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Manga for younger children




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atoledo



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:34 pm Reply with quote
I know suggestion topics are frowned upon but I need help. I have a 9-year old daughter who bought some manga titles (from Scholastic, no less) and she's really into them now. Actually it was two volumes of the manga "Ultra Maniac".

I'd like to get her some more but most of the stuff I see is geared either towards boys or for teenagers. Does anyone know of any titles that would be appropriate for a nine-year old?

Thank You
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:07 pm Reply with quote
atoledo wrote:
Actually it was two volumes of the manga "Ultra Maniac".

Welcome to ANN. Since you are new here, we have no idea which title you and your daughter possess or have read, so let's start from there.

With the exception of her newest series, Wataru Yoshizumi has been the queen of Ribon for over a decade. You can start with her other works as well as other titles in Ribon, particularly those by Ai Yazawa when the two close friends had dominated Ribon before Yazawa started a more grown-up series named Paradise Kiss, followed by the ultra-popular NANA (I don't recommend your 9-year-old to read these two yet). Miho Obana, a contemporary manga artist of the two above, is well known for her Kodocha series.

If you want something more recent, try Arina Tanemura, Yoko Maki, or Mihona Fujii. These names should keep you and your daughter busy for a while. Razz

EDIT: Added a proof of friendship between Yoshizumi (left) and Yazawa (right).


Last edited by dormcat on Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
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jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:37 pm Reply with quote
*ahem* I think what Dormcat was trying to say was you might want to give these books a try Wink :

- Full Moon O Sagashite
- Aishteruze Baby
- GALS!

Also, if you can find them, Marmalade Boy and (especially) Sailor Moon are good choices, but they're both out of print and a bit harder to find.

Also, if your daughter likes Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokemon, there are manga versions of those, as well.
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:02 pm Reply with quote
jgreen wrote:
*ahem* I think what Dormcat was trying to say was you might want to give these books a try Wink

When recommending manga to a person, the first two places to look at are 1) other titles by the same author and 2) other titles serialized in the same magazine, unless the questioner had already looked through these two sets. I had no idea how many titles had his daughter read already, thus links to those mangaka should be more efficient, unless atoledo has difficulties using his browser. Besides, I prefer giving others fishing poles than fishes.

On the examples you have given: Sailor Moon is not quite within the same crowd. It has a strong sentai theme as well as the magical girl "protecting love and peace through transformation" genre.

There are many different Pokemon manga by different authors with different story lines. I wouldn't recommend starting with those, as they can be very confusing for parents/guardians/teachers.
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jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:19 pm Reply with quote
dormcat wrote:
jgreen wrote:
*ahem* I think what Dormcat was trying to say was you might want to give these books a try Wink

When recommending manga to a person, the first two places to look at are 1) other titles by the same author and 2) other titles serialized in the same magazine, unless the questioner had already looked through these two sets. I had no idea how many titles had his daughter read already, thus links to those mangaka should be more efficient, unless atoledo has difficulties using his browser. Besides, I prefer giving others fishing poles than fishes.


And that's totally fair, but I think it's fairly obvious that atoledo's a complete newcomer to the medium. Referring him to author's pages that list some manga that aren't available in English, or to look into titles because of what magazine they're serialized in Japan, is an overwhelming amount of information to sort through, and won't really help him in specifically buying a book for his daughter. If you go into a Borders and say "Do you have any manga serialized in Ribon magazine?" they won't have any idea what you're talking about. Authors are a bit more helpful in that regard, i'll admit. Smile

dormcat wrote:
On the examples you have given: Sailor Moon is not quite within the same crowd. It has a strong sentai theme as well as the magical girl "protecting love and peace through transformation" genre.


Well, I'm not superfamiliar with Ultramaniac, but it's basically a magical girl story that's turned on its ear by being about the non-magical friend, right? If the girl is drawn to the magic aspects of it, I think it's perfectly feasible she'd enjoy Sailor Moon as well. It's pretty hard to find, though, so it's kind of a moot point.

And I cannot BELIEVE I didn't think of this, but the one title I would recommend above any others is Sugar Sugar Rune, which is a fantastic magical girl tale for younger readers, and features identifiable (and likeable!) protagonists that are the same age as the girl in question.

On a similar tip, Pichi Pichi Pitch and Mamotte! Lollipop are two more magical girl stories (the former about a group of magical mermaid girls, the latter about a girl who befriends two wizards) that are aimed right at the young girl demographic. I'd recommend Sugar Sugar Rune first, but they might be a good alternate.
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dormcat
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Joined: 08 Dec 2003
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:50 pm Reply with quote
jgreen wrote:
If you go into a Borders and say "Do you have any manga serialized in Ribon magazine?" they won't have any idea what you're talking about.

We are not even sure where does atoledo come from, are we? Wink Scholastic is available in 16 countries. I wouldn't bet him from outside US, though. Had I known his location and/or what his daughter had read I could formulate a more detailed and precise profiling.

jgreen wrote:
Well, I'm not superfamiliar with Ultramaniac, but it's basically a magical girl story that's turned on its ear by being about the non-magical friend, right? If the girl is drawn to the magic aspects of it, I think it's perfectly feasible she'd enjoy Sailor Moon as well. It's pretty hard to find, though, so it's kind of a moot point.

I'm not sure if you know that the anime version of Ultra Manic had modified the original story heavily in order to suit the two King Record / Starchild seiyū better. Nevertheless, either version has minimal magical elements, as the magic was not used to "protect love and peace" or whatnot, but to improve their (romantic) daily lives. It's more like Pierrot's magical girl series back in the '80s. On the other hand, Sailor Moon is much more like tokusatsu of and for girls.

jgreen wrote:
On a similar tip, Pichi Pichi Pitch and Mamotte! Lollipop are two more magical girl stories (the former about a group of magical mermaid girls, the latter about a girl who befriends two wizards) that are aimed right at the young girl demographic. I'd recommend Sugar Sugar Rune first, but they might be a good alternate.

Not sure why, but all four titles you've recommended belong to Nakayoshi. Do you have a special preference for it? Not to mention that Otowa falls far behind Hitotsubashi in quantity and average quality of shōjo manga.
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lostinagoodbook



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 114
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:51 pm Reply with quote
I have an 11 year old girl who loves Yotsuba&. It is just adorable and hilarious, and is right up a young girls alley. In the volumes I've read, I've seen nothing suggestive or violent. Just alot of fun.

Here is a link to the Amazon.com page for that book so you can get some more info:

Yotsuba& at Amazon.com

I have a 7 year old boy who loves the Kingdom Hearts manga series. He also loves the video games. It's a mix up of Disney characters and Final Fantasy games in a story about a young boy who becomes the wielder of a mysterious Keyblade and must help save the Disney Princesses of heart from evil. Obviously if it's Disney, you needn't worry about suggestive themes or too much violence there either. Also it's not something that is only going to appeal to boys. It's an interesting story and alot of fun.

Amazon Link to that series:

Kingdom Hearts at Amazon.com

I fully recommend either one for your daughter.
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jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:04 pm Reply with quote
dormcat wrote:

We are not even sure where does atoledo come from, are we? Wink Scholastic is available in 16 countries.


Point. Laughing

dormcat wrote:
I'm not sure if you know that the anime version of Ultra Manic had modified the original story heavily in order to suit the two King Record / Starchild seiyū better.


No, I didn't know that...it's pretty interesting, though! Like I said, I'm not superfamiliar with Ultramaniac....I've read about it, I watched a free copy of the first episode or two on a sampler, and read the manga sampler that came with the first issue of Shojo Beat. Not a ton to go on, admittedly.

dormcat wrote:
Not sure why, but all four titles you've recommended belong to Nakayoshi. Do you have a special preference for it?


To be honest, I hardly ever pay attention to what Japanese magazine different manga are serialized in. I think the more obvious reason why I picked those is because they're both available in the US from Del Rey, who sends me free copies of virtually every series they publish, which means I'm more familiar with their output than I am some others (though I follow Viz, Dark Horse, and Vertical pretty closely as well).

I wouldn't say either Pichi Pichi Pitch or Mamotte! Lollipop are great series, but they're entertaining enough and they're definitely aimed at the "9-year-old girl" age demographic, which is why I mentioned them. Of the 3 I recommended, Sugar Sugar Rune would be far and away at the top of the list.
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:51 pm Reply with quote
jgreen wrote:
I think the more obvious reason why I picked those is because they're both available in the US from Del Rey, who sends me free copies of virtually every series they publish, which means I'm more familiar with their output than I am some others (though I follow Viz, Dark Horse, and Vertical pretty closely as well).

"Free copies of virtually every series they publish?!" Shocked (sigh) Generous American licensees. Here in Taiwan, only some insolent mainstream media reporters (no, I'm not implying you or anyone else Mr. Green ) would "ask" publishers to send them free copies of "samplers." We don't really have anime/manga reviewers here, and those who are recognized as ones are more well known as collectors.

jgreen wrote:
I wouldn't say either Pichi Pichi Pitch or Mamotte! Lollipop are great series, but they're entertaining enough and they're definitely aimed at the "9-year-old girl" age demographic, which is why I mentioned them.

You just reminded me of Ciao, the magazine that aimed at younger girls and almost brought Ribon to its knees. However, I think there are not many Ciao titles have been licensed in US (yet I can never figure out why Utena was serialized in it... Chiho Saito's works should go to ShoComi), and the quality of those licensed ones are not that great either. Coincidentally, it has a Pokemon series aimed at young girls and has been licensed by Viz. Wink

Let's see if atoledo could provide more information about other titles his daughter had read.
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jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:58 pm Reply with quote
dormcat wrote:
"Free copies of virtually every series they publish?!" Shocked (sigh)


Laughing

If it makes you feel any better, I share my gifts from the manga fairy with a staff of 12 people so it's not like it's just me.

dormcat wrote:
Generous American licensees. Here in Taiwan, only some insolent mainstream media reporters (no, I'm not implying you or anyone else Mr. Green ) would "ask" publishers to send them free copies of "samplers." We don't really have anime/manga reviewers here, and those who are recognized as ones are more well known as collectors.


Keep in mind that Del Rey is backed by publishing giant Random House. In my experience, most other publishers (both manga and otherwise) only send books if you specifically request them, unless it's a particular book they're trying to get "buzz" for.

dormcat wrote:
Let's see if atoledo could provide more information about other titles his daughter had read.


Reading his post, I got the impression that Ultramaniac was the only manga she had read, but I could be wrong.
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stuckinfresno



Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Posts: 223
Location: Fresno, CA
PostPosted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:00 pm Reply with quote
Yotsuba&! is a great manga. I have read the first three volumes and cannot find a single thing that is not kid/parent friendly. It is about a six year old girl wondering about her neighborhood and spending time with her father and the next door neighbors. This book makes me smile no matter how bad of a day I had. I MUST have in my opinion. Perfect for a little girl.

I'd also say to lookat Beauty Pop. It is all about hair cutting and has a rather shallow plot (i.e pretty girls are confident). However, the work is saved by the main character who is amazingly aloof, but sweet. It's a so-so work.

Other titles that I have heard are kid-friendly (note check this out for yourself this is second hand info) are Shugo Chara! which is about a girl with three magical friends that hatched from eggs; Peach Fuzz which is about a girl and her ferret (?) perfect for a girl who loves pets (or so I'm told); Pixie Pop: Gokkun Pucho which is a about a girl who literally transforms into whatever she drinks; Kitchen Princess which is about cooking; Mamotte! Lollipop which is a about a girl looking for love and soon two cute, magical boys drop from the sky fair warning I have heard there is a bit of large breasted characters in this one. If anyone else knows more about titles listed in the long paragraph please feel free to correct me.

That's all I can think of, but I am assuming that the 9 yr. old is more into the magical girl premise so I only included a few different types of manga. Also as a search hint: if you search a title on Amazon a list of similar titles bought by indivduals who bought the work you searched for is generated and can help you explore different titles. (Ugh that's a crappy sentence.)
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jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:08 am Reply with quote
stuckinfresno wrote:
Other titles that I have heard are kid-friendly (note check this out for yourself this is second hand info) are Shugo Chara! which is about a girl with three magical friends that hatched from eggs;


Shugo Chara! is definitely aimed at the younger set, but unfortunately it's not very good. The plot is kind of nonsensical and hard to follow, but the art is cute and the lead character is likable enough. It's not a bad choice, though.

stuckinfresno wrote:
Kitchen Princess which is about cooking;


This is a great book....very sweet stories, good art, excellent dialogue, great characters. If you want to know more about why I love this series, check out Protoculture Addicts #93. Wink I almost mentioned it before, but I don't know how much it would appeal to this particular 9-year-old, as it doesn't have the fantasy elements of Ultramaniac. Still, it's a very good book, and might be worth buying the first volume to see if she likes it. Smile

stuckinfresno wrote:
Mamotte! Lollipop which is a about a girl looking for love and soon two cute, magical boys drop from the sky fair warning I have heard there is a bit of large breasted characters in this one.


Ooh, I had forgotten about that part of it. That is true, but the book is still completely PG. atoledo might want to leaf through it before buying it for his daughter, but I can't imagine he'd object to anything in it. Mamotte! Lollipop isn't a bad book, it's just really clichéd, but a new reader wouldn't even recognize those clichés because they haven't all the similar series out there.

stuckinfresno wrote:
Also as a search hint: if you search a title on Amazon a list of similar titles bought by indivduals who bought the work you searched for is generated and can help you explore different titles.


That's good advice! Very Happy
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stuckinfresno



Joined: 21 Aug 2007
Posts: 223
Location: Fresno, CA
PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:07 pm Reply with quote
To jgreen - thanks for the additional information. I never know if what I hear is good information or not (well unless I buy it). I'll have to keep Shugo Chara! out of the recommendation list.
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