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

How is it different from what you were expecting?

Okay, so there's this standard genre of Korean and to an extent Japanese fiction all about parent/kid bonding and being very adorable and wholesome. Monster Duchess, the longnamed Snow White one and so on. The description I read made me think it was this story.

But while this story starts out this way, before too long it kind of dives headfirst into depression, marriages falling apart because of a lack of communication, post partum depression on top of normal depression and lovely things like near mental breakdowns. The "second chance" the MC gets to bond with her son and fix things up with her husband feels like it's maybe too late because she's a bit of a broken person and the two of them aren't entirely responsive to her efforts and for good reason: You ignored him for fifteen years, why are you acting like his mom now? So he has trust issues and despite initially responding to her attempts to reach out he keeps kind of jerking back because he doesn't really get what's going on.

The marriage is its own sort of tragedy too because the duke always loved her a lot, but because he's that typical stoic cold guy he never really expressed that to her, which left her assuming that it was just a political marriage, causing her to feel even more isolated. So yeah, you need to talk to each other in a relationship no matter how much you care about each other.

But despite all that, I would still not classify it as anything like bleak or truly depressing. There's a lot more realism to it than most fictional relationships, but everything still feels fixable.

I think I know what you're talking about. I've seen a few stories that fit that description, but they were all kind of off. Like, sometimes the father was some kind of Duke or Emperor who acted all grumpy and had problems showing affection to his children, or about a mother who didn't know her son was a little sociopath to everyone else besides her, or that one about a witch rising the son of emperor or something.

I never seen one that was totally wholesome.

Sounds like some heavy stuff.

So. Reading SSS Suicide Hunter. Past the point the manhwa has gotten, the protagonist briefly visits a villainess isekai and talks to the villainess about what she thinks love is. To summarize:

Unconditional love at first sight exists. Probably. But it won't be for you. There is a 99% chance your first love will be a bitch, otherwise they will become one. People aren't perfect forever. You are also a bitch. Learn from experience how to avoid bitches, how to be a bitch and when you are being a bitch and should stop.

If you are in love with a bitch and cannot avoid it, you must one up the bitch. Enjoy what you can. Do not make the mistake of being nice to a bitch.

This is both hilarious and weirdly touching. I want to give her a round of applause even though, as you might be able to guess, she's a bit of a psycho. We need more people to give relationship advice like this.

I've read A Saint Joined My Party! It's not, as you might think, a fantasy series. It's about a high school student named Suou, who decided that real life friends are too much trouble to bother, and all he needs is internet. But one day, a girl shows up in his room and acts like they were friends already. Her endless friendliness, and a well of "Saintly" advice slowly help Suou learn to deal with his anxieties.

It's a nice, funny series that avoids many pitfalls of the genre, and is just nice to read, while also having some genuinely good advice.

My New Wife Is Forcing Herself to Smile: A samurai named Sojirou has recently married a beautiful woman named Chiyo. Their union should be a joyous one, but for whatever reason, Chiyo always wears a rather forced, uncomfortable smile on her face, leaving Sojirou unsure about how worthy he is of being her husband. As a samurai, he's still plenty badass, though, and casually defeats opponents challenging him and protecting people from ne'er-do-wells...

... Which is exactly why Chiyo loves him so much that she can barely contain herself. The truth behind her "forced smile" is that it takes everything she's got to just restrain herself from basically jumping him right then and there in the street.

Another one of those stories where the main characters are a pair of lovestruck idiots who don't communicate with each other all that well, but you forgive it because the chapters are very short and our leads are two precious beans.

After another one of his manga adaptations being prety unique and intyeresting for me, I decided to check if there is any other translated manga by Amahara. The author likes to play with controversial sexual topics but he is really great in making a belivable unique setting.

So Teisou Gyakuten Sekai. A normal highschgool girl gets her conciences switched with a similar girl from a parallel world.

What's the hook? Gender roles are reversed in this world and so all of the things related. You know males in this world in general are more sexully passive, less often dominate in relationships and so on. Because of this the typiccal "sex sells" rule is now geared mostly for girls. While a lot of related things like hobbies and attitude towards shame, clothes and looks are also reversed.

And yes, later the author also adds a boy from our world to the same setting to show the difference in characters attitude in this new world. Still it turnes out not that bad as someone can presume.

Also, besides really well-though setting the manga has a lot of small jabs of different cliches of both isekai, romance manga for both sexes and even 18+ media.

Edited by Nachtwandler on Aug 27th 2021 at 1:18:07 AM

Chapter 13 of Yumemigaoka Wonderland is out, the continuation of chapter 12. Linaria is determined to prove to the world that she’s the real her, not through dirty tricks but genuine effort! And it works! Until it turns out the "real" Linaria was actually the doppelgänger, created by her manager who was also her stalker. Talk about a Cruel Twist Ending.

That might be the creepiest story Masuda has ever written, and I love it.

Edited by Lyendith on Aug 16th 2021 at 1:33:53 PM

Mogusa-san: Torao Koguchi's family runs a small eatery known for its quite large portions. To his surprise, he one day finds his classmate Minori Mogusa eating there. By all appearances, when she's at school, Mogusa is a reserved, studious and diligent, if a bit plain, girl. But this night, Koguchi discovers something quite shocking; Namely, that she's able to finish the eatery's largest fried chicken meal and an order of gyoza like it was nothing... much to her embarrassment once she realizes who he is.

The next day at school, Koguchi starts to discover that looks are indeed deceiving when it comes to Mogusa: She turns out to be not only gluttonous, but also an absolute master snack ninja. Her diligently writing in class? The pen is actually a pretzel stick that she sneaks bites out of, using the scritching sounds of her classmates' pens to drown out the crunching. The small lunchbox and large dictionary she carries around for lunch? The lunchbox is actually all side dishes and the dictionary is a secret compartment filled with rice. The list goes on.

As Mogusa explains to Koguchi, her habits stem from her merely trying to see if she could get away with snacking at school, but it eventually got out of hand. Koguchi, for his part, agrees to keep her habits and appetite a secret from the rest of the school, and they become friends... and Koguchi finds himself thinking that her gluttony is charming...

I know this may come across as a "Ha ha, a girl eats a lot and that's funny" kind of story... And sometimes, yeah, it can be that. (Heck, Mogusa even has a Meaningful Name considering that "mogu" is Japanese onomatopoeia for chewing) But the funny part isn't so much that Mogusa is a Big Eater, but observing how she can get away with snacking in class, I guess a little bit like a downplayed, food-themed version of My Neighbor Seki. Not to mention, Mogusa is a sweetheart, and while Koguchi is also a bit plain, their budding friendship is quite sweet.

Edited by MagmaTeaMerry on Aug 16th 2021 at 7:59:03 PM

I remember a manga with that exact premise, only with sleeping instead of eating. Dignified Asleep Saeko-san or something

Saeki San Wa Nemutteru / Dignified Asleep Saeki. It was my own first thought. Though it seems that Mogusa is audacious where Saeki is shameless, meaning Mogusa is actually self-conscious about her gluttony where Saeki loves to sleep.

Edited by sgamer82 on Aug 17th 2021 at 5:16:11 AM

So, one of the manga I've been following for 5 years on the comico app is coming to an end. It's called Rojiura Kurashi (living in the back alley)

Basically, it's full color webtoon-style manga set in a fictional fairy-tale like city. The story focuses on a guy who is only known by his nickname "Akame" (Red Eyes), due to his unusual eye color and Mashiro, a little girl with Cat Ears, who through some complicated circumstances, started to live together with Akame in the titular back alley. Despite his gruff attitude and violent tendencies, Akame find himself taking care of Mashiro and eventually comes to care deeply for her just as much as she cares about him. While there are some dark elements in the series, in general the series is a very heartwarming tale between Akame and Mashiro and their interaction with the other inhabitants of the city. The beautiful watercolor-like artwork also enhances the dreamy, fairy-tale like quality of the series.

The characters are really likable and the story itself is pretty good, with a combination of slice of life episodes and more serious character driven plot-arcs. The art is just gorgeous and very different than most webtoon and full-colored manga I've read so far. It's been a fun ride and I can't wait to see the ending.

Edited by jun_kagami on Aug 17th 2021 at 10:50:48 PM

You’ve made me curious.

Speaking of webtoons, I’ve been enjoying The Beginning After the End a lot lately, but chapter 119 might be the first time the series made me fucking cry in sadness and horror. There’s been some blood and gore before but seeing a cute and fun character that we know with three of her limbs ripped off, her eyes gouged out and a giant spike through her abdomen… that was quite the gut punch. Kinda wish we had seen more of said character before though. Arthur is starting to become less invincible too (physically and emotionally), it was about time.

Tansawa Sudachi Is Here!

On the first day of high school, the uptight Daisuke Jumonji finds himself seated right next to a rapper girl. This girl, Sudachi Tansawa, at first glance seems like she'd be a total delinquent... but it very soon turns out that she's an incredibly dorky, socially awkward girl who can't express herself well unless it's through rap. Though not that her freestyle rapping is all that much better (yet), as it's made clear that hip hop and rap culture is still new to her.

Daisuke, partially out of pity and partially from the realization that she's not actually a difficult person to get along with, starts befriending her... by communicating with her through rap, as well.

And, well, rapping, some delving into the culture and Cringe Comedy ensues.

So, by the summary, it seems like this is Waratte! Sotomura-san with rap!, except that Sudachi doesn't really get a rumor surrounding her that she's a delinquent. It's pretty cute, awkwardness aside.

Just imagine the crossover with Senryu Girl

Saito Takao, creator of Golgo 13, has passed away.

Not as well known as Miura in the West, but a big name nonetheless. Although apparently his series will live on under the pen of his successors.

Ibitte konai gibo to gishi (My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law who don't bully me)

Been reading this recently, its damn funny. Was no. 7 on tsugi ni kuru manga award 2021 web manga section. Basically its about a girl, Miya, who is an illegimate child of a rich family. After the death of her mother, she is adopted by said family. She was pretty much expecting her stepmother and stepsisters to be cruel and abusive. Turns out, they're not. For all their scary faces and grandiose attitude, they love her and doesn't hate her for being illegitimate. The gap between their attitude and their kind nature is pretty much the main source of comedy.

There's also a promo video with Hayamin as Miya https://youtu.be/xZAPeXYaUWA

Edited by jun_kagami on Sep 29th 2021 at 8:29:52 PM

Teihen Tuber ga Uchuu Sensou wo Totte Mita (The Low-Ranking Tuber Records The Universal War)

Kanna Fujimiya is a NEET and struggling Gutuber trying to make a name for herself online. Unfortunately for her, the world of online idols is a rough one, with none of her videos having cracked so much as 100 views. After a day of getting yelled at by her neighbours, meeting her old high school classmate Ayase who (either accidentally or purposefully, it's not really clear) rubs her bright future with a career after college and a hot boyfriend in her face, and finally getting called "crazy" by a little girl, she feels just about ready to give up on everything...

When suddenly, aliens attack the city, killing every human they see.

So, things have pretty much hit Rock Bottom for everyone. So, what's Kanna to do?

Why, broadcast the invasion, of course! Because they still have Internet access, for some reason.^note That's going to be explained in due time, I'm sure.

And so, putting themselves in harms way for the sake of that sweet, sweet online fame, Kanna and Ayase (Who she saves early on from getting crushed by rubble after her boyfriend is killed by the aliens) start recording and uploading their struggles in a world at interstellar war.

So this is an interesting premise for an Alien Invasion story. While Kanna is a bit of an Attention Whore, if a downplayed example of one who won't record people's demises and suffering just for the sake of views, she's not insufferable at all so far, and her reasons for wanting to attain fame are very sympathetic: The first chapter makes it clear from a short flashback that her parents grew to hate each other and put the blame for them not being able to fulfil their dreams on her for being born, therefore they deliberately tried to ignore her existence. Which is just... Ouch. Poor girl.

Anyway, I'm interested in seeing where this goes.

Kinda weird to realize Nagatoro doesn't have a thread. Thought it was semi popular because of anime adaptions and such? Either way, finally the manga version of Nagatoro's brother huh

Won’t be too long before it becomes official

Souboutei Kowasu Beshi

A mysterious mansion has towered proudly over the Tokyo District of Numanakarai since the Taisho period. Those who enter either never escape, or leave having experienced horrors untold, with the desire to take revenge.

...

I found this one by accident and immediately fell in love with it due to seeing a lot of elements including Lovecraftian horror, Dean Koontz's stories, artwork that is extremely good at what it does, the artistic exploration of the craft that is "Art", and characters that just grows on you the more time you spend with them.

Caught up and waiting for more translated chapters to update as of now.

Edited by TitanJump on Nov 16th 2021 at 7:17:19 PM

I recently discovered a Korean webtoon called 용의귀로… Yong-ui Kwi-ro, if I’m reading it correct? I don’t know if it has an English translation…

Regardless, it’s an action-adventure story about a Dragon called Gemma who grew to have a human appearance and is escorted by a war heroine called Garine so that she can meet and live with a fellow dragon. But the few people outside of Garine who know of Gemma’s existence have other projects to put the little dragon girl to use.

What intrigues me about the series (outside of its rather unique take on dragon lore and just… being really fucking good) is its depiction of gender roles. Not only is 90% of the cast female, those women include a lot of warriors, some merchants, passionate zoologists, queens, a Mad Scientist and her Servile Snarker, an angry ex-caretaker and basically anything that isn’t "cute love interest for the male hero". Meanwhile, the few male characters tend to have roles that are often seen as "feminine" − one is a medic, two are gentle moral supports for their wives and the most prominent one, while a badass manly man, is also The Unfavorite behind his elder sister to inherit their kindgom’s throne. The series’ society seems rather matriarchal in nature, as we mostly see women in charge, both in the royal court and in small villages. None of it is ever commented upon as strange either, that’s just how it is.

And I don’t know… I can’t help but find such a setting very refreshing. I don’t often see female-driven series like this that are not about romance, especially in Japanese or Korean comics. It helps a bit that the character designs are very androgynous for the most part (like, half of the characters I couldn’t tell their gender before it was told).

Edited by Lyendith on Nov 22nd 2021 at 3:04:11 PM

Did you read it in Korean?

It’s published in French on Delitoon. I can’t read Korean (except the alphabet, barely). There’s probably an English version, but I don’t know under which title − something with "Dragon" in it, presumably. The author is called Hosan.

Found it on Tapas, https://tapas.io/series/gemma/info