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

No, because there are no significant deviations between Dragon Ball's anime and manga for the main run. Arguably you could claim that the pre-Z arcs of the manga are under-the-radar. Anyone remember Lunch? No? Neither did Toriyama.

AKIRA's manga was written before, during and after the anime movie and it differs greatly in many ways as a result, so it's almost a different work. It is barely discussed.

Frieren at the Funeral is an interesting new series. Basically shows what happens to heroes who defeated the Demon Lord after that, as told from the perspective of the immortal elf mage.

One chapter in and I already appreciate the bittersweetness of it.

Every chapter of Frieren so far has this tinge of melancholy even on the more light-hearted ones. It's great.

Makes you wonder if the story ends with Frieren watching her apprentice die... .

I'll need to read Karakai Jouzu No (Moto) Takagi-San to recharge my happiness batteries.

Edited by Zarastro on May 23rd 2020 at 12:13:42 PM

The most recent chapter has bunnies

I'm reading a manga called "Nirvana". It's one of the only Isekai series I've actually followed. It's enjoyable, but the quality feels a little uneven. It's also written by Jin, the same guy who did Kagerou Project.

Edited by MisterTambourineMan on May 23rd 2020 at 4:30:47 AM

maybe try some classic isekai, like Magic Knight Rayearth?

If anyone's interested in paranormal mysteries and detective drama, I'd recommend Ghost Talker's Daydream. Sad to say, hardly anyone knows that it even exists.

Fair warning: It has graphic depictions of violence and several rape scenes. Also, finding the entire series translated in English will be difficult. Darkhorse Comics only released the first 6 volumes commercially, but refused translate the remaining 4 volumes due to the first set selling poorly. I was able to find online sites that translated volumes 7 - 9, but I never found volume 10 anywhere.

It's still a good read and a gripping story, but you probably won't get to see how it ends. I've been searching online for years and I still haven't found the final volume.

I recently discovered an old shoujo/josei manga called Sora e no Tegami or A Letter To The Sky that's being sold digitally on some places. It's about a young teacher, Yoko Ozora, who after many years of getting temporary jobs, finally gets a permanent position as a teacher...but the thing is, she's teaching a class in a hospital that specializes in helping sick kids with long term hospitalization get an education and keep up with their schooling. Many students come and go depending on how severe their illness is and whether they're healthy enough to attend. Cancer, heart disease, asthma, leukemia, the whole enchilada. Teaching the class brings the fresh faced teacher hardship and heartache, but just as much joy as she learns about every child she teaches and tries to make every day fun and fulfilling for them.

I just bought volume 3 online earlier, and for a manga from the late nineties, it's actually pretty good, and maintains an optimistic (But not naive or overly idealistic) tone, even with its intense subject matter. I only have two main issues with it: One of the other teachers Yoko meets, while being in the right about how Yoko tends to be too naive and idealistic at first, tends to say some really misogynistic things to her out of nowhere, chalking up her early idealism as womanly sentimentalism when her gender has absolutely nothing to do with her character flaws. Thankfully he gets over this in the next volume and becomes an ally, but his comments were very jarring. But the big problem I have with the manga is that it tends to really pile on the cheesiness and melodrama, having certain people scream like banshees over certain situations which, while understandable because of the manga's subject matter, could really benefit from being dialed back quite a bit.

But even with those problems, the manga is very good and surprisingly nuanced and heartfelt, and I really recommend it.

I’m the Grand Duke's Consort Candidate, However, I Believe I Can Certainly Surpass It!

Despite the name, I find this is a really good shoujo manga. Teresse Litharth is a noble daughter from a poor region. One day she received an invitation: "All noble ladies will gather in the palace for a period of time to pick the prince's wedding candidate." Teresse decided to go for this, no, not because of the prince, she's not the least bit interested in that. But because it's a good way to make connections and get a job at the royal palace after the event is over.

I'm really liking Teresse as the protagonist. She's a feminine lady who doesn't do any fighting, sure, but she knows her goals, knows what to do to achieve them, and has strong beliefs in her ideals and sense of justice. The fact she's not interested in romance is a bonus.

Edited by TrueShadow1 on Jun 1st 2020 at 9:43:49 PM

I just discovered Dai-Guard and it looks really fun.

I have been following these two:

Totsugami: I like series based on ayakashi and I like how laid back it is. I don't know if will be able to get to finish the series though as the volumes arent availuable in English and its been a while.

LightNovel.Imouto Ni Fianse Wo Yuzure To Iwaremashita: A webnovel and manga series about a girl who has trained her whole life to be the perfect marriage candidate for a prince loses her chance due to her bratty sister demanding that she become the fiance of the prince. Distraught, the MC throws herself off a volcano due to a legend that girls who sacrifice themselves to the dragon that lives there will bring honor and prosperity to their family by becoming a "dragon bride". The dragon named Greed swoops in and saves her. The MC, Eliana, wakes up and realizes she's been saved and Greed takes her in as his "bride"/servant.

I think it's ok so far, not too exciting though but I only read a few chapters. The light novel is somehow less congruent and not as coherent as the manga so I think that I am going to skip it.

Edited by MacronNotes on Jan 18th 2022 at 9:34:28 AM

Hello all, I'm new to this thread, but I have many overlooked gems that I want to reccomend to everyone

However, before listing one of the pillar of the battle shonen, since this fall (maybe a bit later) is coming a new, hopefully complete, animated adaptation of this series, I suggests everyone to look for Dai no Daibouken (Dai's great adventure).

For those who don't know, Dai's great adventure is a fantasy series that takes inspiration from the Dragon Quest series. It's a standard battle-shonen of the 90's, but is so good it has mantained the same charm after 30 years, to the point I can say that if it were to come out now, it would without a doubt get a spot in Shonen Jump. It doesn't goes far away from a fantasy-battle shonen, but has very well written characters (both the heroes and the villains), very engaging and interesting fights, and a couple of well done plot-twists. In case you're a fan of fantasy, dragon quest, battle shonen or simply good stories ^note  or you want to be the hipster who says "I read the comic before the cartoon came out" just like me , then I highly reccomend this series. I've just read it a couple of months ago and, despite having read many other series before, it still looks fresh, moreso than some popular current series

Edited by fishysaur on Jun 4th 2020 at 12:57:20 PM

@Miin U I actually discovered a site where the first chapter of volume 10 has been posted. Time will tell if the rest will be translated as well, but it is a good start.

Toorigakari Ni One Point Advice Shiteiku Type No Yankee - Sakurai looks like a dangerous Yankee, but in reality is very nice and a fount of good advice, as people who meet him find out. A nice, funny comedy.

Kao ni denai Kashiwada-san to Kao ni deru Ota-kun - Kashiwada is always expressionless. Ota tries to provoke a reaction out of her. He fails. Hilariously.

I love Expressionless Kashiwada

It also having a 100 day spinoff seems to have helped with moving more chapters along for the main story, with vol. 1 complete.

Oota is such a tsundere jerk to such absurd levels

Gets owned every time

The 100 days spin-off is the only one of the bandwagon that I like. Aside from the Crocodile of course.

Oota is so high-strung he just keeps owning himself. It's hilarious.

I read the Hata 100 days until they’re married one as well

It seems most copycats have fallen off so those are the only two I see regularly now

Oh man, latest chapter of Musuko ga Kawaikute Shikataganai Mazoku no Hahaoya is so sweet, but also so painful knowing how it will end.

(x5) Funny. I'm currently reading a manga called Tanaka-kun is Always Listless, which is about a super lazy / listless boy named Tanaka who always relies on his best friend Ohta to get almost anything done. Sounds similar, eh?

Edited by Adept on Jun 21st 2020 at 9:32:50 PM

I've been reading a lot of new manga lately, mostly buying them digitally off Amazon Prime, since I don't have shelf space anymore. One of the titles I came across is this really cute but surprisingly nuanced and sad manga called Yuzu The Pet Vet.

The story is about a young girl named Yuzu who lived a perfectly normal life with her mother. But when her mother is sick and has to be hospitalized, she is sent to live with her uncle Akihito since her father is dead and she can't be left alone to fend for herself. Akihito runs a vet clinic, so Yuzu has to help him out. But Yuzu isn't very fond of animals, and the vet's mascot chihuahua, Sora, continually gives her grief. However, as she meets various patients and their owners, her fear of animals gradually turns into a desire to learn more, and every day brings new experiences.

Don't let the cutesy, sparkly eyed shoujo art style fool you. The manga actually has a surprising amount of nuance and depth when it comes to caring for animals and the sad parts of raising a pet, like pets dying from old age (The first chapter has a character's dog die from old age, though it's used for meaningful character development rather than for plain shock value), diseases that can't be cured (such as dementia and Cushings disease), and people viewing pets as aesthetically pleasing toys than as living beings with feelings, wants, and needs. But don't worry, it's not a complete sob fest either, as there's plenty of humor and heart to be found as well. At the same time, whenever there's a resolution at the end of a chapter, the mangaka never goes the overly saccharine route in addressing its themes and messages, nor does it try to hide or sugarcoat the sadder and more troubling aspects of raising an animal. I highly, highly recommend it, especially for people who like both cute animal drawings and stories full of nuance and depth that don't talk down to kids.

x8 @Zarastro: Which site is it? I'd love to see it even if it's only one chapter from the final volume.

btw, if anyone's looking for a well-written battle shonen series and they haven't seen my post on the previous page, I highly recommend Maken-ki!. In some ways, it can be seen as a deconstruction of shonen manga in general. Especially the way it handles and develops its protagonist and how the manga deals with the issue of Power Levels.

In most other series, differences in power are treated as the sole deciding factor in a fight^note which irks me, 'cuz it over simplifies combat into a contest of "who's stronger", whereas Maken-ki! treats power as only one aspect. In fact, it has several instances where characters find ways to defeat opponents many times stronger than themselves; including minor characters.

You have a PM.

Got it, sent reply PM. Thanks again.