Personally-followed manga, under-the-radar for everyone else

Not really sure if this is the right place, so if it isn't, then please have it redirected to the proper section if possible.

Now I understand that there are series that many people on the forum either read or even hear of due to cross-demographic appeal — for example, I admit to reading Naruto, Kenichi, and One Piece. However, I'm also sure that we also have some pet series that we follow regularly that never even get a peep of discussion anywhere, or maybe under-discussed.

Anyway, I'd like to start things off a series I'm following that, er, is one of the former (no discussion anywhere, no entry in the wiki):

Popcorn Avatar — Shounen fighting manga with a Vedic twist. The gist is, Devas and Asuras are fighting each other for the fate of the world! Well, sort of — the Devas seem to be fine keeping the world as it is, while the Asuras want to wipe the slate clean and start anew. They can't duke it out directly though, so they have to do it through chosen proxies — avatars, or humans imbued with a fragment of their power. A Deva or Asura whose avatar loses gets kicked back into the rebirth cycle, and their current existence ends (which is a big deal, given how they've been living real human lives up to that point), while the overall conflict continues until.

The story follows one particular Deva-Avatar pair — Lisa Vayu, who was incarnated into an expat British family and as such is tall, blonde, and VERY buxom, and her chosen avatar Wada who is not-so-tall, a bit gloomy, and a bit of a siscon for his twin sister — as they battle Asuras, interact with other Devas (Indra, Agni, and Varna so far), and as well as navigate the intricate relationship minefield that being in high school entails.

Oh, and Lisa goes to these battles dressed as a cheerleader. It's kind of complicated.

Currently ongoing of course, but there are hints that the current confrontation between the Devas and Asuras is as black-and-white as it seems).

Anyway, what are some of your followed-yet-not-that-known series?

edited 18th Jul '12 8:31:03 PM by MyssaRei

More than half my list would fall under this thread. For obvious reasons, I can't be arsed to go explaining every single one.

I got several as well (Doku-hime, Little Jumpers, My Girl, and Arisa leap to mind), but I wanted to bounce some ideas around. Besides, nothing to do at work, and can't access my journal here.

I have some of these but I have to look for them (yes, I tend to forget about the series and when I find them again I Archive Binge them), so I will post them tomorrow.

That's great. Well, not really spreading word for under-appreciated series, but it just might pique the interest of other people to give them a look. I mean, I didn't even know of Akame ga Kill until someone mentioned it here. Ditto for Arpeggio of Blue Steel.

Eyeshield 21

Wimpy Fragile Speedster who's been running from and running erands for bullies all his life gets recruited by demon quarterback as a player for the school's football team. So begins his life as a slav- uhhhh, Ace player for the rookie team, the Demion Devilbats. Currently home to three official members and many temporary volunteers.

Lineman Ryokan Kurita. Huge body, huge heart and is a gentle soul in the team. Somehow is best friend to the other original member of the team. Genius Demon Quarterback Hiruma Youichi. Name literally means Devil in Plain sight. Keeps team running by blackmailing atheletes from other clubs into playing for his American Football team. Runs the school from the shadows with blackmail material on most of the students and the staff As it turns out, most of the world and an army of slaves to do his bidding. And new member, Kobayakawa Sena, who can run at the metaphorical speed of light in running. 40 yards in 4.2 seconds.

Hiruma is basically the single greateset manga character ever conceieved of. Ever.

Quite a few people follow it but most people don't read it because they assume it's a stereotypical sports manga or they don't have an interest in football.

edited 18th Jul '12 11:16:38 PM by neobowman

Heh, Eyeshield. One of my friends loved it to death, but I was never able to catch up on it after I started my master's degree.

That said, the fact that it has an anime to its name (heck, it was even aired on Hero channel here in the Philippines) reduces its "no exposure" factor.

edited 18th Jul '12 11:42:15 PM by MyssaRei

The anime adaptation is terrible. Doesn't even get to the end of the manga.

You may be right about that, but an adaptation is an adaptation, which is more than some series get. :)

I love Eyeshield.

Hayate X Blade, Hourou Musuko, and Yozakura Quartet. ...Assuming they count. I am very unaware of fandom. And I am far too self-conscious to give any of them a proper summary.

DRIFTERS! WHOO! *throws up the horns*

Ashita No Ousama is awesome josei, Cesare kicks so much ass plot-wise despite the overdose of closeups, Kingyo Used Books is the shit! And Knights is some of the best shounen out there.

edited 19th Jul '12 12:25:29 AM by FurikoMaru

Tonari no Kashiwagi-san - the description from Mangafox:

Another sort of "secret otaku" story in the vein of Nogizaka Haruka No Himitsu, but with a bit more of a focus on the relationship between the main characters and their friends.

This would be like 75% of my reading list. Well, mainly because I read a lot of series. I also tend to forget a lot of the series I read and I end up just rediscovering them and archive-binging.

Koi Dano Ai Dano: Hands down of the best shoujo I've read, primarily because of theheroine and the focus on the, err, "politics".

Gamble Fish: One of those mind game/gambling mangas but considerably... quirkier.

Countrouble: Typical shonen romance thing about a guy too shy to confess to school-idol girl and some angel who helps him out in his romantic affairs.

Gordian Knot: Yet another gambling manga, but the lead guy is just doing it for the thrill. And it hasn't been updated in a loooong while.

Shingeki no Kyojin: Post-apocalypse, last humans on Earth trying to survive while gigantic skinless humanoids called the Titans amble around defying the laws of thermodynamics and apparently kill humans just for the hell of it. It's apparently popular, though I don't see much discussion about it.

Btooom: Survival game on an island. Gimmick: the weapons are all various types of bombs.

Iris Zero: Uhhh... check out the page.

Chocolate Cosmos: Uh... it's a shoujo, girl looking for love, blah blah blah. It has nice art.

Ikigami: Japan has this law where someone below 30 is chosen at random to die in order to "remind the Japanese people about the value of life". The manga deals with the guy who has to break the news, and the people who get chosen and of course how it affects not only them but the people around them.

Coppelion: A trio of genetically altered girls wander radioactive Japan in search of survivors and whatnot.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha: The Hero confronts the Demon Queen but quickly finds out that she's not the ultimate bad guy. The Demon Queen proceeds to teach the hero ECONOMICS to show him exactly why the people are suffering. Think Spice And Wolf with a big helping of a action/fantasy parody.

Lequios: There is a strange figure floating in the air in Okinawa, that is disintegrating hellfire missiles from US helicopters. Experts from different disciplines and organizations have gathered to figure out what is going on. <— summary from mangareader

Tegami Bachi: Mailmen fight giant bugs with the power of HEART

Paradox Blue: Supernatural beings called Angels test humanity by giving them riddles; those who answer correctly get rewarded, those who don't, well...

Metallica Metalluca: Typical action shonen whose gimmick is that there are a lot of crazy metals with weird effects, and the lead can forge these metals with his bare hands.

Aiyoku no Eustia: Can't be bothered to summarize it... it's some VN adaptation.

And those are all I can think of at the moment.

Hey Fillerdude, I knew somehow you'd come here.

Okay, here are a few more of mine. Again, these don't have entries on the wiki here, and as far as I've poked around are not discussed either on Animesuki or MAL.

My Girl (by Sahara Mizu): A twenty-something salaryman in a small design company is finding himself wondering why's he's even staying at the town he's in right now, as the reason he's even there in first place — a promise to his first love and highschool sweetheart — seems pointless given how she left to study abroad and never wrote back since. Things swiftly change however when two bits of news reach him: one, the aforementioned girlfriend had died, and her remains was being returned home for burial, and two, he's apparently the father of a daughter she's secretly been keeping. When he encounter said five-year-old daughter, well, you might imagine priorities are about to swiftly change.

That Future is a Lie — a story of two classmates who secretly have weird abilities, with one capable of knowing when someone is telling a lie (Satou), and the other who can see the future of anyone she looks into the eye of (Oohashi). So when the former accidentally causes the latter (because she was suspicious of the secret the other girl was keeping) to look into a reflection of herself, ah, things get complicated. You see, apparently Oohashi saw her future — that she's going to marry one of their classmates (Takayama) — and wants nothing of it. What follows is Satou trying to make up for her flub by trying to get Takayama and Oohashi together, by all means necessary. This one's art style reminds me a little too much of Minami-ke. Really.

Little Jumper by (Takada Yuzou) — the little sci-fi title I mentioned, and it involves a bit of time travel. Normal guy Ichinose Hiroki is nearing the end of high school, but is still luckless in love. One day he is accosted by strange people, who claim to have need of him. Obviously he runs, but THEN is saved by someone (Chimari) who claims to be his daughter. Who by the way hates him, but needs him because only he can help cure her mother... Who she can't even remember now. Oh, and did I mention that time travel is apparently illegal, and those "strange people" are actually cops trying to bring back Chimari and her companions back tot he future? Yeah, it kind of gets complicated from there.

Waratte! Sotomura-san — A 4koma-series about Sotomura, a female delinquent whose frown can scare off the hardest of crooks... Except she's not really a delinquent at all, and is actually very nice, likes cute things, and is generally really girly. However because of the fact that she can't smile naturally, and because she's really awkward in general, people come off as thinking she's a delinquent anyway. Well, except for her classmate Haruno, whom she saves from bullies one day. Haruno saw what Sotomura is REALLY like, and would like to help the girl. Unfortunately because of Sotomura's reputation and the fact that Sotomura CAN'T smile, well, Haruno has an uphill battle in front of her.

edited 19th Jul '12 5:01:43 AM by MyssaRei

Why, I'm flattered people are getting to know me. Well, I've always been more of a manga reader than I am an anime watcher.

Those first two manga you mentioned sound amazing, I will definitely read them when I have the time.

edited 19th Jul '12 5:19:05 AM by fillerdude

That Future is a Lie is kind of like Minami-ke, except if you put the focus squarely on Kana and her classmates. Really, especially given the hairbrained plans that Satou keeps on coming up with. The very similar art style doesn't quite help matters. And no, there's no Hosaka equivalent. Yet.

Nevermind.

edited 19th Jul '12 6:02:45 AM by Willbyr

I don't think Akane is realy so much similiar to Kana (except name), She is smart, hardworking and can cook! Mitsuki also isn't much of Chiaky (no snarking from her). I guess artwork can make such impression(same mangaka so its alright for me...)

Anyway I would recommend that manga as well, especialy sleepover arc! My personaly favourite work after Iris Zero went into Hiatus.

Anyway another series I am trying advertise here on Tropes TV (and it seems work nicely) are:

• Akame Ga Kiru: contain sadistic bitch, that is so cute, everyone love her...
• Arpeggio Of Blue Steel: contain Cool Ship s, naval tactics and Spaceship Girl s
• Trinity Seven: (weird, it has page and I made sure it's written right, still it doesn't connect... It has to be conspiracy!)

Not yet advertised:

• Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha: About friendship of girl and shinto Godness. With a bit romance added (not les yay!).

• Classmate Kamimura Yuuka Wa Kou Itta: Main protagonis find that whole world is artifical, Himself included...

• Hozuki-san Chi No Aneki : My favourite for years. About unsocial Gorou and his always trolling step sister.

edited 19th Jul '12 8:20:21 AM by Tenzen12

I stopped reading That Future Is A Lie purely because of the art style. Minami Ke is the only other example of a manga I've ever dropped for that reason.

That said, I'll go through my list now. Some might be more popular than I know, but I don't care that much, either. Many of these are already finished (and were as such before I started them), hence why I may not know their famousness.

• Ane Doki - I think this was popular during its time, but quickly faded into obscurity. :/
• Ayu Mayu - I read this after it finished. Don't actually remember much of it now, come to think of it...
• Bokurano - I'm gonna be honest here... I don't remember this series at all.
• Classmate Kamimura Yuuka Wa Kou Itta - This is still going. I made a thread about it a couple of weeks ago, but it expectedly floundered.
• Cross Over - I read this several years ago, but I still remember it. A manga about basketball. It's a pity the romance subplot never really went anywhere. :/
• Dive In The Vampire Bund - A spinoff of Dance In The Vampire Bund where a couple of humans-turned-vampire do their best to run around the bund in search of a cure. (And yes, vampirism has a cure in this series.) Still going.
• Franken Fran - It's just... read it. Warning: Gore.
• Gacha Gacha - Kinda two different series. "Capsule" is the first and shorter of the two, while "Secret" is the second and longer. Good in their own ways.
• Girl Friends - I know people who don't like the Gayngst or whatever it's called, but it really is a decent read.
• Happy World - An odd spin off Christian mythology. Definitely worth reading.
• Hatsukoi Limited - If I'm remembering this right, then this series suffered terribly from a lack of focus. A worthy experiment, however.
• Helen ESP - By the same person (people?) as Franken Fran, except totally opposite in tone. Still worth a look.
• Hour Of The Mice - ...Don't remember this one.
• Ichinensei Ni Nacchattara - It's like a train wreck so horrible I couldn't bear to look away. Probably best not to talk about it too much though, as it has been cut from this site a month or so ago in the Content Violations Discussion subforum.
• Inu Neko Jump - It's been a while, but I remember it as a cute romance series with some drama. And jumping.
• Inumimi - This was just... Ugh. Panders to furries so much. I read it before I even knew what a Furry was.
• IO - An interesting series about scuba diving, along with some supernatural elements. Oddly, while the heroine becomes obvious a couple of volumes in, the only character to be seen naked is not her.
• Iris Zero - Echoing an earlier recommendation. Just read it. Still ongoing... kinda. Started a hiatus recently.
• Kanaete Aizen - A genderbender oneshot I read several years ago. I have a folder by this name on my computer (along with several other manga series) where I temporarily put stuff I don't want my family seeing (as I know it is a series they will mostly likely never know anything about, and since the name is in Japanese, they'll never look inside either. Crafty.)
• Kannagi - Getting tired now. I'm just gonna say whether these are worth reading or not... unless I have something in particular I want to say. This is worth reading.
• Kanokon - Probably not worth reading. I don't recall whether P5 (Content Violations Discussion) cut all versions of this.
• Karin - Kinda good, but kinda not. Worth reading, but don't expect an ending where everybody comes out happy. OHNOSPOILERS.
• Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl - I know people who don't like it, but I did. The kind of fluff where you don't need to think.
• Kimi Iro Focus - A series about photography, but not as in-depth as other series about particular topics (such as the recent-ish series Saki, which is about Majong). Read if bored.
• Koi Kaze - I regret reading this. It's decently written, but I don't like where the plot goes.
• Kono Naka Ni Hitori Imouto Ga Iru - Worth reading if you're bored.
• Kure Nai - Definitely worth reading.
• Lets Lagoon - Definitely worth reading, but doesn't come out often enough. Not to be confused with Black Lagoon.
• Lilim Kiss - I read this ages ago, and thought it was okay at the time.
• Lying Mii Kun And Broken Maa Chan Precious Lies - Loved the ending.
• Mahoraba -Without a doubt among my top 5 favorite manga, despite (or probably because of) how little it takes itself seriously.
• Mahou No Iroha - I dropped this for a while, but picked it back up again. It's okay.
• Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro - As the title translates to, this series is about the demonic detective Nougami Neuro, who literally feeds off solving puzzles. Murder mysteries are the normal fare here, and are the most satisfying for him.
• Marugoto Anju Gakuen - An oddly inspirational series for me. Kinda average in actual quality though.
• Mayoi Neko Overrun - A pity it was dropped as soon as To LOVE Ru Darkness started, as it was a decent series.
• Midori Days - Great series, despite the... premise.
• Mirai Nikki - Okay, so people know this due to the recent anime, but I'm listing this here because I think people need to read its spinoffs Mosiac & Paradox.
• Mx0 - Cut Short, but still a good series.
• My Kouhai Can't Be This Cute - Spinoff of My Little Sister Cant Be This Cute, based chronologically later than the Ore No Imouto manga. Not sure if it's worth reading if you've already read the light novel.
• Nagasarete Airantou - For a harem series where the heroine is obvious, this is surprisingly good. Worth reading.
• Narue No Sekai - Weird, but worth reading.
• Onegai Twins -I don't remember much about it, but I think I liked it. :/
• Oniichan Control - The art style is weird... and so is the plot... but it's kinda interesting, I guess. Worth reading if you're bored. Although... I think P5 got the page cut, so ignore the redlink the title makes.
• Oniichan No Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Ja Nai N Dakara Ne -Oddly similar (and yet different) from the above series (Oniichan Control). Again, it's only worth reading if you're bored.
• Parallel - Mostly fluff, but still okay.
• Pretty Face - The plot has its oddities, but it's probably worth reading... after getting through the things on this list which I actually recommend.
• Psycho Busters - I get this and Psyren confused far too often. :/
• Psyren - ...
• Ranobe No Hen - Dropped this. The plot became tiresome.
• Sakura No Ichiban - Odd, but not. Read if bored.
• Tasogare Otome X Amnesia - Worth reading.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Guren Gakuenhen - The title explains it all. Read if bored; enjoyment of the original TTGL not necessary.
• Tomehane - A series about calligraphy. Kinda weird, but worth reading if you have the time.
• Umi No Misaki - Worth reading... although the latest plot twist bugs me.
• Yakitate Japan - Definitely worth reading.

EDIT: Added after reading this thread:

• Idol Pretender - You just stole the description used everywhere anyway; you couldn't think of anything original and yet still accurate?

edited 26th Jul '12 9:09:35 PM by Sabbo

Looking at this thread makes me think I should read more manga.

@Sabbo: I liked Girl Friends. I couldn't help but feel that it was dragged out towards the end though.

Amanchu!: Basically think of ARIA set in modern Japan with the focus on scuba diving instead of gondolas.

Billy Bat: Kevin Yamagata is a comic book artist who draws the popular Billy Bat series. One day, while two officers use his apartment room to stakeout what could possibly be a Russian spy, one of them informs Kevin that his Billy Bat character looks resembles a character from a comic that he saw when he was in Japan. With the design of Billy Bat in hand, Kevin Yamagata sets off to Japan to find the original creator of the Billy Bat design, only to find himself mixed up in a massive conspiracy surrounding Billy Bat that spans decades.

Idol Pretender: Chinami Eita is a high school boy who aims to be "the most manly of men". Why? That's because he saw what Yuika Kitano's (the school's idol and his crush) favorite book was. Things take a turn for the worse however when Chinami turns into a girl due to a drug he thought was cold medicine and now he has to earn 300 million yen to buy the same drug he/she took to turn himself/herself back. And what's the fastest way to earn the money? According to his/her friend Oguri, become an idol!

Shitsurakuen: Sora Himoto is a new student at Utopia Academy, and she is a unique girl: She is the only girl that can participate in the twisted game of Exaclan that the school runs in which the guys use weapons extracted from the girls. After witnessing one of the girls getting abused, she joins the game and vows to be a knight to the girls of the school. Think The Handmaids Tale meets Pokemon. Yeah... Spoiler

And the ones I don't want to bother describing ATM or ever:

• Gokujou Drops
• Hanjuku Joshi
• Hyperdimension Neptunia
• Kamichu
• Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Gurren Gakuen-hen

edited 19th Jul '12 11:53:05 AM by Pokénatic

I've got a fair number.

Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru: Has a page, but only because I made one. It can be kind of lowbrow at times, but it's a solid, realistic and well illustrated (serious Cast of Snowflakes) seinen martial arts series.

All Rounder Meguru: Ditto for the page on this one. Not just a good martial arts manga, but very well written Slice of Life.

3.3.7. Byooshi!!: Officially shounen, but more like seinen slice of life/romance in content. Doesn't update very much, unfortunately. The author is a woman, but keeps it on the down low by using a male pen name and drawing herself as a man in the author's notes.

Gunka No Balzer: Military alternate history fiction. This one at least has a page that I didn't make, but it definitely Needs More Love.

I have a lot more, but most of them are finished, or at least no longer updating.

edited 19th Jul '12 12:10:37 PM by Desertopa

Some of them you guys have already mentioned like Mahou No Iroha and Yozakura Quartet. Other one is Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai and Sankarea, though Yozakura Quartet, Sankarea and Boku Wa Tomodachi Ga Sukunai had an Anima and Yozakura Quartet had some OV As so I don't know if that can be considered little exposure.

Then there are others that have a Trope page like Iris Zero, World Embryo, DeusExMachina and a Manhwa (do they count?) called The Breaker.

The only one I have not found a page is called Kagerou Meikyuu or Amnesia Labyrinth which "is story of murders and twisted love" (one of the best sinopsis I found, yeah not that known) from an guy who has also another series that you may have not heard of. The author is called Nagaru Tanigawa.

I intentionally opted to not name Sankarea. :/

Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro is an awesome manga about a demon detective named Neuro who feeds off solving mystery, working under a guise of a simple assistant to the "great detective" Yako, a schoolgirl he's forced into taking the credit to his murder solving. It has great plot and characters, good action, one of the worst Complete Monster villains ever, and some funny Black Comedy. It has an anime, but even that's rather obscure, and it sucks compared to the manga.

Muhyo and Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation is also an awesome. It's an action-horror manga about two members of an organization of lawyers and executioners dealing in ghosts. Specifically, they find ghosts who have overstayed their time on Earth, and prosecute them for that and any other crimes committed, such as possession or sucking life energy, and use magic to punish them, sending them Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell. Has great fight scenes, a large and colorful cast of characters, none of whom ever feel pointless to the story, and awesome monster designs.

I guess you are right.