I thought I would give well, non-yaoi manga a chance, once again. But I'm open for any kind of manga, yaoi/yuri/straight/crossdressing/you name it.

First of all, to be honest, I don't know anything about the manga world outside yaoi, so I'm not quite sure I can find what I'm looking for in a manga, but then again; there are a lot of different kind of yaois so... And also, if anyone have a book/movie/anything that's not manga/anime please PM me about it, haha.

So, what I'm looking for is some kind of strong emotion that really affects you. Two things I really look up to in mangas are realism and mature stories/characters. I would prefer if the lead is a strong person that knows what he/she wants. Example of topics I think I would like and enjoy;

* Love triangles/cheating - Where ALL have a part of the story. I don't want to read a manga where one guy/girl is just thrown in to make a good plot but then disappears without feelings just so you can see the main couple together again or whatever. You (hopefully) get my point.

* Strong/pure love. No matter what the one of the lovers do, the other one will always stay faithful. Or that one lover leaves the other one because he/she is horrible/bad/whatever in some way. Yet, he/she is still in love even though he/she have a new lover or whatever.

* Caretaking. A successful person (could be in anything) takes care of a less successful person. Or that one person really looks up to another etc.

Hopefully you get the picture of what I'm looking for. Sorry for being quite specific, but I just want to say it doesn't have to be that way, the main thing I looking for is mangas that affect you a lot and can make you cry etc. and really feel for the character. Btw, it doesn't have to lovers though. It could be strong friendship or family bands.

So, is there mangas about these things or should I just go back to yaoi?~

I would like to recommend Flower of Evil. It's so far my top 1 favorite of all mangas or manwhas I've read. It's also the one who've had the largest emotional impact on me. My manga knowledge is however limited and I've only read about 100 completed series, so their might be better jewels out there. But I'll tell you one thing, if you've nothing against a incest theme, then it's a defiantly worth a try.

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I won't bother to keep my manga list at two places at once, so... http://myanimelist.net/profile/Hogat
And my VN list:
http://vndb.org/u3483

Thank you! I'll check it out.

And no, I have no problem with incest or anything like that. I'm up for any "weirdness"!~

5 centimeters per second?
The manga is only on volume 1 out of 2, you can watch the anime instead its all finished.

When you say 'realism', do you mean not fantasy/supernatural/science fiction? If so, I guess disregard my suggestions, but:

I think After School Nightmare might appeal to you.
Hitsuji no Uta and SaiKano also fit, I think.

There are a lot of other things that I could throw out, but those are the ones that strike me as most fitting given your example topics.

Your request is really broad so I think you're going to get a lot of different stuff, and well, you won't like all of it. But I 100% believe that manga can be really meaningful so I really encourage you to read as many different types of manga as you can. I'm not saying that yaoi is not meaningful but I think you'd be missing out on a hell of a lot if that's all you ever read.

First, I think you could get a good start by doing a forum or category search for those specific examples you mentioned in your original post; I also suggest doing forum searches for "meaningful", "heartwarming", "heartbreaking", "tearjerker", or any of the feelings you want to evoke... there are really a ton of threads in this forum and it is really worth having a look through other requests.

Anyway, my personal recommendations would be:
Emma: very strong/pure love.
Kimi wa Pet: strong heroine, mature plot (very interesting love triangle where both guys take a big role)
Hoshi no Koe
Hachimitsu to Clover
Hana no Namae
7seeds is a bit different from the things you mentioned (it's a sci-fi/fantasy) but it's really one of the most human manga I've ever read and I think it's impossible to cry at least once while reading it. It's got a very strong focus on characters, it's not just about the sci-fi element.
Onani Master Kurosawa - if the synopsis puts you off, read some of the comments on the series page... it is a really amazing manga.

For a lot of strong/pure love manga, you really only have to look so far as many shoujo classics such as Fruits Basket, Mars, Hana yori Dango, Kare Kano etc. They're not for everyone though and some aren't particularly mature compared to josei titles.

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Okay so I mention this one a lot but it's my favorite manga/anime
Nodame Cantabile this was the first time I was able to find a female lead who I could fully relate to, she's quirky and her little moments of melancholy are much more real to me than other female josei or shoujo leads. I also love Chiaki it let me rediscover my love for classical music, it motivated me to go out and find a teacher to start learning opera again. The music of course if really what brings everything together-the characters and the story

Meteor Methuselah the male lead in this one is so sweet, he is the nicest person I know I swear he could be the Dalai Lama and do a wonderful job.

Ghost Hunt for me this manga/anime was strangely addicting... maybe because I like being scared haha

Not Simple it's very short with a very strong impact. Not really romance though, I mean kind of but at the same time not really

Taiyou no Ichiwaru this one has that same alternative... almost a bit of an indie feel as Not Simple.

Annarasumanara oh my god the art of this webcomic is amazing. If you've ever seen the movie Mirrormask this kind of reminds me of it.



Last edited by DorkFishOK at 12:31 am, Jun 30 2011

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan and maybe My Girl (SAHARA Mizu)...? Both made me cry pretty badly

berserk maybe not what your looking for but pretty impacting xD


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Wow... a lot of my awesome MU-buddies listed good ones that affected me (like Honey and Clover but I watched the anime... Not Simple, Fruits Basket... After School Nightmare was really something different too...)

I Am a Piano was awesome... Perfect World (NAKAMURA Asumiko) was cool too.
Nanairo Sekai and Bus Hashiru were great reads too!
Natsume Yuujinchou (granted, I watched the anime) has a great plot. I suggest it!
Usagi Drop -- at least read for the first 4 volumes where it deals with childcare. It's heart-warming in my opinion.

Vitamin (SUENOBU Keiko) was quite inspirational. It was angsty...

There are probably more, but I can't think of any right now... I hope these help...

If you get tired of reading manga, you can try this novel: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. It's quite the love story.

100% perfect girl was wonderful. the build up was great although the storyline was a bit exaggerated, which you might not like. it has every thing else though.

by the same auther, talking about. it's more realistic. highly recommend both. they show intricate relationships and involve all sorts of feelings for the readers. not to mention, the art is wonderful (biased towards manhwas though...) and the guys bodies are so hot >_<. up to you though.

Try Hot Gimmick for love triangles. Maybe Gentlemens Alliance Cross would fit. This is funny yet serious it makes me cry Dengeki Daisy but im an easy crier. I cried when the lion got killed in chronicles of narnia. Lol.watch and read The Notebook trust me you will cry. That all i got 4 now

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My plan was perfect but there was one thing I overlooked, one factor I failed to calculate, he's a dumbass...and there's no accounting for Dumbass....Ness. Agito Wanijima (Air Gear)

Oishii Kankei- girl really looks up to the guy.

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[Url=http://goo.gl/WMSVJ] k'><u>Looking for... shoujo with a canned peach confession.</u></a><!--url_type_2_end--><BR><!--url_type_2--><a href='<!--Auto_parse_begin--><a target='_blank' rel='nofollow' href='http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm''><u>http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm'</u></a><!--Auto_parse_end--> target='_blank'><u>Don't English Me I'm Panic</u></a><!--url_type_2_end--><BR><!--url_type_4.5--><a href='<!--Auto_parse_begin--><a target='_blank' rel='nofollow' href='http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3839'><u>Guess'><u>http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3839'><u>Guess</u></a><!--Auto_parse_end--> the Manga/Anime Name</u></a><!--url_type_4_end--><BR>'Shojo manga has no boundaries, and never did!’ -Shimizu Reiko, Himitsu - Top Secret fanbook interview

For some reason when I saw this post it really reminded me of

Kare wa Tomodachi I learned something important in this manga and it's put yourself in other people's shoes before you judge them. At first the main girl is acting like she is so much better than the girl B because girl B can't decide which one of the 2 guys she likes better, but later girl A was in the same situation. Read and find out, I think you'll like this one.

Also Yumenara Samenaide is really good. If there is a manga that teaches you what true love is, there is no manga better than this

Ah, I have to add Kaze Hikaru. The love between the two main characters is astounding. I could write reams and reams and reams about how awesome their relationship is.

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世界のどこかに 必ず
キミの居場所が ある筈