When I first started getting into anime back in 2007, I alternated between anime and manga. Fairly quickly I discovered that I much preferred anime so I dropped my manga reading habits. Fast-forward to 2013 and I developed a curious addiction to creating fake charts. I enjoyed their time capsule-properties and the discussion they provoke, as well as that evil little grin from that half-second of joy someone gets when they see the chart before realising it’s a hoax because I am a terrible person. In researching for these charts, I went hunting for highly regarded and popular manga that hadn’t been adapted into anime yet. Some of them sounded super interesting, and the more I researched, the more my interest was piqued. All these fascinating stories that have not, and possibly will never be, adapted into anime and I’m going to ignore them because of some hang up I developed over 5 years ago?
Besides how could I avoid a story that has…
DICK HANDS!!!
Parasytes are an alien species that take over the human body by replacing the head. Our shmuck lead Izumi was about to be taken over by a parasyte, but due to some quick thinking he manages to stop the alien inside his arm, upon which the parasyte consumes his arm and takes it place. The two then have to learn how to live with each other while also dealing with all the other parasytes that have landed on earth.
What drew me to Parasyte originally was seeing the body horror pictures of how peoples’ bodies mutated and warped and started growing tentacles and teeth and occasionally dick hands. I’m usually a pretty queasy person so I’m not sure quite why this drew me in, but there’s a definite fascination with how alien the mutations the bodies undertake. Once you get over the original shock, it’s not even that scary anymore. The mutations are so alien and cartoonish they go into this area of scholarly fascination. The only times I would actually get a bit perturbed were the more ghoulish deaths of actual humans rather than the parasytes. This cartoonish nature of the body distortions could have undermined something that was only trying to shock you, but thankfully Parasyte is cleverer than that. It’s got a real dark sense of humour, one that’s willing to laugh at itself, what with the aforementioned dick hands and so forth. Plus the comedy segments don’t detract from the moments the deformations are supposed to shock you. It’s a delicate balancing act, but one that Parasyte pulls off remarkably well.
Parasyte does have more to it than just some alien horror story. Its larger theme is about humanity and what makes someone human. Migi, the parasyte that co-inhabits the main character’s body, is very Kyubey-esque in how he thinks. He has no empathy but endless curiosity driven mostly by a self-preservation instinct. Through his conversations with Izumi, they explore both sides of each character and broader concepts of what it means to be human and why it is that one might perform a selfless act. It’s got that perfect duo combination where the two sides’ conversations force both characters to develop. Migi’s development is more subtle than Izumi’s, but that’s because Migi slow development is reflected in the attitude of all the parasytes as they evolve and and start to change their approach to fitting into society. Their change becomes a way to explore what makes humans tick.
Izumi starts off as a bit of a Yuji Everylead, but he changes pretty quickly into a more fascinating character who struggles to find what it is that makes him human. Fairly early on in the manga he absorbs part of Migi into his bloodstream and it starts to change him in little ways. He doesn’t get emotional, can’t cry at friends and family’s deaths, and some of his actions start to reflect Migi’s apathetic nature. You get the feeling that the times he does show kindness and emotion is him trying to force himself to act human so he can reclaim his identity as a human. It mirrors how some of the more advanced parasytes try mimicking human actions in order to understand them and fit into society better, such as trying to smile, having children and laughing. This in turn causes them to start experiencing much more human emotions. It might sound like this is all heavy stuff, talking about the nature of humanity and all that, but it isn’t really. The last volume definitely gets a bit preachy, but otherwise the dialogue all feels very natural and goes about things with a sense of humour. Plus at the moment it really counted, when they really needed to bring everything to the table around both the parasyte’s increasing selflessness and Izumi’s own struggle with his humanity, they nailed the scene so well that it made me cry.
Let me repeat that for effect: I cried at Parasyte. Fucking Parasyte. The manga with dick hands made me cry. Do you know how often I cry at entertainment? Never! And yet somehow Parasyte made me cry? With proper tears streaming from eyes, so overcome with emotion that I had to stop reading and walk for a bit? The only other time in my entire life I cried at media was at Grave of the Fireflies, which is kind of to be expected since that is basically the only point of Grave of the Fireflies. Plus I’ve kind of gone off Grave of the Fireflies over time, as its method of drawing emotion is to have everything be shit and then everyone dies, which is kind of a cheap almost Jun Maeda-esque way of drawing emotion. Meanwhile Parasyte managed it by being positive. It’s key scene was the fulfilment of 8 previous volumes of thematic buildup and re-affirmation of the main character’s humanity that was so tragically beautiful it caused me to break down.
Sorry, is this all a bit serious?
I picked up Parasyte because I figured if I was going to jump into manga, I’d want to read something that would at least draw a reaction from me, but I ended up absolutely loving it. It keeps the story tight and focused on a small cast of characters. It’s paced excellently, comes to a conclusive ending and doesn’t drag on longer than it needs to. It has depth while keeping a sense of humour, and the body horror is shocking without being an obstacle to enjoyment. It’s a bloody great manga and highly recommended.
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So yes, my new project is reviewing manga. My experience with Parasyte was good enough that I’m fully committed to finding more gems that haven’t got anime adaptations yet. I have a list of titles as long as my arm that I want to check out, but if you want to recommend something that you think I’d enjoy, then by all means go ahead.
The Cart Driver 
Try 7Seeds by Tamura Yumi, you might like it thou it can be very depressing (sometimes).
That one is on my radar. Bit turned off by the shoujo tag, but I suppose it’s sci-fi shoujo so maybe that’s ok?
A manga which is (probably) even older than me. I remember reading this on my town’s old library as a kid. Crazy stuff. But I was quite traumatized by it at that time. It will be scary if these stuff in this manga were real, lol.
You read this in the library as a kid!?!
“Mammy I found a nice comic at the library”
“Oh that’s nice dear HOLY SHIT WHAT THE”
That would be epic.
“Mommy, mommy, I read a difficult book today.”
“Oh dear, what happened to Smurf and Donald Duck? Here, let me take a look.” flips open a random page “Holy shit, dear Father in heaven.” faints
Fortunately/unfortunately it didn’t happen. Mom left me on comic section and went somewhere else herself. And when she returned, she made the lbrarian call me.
I very much recommend Pluto. It has a lot of the great thriller elements and character moments Monster had, but it’s compressed into a much shorter story, and it, like Parasyte, raises a lot of questions about what it means to be human.
It’s a bloody great read, and at 8 volumes in length it’s not a particularly big time investment.
I’m in the middle of collecting 20th Century Boys so I don’t feel like reading two of his stuff at the same time. 20th CB is difficult enough to keep track of anyway without having another one of his stories messing with my head
Unfortunately, like all Urasawa’s works – it is a great ride, with a shitty ending. The guy just cant do a good ending to save his life.
Pluto’s ending was fine with me. It had enough wrap up and made me think of what might happen next.
Aaaaahh, no. Pluto’s ending is fine. It’s a little abrubt, but it does what it set out to do.
Re: “like all Urasawa’s works”, seriously? Monster’s ending was goddamn perfect. If you thought it was bad, I think you missed the thematic development of, oh, the entire show.
Oyasumi Punpun is about a ‘bird’ (named Punpun) who acts remarkably like Shinji Ikari. Actually no. Oyasumi Punpun is about Punpun; nothing else I say does it justice.
Please read it.
Amen to that.
I’ve just read Solanin by the same author and my reaction to that was…well, I grabbed totally the wrong end of the stick with that because I found it impossible to understand the characters actions. I think me and that author might not see eye to eye so I’m pretty wary of Punpun
If my own experience when reading it is anything to tell by, there is an unspeakable beauty about Punpun that keeps it fascinating no matter what the author shows me. Even if you don’t appreciate it for the author’s intended storytelling, there are definitely many aspects about it that makes it a memorable read.
Since your a fan of GIT: SAC, you could try Battle Angel Alita,9 volumes of the best fucking sci-fi manga I’ve ever seen, or Pluto, which was nice and short and sweet.
Eh, I remember watching the OVA for Battle Angel Alita and thinking it was terrible so not overly keen on that
meh, I don’t even remember it all that well. OVA adaptations suck. Just ask the Jojo OVAs, Still a deep and cool series with plenty of great art and sunning action.
This is why I hate half hearted adaptations, kills all enthusiasm to check out the series itself.
Actually on the other hand, the good adaptations put me off the manga too because I’ve already seen the best version, why read the boring no-colour/music/sound version?
That makes sense, but those are hard to come by for prudish manga readers like me.
Anyhow, I make it a point to never judge a the source material based solely off an adaptation, if that was the case, I would have missed out on plenty of cool things like the afore mentioned Battle Angel and Jojo, or Gantz (skip the anime if you ever want to give this a shot)
I recommend it too. I haven’t seen the OVA so I don’t know how terrible your impression is, but the manga is a strangely sweet story in a hyperviolent world. It’s far from mindless.
I’ve read Parasyte twice, it’s great manga.
I will recommend something else too:
1) Absolute Must Reads:
– Hoshi no Samidare
– Onani Master Kurosawa
– Great Teacher Onizuka
2) Other Great Manga:
– Hanaotoko
– Happy World
– Blame!
– Gantz!
– Berserk
– Yotsubato!
– Midori no Hibi
and many others I shall omit for the moment.
Most of those are on my rader (I swear every other person tells me to read Biscuit Hammer). But some of those other ones are…really? Happy World?
If you want the reverse of Samidare you can always read Bokurano.
Oh no. I have something to read again. But really, read Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer.
I read Fap [which inevitably turns into Sap] Master Kurosawa because of you.
Thank you.
Sakamoto desu ga might be up your alley. It has near Jojo levels of dramatic silliness in a school setting; if you liked Light’s dramatic writing in Death Note, then this might be worth to check out. It’s not amazingly good or anything, but on the other hand there are only 5 chapters out, so it’s not like it’s a big time investment.
Also coming from someone who has read about 200 chapters of the Berserk manga, I’d recommend you stay away from it altogether. The first 8 chapters are quite frankly not very good, and the manga overall has an overtly gratuitous level of gore, (as in the first and last episodes of the Berserk anime.
After the Eclipse Griffith doesn’t show up for another 80 chapters, and the focus lies on Guts (not so interesting character by the way) who runs around killing demons and/or saving/protecting Casca who has (SPOILER I guess) regressed to a child-like state. The Golden Age Arc and the 90’s anime adaptation are masterfully done, but the manga overall does not hold up.
I like Berserk’s manga, but I wouldn’t fully recommend it to someone who didn’t enjoy Hellsing Ultimate. It descends into a somewhat of a pedestrian hack ‘n’ slash from time to time. The narrative brilliance of the Golden Age arc doesn’t appear often enough too. But it’s still a fun read to me and has stunning art. I find Gut’s to still be a interesting enough character though, but if you don’t feel that way, than there isn’t much reason to keep reading.
So yeah I still like it, but it’s a bit disheartening to know that the best is long behind (the Tower of Conviction arc was awesome though). With Miura’s hiatuses, who knows if it’ll ever become a masterpiece again?
Even when people who love the Berserk manga explain why, it always seems to turn me off. Describing it as a solid action adventure manga with Guts travelling the world just seems so bland next to what the Golden Age arc was like. Think I might stick with that original anime, although the artwork in the manga is the one thing that keeps tugging at me.
I’ve heard of Sakamoto desu, but I’m not really interested in picking up something that’s as young as that is
I think it’s better than just a solid action adventure. It doesn’t approach the Shakespearean brilliance of the Golden Age arc very often, but I still find it better than a lot of other titles. On the other hand, the hiatuses don’t do it any favors.
Others I recommend that you might be better of with are BLAME, Five Star Stories, and Akira.
Well at the end of the day, as good as the anime version was, it wasn’t it’s own complete story. It’s at least worth reading how the Golden Age arc was covered. The anime went ahead and removed characters and material that would factor heavily into the future chapters, they also just got rid of some stuff for the sake of meeting the 25 episode quota.
You should at least put some warning with that giant DICK HAND picture. I mean, what if I opened this in the middle of a class? The result would hilarious if not disastrous.
Well, a good start indeed! I’m kinda pity myself for knowing Parasyte just today. What’s next then? What about the historical fictions like Vinland Saga or Otoyomegatari? Other than that genre, I’ll probably could only offer San-gatsu No Lion.
Both Vinland Saga and Bride Story are on the list. Less so Sangatsu no Lion, because while I liked the Honey and Clover anime, the manga rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.
“what if I opened this in the middle of a class?”
a-you’d be an idiot to browse the net in the middle of a class.
b-hopefully you’d be punished for disrupting a teaching session, and rightfully so.
The manga for Bokurano goes in a much different direction than the anime, if you want to look at that. Saikano too, for that matter, if you can get past the derpy character design.
I’m seconding the recommendation for Pluto.
Since Onani Master Kurosawa was mentioned I also need to bring up Chikan Otoko (Molester Man). Please read Chikan Otoko.
If you’ve got the patience for slice-of-life, coming-of-age manga, I’d recommend Solanin and Beck.
Still haven’t seen the Bokurano anime, so I should probably check that out first. Wank Master Kurosawa (I am always calling it by that name you weeaboos) has been on my radar for ages, so I’m definitely checking that one out sometime soon
You’re both wrong! It’s Fap Note.
I remember when I had just finished reading Death Note and was looking for another manga to read, and my friend tried recommending Onani Master Kurosawa to me …
“Once you get past the fapping, it’s actually a great coming-of-age story”
cough “fapping?”
“yea it’s about a guy who jacks off in the girl’s bathroom every day”
Needless to say, I never end up reading it
It’s a bit different than it sounds and it’s not like the fapping is very graphic.
I heard that the director for the Bokurano anime didn’t really like how bleak the manga was, so he altered bits of it himself and it didnt turn out so well.
Manga you definitely have to read :-
1) Oyasmi Punpun :- Emotional, funny and simply brilliant
2) Saikyou Densetsu Kurosawa :- Its short but extremely brilliant manga from the guy behind akagi/kaiji (Its not about gambling by the way).
3) Tokyo Crazy Paradise (From the lady behind skip beat)
4) Hoshi no Samidare
5) Sangokushi :- An adaptation of the three kingdoms which doesnt have girls with big boobs and is from the maker of giant robo/ tetsujin 28
6) Real :- This is incomplete but its a rare manga with paraplegic central characters(Its not a sobfest in any way).
“Huh I’ve never heard of Sangokushi, let’s look it up”
60 Volumes
0_0
Real is on my rader though. Wouldn’t be surprised to see that get an anime adaptation down the line anyway
Really doubt REAL is gonna get an anime adaptation. It would work better as a live-action.
It’s brilliant, btw.
Yeah but all the authors other works got anime. It will get adapted into something certainly, but whether anime or live action is difficult to tell so far
“Let me repeat that for effect: I cried at Parasyte.”
That is stellar levels of pathetic. My eyes were a bit moist at the end of Biscuit Hammer, as there is proper drama and good camaraderie, but Parasite ? Eugh…
No need to be so tsun about your tears, Karry.
If I may ask, what manga are you reading next/are on your radar?
I’m deliberately not telling that yet because I want to see what people recommend with all of manga to choose from
lol. im so hesitant to recommend stuff D:
since you enjoyed usagi drop i tentatively recommend My Girl by Sahara Mizu. similar premise and feeling without the ARGH timeskip. and lovely art.
…and i guess with great reservation i’ll recommend Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan, although im not sure if you’ll enjoy it.
I’ve seen Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan stupidly highly rated on several manga sites, so I’m interested in it if only for that reason. Doesn’t necessarily sound like my cup of tea though.
I have actually heard of My Girl before. Sounds exactly like Bunny Drop, maybe too much so, but I guess I’ll add it to the list
Don’t bother with Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan; its tries too hard to pile on emotional triggers in a ham-fisted attempt to get you to care about a very dull romance. If you’ve ever seen a mediocre korean drama; its exactly like that but with decent art.
About Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan, the description sounds a bit pro religious, will I roll my eyes all the time as an atheist?
you might, and the religion piece plays a small role only since one of the characters is a nun. also there’s a part near the finale where the religion helps to symbolize an important character development, which is probably the one part that you might have a problem with. it’s not preaching religion by any means, though.
@decadyn: it’s funny that you say it’s like a korean drama since the story is based on a best selling famous korean novel, lmao. however, i appreciate that at least the drama isn’t invested in a silly romance. romance was maybe 10% of the story, at best. there are larger, more prevalent themes.
I’m atheist too, but I dug Life of Pi so I’m down with religious/faith themes if it’s still told well
Most of the time I’m okay with the themes. Mythology and religion or people believing in religion can be the source of good stories. But sometimes there are stories where I consider it annoying. But if it’s not preachy it will most likely be okay.
Here’s some suggestions:
Memories of Emanon
Wings of Vendemiaire
The World Exists For Me (or The World of S&M)
Unbalance x Unbalance (Korean manhwa, but…)
My main recommendation is Hoshi no Samidare. Seriously. Nothing else, and I’ve read tons of manga.
Hmmm…someone already recommended Bokurano, so why not Shadow Star?
I’d recommend Wings of Vendemaire first just so Scamp can get a taste of what Mohiro Kitoh is like as a mangaka.
@5camp I do want to check out Parasyte, but I’ve been putting off way too much stuff as is and I don’t have as much free time as you do.
Speaking of manga not yet adapted into anime, here’s my 2 cents: Kurosagi Shitai Takuhaibin (“The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service”). It’s also published in US by Dark Horse. The plot is basically this: five students at a Buddhist university form the titular company, and their business model is finding fresh corpses and granting their final wish (possibly for a compensation). Each of them has a special ability, but most importantly, one of them can talk to the spirits of the dead (and sometimes reanimate dead bodies… for a short while).
It’s black humor at it’s best, with occasional detective-like stories and overarching plot. I’ve been following it ever since the first four volumes were uploaded online, and since no one picked it up and I live outside of US, I bought all the later volumes.
Seconding this. Kurosagi is a damn good manga.
I have heard of Corpse Delivery Service. Not sure why it never occurred to me to add it to the list. Although my oh my it sure is long…
Third it, this is a worthy successor to x-files with its great eery episodic style. I have heard it being set up for a Hollywood plot rape ie. adaptation. Better read it before it is too late.
Hmmmm…starting to think I should have made a separate post for manga recommendations. Barely any discussion about Parasyte at all 😦
Oh well, hope the post pushes more people to check it out anyway, since that was the original point
Your recommendation means a lot. I’ll read it after finishing the Usagi Drop disaster ending. 46 out of 62 chapters into Usagi Drop, its really cringeworthy! So bad that I can’t stop reading.
Wait wait shit what you’re reading the Bunny Drop manga all the way to the end??
NO STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK OUT NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE
1) Kinda surprised to see whats so bad about Bunny Drops ending.
2) Opens wikipedia for plot summary.
3) Shoots self 😦
3/4 through and it’s beginning to sow the seeds of a horrible disaster. I’m equal parts disturbed/intrigued by how this will turn out
I’ll definitely check out Parasyte though, it sounds like it’s right up my alley.
Let’s see, recommendations… Not Simple, Goodnight Punpun, Dorohedoro, Centaur’s Worries, Franken Fran, Teppuu, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro (manga > the shitty anime all day), Nausicaa manga, House of five leaves, I am hero, Otoyomegatari. You’ve probably already read Yotsubato and Saint Oniisan, right?
Also One Punch Man. This is actually the most important one.
One Punch Man is awesome but the mangaka seems to have gotten lazy. His last few chapters have had absolutely no plot and are just a collection of photos. The last one in fact has only 3 pages 😦
Welp, at least somebody suggested to read Franken Fran.
A good chunk of them are on my list already, including One Punch Man. Been hearing loads of good things about that one, although there’s not a whole lot of it out right now. Might save that one for further down the line.
I have read Yotsuba, but held off Saint Young Men because I was waiting for an anime. Which it’s getting, but I’m a little unsure of how good it will turn out to be
Centur’s Worries, interesting manga that is. Glad to see anyone have read it. I’m too want to recommend it but after some thought, it really doesn’t have anything special beside the worldbuilding and writing. Still unique for a SoL though.
in the vein of kickass manga the don’t have anime adaptations recommendations, for a completed work I’d want to see Akumetsu in full anime glory with the over-the-top superliminal ‘F**k you’ to the world order storyline. for an unfinished manga recommendation I have 2 series only because I am torn between figuring out which one would give the best fangasm from me. first up is Let’s Lagoon, second up is Iris zero. both are monthly’s with not enough content to fill 1-cour, but let’s lagoon benefits from not being on haitus like Iris zero is.
I had a look at Akumetsu but it reminded me a bit too much of American dark and edgy superhero comics, which have always rubbed me the wrong way. Plus the last time I watched a Japanese version of that was Zetman, and gosh did I dislike both the anime and manga versions of that
I have to agree with you on the zetman anime nuking it’s adaption, I call it pinstripegate.
the littlest of detail missing such as the bad guys suit not having pinstripes gave me the most severe case of adaptionOCD I had to drop it to prevent raging, I had a bad case of adaptionOCD when fairytail was turned into an anime, the source of the rage was the CG spell effects. the akametsu manga isn’t like superhero comics of north america, it is a lesson in politics, media, healthcare, pension, etc, dressed with the bloody violence that sells so well from the sex and violence marketing duo.
I have read very few manga, but I suppose that I could recommend Liar Game. It has somewhat of a Death Note feel to it [the stakes are staggering debt as opposed to death] and is written and drawn by the same guy who did One Outs. The similarities between the two [One Outs and Liar Game] are readily apparent in how: the main character makes people jump hoops through a mental minefield and fucks with their self confidence, the method of plot twist reveals, and the hilariously dis-proportioned “shocked” faces.
While the Liar Game premise is much more interesting than One Outs’ baseball setting, it also suffers from the same odd character interactions wherein there seems to be only a few actually competent people who are “in the know,” and everyone else is just some chucklefuck who’s obliviously being played with.
Liar Game has been recommended to me before as very Death Note, and I do love me some One Outs so I’m totally down with that.
You’ve probably heard of most of these, but I haven’t seen them recommended here yet:
Vagabond(author of Slam Dunk and REAL, tells the story of Musashi Miyamoto the greatest samurai to ever live, amazing art)
Blade of the Immortal(another samurai manga, also really nice art)
MARS(Hey, what do you know! A good shoujo for once!)
Shin Angyo Onshi(the Korean Berserk, in many ways)
Eden: It’s an Endless World!(cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic dystopian world)
Personally, I think Eden would be right up your alley, Scamp.
Oh, and if you want to read a really screwed up manga, try MPD Psycho. I couldn’t make it past the first volume…
I’ve never really liked samurai stories, with the exception of Samurai Champloo which sort of doesn’t count since its tone is so weird.
You’re the second person to tell me Eden would be right up my alley. Guess I’ll push that higher up the Plan To Read list
How about REAL? You should check that one. Its about disabled people and basketball wheelchair, but it is more than that and for me there isn’t any single cheap moment. The inner conflict of the character be done properly in excellent manner. Combined with Takehiko Inoue art style, this is probably the best manga that tell disabled people.
lol as if there’s much competition for ‘manga about disabilities’.
Actually I’ve started reading it already and I like it a lot, although it is very heavy reading
Just marathoned parasyte once again after reading your post. I think the best part of the manga is that the author doesnt play to the gore. There’s this underlying emotional and philosophical thread that keeps you interested.
More recommendations for manga you definately should not miss:-
1) Takemitsu Zamurai
2) Apocalypse Meow (Cats fighting the Vietnam war)
3) Liar Game
4) Tower of God
Yay more people reading Parasyte! Glad you liked it. Awfully quick time to read 10 volumes mind you…
There is too much good manga out there godammit.
That’s why I didn’t put up a plain old recommendation post. If you asked me “hey, what anime should I watch”, I’d be totally lost.
But people have answered the call in this post anyway so eh
Everyone already recommended Hoshi no Samidare. Liar game is good, Tower of God is not bad. Onepunch-Man if you like it’s humor. Hmm I like Bokura no Kiseki. Holy land maybe.
I have a hard time coming up with a manga I consider great, there are many I consider good but I can’t really remember any I consider outstanding (and which don’t have an anime). Biscuit hammer is one of my favourites and I like the other mangas from the mangaka like spirit circle, but I have many more fantasy books I love than mangas I love…
Kekkaishi wasn’t bad but I think it had an anime.
Annarasumanara was kinda neat.
I think Angel Densetsu was good but it has been a long time since I read it.
I suppose I shouldn’t recommend the mangis I read because I find them cute or the ones I read because I like yuri.^^
Ah Dorohedoro is cool.
(I should really keep lists, if something isn’t in my batoto favourites, I have a hard time remembering it.)
Read a big chunk of Legend of an Angel already and it’s all right, although the art is TERRIBLE
Reads random chapter Yes it is… Well it’s still better than new HxH chapters or the original Onepunch Man. (I’m glad that there is a redrawn Onepunch Man.)
I second Akumetsu, although I never finished it, been stuck at about chapter 100. It’s been quite some fun, need to get back to it sometime.
I will throw Tekkonkinkreet in, as I like the manga more than the movie.
As for Parasyte, I think it is not quite up my alley, but I will check it out nevertheless, if only to check out what made ol’ Scamp cry.
I think it’s been suggested already, but…
Oyasumi Punpun
Genkaku Picasso. It’s a three volume series so it’s not a huge time commitment, the art is phenomenal, and the final volume made me cry, which I rarely do.
I’ve heard of it. Doesn’t look like something that’s quite up my alley, but I’ll add it to the list anyway
Parasyte sounds interesting. I shall look into it when I get the chance.
Darn, I would give you more recommendations, but I mostly just read fluffy Shoujo romances and you wouldn’t like them.
As others have said, My Girl is great. I haven’t read Usagi Drop, but compared to the Usagi Drop anime, My Girl is a bit less about being a parent and more about family/humanity or well that is the impression I got anyway.
I think you will also like Usotsuki Mi-kun to Kowareta Ma-chan: Totteoki no Uso (Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan: Precious Lies). It is pretty short and the twists are really the only thing that make it worth reading, but it is a fun little manga.
Other shorts to read:
Kimi ni Shika Kikoenai (by KIYOHARA Hiro)
Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan (as everyone else also said)
Kon no Ki Konoha
You could also try Dorohedoro if you are okay with a long, still updating manga.
Oh and you probably do something similar, but when I want to look for manga, I normally go to here: http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?act=genresearch .
Once there, I include genres I like, exclude genres I don’t like, press Search and then sort by rating.
(You can also select completely scanlated if you only want completed series.)
Dorohedoro FTW.
Imagine SCAMP a society based on satanism, and the mangaka actually makes it work. It is as if Krauser himself wrote this society.
Lots of moral ambiguity, heck even the good guys are in the mafia.
I mostly use Mangaupdates too, although I swear it gets oddly pernickity about how you search for things.
Dorohedoro has been on my radar for a while. Looks exactly like my kind of thing. Also I think I will check out My Girl, as my reading list has a bit too many downer seinen stuff at the moment
Yeah, MangaUpdates gets very finicky when searching, especially if you just copy paste. It has gotten a bit better though (I think…).
You know, people have recommended Parasyte to me many times and NOBODY has ever mentioned dick hands. If they had, I would have read it long ago.
You probably get this recommendation a lot, but I think you’d really like the Pandora Hearts manga, and you can mostly skim the parts from the anime without missing too much.
Ah yes, Pandora Hearts. I liked the anime quite a bit and the artwork too, so I have been interested in trying out the manga from where the anime left off. However I did watch Pandora Hearts back when it came out 5 years ago and my taste has changed a bit since then, so I’m not sure if I’d still like it. Come to think of it, my sister bought the first volume of the manga, I should just read that first
I’m glad somebody recommended Pandora Hearts. It’s truly spectacular. It’s one of those rare stories that gets better and better with each passing chapter. A great series if you like lots of huge plot twists (which impressively make perfect sense upon their reveals, rather than disorienting). Also my favorite series when it comes to character development. I keep getting surprised by how just how endearing every character is, despite the fact just about everyone is to some degree terrible, insane, or just plain broken inside.
The first few chapters are admittedly a bit confusing; there’s a ton of crazy things that happen all at once in order to get the ball rolling.
I’m glad you enjoyed Parasyte! I genuinely think it’s one of the best mangas out there, and wish more people would give it a chance. Like you say, the author is just so good at getting the balance right between comedy, thrilling action and thought-provoking material. If you’re undecided about what to read next then I’d recommend his current work, Historie, which is also brilliant.
I have so much love for this manga. Tamura Reiko is surely one of the best female characters in existence. She was the real star for me. But that doesn’t mean I thought the rest of cast were shabby either. Shinichi is a great lead, Goto is awesome, the Mayor is fascinating, and who wouldn’t want their own Migi? Parasyte would make such a fantastic anime series! (I’ve heard that the reason this best-seller has never been adapted is because Hollywood bought the rights to it and it’s been stuck in development hell ever since…)
Historie was already on my list, so hearing it was by the same author shot it up my list. I’ll read anything by the Parasyte author now.
I heard of the Hollywood adaptation. I think Parasyte is a story that you could strip out massive chunks of and still have the core theme and story intact. The only thing is how effective would they get the Parasytes across in live action. That could be utter nightmare fuel or just look silly. Anyway, shame about it never getting an anime though
Well, it has been a long time since I’ve commented here… Doing manga reviews will only do you good in the long term, Mirai Nikki and Death Note also were the must-read mangas before they got a panel-by-panel anime adaptation, so reading manga of this caliber may come handy soon beyond the enjoyment. Thanks for sharing your experience with Parasyte, I will definitely read it… emotional response on the level of Grave of the Fireflies? No way I am missing out on that!
I too have some great mangas I read… if words could convey the feeling they gave me it would be much easier, but there are only descriptions of reactions to write.
One is Onani Master Kurosawa. It was pretty much the same scenario as your story with Parasyte: I caught on the eccentric setup, then was captivated by the inner mechanisms of the story (characters, tension building, arc conclusions…) I read it all night, it pulled me in in an instant. Very nice stuff, I hope you will like it.
It might be off-topic but I want to mention Akira by all means. There was this discussion above about adaptations and how they may turn away people from the source material by being either good or bad – Akira circumvents all this by being absulutely far better than the movie. Yes, that movie, which is one of the must-watch movies in anime history. It might be because the movie leaves out so much… I don’t know how, but I think this masterpiece will worth your time.
Akira’s on the list because I know the anime and manga are very different because Otomo deliberately didn’t want to tell the same story twice. Wish more authors would do that
There’s a one-shot manga by the author of Akira called Dome which is simply fantastic. Its only 5 chapters though 😦
Summary from Animea.net: A twisted old man, gifted with extrasensory powers, silently holds sway over an entire block of apartments. The occupants are puppets for him to control. Life is his to give…and to take. But suddenly there is a new voice in his head, and before he knows it, a young girl with her own battery of psychic abilities has arrived to challenge him! Soon, the sprawling complex becomes a battleground between two minds possessing incredible, unimaginable power.
Well I have loved almost everything by Katsuhiro Otomo anime-wise (apart from Steamboy). Hadn’t considered checking out his manga before now, but I really should
I’ll be the manga hipster I guess. How “deep” do you want to go? If you looking for high concept recommendations, Hox has a great list of more obscure mangas here: http://hoxtranslations.blogspot.com/p/manga-recommendations.html
From reading your blog, you tend to like absurd and fun stuff so I’d recommend some short but very interestingly messed up mangas: each is fucked up in very different ways but also maintains a good sense of humor.
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=6086
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=3439
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=39899
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=3435
Special mentions has to go Molester Man and Masturbation Master Kurosawa, both by the same artist and both extremely well done coming of age stories. If you are sick of Yuji Everyleads and bland romances, I’d recommend these two. Both know how to be comedic while also developing their characters. Very popular in the manga community despite being webcomics.
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=33759
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=88632
Went through a massive chunk of that guy’s website. Seems like a cool dude with a similar taste to mine, so I might try check out all the stuff he’s translated.
You’re the second person to tell me to read Short Cuts oddly. Guess I’ll add it to the list. I’m in need of more comedies anyway, and this one has the satire tag which I’m psyched to see
Seconded on Uzumaki…actually anything by Junji Ito is rightly fecked up
Seconded Uzumaki too here. Junji Itoo could be described as Japanese Lovecraft without any mythos.
I didn’t really like Gyo though, so eehhhh not sure about Uzumaki
A manga that left a big impression on me as a kid you might like is Fire Candy by Kengo Yonekura. Its pretty short but the themes are pretty deep.
If I remember it right, it didn’t have a proper end (mangaupdates says it was discontinued so I probably do remember correctly.)
Yeeeaaaah with all the stuff on my list, not all that interested in reading something that was discontinued after 2 volumes
Too many good manga out there in the world, but I’m just going to rec you the ones I think you’ll like…
…is what I would say if they hadn’t all been rec’d already. Fine.
I’m seconding Liar Game hard – if you loved Death Note and One Outs, you’ll love this. Also seconding Vinland Saga; it’s an amazingly realistic take on the viking epic with some great characters and the art is breathtaking. Seconding Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service for the black humour, and MPD Psycho for just stark blackness period. I also second Franken Fran for the sheer audacity of its horror plots; and it has a very dark yet whimsical sense of humour to most of its stories – cruder than Kurosagi though, probably. I would second Saint Young Men, but you’re waiting for the anime. You probably should read the Cromartie and Detroit Metal City mangas, since the anime doesn’t cover all of them… but then again I don’t have the right to say that since I’m waiting (probably futilely) for Arakawa Season 3.
Now that I’m done seconding things, how about some new stuff eh? You should check out Ubel Blatt – it’s an epic seinen fantasy about betrayal and revenge – similar in tone and content to Claymore, Berserk, and Vinland Saga… well, I tend to lump them in the same seinen fantasy-ish category in my mind anyway.
Otherwise, I also highly recommend Piano no Mori (subtitled The Perfect World of Kai). It’s about a prostitute’s son learning how to play on an abandoned piano in the forest behind the red light district where he lives, and the odd friendship he strikes up with the perfect rich son of famous a pianist who’s been training all his life for piano but feels no passion for it whatsoever. So a bit like Nodame and Chiaki but with elementary school students. It’s a pretty down-to-earth, realistic take on the genre (of course there’s humour as well), and the manga follows the main character’s development from a little boy to a young adult. Since you liked Nodame Cantabile, you’ll probably enjoy this as well. 🙂
And lastly, for something more mainstream… try Mahou Sensei Negima. Okay, the first three volumes are kinda full of fanservice crap BUT IT DEVELOPS INTO AN AMAZING FANTASY SHOUNEN FIGHTING ADVENTURE MANGA WITH AN INCREDIBLY STRONG CAST LATER. I SWEAR. IT IS TOTALLY WORTH IT. All the animated adaptations focus on the harem crap for god knows what reason instead of the EPIC FANTASY ADVENTURE series that it really is.
Also check out the Umineko manga. I’d much prefer you read the visual novels, but the manga is a decent substitute, unlike the anime which is a piece of crap.
Oh, and last but not least: Kodomo no Jikan. 😉
All right, off to check out Parasyte now.
Ok you got me hooked. I watched the negima anime and never really understood what the fuss was about it. I think i’ll try it again.
Also i dont know about scamp but I’m finding a lot of awesome stuff on this thread. Maybe we should keep this going?
Why would anyone want another season of Arakawa when the second season was so bleh? Nuts to you losers, demanding more of something that should have ended long ago. I have the first DMC manga actually, but for some reason it isn’t grabbing me the same way the anime did. Not sure why either since, from what I could tell, they’re pretty much the same. Probably loses a lot in rewatching since it only really has the one gag and its intent is very straightforward.
You’re the second person to tell me to read Ubel Blatt. I’ve noticed a lot of people are recommending big auld violent seinen stuff. This is probably what I get for starting off with Parasyte, but I can imagine the recs would be very different if I started off with something like Yotsuba.
I’ve heard that about Negima, but I can’t get myself very interested in it either. Getting past the first few volumes will feel like an awful waste if “IT GETS BETTER I SWEAR” turns out to be just a different sort of crap.
But… He swore ;_;
Three that I would recommend are Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun, Doubt and Vampire Juuji Kai. Nightmare Inspector and Doubt in particular are very interesting pieces of work, that I imagine would be a pain to animate.
I’ve heard of Doubt before. Sounds like my kind of thing, I’ll give it a shot
Dragon Ball??? Maybe really stupid recommendation, because it’s really famous, but it’s still my favourite manga ever. Vegeta has probably one of the best character developments in history of fiction. Also I really dislike the anime. Manga is way better if you ask me.
Death Note has final chapter that wasn’t animated and it’s really good IMO, but you have probably read it already.
Doubt is good and isn’t too long. It’s really good mystery/thriller manga. Also the artwork kicks ass. I love those bunny heads.
High School of The Dead works WAY better as manga. I really hate the anime but I would actually recommend the manga.
GTO. Great Teacher Onizuka.
Fucking awesome! Read it. Just don’t read the “new” manga.
SPOILERS ABOUT GURREN LAGANN, just in case.
When Kamina says and does stupid things he looks like an idiot that’s going to die because he does stupid things. And that’s exactly what happened.
When Onizuka does stupid things you actually believe in him. You want to know this guy, hang aroud with him. Everything is possible when he is around. He’s just that awesome. One of the best characters ever.
I think I see why you would like Parasyte. Even without the dark humour & bouts of levity, there definitely seems fairly strong cyber-punk vibe, what with all the mediation on what it means to be human, coupled with the idea of two entirely separate existences trying to co-inhabit a single space. It actually sounds a bit like a drier & more visceral version of Mushishi, set in the modern age. If that is the case, it definitely sounds interesting, although recently watching through Kurau Phantom Memory has soured my enthusiasm for that type of premise anything soon. Maybe one day.
Interesting perspective. There’s definitely a touch of what makes cyberpunk interesting at its core while ignoring the surface layer.
I read parasyte after reading this post. I found it fun to read, but not outstandingly interesting.
I found the humour unnatural quite often. Overall I think it was good just to off-set the angst.
The premise, exploring the fundamentals of humanity, isn’t new to me and it didn’t give me anything which made me think, ‘I’ve never thought of that before’ or ‘that’s an interesting way of looking at that issue’. Mulling over the concepts was fun regardless.
This is probably what detracted from my attatchment to the characters as I thought the plot was angsty/shallow, insufficiently realistic or innovative. (I didn’t have the same emotional response – although grave of the fireflies definitely had its intended effect on me)
I felt the character growth (migi and yuki-everylead) was inconsistent, but well done. I didn’t feel like the growth stage was long enough and as a result the growth seemed like wish-granting. (super-powered skinny guy with spiky hair who beats-up all the bullies! Kyaaa!)
The last few chapters I began skimming because I felt let down by the limited scope of the plot, attachment to the characters and the predictability of the ending. The lead-up was enjoyable, but not memorable.
So far as enjoyment I’d say it was in the top 20% of the limited manga I’ve read. I’m looking forward to more recommendations.
Avoiding the big auld violent seinen stuff then…
I’d recommend Pandora Hearts, I think. The art is beautiful and story interesting, but there’s such deliberate detail and foreshadowing that doesn’t become relevant until you forget about it. At a certain point, Mochizuki twists ALL WE KNOW AND LOVE about the story upsi—right side up and it’s just…frustrating…
Yamada-kun and the 7 Witches — I’m sure this will be receiving an anime adaption in the future, but imo part of the enjoyment comes from the how the scanlators stylized the dialogue.
Perhaps Bakuman.? Story side was still shit, but you still learn a lot about the manga process buried in tl;dr.
Pokemon Special? I haven’t read it myself since I’m too attached to the anime canon.
Aside from Ore Monogatari, shoujo manga I’d recommend would be orange, Seiyuu ka, and…Kage…rou Days/Daze? Ore Monogatari is quite unique, but there’s only one chapter scanlated so. :Ia Orange is an amazingly written story about regret, but the mangaka either put it on an hiatus to write another manga or just…discontinued… Seiyuu ka! starts off aggravatingly slow, but otherwise has a well-paced, humorous story that surprisingly doesn’t have an anime adaption.
…Then there’s Kagerou Days/Daze. I’m not sure I’d recommend the manga (Japanese -> Chinese -> English translations btw) so much as I just wanted to mention Kagerou Project. It has an anime in the works anyway… (But who knows how that will work given the nature of the project.)
Gawd no I’m not touching Bakuman. Even if the manga does focus less on the romance, it’s still there and I don’t want any part of that shite again.
I’ve heard of Yamada-kun and the 7 witches. I could have sworn that already had an anime adaptation in the works, because I don’t know why else I would know of it.
So I’ve heard that Biscuit Hammer is basically the greatest thing since sliced wood with things written on it, but between it, Vinland Saga, Parasyte, Dorohedoro, and Pandora Hearts, which would you guys recommend first?
Oh man this manga was awful, the romance terrible and so unintentionally funny I couldn’t help but feel second hand embarrassment all the way through. But I guess if you have bad animu taste, it makes sense that you’d have godawful manga taste.
Enjoy the (mostly) dreaful recs.
So parasite is more than just body horror.
I have to admit that my interest has been piqued, however just like “dick hands” was the thing that make you read it, it can also be the thing that prevents me from reading.
Is a shame though, since, from what you said, the story seems interesting and stimulating but I’m no fan of body horror.
I can see why this series might go under the radar for many, since I’m giving it a very hesitant pass.
Dear Scamp,
If I don’t cry from reading Parasyte, does that mean I’m a terrible person? (Yes just today I’ve just actually read the manga. What? I am terrible person? No I’m just a person with terrible time management. Parasyte is great anyway, and most of your review is really spot on).