Forum - View topicI need suggestions for a mature (not hentai,yaoi,yuri) manga
|
Goto page 1, 2, 3 Next |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Gumpinator67
Posts: 11 |
|
||
|
I am looking for mangas in english that do not follow a traditional unoriginal (ie fanservice, boy meets girl, etc) manga. An example of this kind of manga is Eden, parts of Elfen Lied and parts of Evangelion. Complicated story lines are required. "Gothic" styles of grotesque death can also be a plus if there is a "plot" to the manga (ie senseless zombie killing with no true purpose is not one of these). A mature manga questions not only the identity within oneself, but also the morality in death and defiance (although many mangas regularly question moral ethics, only few mangas or animations actually "dig deep" into the matter). On a note, do not suggest hentai or any yaoi or yuri mangas please. It can be slightly fan service-like or romantic as long as its a mature setting and does not focus on the love life as the main plot (which is usually close to impossible).
PS: Its not that I hate tradtional fan service ideas, I am just looking for a new style of manga. |
|||
|
|||
Satanachia
 Posts: 143 Location: Canada |
|
||
|
A manga with gore + a good story is Diabolo. As for Mafia oriented, try Gunslinger Girl. Also, I am not sure if this is the kind of manga your looking for, but Ghost in the Shell has a grand plot to it (I think so anyways.)
|
|||
|
|||
|
o2983
Posts: 13 |
|
||
|
Blood Alone has nice art and interesting plot. The story line is nice and gentle, yet very mature.
I guess there is not enough Manga for mature adult... Most companies try to license "maga-selling" comics, which are most of the time for teens... |
|||
|
|||
|
Gumpinator67
Posts: 11 |
|
||
That is very true, most of the manga today are love triangles, mechas, or the usual samurai yakuza theme (one samurai or a small group of samurai against everyone). I will look into Blood Alone with some depth along with possibly Goglo 13 (but Goglo seems to slightly follow the samurai yakuza theme but with a 21st century twist). I am just trying to find something different out there, since I have almost burned out on fan service themes (ie Tenchi Muyo, Dirty Pair, non-hentai maid animations, etc) and love triangles or romance comedies become too easy to predict (Chobits, love hina, etc). Nevertheless, this thread is open and I am still looking for something better than Eden, it's an endless world (by the way, I highly recommend the manga). Remember, gothic (not wrist slitters, Gothic means dark literature like Edgar Allen Poe or Frankenstein) is the best part of a mature manga because it shows the details of real life and not in a form where everything comes out to be a happy ending (which most mangas fall under). Elfen Lied, Blood+, and Goglo 13 have been suggested (removed due to listing). Any others? |
|||
|
|||
Hoenheim
 Posts: 44 Location: Santa Barbara, California |
|
||
|
Definately check out Monster; it's a dark, sometimes predictable, but still great manga. It gets quite tragic at times. It has a pretty good plot, and a main character who I think is pretty well done. Also, Helter Skelter and River's Edge would be good choices if you're looking for something truly unconventional. Theyre both quite dark series, in a sadly realistic way. They have extremely well done characters, which is what I think makes them so good. All three of those are definately the darkest manga I've read and don't follow really any conventional methods (well Monster does at times).
|
|||
|
|||
Cyborg 009
 Posts: 214 |
|
||
|
A good comedy is Chibi Vampire, but it's only Older Teen, not Mature. Death Note is also good.
|
|||
|
|||
Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
|
||
To be honest, the works of Kyoko Okazaki (Rivers Edge, Helter Skelter) are about as mature as you can find. I can definitally understand where your coming from in terms of wanting a serious, adult title, but what exactly is your definition of "mature?" Because something like Elfen Lied may be gory and violent and may even attempt to justify its explicit material, but I wouldn't nessisarily call it a truely adult title compared to something like Helter Skelter, Nausicaa, Believers or even Monster. Even some ero-manga (the work of Naoki Yamamoto, Jiro Matsumoto or even Mohiro Kitou)and yuri titles (Erika Sakurazawa, Ebine Yamaji or Nananan Kiriko) tend to have far more depth and sophistication than people give them credit for (I won't comment on yaoi since I have limited experience). I suspect most manga readers in the US are simply not ready for a mature title that doesn't feature an epic but conventional plot and violence (which is by no means a bad thing, as some of my favorite titles fit this mold), but since you seem quite intellegent I'd definitally recommend checking out some of the more unconventional or progressive titles I mentioned (if you are interested I'll give you some others). But for titles that fit your description, my best recommendation would be Akira. One of the all-time classics, it's essentially the inspiration behind Eden (another exellent post-apocalyptic title, though it doesn't reach the original's heights) and is a must-own for any self-respecting manga reader, not just for the revolutionary storytelling but for the substance behind the story. The author's Domu is similarly exellent; though only one volume I'd argue that it's better than Akira. The recently released classic Drifiting Classroom is superb as well; I don't think I've ever seen storytelling more finely tuned for horror in manga, particuarly since it's from the perspective of a child watching just how inept authority (in other words, adults) is in the face of the unknown. An exellent modern take on survival horror is Dragon Head, which takes a psychological approach to horror as opposed to the sociological one in DC. |
|||
|
|||
|
Gumpinator67
Posts: 11 |
|
||
|
Wow that was alot of typing on your end (previous reply) thank you for such a post. I do understand the fact that america is probably not ready for such sophisticated mangas/comics because of the current "ditzy-like" demands for easy comedy, love triangle romance, and random samurai violence that is designated for easy reading and understanding to hit the broad view of the audience. It can be compared to the current reading level of the local newspaper in comparison to New York Times. The local newspaper has to be understandable and easy to interpret for the local area because not many people understand over a 3rd grade reading level (nothing biased or sarcasm about it, it is just the truth). America itself, sadly, has a pretty high uneducated reading level because of the current generation and its increasing numbers of the lack of motivation; teachers are skipping students to higher grade levels even though they may be in high school and cant read (my father, a police officer who works in the schools, claims this to be a very true statement). Elfen Lied is not a "mature" manga, but its content in violence is graphic along with many multi-personalities (schitzos) that typical preteens can not grasp effectively without some kind of psychology education (hopefully some parents set standards to how much their kids view in violence levels at home). I may touch into those yuri mangas that you have mentioned, but I hope it doesnt get too far in depth with typical lovey-dovey story lines. Other mangas have came to mind, like blades of the immortal and lone wolf and cub, that require a slightly higher sophistication of understanding but not as close as to Eden or possibly Akira (only watched movie, I'll look into the manga soon).
Nevertheless, people keep posting some comments on what your ideas and opinions of "mature mangas" are. Its not that I want to be popular or anything, I am just curious to what is out there (it is hard to look through anime websites and to sort through 10s of thousands of manga titles to find only a handful of what i need). |
|||
|
|||
|
Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
|
||
Yuri is an interesting genre (if you want to call it that) because it ranges from manga aimed at younger/teenaged girls to ones aimed at grown women. There are a few examples of the shojo ones that are well known in English, and the ones I've read more or less involve girl-crushes or fascination with an older student more than actual homosexuality, and would probobly fall into the "lovey-dovey" category that you want to avoid. The josei (women's manga) titles on the other hand tend to take a far more realistic approach to storytelling and usually go deeper into modern female sexuality in Japan. I wasn't really even recommending yuri to you, though your welcome to look into some of the authors I mentioned; while I believe that Nananan Kiriko's Blue is one of the most emotionally profound titles ever published in english, its understated storytelling certianly isn't for everyone. But I don't nessisarily think that most Americans can never understand works that are complex or unconventional. Though modern American pop-culture/movie industry is probobly at an all-time low, good art is good art. Helter Skelter is certianly psychologically complex and relentlessly cynical, but so are films like Taxi Driver or Clockwork Orange, which remain popular to this day. Even someone like Taiyo Matsumoto, who's definitally one of the most original manga-ka of his generation, has mass appeal (despite the surreal nature of his work) because of his incredible skill as a storyteller (you can't go wrong with any of his manga). The problem is that most manga readers in the US are teens or adults who almost exclusivly read manga aimed at teens. Nothing wrong with this, but if you make a 15-year old watch Citizen Kane, your probobly not going to get a good response. My hope is that the industry will eventually mature and a market for adult manga that don't nessisarily need to have gore and blood to sell will open up. |
|||
|
|||
|
Gumpinator67
Posts: 11 |
|
||
|
Ah I see, as i can tell you that I really never picked up a yuri manga because of my own personal bias (obviously thinking mostly yuri is another form of a fan service). Sorry I shouldnt of generalized on the yuri content, since there are many other genres inside one main genre of any kind of book or movie, anime or not.
Nevertheless, I can agree with that statement with the mangas aimed in the USA basically for the teenage ( around 14-18) mangas. One of the reasons why I resort to downloads (like Mangaprojects or Bittorrent) is because complex mangas are not popular which results in the manga not availible in retail stores to be purchased within the US compared to many other genres (as stated before). It is also kind of creepy that we Americans aim for so many simplistic story lines and actually enjoy it (Do not worry, I actually enjoy these movies as well). This can be seen in the usual teen slashers (Scream, Jeepers Creepers, etc) that call for a high rise in popularity even when all they are now-a-days are boobie slashers (I hope that provided enough information). This can also conclude on how "gore and violence" is becomming a main attraction for movies in older teens (heck, even kids under 10 line up to see these movies after their parents finish watching it and leave it unattended). Overall I do hope for a different market in anime to be obtainable in the near future in the US (not exactly mature, just something with a bit more of originality). Nevertheless my expertise in such a subject is minimal since I have only read a couple handfuls of manga, mainly reading them after watching the animation to get a glimpse on what is happening further down in the series. As a side note, I hope people do not get mad that I gerneralized the American intelligence to such a low level. There are many intelligent Americans that can actually achieve high levels of intelligence and understanding.... they are just too few in number. |
|||
|
|||
|
Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
|
||
|
Yes, I too assumed yuri was "hot lesbo action."
I don't think that mature, "literary" manga needs to be stuck in scanslation purgatory (which isn't saying much since there are only a handful of groups who actually scan them). There are plenty of intellegent manga fans out there who just seem to be stuck in a phase of reading only Shonen Jump. Despite the rather unconventional nature of the narrative, the majority of fans seem to love Sexy Voice and Robo. Obviously, not all titles are going to have that kind of appeal, just like the Citizen Kane analogy I made, but there is definitally an audience for these kind of titles (after all, American alternative comics are all the rage amoung literary snobs now). The problem is reaching that audience and showing them that manga isn't just for teens, or subsequently getting more intellegent manga fans intothings beyond shonen and shojo titles; and I think that later is ALOT easier than getting DC/Marvel fanboys into diffrent types of comics. Man I must love to hear myself talk (er, listen to myself type). |
|||
|
|||
|
coolerimmortal
Posts: 522 |
|
||
|
Since you enjoyed Eden, one of my favorites, I would also recommend Monster, which has already been explained in this thread. Also, try Berserk, my personal favorite...ANN's page has plenty of information: http://animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2298
|
|||
|
|||
|
Gumpinator67
Posts: 11 |
|
||
|
I understand that idea right now Kagemusha, the fact that high literary manga can not reach a higher level of comprehension is because the demand (or snobishness to use other alternatives) is at a low with japanese mangas and animation to people in their mid to late 20s. This can possibly be involved with the main idea that people are scared to admit (or to show) that they read manga even after they hit their 25s+ because of the parinoia that people will make fun of them and the rejection of their growing peers. Even I have met that kind of hostilities, since I was the only anime-lover in all my classes in high school (went to a thuggien gang posers kinda place); I had to face some attacks of being called an anime fan. When I started to read mangas in class (Suikoden III), I had to put it away after a week since half the people in my class started to label me as "SailorMoon-mon" (makes you wonder who the real child was...). Maybe it is just that phobia that "cartoons are for babies and small children" and this causes oppressors to form (aka bully-ing). Maybe when this "phobia" or actual attacks on Otakus or fans dies down, maybe the demand in adults can casually obtain and read a comic or animation for once without ridicule from others (although there are many adults who still act like they are 16
 ).
|
|||
|
|||
bennyb
 Posts: 477 |
|
||
|
You may enjoy Gantz. Complex, original plot, very thought provoking, there is a good amount of gore and some "softcore" nudity (The author loves drawing huge tits) but it's not out of place and is all part of the story. Not available in the states, you may have to resort to scanlations.
|
|||
|
|||
HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
|
||
|
The sex and nudity in Gantz is NOT "soft core". It is borderline porn and pretty explicit.
|
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group