Maybe Hoshi no Samidare? It might start as a little dark but its darkness is overall overshadowed by the comedy, and it ends on the idealistic side anyway. Superpowers, action, comedy and contemporary world, I think it could work.

I second Psyren as it seems fitting of his favourite genres, but I found the beginning much darker than FMA.

________________
My current top 3:
Fullmetal Alchemist
Pandora Hearts
3-gatsu no Lion

Defunct license? There should be some DVDs/Blurays of Break Blade out there and if he enjoys it, he can read the manga after since they follow the series very well (some small differences towards the end but he could just re-read that part). I know I shouldn't say this but there are places on the net where one can read them (not difficult to find either)

For Gundam, I would get him the anime DVDs/Blurays instead since the mangas are just a bunch of spinoffs. It all depends on the kind of art he can stand but if it's newer only then I would recommend SEED and SEED Destiny or Gundam 00. While these aren't the best in the series, they're a good place to start.


Edit: I see what you mean by defunct now after checking the page. It's too bad really, it's a good manga. Still, there are several places he can read it, if he wants to.

Bad idea. Don't start someone off on something that will make all other manga crap by comparison. Let him read some crap first, then drop the wonder that is hoshi no samidare a few years later.

You may actually want to check out the scott pilgrim comics. If he gets a street fighter reference then that should be a good fit.

Thanks for your continuous support. I've finished checking your suggestions, and here are the results:

@Oniluap
Unfortunately, VIZ' English translation of World Trigger has yet to be released.

@Smillo
Somehow, I got the impression that O-Parts Hunter is an adventure story whose action scenes are too frequent for its storyline; therefore it feels shallow. I don't think he would enjoy it.

@RockoDyne
Code Geass is way too serious and tragic for him. Death Note's premise also contains too many dark and possibly tragic elements with all the foreshadowing about Light's family and his more and more apparent ruthlessness.
Judging by the first 10 chapters Air Gear looks all right. I'm only concerned about all the negative reviews. Is it true that the plot goes downhill after the first half?
As for Scott Pilgrim, I'm inclined to leave it out since it looks more like a slice of life than an action story.

@Snakering
The idea of joining a comic author and a manga artist is nice but the narration in Ultimo's first 10 chapters is so jumbled and heavy-handed that I've decided not to buy it.

@Suxinn
Thanks for reminding me of Tiger & Bunny (SAKAKIBARA Mizuki). It might be the most fitting series so far as it mixes the American superhero story with a Japanese take on characters and setting.
I'll put Kekkaishi on my list as one of the backup manga. It doesn't fit his preferences perfectly but he might enjoy it nevertheless because of the frequent action scenes and the light-hearted humour.
Law of Ueki feels a tad too random for the start, so I'll leave it be.

@train93
Hoshi no Samidare's a great series that matches his tastes really well but I agree with RockoDyne that it may be too good for a starter. Same goes for Fullmetal Alchemist. I'll save them for the future when he's read enough to appreciate their quality.
I'll take your concern over Psyren into consideration.

@_D_
I'm limiting my choice to licensed manga and comics because I want to get him started on a new medium and I'd feel better if I could present him with a physical copy whose sale supports the mangaka instead of a bunch of illegal websites.
I've tried the newer Gundam manga adaptions. and the setting's exactly to his taste. However, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I was missing the background information that would allow one to fully enjoy the story. That's why I'll put them on the list as backup titles.

The way things stand at the moment, I'm going to buy him either the first volume of Tiger & Bunny (SAKAKIBARA Mizuki) or of Psyren depending on how likely I will get them in time.


________________
"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

I wouldn't go with Air Gear. While I really enjoyed the beginning it has some things he'd probably not like. It also goes completely crazy after a while since it's Oh! Great, after all.

For Gundam, you don't need the backstory at all since they explain what you need to know and I specifically chose those 3 because you don't need to watch previous shows to understand. You could try Sidonia no Kishi, it's set in space and they fight with giant mechs in it. Sure, people die a lot in it but you don't get to know most of them all that well so it doesn't have a large impact on you. It's not gory either since they mostly get absorbed by the giant aliens.

I understand that you don't want him to read online over a real book but there aren't nearly as many options when he dislikes so many themes.

Last edited by _D_ at 9:09 am, Aug 14 2014

Pretending it got canceled around volume 15 is a valid idea in my book. At the same time though, it won't hurt him to read something crappy.


OP: the more you talk about the kid's preferences, the more it sounds like he wants power rangers that's not corny or shoujo manga. It sounds like you grilled the kid about what he doesn't like instead of what he does like, so you really don't know where his tolerances are.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll cross Air Gear out then.

@_D_
Good to know. I'll give Sidonia no Kishi a shot.

@RockoDyne
Let's say a cooler, more contemporary version of the Power Rangers wouldn't be that far from his current taste. After all, he adores the Transformer series and disaster films by Roland Emmerich, which are basically action feasts with lots of CGI effects as a garnish.
I guess I've focused too much on his dislikes thinking a filter would make it easier to recommend something. Actually, I didn't talk to him about this matter at all because I didn't deem it necessary. I've played video games and watched series and films with him ever since he was small, so I came to know his preferences quite well. I just derived all those criteria from my experience.
He's led a very sheltered life. Let me illustrate: Whenever somebody starts to talk about more graphic topics like crimes, accidents, diseases or insects he'll ask the speaker to stop and delay the conversation until he's out of hearing distance because he doesn't want to imagine them. On the other hand, he'd gladly join in when you're talking about scientific discoveries or anything technology-related.


Last edited by Tripitaka at 3:43 am, Aug 15 2014

________________
"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

Wow, he's not gonna have it easy when he's a bit older.

If you want something like Power Rangers there's always Samurai Flamenco. No idea if they've released any Blurays/DVDs in your country though.

Since Youtube keeps removing OP only, here's the next best thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XpyXzTopTI

Considering what you've said about his sensitivity, I think you'll have to cross out the Gundam franchise as a whole.

Admittedly, I have only had a passing glance at the manga versions of it, but the stories will always include a few incidents of mass murder via a giant space laser and/or dropping big ass rock or something similar to the surface of the Earth.

SEED in particular had some really gruesome scenes at times, including but not limited to, showing a close up of a man being crushed by a mecha-sized shield and having a whole city full of people being exploded/vaporised by a doomsday weapon that acted like a huge microwave-bomb..thing.

There were also some plain old war crimes like killing surrendering soldiers en-masse.

Then again, maybe they cleaned up some of that in the manga versions? But wanton cruelty by certain parties and the cycle of revenge have been a common theme in Gundam as a whole.

Edit: Gundam Build Fighters is the only exception to this that I'm aware of. And again, I've only seen the anime of it. The manga Gundam Build Fighters A acts as a prequel to the anime. Haven't read it yet.

________________

what about zetman?

Because that wouldn't traumatize him, lol

Well, Knights of Cydonia could work if you find the manga. The animation bugs the hell out of me in the anime.

If you want to dig up an old anime, you might want to check out nadesico (martian successor nadesico). It's a bit on the random side at times but it should be fine. Of course if he can handle any more random, then it's FLCL and Gurren Lagann.

At that point though, you might as well feed him a gainax trifecta and strap him to a chair for ten hours and force him to watch evangelion. Hey, I'm evil.

Maybe Konjiki no Gash!! ? It's not science fiction or mecha, but it is an action, and has comedy with no romance, and not gory at all. Although it's possible he's seen the anime before ...
The only problems are you can only buy the volumes in English up to vol. 26 (there's 33 in total) , but if it's a starter kind of thing it might work out .... (have him read the rest online?)


________________
Yes yes, I know I make longwinded comments, but that's just me >.<
I should proof read my comments more, but I won't...
So keep in mind I'm filled with typos

Check out FAQ and Forum Rules if you haven't yet.
For errors linking in threads

Not manga, but has he read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?



Hahaha! Just episodes 18 and 19 would be enough to scar a cute innocent kid for life.

Maybe Super Robot Taisen OG - Divine Wars - Record of ATX? But I don't think it's licensed though. Oh, the gameboy version of the game is licensed, I'm pretty sure.

For Gundam series, I suggest to just watch the anime instead of reading the manga. At least, the manga for G, Wing and Seed feel kinda painful too read as I remember. Well, I read it after watching the anime though. Oh, I remember Kidou Senshi Gundam - The Origin is good, but it's seinen. But yeah, as Baalzebup said, gundam series usually include massacre, some graphic, some other less graphic. From what I remember, Wing has the Alliance executing rebels and terrorism, Seed has colony destruction and its population thrown into vacuum, 0083 has colony drop, Zeta(or was it Double Zeta?) has colony drop and killing off colony population with poison gas and the poison gas aftermath, 00 has massacre and the scene where the brainwashed main character kills his foster(?) parents. Haven't watched V Gundam but I heard it's grimdark. Maybe just limit the list to G Gundam if he's really sensitive?

And then, probably Rurouni Kenshin? Not science fiction but full of action and comedy. Can be bloody though, well, shonen bloody, I think.