incomprehensible thing on earth.
I can name you 4 hentai writers who can write (and frankly draw) better then that hack.
You can all thank Mamoru Oshii for making GiTS a thing. I can´t stretch enough btw. that you need to read Koukaku Kidoutai Arise - Nemuranai Me no Otoko Sleepless Eye if you want to get the new universe. Koukaku Kidoutai - Stand Alone Complex is also good but just the SaC anime with a different structure and longer but less standalone episodes.
Here a more adaptation better then the original: http://mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=48085&page=1 #post654209

Last edited by residentgrigo at 7:43 am, Feb 1 2015

________________
I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

@residentgrigo : And now you've got me interested in GG I'll be sure to give it a go, then. I'm not bothered by its lolicon origins as long as there's no explicit or glorified lolicon in the story proper. (The problem isn't loli/shota. Obviously those things exist, and people should be made aware of them, through both non-fiction and thoughtfully-written fiction. The problem arises when non-hentai try to portray them as "romantic" or "destined" or "pure" or some weird nonsense like that)

I try not to judge a mangaka by his/her origins; after all, the authors of Yotsubato! and YKK used to be (and probably still are?) hentai mangaka, and they're two of my all-time favourite slice-of-life series, where women are far less sexualised than in most manga written by guys with non-H-writing backgrounds!

That's an interesting topic, about the adaptations. Might be useful for future reference. Thanks for the link!

Last edited by calstine at 9:51 am, Feb 1 2015

All Rounder Meguru is very asexual towards the women with only harmless nudity but it has a very slow but prominent romantic subplot.
I did not know that these two did porn but Mr. Yotsubato! (it´s in even his profile) is horrible @hentai it seems cuz i just looked a some and saw futanari rape.
Wait ASHINANO Hitoshi did porn too? Not that want it but I can find nothing.
Gunslinger has maybe one naked ass and you see Triela´s breasts in a flashback when human traffickers cut her leg off in a snuff porno so the manga is loli free don´t you worry.
I have nothing against underage nudity or sexuality as i am german BUT loli and shota are the worst thing japan has given the world and real child porn was only outlaws about 15 years ago(do not google).
You know what is fascinating? Alan Moore !!! did a porn one about 10 years ago with his second wife and i read Avatar Press comics that would be illegal in a japanese (hentai) publication in the way they portrait sex. Image Comic´s Saga (award winner) 10/10,
Sex 9/10 and Sex Criminals (award winner) 8,5/10 are rated 17+ but could not run in this form in a seinen magazine so i think that one can do sexually explicit material without throwing anything under the buss. Saga and S.C. have a strong female readership so you can do all sorts of stuff without being sexist or a creep. Same goes for Berserk 10/10 or Wolfsmund 9/10 which have downright frightening and unflinching rape scenes like the movie Irreversible 7/10. Ebert gave a 4/4 review of that one and it has a 8 minute log one take anal rape scene so even the most important critic on earth agrees with me.
So over in life action land I like Master of Sex 8,5/10 and Nympomanic 9/10 but 98%+ of adult tagged manga on this site are sub par to garbage as I have flooded this side with 1-3/10 reviews for borderline-H trash. I genially ask myself why japan fails at sex so hard. They are one of the most conservative first world nations there is so there is that but maybe the audience is just less literate as the bar is just lower. Most magazines are low print run anthology that go in the trash after reading and if you would ask me to name a fast amount of sex focused (and to way lesser degree violence) manga that are good i would need to dive deep into databases and wreck my brain but with comics or Bande dessinée no problem. The best japanese one btw. is the recent Natsu no Zenjitsu.
This may be why i existentially stared this thing:http://mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=48103
I would like to have a female perspective on things to see if i am full of shit or not.
Please take time to read and give your opinion on Sensei o Mite Kudasai and Yuuki Shizuka - Senior at a later date as these were the best ones i could dig up. I have also subscribed to this now so if i see something i will post it here.
Till next time and i could sell an eskimo ice if i wanted.

Edit:I just read Tom Sawyer. It counts and is an interesting take on the story.

Last edited by residentgrigo at 12:09 pm, Feb 1 2015

________________
I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

As I haven't read some of these in quite some time, I might be misremembering...

Twin Spica - While there's a male character who obviously has feelings for the protagonist, iirc she friendzones him for the duration of the series because she's completely focused on her goal of going to space.

Ano Ko no Ie - The protagonist is a very young girl... As you didn't specify otherwise, I'm assuming that's ok?

Yume no Soko

Also, I second Waters & Nausicaä.


He did some doujinshi under the name "Suuke," though I don't know if any are actually pornographic. The only collection I've seen had some fanservice, nothing more.

I had the last two but i also posted 100+ things so there is that.
About ASHINANO Hitoshi. If these is nothing to be found then i will change that line in the profile in a week as anything else is slander.
Rocket Girls the anime is like Twin Spica which has a small romantic subplot so that counts too. Saint Seiya - Saintia Shou Is now in translation.
My lady there are 1930 views. Not bad.

Last edited by residentgrigo at 8:56 pm, Feb 2 2015

________________
I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

@hahhah42 : Thanks for the recs! I'd have loved to read Twin Spica, romance or no, but unfortunately it's licensed and I can't afford it. Oh, well. Maybe some day.
Waters was lovely (the mangaka wrote Mushishi, after all). Nausicaa has been on my computer forever, but it's one of those series I want to take my time reading so I never quite manage to get around to it. And, yes, female protagonists of all ages are welcome!

@residentgrigo : Maybe I misunderstood, but were you suggesting I read those H-manga? If so, I'm sorry, but I'm ace so I never read hentai. I've no problem with graphic sex as long as it's subordinate to the plot and/or character development (preferably) or the romance (this depends on whether or not I like the relationship in question), but sex being the primary focus, no matter how skilfully or respectfully depicted, is...well, it does nothing for me. Thanks anyway, especially for the interesting commentary on porn vs.hentai

And as for whether H-manga "fail" at sex or not... If you ask me, porn can only be judged by whether or not the target demographic enjoyed it (ie: by whether they achieved their goal of becoming aroused by it enough to go solo between partners, or totally manage without a partner, or fulfil socially/morally unacceptable or illegal desires, or whatever other reason they use porn in place of actual sex). If the Japanese like getting off on their particular brand of hentai, then it's not a failure as porn no matter how offensive or ugly or stupid we non-Japanese (or even other Japanese people outside the target demographic) find it, imo. But that's just my weird way of thinking, so don't pay much attention to this paragraph!

Btw -- would you happen to know whether you need to have read the original Saint Seiya to understand Saintia Shou?

Last edited by calstine at 12:19 am, Feb 3 2015

You don´t have to read the old SS as the new one is just another ok shonen fighting thingy just with girls as greek gods. It exist so on the list it goes. Brian Azzarello´s Wonder Woman it is not. Dr. Slump can sort of count as they co-star but her romance is not that vocal and they all have such partners.
It is better then Dragonball as it never goes Z but ends in grace.
The Perfect Blue anime movie counts btw and i just got mail that Mr. YKK did porn of Gunslinger Girl and R.O.D The TV so the line can stay and I am actually borderline anti dōjinshi as you need to make money of your own brain juice and not skate along behind giants. TEZUKA Osamu the god of maga did some hentai movies to bad the first 2 a crap and Kanashimi no Belladonna (has a romance in a way) is ok but crazy.
A proto The Woman Called Fujiko Mine in a way which is not a "romance" but she bangs Zenigata to escape jail and i hated that.
I only mentioned the YKK thing because UBUKATA Tow had some crazy crap about him wanting to win the Pulitzer in his ANN profile without a source and i got that one removed when i noticed it. Too bad that there are now forums about that topic because people didn´t like Psycho Pass 2 or whatever. I really hate unfunded rumors as now people think that Miura is into lolicon or that Mr. HxH is a lazy Jrpg slave while he is actually sick and so on.
We may get Nausicaä movies by Anno btw. as he is thinking about it and EVA is ending.
Edit: Half of Suxinn´s stuff is new and i should have looked at Male Demographic with Female Lead better. Propper tagging is half the research as this topic shows.

Last edited by residentgrigo at 1:18 am, Feb 3 2015

________________
I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

Are you particular about genres? There are a lot of slice-of-life female protagonists without love interests.

Ergo...
Aqua / Aria
Dainana Joshikai Houkou
Himitsu no Kaidan
Kumamiko - Girl Meets Bear
Kyou, Curry!
Kyoukai Senjou no Rinbo
Mikake no Nijuusei
Mill (though the story is told from Aki's perspective, it's basically Mill's story too)
Ritou no Umi
Sketchbook

Action-y/supernatural/drama titles...
BaggataWay
Bloody Cross
Bushido Sixteen
Butter!!!
Dark Seed (the tags say romantic subplot, but I haven't seen it yet)
Doll Star - Kotodama Tsukai Ihon
Franken Fran
Gisèle Alain (at the rate this is going though there might eventually be romance)
Hiiro no Isu
Hitsugi Katsugi no Kuro. - Kaichu Tabi no Wa
Husk of Eden (trust me, it has a female protagonist)
Mahou Gyoushounin Roma
:REverSAL
Suiiki

Slapstick comedy such as Carat! and O/A also tend to have female protagonists sans romance.

Also looked through my old posts and found this thread which might interest you.

@Suxinn : Thanks very much for the long list! I'm not particular about genres, exactly, in that apart from the genres I indicated in my first post I won't flat-out avoid anything else, but when it comes to things like comedy (especially slapstick humour and blue humour), sports and action shounen, I'm more picky than with, say, something with supernatural, sci-fi or mystery themes. That being said, Carat and O/A look fun despite their premises.

Gisele is romance, imo, but since the author's the one who wrote Witch of the Flower Forest (from Tsukiyo no Toratsugumi), it's been on my list for a while now.

Isn't Butter romance, though? It sounds that way, from the synopsis.

Like the cheapskate that I am, I wasn't very happy when I saw Bloody Cross was licensed. It doesn't look great enough to blow my minimal allowance on, but interesting enough that I want to read it... The worst kind of dilemma, as far as I'm concerned

Btw -- the link you provided is a bit messed up: there are two links sort of smashed together (one to a homeimprovement.com page + the one to the actual MU forum page); I managed to untangle them, though, so no worries I'll look through that post as well.

@residentgrigo : Perfect Blue was excellent; Satoshi Kon does a pretty good job on anime movies, imo. Paprika's my least favourite of his subbed works, though I can't pinpoint the reason.

Last edited by calstine at 3:38 am, Feb 3 2015

Tokyo Godfathers also counts and Paprika is his best. Sorry. Millennium Actress is the second best. He was my favorite movie director with Mamoru Oshii thereafter.
Hayao Miyazaki is obviously unreachable but that is given. PB is good but should be his least acclaimed one in the long run but is somewhat the basis for Black Swan. Look it up. With PB he only adapted someone else´s script btw. Movie corner over and on to manga.
Hells Angels or the Madhouse movie do count mostly. Nice INSANITY.
Edit: If Husk of Eden (Titan´s without clear fantasy) counts which has no real and changing leads (and background romance) then the similar Gojikanme no Sensou should count too but it has clearly more romance storys for the multiple protagonists.
Edit2: Cotton is new. Wow we have a Platonic Love tag. Interesting.

Last edited by residentgrigo at 6:15 pm, Feb 4 2015

________________
I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

Golondrina
Cotton
A Lollipop or a Bullet
Tokyo girls destruction
Bucchigiri CA
Venus versus virus - I was baited
Helen ESP

Thought it was GL, huh? Despite the cover art, I knew immediately that that wouldn't be the case: it had a plot, and as far as I know most textual GL (and BL) don't have plots, and even if they do they don't have ones that are interesting-looking. I thought the MC had a BF, though? Someone who'd read it told me so. It's been on my to-read list for ages - I should really get around to reading it.

Thanks for the recs!