Okay. Aside from the ones I'm translating, I haven't really read manga for almost two years now. I tried to start reading some recently but I gave it up before I even finished the chapter ^^;; (yeah, I have short attention span for cliche'd manga)

Anyway, I'm looking for more mature and realistic shoujo or josei manga. I also don't mind seinen but no ecchi or harem please. I'm also not into smut. Nothing fantasy, historical, supernatural, or anything like that. It could center on romance, but it could also not. Action is fine as long as people are not flying off walls or stopping runaway trains. It could be serious or happy. I just want something more mature than, say, standard cliche'd manga like Special A or Hanakimi.

I have no manga list to base on, but I liked:
Mekakushi no Kuni
Nana (and anything by Yazawa Ai, actually)
Nodame Cantabile
Maria-sama ga Miteru (both the manga and the novels)
anything by Shimaki Ako

Also, it could or could not be scanlated. I don't mind digging through raws.

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Ashita no ousama - (Josei)
Heptagon - (Josei)
Jinjya no Susume - (Seinen)

This week's favorites:

• Golden Kamui

ççççççç[Ô.Ô] tsutopodus© will eat your manga and steal your cats!

Cherry

known as Lucifer / Killy69 / Guts / L41n / Lain Iwakura / Schrö.

Thanks! I read the summaries...they all seem interesting. 😀 I'll go look into them.

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I've compiled a list of manga for grown ups that you might like to have a look at. The link is: [url=http://manga.suite101.com/article.cfm/manga_for_grownups]

Some of the manga mentioned are horror manga 'Uzumaki', romance manga 'Emma', and post-apocalyptic manga (with a twist) 'Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou'.

Hope you find something you like!

I had to view this topic as soon as I saw it, because I'm the same way. Typical shounen and shoujo have bored me out of my skull, so I've been on a hunt for those hard-to-find ones that break the mold.

I'm a fan of Nodame Cantabile and Mekakushi no Kuni, too, but I haven't heard of those others. I may have to check them out. ^^

I'd recommend anything by Midorikawa Yuki, because her works share the same feel that Tsukuba Sakura, author of Mekakushi no Kuni, has in her series. Most of them have Mekakushi no Kuni's vaguely supernatural feel, though. Everything of hers that I've read has amazed me, though. She doesn't follow the high-school-drama, love-triangle thing that exhausts me in countless shoujo. If you wanted a peek at her work, to see if it's something you'd like, I'd suggest reading Hotarubi no Mori E, a collection of oneshots. The best, by far, is the title story, but the others are pretty good, too.

If you liked Mekakushi no Kuni, Tsukuba Sakura's other works may interest you, though both of the other series she has written are considerably more out-there and odd than Mekakushi no Kuni was.

There are a lot of others I'd recommend, but they mostly have a supernatural element to them, so I probably shouldn't. If you're looking for an atypical shoujo, the two volumes I've read of Sunadokei seem promising, though a love triangle is imminent.

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That is the problem for me too, too little good josei mangas.

Try YOSHIHARA Yuki. More about married life, and it is damn funny (but a bit smut too).

NHK ni Youkoso!

I don't believe further words are required.

I am the God of Freedom. I am not revered, I have no shrines; and you have never before heard of me nor will you ever hear of me again.

Hn, I don't see too many good mature shoujo recommendations, soo..
C-Blossom Case 792 Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT series. I suggest it.
Piece of Cake and Suppli might do it for you too. Hachikuro is great, as is Paradise Kiss is you haven't tried that Yazawa series.

Solanin might suit your tastes. At the very least, the art style is much more realistic.

EDIT: I forgot, Usagi Drop is pretty good as well in this regard, and it's actually Josei, although it isn't scanlated very much yet.

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Reviews of my Work:
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NightSwan also said that she wanted to peg me, once, but I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or a threat...

Planetes is yay.

edit. nevermind it's tagged fantasy

"Tu es responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as approvoise." Le Renard en "The Little Prince" Antoine de St. Exupery.

paradise kiss?

Hmmm some of these might be to your liking. Dunno. Some of them are senien and have some etchi scenes, but they aren't the focus of the manga.

BeckKid joins a band.

HotMan Guy that tries his hardest to keep his family together and whose's daughter, who might not even be his, is the top of his priority list.

Himizu a guy that very much wants to be completely normal. But his living conditions at home are pretty bad.
and Ciguatera About life and love. A kid who's bullied a lot in school. But he manages to get a motorcycle license and a cute girlfriend. Both of these are by FURUYA Minoru

Solanin About a normal everyday couple.

Honey and Clover Haven't read this, but assuming it's as good as or better than the anime. Bout kids at a art college.

Hourou Musuko Coming of age story. It's about Transvestism. It's not perverted though. The manga takes it seriously. It's kids trying to find out who they really are.

Kimi wa Pet Women picks up a young boy off the street and makes him her pet. this sounds perverted, but it isn't at all. You'd have to read it.

If you liked yaoi I would recommend works by MIYAMOTO Kano She's great with characterization.

You may enjoy Aqua/Aria. It's just a really laid back and relaxing read with great atmosphere and very nice art.

It is complete, but only about half-way scanlated and unfortunately nobody appears to care about it anymore. The raws are available out there though.