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

Reminds me off Boarding school Juliet.

Has anyone else been reading The Abandoned Empress? I think it's probably the series I look forward to the most each week. I really like the direction of the story with only two points of concern. First is that it's clearly only like halfway through the story and ahhhh I want to read the whole thing now and second that I think the prologue really went overboard with the angst, which is rather jarring given the tone of the story otherwise.

I think I especially appreciate how creepy Allendis is getting in contrast to the prince getting more humanized. And you can see that Allendis was always kind of messed up and has just been hiding it.

Edited by Arha on Feb 21st 2020 at 7:29:24 AM

So I've been reading Mieruko-chan lately and...

I'm amused that the creepy cat guy from chapter 4 who was just punchline setup for the Yakuza looking guy with scars being cat lover came back

Uh... Kemono Jihen continues to be "Holy shit is this still shonen"

And it's even getting an anime, too. Wow.

On the subject of underrated manga, I found this really cute, one volume manga called Majo to Neko no Hanashi, which is basically about a bunch of witch girls and the stories involving how they got their cat familiars while going to witch school. It's very character driven, more of a slice-of-life affair than most Cute Witch media. Every chapter focuses on a particular girl, how she got her cat familiar, and how they come to bond and work together. One character focuses on one girl's grandmother. It's really cute and heartwarming, with plenty of meaningful character development for all the characters each chapter focuses on. The story and setting isn't as in depth and involved as, say, Witch Hat Atelier or Little Witch Academia, but it's still a cute, fun short manga that needs more love.

I am still recovering from chapter 37. Like wth. And I even missed what that Robara guy did to his "creation" on my first read.

Just came across this thread by accident, so is anyone else here following Maken-ki!, besides me?

It usually gets tons of flak for being written by a hentai artist, but it really is a lot better than it sounds. In some ways, it can even be viewed as a deconstruction of the shonen genre.

So Ao no Flag is ending next chapter, after a sudden Time Skip and turn of events...I'm not sure what to think of this.

Also they better give Touma a loving boyfriend already.

Edited by TrueShadow1 on Mar 3rd 2020 at 6:16:13 PM

I read it years and years ago. Just fanservice IIRC.

Trust me, there's far more to it than fanservice. Just browse the analysis page and the character section.

Edited by MiinU on Mar 4th 2020 at 12:48:54 PM

I wonder if I should stop reading The Villainess Reverses The Hourglass. I know the protagonist has never made a claim to moral superiority or decent character but she's being uncomfortably cruel in her victory. Yeah, the targets of her abuse aren't terribly sympathetic but they also aren't a threat anymore and are, at the very least, highly emotionally dependent on her, really trust her and regret their actions. Girl, you won, you defeated all your enemies, please don't spend the last 20% of the novel grinding them into the dust. You could have just let them die cleanly in dishonor rather than extend false mercy and make them suffer before they go.

It really goes against some of my most basic moral principles. There is no more catharsis to be had from this.

Anyone's reading Yukashi Yuusha no Fukushuutan (The Tale of the Teapot Hero's Revenge)?

The gits of it are this: The main character, Kyrie, a simple village girl from out in the sticks became a Hero - a person chosen by god and possessing superhuman strength and an unique power called Gift.

Well, Kyrie isn't terribly happy about being chosen, since last several Heroes died in stupid war waged by the expansionist king. So she's actually pretty happy when it's discovered that all her gift does is let her boil water and she's deemed useless in combat and send back home.

Except it's not so easy, since only one Hero exists at a time, with new one being selected when the last one dies, and so the king plans on killing her. To make sure no one suspects his involvement he orders Kyrie's entire village to be murdered to make it look like a bandit raid. It would have succeeded if not for the fact that Kyrie's hero instincts awaken at the last moments and she manages to escape. While being pursued and fighting for her life Kyrie comes to an important realization that everyone missed when they declared her Gift not fit for combat - living things are full of water.

After gruesomely dispatching her pursuers and getting information about the cause of attack Kyrie vows to get her revenge on the king and his lackeys - even if she has to boil her way through the kingdom to get it.

It's a pretty dark tale of revenge that for once actually has the right gravitas for that kind of thing. It's worth checking out.

I had a manga called Immortal Rain, and I collected about 1-4 volumes of it, but unfortunately not many people have heard of this series, although I thought that the premise of this series was good enough for an anime to be produced.

I also collected an old manga called Kurohime, but then again I couldn't collect the rest of the series so I don't even know how it ended... And also I had another manga called The Night of the Beasts, which was another old series.

Edited by sabrina_diamond on Mar 20th 2020 at 5:03:58 AM

I just stumbled upon a series called East, Into the Night. I've seen Franco-Belgian comics that looked like manga, but I think this is the first time I've seen a manga that looks like a Franco-Belgian comic. Because yes, the manga is in full-color.

It takes place in a world where there's only night and the protagonist Anag is an adventurer in search of the mythical "Morning" described in some ancient writings. One day… well, one night… one night-day, he's attacked by a dangerous creature but is saved by a young huntress called Tiyo, who wields an ancient weapon, one of the relics of the old world whose use is forbidden by the Fire God's teachings.

From the first chapter alone there's visibly a lot of thought put into the color and atmosphere, but also the the culture of the people living in that world (even if we only see a few of them). It's really fascinating.

Also, it's available entirely for free on Mangaplus (god it's nice to have a legal option we can link towards ). Only 9 chapters so far, so you can easily catch up.

Rereading Jing: King of Bandit. Man, I must have read these a lot 15 years ago because these Tokyopop covers are torn to shred.

I'm really enjoying myself but a lot of it is one note. As much as I want to praise the detailed art, it's cluttered and for a comic, that's not a good thing.

Oof, I feel old reading that title. I think it was one of the first manga I've ever read… good times…

In less pleasant news, Mochizuki Jun's ''Case Study of Vanitas'' is going into hiatus due to coronavirus concerns.

Maken-ki! has officially ended as of chapter 124. The series as a whole was amazing, especially the final arc. I had no idea it would turn out the way it did, or that it'd actually give me "feels". The cast really grew on me.

Oh, and for those of you who feel that female characters get the short end of the stick in most shounen, Maken-k!i remedies that. Big time.

My only regret is that it isn't available for purchase in English. Otherwise, I'd already be ordering it online. Hopefully, I can find another manga series like it.

Edited by MiinU on Apr 4th 2020 at 6:29:33 AM

Does a manga that has received a two season anime and an OVA (both of which have been released in the west) really count as Under-the-Radar? But anyway, I have been meaning to read that for a while I will have to look into it again.

Yes. Especially if it only has a small following because hardly anyone knows that the manga even exists, because of the anime, which turns most people off of it without ever giving the manga a chance.

The anime version gives people the wrong impression, because only the first season has anything to do with the manga's plot (just barely). Season 2 is entirely filler + amped up T&A. So most people write the manga off as nothing but fanservice, because that's what the anime is, which may as well be called, Maken-ki!: In Name Only.

If you really wanna see what the series is like, pretend the anime doesn't exist and just read the manga instead. Trust me.

I randomly happened to read chapter one of Maken-ki this weekend. I agree this is a bit obscure.

Edited by gropcbf on Apr 5th 2020 at 8:52:06 PM

Cool. The impression I got from the anime was that it was an interesting premise but went too far down the ecchi comedy road so it is good to know the manga is different.

The manga has its share of fanservice , it's just not as frequent or in your face as the anime version. Most of the fanservice is limited to the omake chapters which are always marked with ".5" (i.e. 61.5, 66.5, 70.5, etc.). Simply skip those and you can read the manga almost guilt free.

The lone exception is a gratuitous scene that unfolds between chapters 91-94, but it has a plot specific reason.

Aside from that, it's mostly a harem comedy, with action scenes, a conspiracy plot,and mild drama.

Edited by MiinU on Apr 6th 2020 at 2:39:37 AM

I just discovered that a series I've mentioned before, Roujoteki Shoujo Hinata-chan, has an official English release under the title Granny Girl Hinata-chan and is already at volume 2.

Also, one I've been meaning to bring up: Shy

20 Minutes into the Future, World War III is stopped by the emergency of people with incredible powers. These superpowered individuals become heroes that help work towards and maintain peace. Each nation has their own Hero. Fourteen year-old Teru Momijiyama, codename "Shy", is Japan's, and she lives up to her name in a big way. She struggles with both public appearances and with living up to her duties as a Hero, but when a group of Creepy Children calling themselves "Amalareiks" appears with the apparent sole objective of disrupting the world's peace, Shy may well be the heroine most qualified to take them on.

Edited by sgamer82 on Apr 25th 2020 at 11:38:14 AM

Is anyone but me reading QQ Sweeper / Queen's Quality?

So, erm, World's End Harem is getting an anime apparently.

What went wrong in this timeline.