Okay so... my mom, wants to learn English. She knows somewhat, but it's plain terrible. And I need her to learn it since I accidentally deleted some language files on my iPhone and can only type English now (lol...). Can't restore, jailbroken and wanna stay that way.

Anyways, I suggested for her to instead of reading novels, read mangas. I mean, there's pics right? It SHOULD have been easier... but it wasn't.

She wants absolutely 0 romance. They can't even kiss for all she cares. That crosses out most I had in mind. She wants something cute and fluffy and well, I doubt she'll take shounen actions... I ended up giving her Natsume Yuujinchou but guess what? She realized, at the same time as me, that she can't do it after all! Why? Translated mangas are generally typed all capitals.

Now, I'm sitting here a bit pissed, a bit frustrated, and very stubborn. So someone please gimme something that this even more stubborn mom would take?

I think it's pretty obvious, don't give her ecchi, hentai, adult, mature, smut, romance, and def not yaoi and yuri. I dun wanna see rape, foul language, or anything that might make her ban my manga. That includes those with semi naked girls or guys. Yea, I know, there's all types of mangas out there. But as far as she cares, if she sees one of those yaoi mangas, I'd be in deep deep trouble with manga labeled as "poison". As a reference, I remember her going crazy when years back I was watching Pitchi Pitchi Pitch on TV. She says the girls are naked, and they'd corrupt me along with those dirty romance. You get the idea. And her friend who lives with us, couldn't take Pokemon, and banned me for violence... Oh, if it's educational, or a bit of a psychological, a plus! But not required as English alone is educational enough.

Think I should just get her to watch anime? I can almost see her saying it's waste of time too long and she's busy though...

Oh btw, she's obsessed with her semi-new iPad atm. She ditched everything analog and material, including books. So it has to be able to run on iOS. I do think that most manga can, given there are apps like MangaRock, but just a heads-up. No novels, since most are generally paid and I don't want her wandering to some pirate sites off of iBooks.

Last edited by renseih at 9:55 am, May 13 2013

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How can someone not want any romance whatsoever...? Especially a mom, lol...

Anyways, pretty much all manga dialogue is written in caps. So I'm not sure how you think we'll be able to help...

Have her try My Girl (Sahara MIZU), if that doesn't tug at a mother's heartstrings nothing will.

Gakuen Babysitters
oh and Chii's Sweet Home



Last edited by TiagoHMK at 10:51 am, May 13 2013

How about yotsubato! ?

Did I get it right, and you need a manga in order to compensate your mother's loss and to improve her impression on manga? You've got yourself some troublesome task, man.

Whatever, is your mother okay with drama and tragedy? Otherwise my list of suggestions would become even more limited.

Let's start with two cute series without any drama:

Flat (AOGIRI Natsu)
A fluffy slice of life. I thought that your mother might relate to the story more easily if it had to do with childcare.

Shirley by MORI Kaoru
A historical story about a maid's everyday life in England. With MORI-sensei's gorgeous art and well-researched background. I'm not sure if your mother's English skills are sufficient for this kind of setting, though.


The next suggestion contains some tragedy but it's definitely worth reading:

My Young Cat and My Old Dog by Cho
Bittersweet stories and profound reflections on the relationship between pets and their masters. If your mother has ever had a pet on her own, she'll know to appreciate this one.


I second My Girl (SAHARA Mizu).
Beautifully realistic, this manga portrays the growing relationship between a young father and his daughter. Even though, there is no actual romance, the deceased mother still plays a big role in their life. I don't know if that might bother your mother, but I wouldn't want anyone to miss this story because of some prejudices.


By the way, I would recommend to read on batoto.net if your mother needs an online reader. It has the best quality and the least advertisements. Good luck with your search!


Last edited by Tripitaka at 2:19 pm, May 13 2013

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"Stories are what death thinks he puts an end to.
He can't understand that they end in him, but they don't end with him."
- Ursula K. Le Guin, Gifts

To be savoured:
- Blood Alone by TAKANO Masayuki
- Otoyomegatari by MORI Kaoru
- Gangsta. by Kohske
- Seishun Kouryakuhon by AKIZUKI Sorata

It's kind of hard to find something with so many "limitations", Hikaru no Go would be my best pick but I dunno how much appeal a manga about that kind of sport could have on your mom. But it doesn't have anything you listed above and it's well written. Also I know that a lot of "older" women like Taniguchi Jiro's works, so maybe you could try some and see how they could fit (too bad many of them are hard to find).

For anime, you can make her watch Usagi Drop, hoping that she never finds the manga.

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What I like in Trivial Pursuit style. Pick your category:

I guess stuff like To Love-ru is no go.

In which case, let us start off with Nobunaga no Chef. There's some very subtle romance, but no kissing. It's a historical and (somewhat) educative manga and...well, if/when you read a few chapters; I assure you that you'll like it. And your mother as well. It's slightly violent, but it's within acceptable limits, even for elementary schoolers.

Shinryaku! Ika Musume is a slice of life manga. An invasion by a girl from the sea. She's not a mermaid... but a squid? This is a comedy/slice of life manga, which is suitable for all ages. It does, however, get repetitive.

(There are two manga: Hanamaru Youchien and Himawari Youchien) but as they have implied romance between the school teachers and children (one sided!! And no need to ask which!!!) but your mother might take it the wrong way...

I'm also voting for for "My girl" by Sahara Mizu.

Sakamoto Desu Ga? a manga which even the Gods rate 10/10. The Chuck Norris of the Manga world. The only risk of this manga is your mother WILL become an Otaku and fall in love with 2D - or rather, just with Sakamoto.

Minami-ke! The description explains it well enough.

Slightly surprised that no-one suggested this!

Give a try to Doraemon. It has nothing wrong what so ever and a little educational too,due to sci-fi factor.


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hey

Try Nukoduke!, Chokotto Hime and Momokan sooo cute~ and 0 romance!
i'm positive your mom will love it!

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Live for something otherwise u'll die for nothing

Doraemon @.@ lol... actually, it's worth a shot!

And thanks for all the suggestions too, I see quite a few that may work. Now just need to double check the upper / lower cases... Yea, I know, most of them aren't. But I did read a few probably with inexperienced typesetter / translator using fonts that offer lower cases. I do know that it's unlikely that there's something so convenient too, so if not... I'd have to wait until she's willing to learn.

And yes, she refuses romance. Gross she says. Well, even though I say she's my mom, that's just on papers and to avoid confusion. I'm adopted, she's my actual aunt. Probably known no man... Which is why, I highly doubt she ever grown out of her princess personality as the only girl spoiled.

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Second this.

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Being alone is only lonely if you want it to be.
Staying in lucid delusion for an eternity.

lol apart from that she seems to have a few issues your "mom" seems to be pretty cool to actually want to read manga. My mom doesn't even know what a manga is xD

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as far as ebooks go, have you guys tried going to project gutenberg. All the books there are free to download. It's all nice and legal too.

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Sarcasm just doesn't work over the internet.

I don't understand the problem with upper case letters. Can you please explain this?