If a comic book is written and illustrated by a Japanese artist, and released in Japan in Japanese, it's a manga. So any elements in it are manga elements by definition.
Spoony Bard
It sounds like you want a series that lacks few wacky shenanigans, all Mukokuseki characters, fantastic worlds or powers, generic cuteness, implausible technology such as humongous mecha, or casts of characters with a small competence zone. Any other tropes you want to see averted?
For now, I'm going to use specific examples mostly from the categories of Seinen and Josei, so you might want to browse those categories.
- Bunny Drop: dramatic slice of life with a lot of adult characters. This is a rare case where I'd recommend watching just the TV series.
- Kimi Wa Petto: this story also has drama, slice of life, and an adult cast... though its tone and themes are different. The official English version of the manga is out of print, but shouldn't be too difficult to find. It also had a live action adaptation which is unlicensed.
- Shirokuma Cafe: a relaxing show in which funny animals make bad jokes. It also seems to be a commentary on modern men in Japan.
- World Masterpiece Theater: all of these shows are based on famous novels.
- Bokurano: contains mechs and kid characters... but it's a depressing drama.
- Eden Its An Endless World: post apocalypse cyberpunk. Contains violence, sex scenes which aren't fanservice, and horror.
- Detroit Metal City: dark comedy about musicians and a main character losing his sanity. The TV series isn't bad. I liked the manga, though it started to reuse jokes after a while. Haven't seen the live action movie.
- Golgo13: A classic manga that gets referenced all the time. It has a few spinoff movies and a TV series.
- Hyouge Mono: Historical fiction about a soldier who loves art and tea. It's a show which rewards the viewer for research. There is comedy, but there's also a remarkable lack of cuteness or teen characters.
- Liar Game: A woman has to play psychological games to win money. I've seen some of its live action adaptation, and found it enjoyable (though I don't recommend marathon watching).
- Maison Ikkoku: it predated almost every harem show, and it seems calm and restrained compared with many recent series. The original manga has a slow pace with a lot of filler, but I'd recommend it — the pacing and drama slowly increase.
- Little House With An Orange Roof: A very sweet romance about adults and parents.
- Me And The Devil Blues: based on legends about blues guitarist Robert Johnson.
- Tentai Senshi Sunred: an absurd comedy with a unique art style.
- Mushishi: supernatural fiction with an emphasis on mood. Both the original manga and its animated adaptation are worth watching.
- Wandering Son: transgender drama. Focus on the manga, since the TV series only adapted a small part of the story.
- Most of what Naoki Urasawa has written. Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Pluto are all finished, and are highly recommended. Only the first had an animated adaptation.
- Quite a bit of what Osamu Tezuka wrote. He was one of the most influential manga creators, and his works are quite diverse.
- Some of Natsume Ono's works, such as Not Simple or House Of Five Leaves. Distinct art and mature themes abound.
So yeah, long list is long. If I were talking about comics written in English that avert newspaper comic or superhero tropes, I would suggest looking at alternative, indie, and webcomics... but that's another topic.
edited 27th Jul '13 9:17:15 AM by dorkatlarge
TWO YEARS OF
Wandering Son has people with anime-ish features and the children in Bunny Drop do too.
Most of Monster's cast also isn't Japanese, and Tenma isn't designed to be particularly different for the sake of looking like an Asian stereotype from the pattern of the art style.
MMORPGs are serious business.
Angel Densetsu is really well drawn and doesn't contain any supernatural elements.
TWO YEARS OF
...in the later chapters, maybe
MMORPGs are serious business.
What did i do i never did something wrong did i?
"Okay" so is there any realistic japanese people features or should i say a "realistic manga" or "manga that's not manga" in either shonen or shojo?
edited 27th Jul '13 10:23:26 AM by derej222312
Er.. Attack On Titan? that has fairly well drawn faces, but only one Asian in the entire cast.
Free is fairly mundane, sans the unusual hair colours.
edited 27th Jul '13 11:05:07 AM by Elfive
Nyanpasu~
Look for historical manga...I think that may be what you're looking for. I am familiar with none.
Loves feel-good animation a whole lot.
Splendid Ninja
Rurouni Kenshin
is Shonen, and has its roots in real life history. The mangaka actually got the idea of Kenshin's character from Kawakami Gansai. The story itself feels mature and well written, so it might be something you'd like.
I highly recommend this OVA.
edited 28th Jul '13 7:31:48 PM by RockLeeYourFace
"With hard work and dedication, I will become a splendid ninja!"
Apparition in the Woods
I would say basically anything by Naoki Urasawa. Compared to most mangaka, his style is pretty realistic and quite restrained. I would also recommend looking into the gekiga artists of the '80s and '90s, although finding their work in English is often on the difficult side...
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
If I may add, Junji Ito manga seem to be drawn fairly realistically...
In an anime, I'll be the Tsundere Dark Magical Girl who likes purple MY own profile is actually HERE!
Hey is there some mangas that don't have any manga/anime elements,and also some manga with realistic japanese people features or should i say a "realistic manga" or "manga that's not manga"?