This post is a challenge to get people to read manga genres that they've given up on for one reason or the other - for example, maybe you can't stand reading shoujo, or you think you can't stand shounen, or yuri, or some other genre.
There are two possibilities: Either you did try reading these genres and were just unfortunate enough to come across really bad examples (thus leading you to avoid the whole genre because of the trauma, lol) OR you never actually tried these genres and just assumed that they weren't for you.
But it's my firm belief, as a manga omnivore, that ALL genres have something for everyone. Maybe not everything in a genre will suit you, but something will. My goal with this post is to get people to try out genres that they usually avoid, and to get them to do that by getting "gateway" recommendations from fans of those genres. (For example, someone who doesn't like shounen but loves shoujo, would get recommendations for shoujo stories that share shounen features, or would suit shounen fans.)
Maybe you still won't like all genres equally - I myself favor seinen and josei, for example. But I hope, at the end of this post, that you won't automatically discard a genre, or think that the whole genre doesn't suit you at all.
How will the recommendations work?
Well, you'll reply to this post saying what genre you dislike/avoid the most, and also which genre you like the most. Then, someone will give you a recommendation that has some of the qualities of your favorite genre, even though it actually belongs to your least favorite genre. That way, you won't be too scared of trying out the new genre! And you're more likely to actually enjoy it. That's the goal of this post - to get you to enjoy something you don't normally enjoy.
For example, if you tend to avoid shoujo but love action-filled historical shounen, perhaps a manga like Kaze Hikaru would suit you, because it's less romantic than most shoujo mangas and has a greater emphasis on things like bushido and the samurai way of life. Or if you're a seinen fan that avoids yaoi, then What Did You Eat Yesterday? might be a good introduction, because it has gay characters but was actually published in a seinen magazine.
Get my drift? That's how this thread is going to go. Together, let us become unbiased manga fans! Or as close to unbiased as possible, anyway.
NOTE: This is NOT a space to diss any genre or to flame people! If you can't stand a genre, this is not the place for you to voice your complaints. Instead, this is a positive space, where you reply stating which genre(s) you avoid, possibly with some (non-inflammatory) comments as to what puts you off about that genre. THEN, fans of that genre will try to recommend to you a manga from that genre that is closer to your tastes, and that avoids your squicks.
Please don't participate in this thread if you do not honestly want to try broadening your horizons. Manga bigotry is strictly prohibited!
(Lol, that sounds bigoted as well. )Let us all attain a greater understanding of each other, as manga fans across genres. You know: LOVE and PEACE, and all that jazz. All for one, and one for all!
-applauds-
