Of course there was but I'm curious how and what made you read it? For me, Claymore changed me. Before, I only read a bit of josei and shounen and more of the ROMANCE + SHOUJO combo. Idk what got me to read Claymore. Maybe it's the romance subplot tagged to it but after reading the series, I found myself irked with the subplot; the story didn't NEED it. After that, I went out to read more manga that was out of my comfort zone like the amazing Monster and the weird Homunculus. I loved them and they're now one of my favorites.

So again, what's the manga that expanded your reading?

Claymore needed a deep bond between Clare and someone else in her shoes. The manga could have went with a siblings dynamic but she is barely older than Raki and giving them a 2nd chance live as couple is more relatable, i guess. Both are also repurchased Angel Densetsu characters. The cute romance shall stay.

I used to think that grimdark content and "topical" subplots as homosexuality, aids, rape, racism and so on "elevated" a tale in 9 out of 10 cases. I turned a compete 180% on that when i grew into an adult / older teen. Don´t get me wrong. My favorite tales are still R-rated or nihilistic but i noticed that most such elements tend to be badly done, very badly!
Here are 2 inoffensive examples: .hack//Sign had the lesbian relationship / gender identity twist at the end and i admired how "relevant" it made the show. It makes no sense tough if i now look back at it and it only solidifies the director´s obsession with random lesbians.
I loved the rape subplot + the gory murders in DC´s infamous Identity Crisis but i can now only shake my head at these elements in hindsight. The illogical story is still more good than bad though.
Zack Snyder gave an interesting interview in which he said that he coulnd´t relate to the mass market US comics as a teen due to his early introduction to adult targeted EU comics and R rated films. He obviously grew out of that. I myself have been watching R-rated films since kindergarten (ah good old Russian!) and had a way less severe case of that but teens will be teens, i guess. I could pin point a manga i refuse to name that broke camel's back but all the shit i pulled myself through woke me up to my idiotic tunnel vision and i became a better reader (and critic!) thereafter. A G rated comic can be as interesting as a R / NC-17 one, if done right.
PS Adorbs: The Walking Dead comic is the best long form (50+ issues sounds fair) US comic ever published. It further succeed with a lot of the topics i mentioned with flying colors and makes the Amc show (6/10) look bad. It recently made systemic child rape interesting, which is as hard a topic as one can choose. Taking out that element would hurt the current arc and how impossibly rare is that?

Last edited by residentgrigo at 4:28 pm, Jun 19 2016

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

"Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou"

http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=586

I came to manga as an adult, looking for light reading. For a long time my most memorable manga was "Strawberry 100%", about the finest harem story I ever found.

Then I stumbled on "Yokohama", and I realized that manga doesn't have to be always just kids' stuff, or teens' stuff. And it isn't always limited to just fun. It can also be about deeper, even existential, themes fundamental to the human condition, including that so-Japanese feeling grounded in awareness of the brevity of life, mono no aware.

Since reading that manga I've looked everywhere for "the deep stuff", and found it lurking in surprising stories and manga genres.

I now believe that manga can address and master any theme at all, if allowed to by the exigencies of the marketplace.

See, for example, "Showa, a History of Japan"
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=93017

I used to read about pretty much anything, and some how take something out of whatever it is I read, but after I read REAL, my eyes have been focused entirely on character development.

Unfortunately, this has led me to being disappointed by nearly everything I've read since, seeing as the vast majority of manga completely lack any sort of meaningful character development, or in simpler terms, good writing.

Yet, at the same time, it's made me realize that a genre is nothing more than the most basic description of a series. Any series can be good, even if it's labelled as a "Harem" or any other genre typically referred to as derogatory, because those words don't define the content of the series in any sort of depth. It's made me understand my feelings better, and I'm glad for that.

This is very good advice that I will keep in mind as the endless seemingly indistinguishable iterations of the various standard genre appear before me.

I've looked into the mangas you guys have stated and found them quite interesting. Will be reading these for sure!

@residentgrigo
I already find AMC's TWD awesome but if you say it's 6/10, I am very much tempted to read the comics! Thanks for your insight.

@jakeedylan
You hit me where it hurts; I've almost never read any manga with a harem + shounen tag. Maybe I'm closed minded but I rarely find any meaningful manga with these genres attached to it. Fanservice, for me, kinda sucks but I am very much open you guys proving me wrong. Sooo, any suggestions?