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

Btw, got another recommendation manga for you guys despite the manga got an anime, I'll make this an exception:

Murder Princess: Thanks to a certain troper in Trope Launch Pad, I became aware of this manga. So the story is about a princess named Alita who got bodyswapped by a bounty hunter named Falis because the former ran away from the coup d'etat committed by someone named Dr. Akamashi. The manga is intriguing and I personally like both of the manga and anime version. Also, both of the manga and the anime are different animal as the manga itself is pure fantasy but the anime itself has some Sci-Fi elements in there so I'm cool with that.

So, I've been reading this manga called Until Your Bones Rot. It's a Murder/Thriller/Psychological manga that ended earlier this year. The description from Kissmanga is as follows:

" The summer they were eleven, they killed a man and buried his body in a cave. Since then, every year, one summer night has marked a ritual: a ritual never to forget and never to betray. Five years have passed. Their sixteenth summer. The body, now a skeleton. Unravelled lies. A faceless blackmailer. The phone rings and a life is torn apart. The bones like their crime: never rotting, never fading away. Now a living hell begins".

Edited by pointless233 on Dec 30th 2018 at 11:58:15 AM

I've read this great josei manga called Kechonpa. It's about a Gyaru Girl who solves crimes in Shibuya as an amateur detective to impress his emotionally distant crush, who's a cop. It's really fun, just watching this rambunctious gyaru gal careen around Tokyo with her girlfriends and solve crimes, but the manga also regularly gets into some pretty complex topics, like domestic abuse, prejudice and dysfunctional relationships. Also, Ririko's gyaru style isn't just a cute quirk slapped on to make her seem interesting, but the manga portrays the gyaru subculture in much more detail and maybe realism, and explores why Ririko decided to get into it in the first place. Subculture and belonging are generally big themes in the manga.

Sadly though there are no English translations after Chapter 12, but I still hope.

I think I've come across a new winner: Tokedase! Mizore-chan

Late one countryside winter, a snowman made of the last snow of the year curses the sun as it melts, only to be found by a little girl who takes the snowman home and sticks it in her aunt's freezer.

Later that year, the little girl, Himari, is coming to spend summer break at her aunt Koharu's house. She asks if the snowman is still in the freezer and indeed it is, but Koharu discovers that between the end of winter and late July, that snowman has transformed into a Yuki-onna calling herself Mizore and she is determined to destroy the sun and conquer summer... which lasts about as long as it takes for her to realize it's late July and she's made of snow... Since that didn't work out, Mizore lives with Koharu and Himari.

The first few chapters are spent figuring out a way for Mizore to go outside without melting and discovering quirks about her body, such as how she enters a Sleep-Mode Size if she loses too much of herself due to melting or grating her own arm to make Himari a snowcone ("You think it's okay to put ice made by some random person in Himari's mouth?") and can regain any lost mass with an ice cold bath.

As of this post there are 12 chapters released and I've made it through 5-6 of them, at which point they've worked out they've worked out a way for Mizore to go out at least a little bit and meet new people.

Oh damn, I have to catch up on this one! I read volume 3 a while ago, and it was pretty great.

So I dunno if this is actually obscure or not, but I've been reading Tales of Demons and Gods lately and I rather like it so far. It's like part one Naruto if Naruto was a smug time traveler who came back to the past to stop the bad future and also to hit on his childhood crush even though he's mentally about two hundred years older than her.

He's kind of a jerk is what I'm saying and super rude to all these authority figures who really do deserve his respect. And since this is Chinese it's probably really twice as rude.

Edited by Arha on Jan 4th 2019 at 11:16:06 AM

Among the new mangas I've been reading lately, Futo Tantei is probably my favorite. The sequel manga to Kamen Rider W, it's written by the main writer of the original series Riku Sanjo and the Dopant designs are also done by the original live action designer, Katsuya Terada, so the atmosphere and aesthetic are very faithful to the live action series, meaning it's hella awesome. What I really like about the new Dopant's design, is that they make uses of the fact it's a manga to presents a bunch of crazy design they couldn't do in live action. It's kind of a reverse of what Gridman did where the Kaijus are instead made to be similar to that of a live-action kaiju. The story is also darker and more violent thanks to being serialized in a seinen manga. Of all the manga adaptation of Tokusatsu I've read so far, this is probably my favorite, even more than Kamen Rider Spirits or the new Ultraman manga. The series has so far garner acclaim and good sales in Japan, with it entering a few best-of-manga list last year. Too bad translation only got so far as chapter 8 before the scanlations stop, currently its at around chapter 40ish in Japan.

The art is also excellent and just get better as the series progress. The character's personality is just like how it was in the original series and a new addition in the main cast, Tokime, really fits well with the cast. I really hope her and Shoutaro gets a happy ending, I'm tired of Shoutaro having bad luck in love all the time. A lot of fans have been asking for the series to be adapted into anime and I myself couldn't agree more, even if they don't get the original actors as seiyus, I'll be fine as long as the seiyuu fits the characters. Those fans also wants Trigger and the staff of Gridman to make the anime which sounds like a neat idea to me

The funny thing is, one of the second writer of the original series was Keiichi Hasegawa, Gridman's writer. Hasegawa-sensei was even the second-most credited writer, with him writing the most episode after Sanjo-sensei, the main writer. Both of them have become good friends since working together here, and Hasegawa-sensei was also a second writer in Kamen Rider Drive, another series where Sanjo-Sensei was the main writer. Guess there's a silver lining in everything.

Edited by jun_kagami on Jan 5th 2019 at 8:41:54 PM

Has Retired Heroes been mentioned here? I can't remember if I heard about it here, or stumbled on it on my own.

Anyway, a prince leads a bunch of heroes to save the country from the Demon King, takes the throne, everything is all sunshine and rainbows. Years later, a random villager saves his daughter from demons using high-level magic that only royals have access to. Turns out the king and his wife retired and left the party mage in charge because being king was too much of a hassle.

Mostly slice of life, but might be ramping up to a more serious storyline.

I mentioned it a couple months ago, alongside Bandai Kaname Wa Asobitai and Ojousama No Shimobe, but hadn't realized it had a trope page (it hadn't at the time I mentioned it initially).

Edited by sgamer82 on Jan 13th 2019 at 10:35:45 AM

I literally just made it.

Shimanami Tasogare by Kamatani Yuhki. The story of Tasuku, a high-school boy who is starting to realize he's gay and almost tries to commit suicide when rumors spread at school. Just before jumping to his death though, he discovers a salon where people with similar issues can meet and talk safely, owned by a mysterious woman everyone calls "the Host". The first volume focuses on Tasuku as he starts to come to terms with his sexuality and his feelings for a boy in his club, but also on Haruko and Saki, a lesbian couple who will help him to achieve that.

Quite an interesting read. So far the series is not at all subtle with its messages or with its mise-en-scène, but it doesn't need to, really. And it makes a point of showing that prejudice doesn't always come from ill intent, just an unfortunate social conditionning. Tasuku can seem annoyingly whiny but that's par for the course considering the subject matter; and Haruko works very well as a foil to him.

So yeah, I'm curious to see where this goes. Hopefully not a tragic ending.

It's been fully scanlated, actually, on the usual sites. Pretty good overall, and I wish it lasted a bit longer.

Yeah, I actually bought all four volumes, I just read the first one.

Checked Bakarina and her novel. I feel they should've focused more on the group's childhood honestly.

What's that about?

Shimanami Tasogare volume 2: Tasuku meets Shuuji, who may or may not be a trans girl, and decides to be their Mentor in Queerness. It fails rather horribly, as he learns the hard way that you can't rush this kind of things. Especially when you use exactly the wrong words at the wrong time. Meanwhile, the guy Tasuku likes seems to reciprocate his feelings…?

It's interesting how this series shows that being gay, trans or whatever doesn't instantly make you an expert on those issues; there can be prejudice even between queer people, and not everyone fits neatly into a specific box.

On the character side, Haruko and Shuuji are probably my favorite so far. I still find Tasuku and Ms. No-name a tad annoying though.

…By the way, I just noticed that every main character has a name that's composed of two first names, one male and one female (Kaname Tasuku, Daichi Haruko, Misora Shuuji, Tsubaki Touma…) That's quite fitting.

Edited by Lyendith on Jan 22nd 2019 at 12:47:06 PM

Oh, I didn't notice that name part. Good observation.

I used to read Donyatsu a lot, it's a pretty fun sci-fi/slice-of-life manga about the everyday and sometimes freaky life of adorable animal-pastry hybrids. The story is about a cat with a doughnut body (the titular character) who finds himself trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Along the way he meets a bengal bagel, a rice cake dog, and a bigass Power-Ranger-looking robot who likes using internet slang. There are no humans. They're all dead. 100% would recommend if you're into eccentric stories with hints of mystery. And cute animals, of course.

Another relatively little-known (but more popular than Donyatsu) manga I formerly followed is Kagerou Daze. The story is really confusing, though, so I wouldn't recommend only following the manga alone and really suggest you read the light novels as well to make sense of the plot.

So I just read a lot of Obscure manga btw and here are my thoughts about it:

• Parallel Paradise: It's a manga from the same author of Elfen Lied and Brynhildr in the Darkness, Lynn Okamoto, and it's basically World's End Harem set in fantasy setting. Need I say more about it? Though I should note the manga is not for everyone. Let's just leave it at that.
• Illegal Rare: I think I'm cool if I create the page of the manga at a later time. Anyways, This manga is from the same author of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan. Unlike Nura that tells the story of the life of Yokais, the manga itself tells us the story about the supernatural creature and our main character is a Black Vampire named Axl who tries to protect said supernatural creatures known as Rares from the Collectors and Hunters who tries to hunt them for either collections or profits. The manga is decent so far albeit some of the translations to English are sometimes really wonky due to changing translators so yeah...
• Gamblers Parade: The manga actually has a thread and here it is. If you want to participate, go ahead and enjoy the fun if you have read the manga. Anyways, imagine if Danganronpa and Kakegurui had a lovechild together then you get this manga considered this manga is from the same creator as Danganronpa. The story focuses on the stoic teacher with a superpowered form who hates gambling named Nagisa Kumode (Cute name btw) and the girl who has a terrible luck named Shinonome Karin and together, they tried to destroy any gamblers in the world by gambling. If you like Danganronpa or Kakegurui, then you probably going to like this manga so yep!
• Botsuraku Youtei Nanode: I don't know if the manga is based on Light Novel or not but I personally found it to be serviceable. The story tells us about the live of Kururi Helan, a boy who got reincarnated in the visual novel that he played in previous life. He then tries to avert his fate on marrying with a villain on said visual novel and become a poor farmer by studying hard in order to gain some money and friends. If you're interested in this, be my guest as this is a bit of a down-to earth Isekai. Not the most original, but it's a little bit relaxing I guess?
• The Legend of Maian: This manhwa, is from the same creator who made Freezing and the story tells us about a wacky misadventures of a boy named Fenix/Felix Maian in Shurian Kingdom who accidentally released a Legendary Evil Sorceress named Felicia/Feicia Rand Phillistine who ravaged the Kingdom of Shurian hundreds years ago in order to take over the world. I personally found the manga interesting and Felicia is now officially one of my favorite waifus cuz she's hot and has an interesting personality despite being an evil sorceress :3 I'm currently at Chapter 18 but I heard that the manga is going to be dark as the story goes on but I'll see what I can do.
• Plunderer: This manga... I have a lot of things to say about this manga and probably going to make a thread based on this due to my special reservation on this especially the fact that it got an anime adaptation. Anyways, to cut it short, this manga is from the same creator of Heaven's Lost Property or Sora no Otoshimono and the manga is basically HLP set in a Fantasy World but a lot darker than HLP. I'm going to leave my thoughts on the thread but I'm currently enjoying the manga so far despite skimming 11 chapters of it and definitely going to look forward on the anime adaptation so yeah...

Edited by ElfenLiedFan90 on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:17:33 PM

I don't think you need to spoiler tag the plot synopsis. If you can't describe the series without mentioning something it's not really a spoiler, imo.

Anywho: Saeki San Wa Nemutteru, or Dignified Asleep Saeki.

It's similar to My Neighbor Seki in that it involves character A watching Character B's odd behavior, but in this case character B is a girl named Saeki who tries to find novel ways to sleep in class. To the point she has unique strategies for each individual teacher.

Edited by sgamer82 on Jan 26th 2019 at 8:19:30 AM

@sgamer Right... I could remove spoiler tags if you want

Parallel Paradise is a piece of work indeed. It's one of the few manga I genuinely consider So Bad, It's Good. It's just incredible.

So I finished Shimanami Tasogare. The ending felt… a tad lackluster, but on the other end I'm not sure what more there was to say. Except maybe for Misora, whose character arc is just kinda left up in the air and Tôma not quite figuring out if he's gay or not yet. It's an almost unrealistically happy ending where every homophobic character ends up seeing the Light, and in the end the drama that did happen throughout the series was always resolved fairly quickly. Hell, even the death of Mr. Tchaiko's husband was depicted in a happy way (and the scene was beautiful).

Did the author insist too much on the hopeful and positive aspects? Not necessarily. Not every story has to be gritty and filled with tragedy, and considering how badly a lot of LGBT-centered manga ended until not so long ago, you can't blame them for wanting to overcompensate. It also gives some representation to trans men through Utsumi, which is inexplicably rare in manga or in media in general (seriously, even on Youtube the trans podcasters I've seen are all trans women).

My favorite characters were probably Haruko and Mr. Tchaiko. The former for her loud and assertive personality that made her a good foil to Tasuku in the early parts, and the latter because Tchaikosvky of course. :þ Tasuku was… okay? I found him a bit annoying and whiny at first, but he learned from his mistakes. Tôma I never really managed to like. I don't know, even when he acted nice I felt like punching him, and his epiphany at the end of volume 3 was a bit hard to swallow.

I also have mixed feelings about the Host. She was this mysteriously beautiful figure that didn't seem to live in the same reality, and that made her kind of appealing… but if I met someone like that in real life she'd probably get on my nerves rather quickly. >.> Though I did find a bit of myself in her at times. That's also why I find this page absolutely beautiful.◊ That brief moment where her façade of indifference cracks and you realize that, yes, she's human after all. She's incapable of love, but not of affection.

So yeah, a nice read. It put a smile on my face while making me reflect on some things, and that's cool. Plus the art's beautiful. It would definitely make a good anime.

−−−−

On another note, the first two volumes of Beastars recently came out in my country. I don't have much to say outside… goddammit this is good.

For those who don't know, Beastars is… basically a hardcore Zootopia, which starts with the murder of an alpaca by an unkwown carnivore. The hero Legoshi is a tall but meek wolf who doesn't like to stand out, so he's understandably uncomfortable with the whole situation. The art and writing are just all around great, though I honestly have no idea how this got published in a weekly shonen mag (the French edition outright classifies it as "seinen" in fact).

Edited by Lyendith on Jan 26th 2019 at 5:57:13 PM

Inb 4 tags my friend Tyk for Beaststars

Yeah... Parallel Paradise is an interesting work indeed. Though I won't gonna lie that some of the girls are hot though.

Anyways, I'm going to make a thread for Plunderer if anyone's interested with the manga

I haven't read much of Beastars, but I like what I read.

This is funny how the French bookstores (or editors) attempt to classify manga as either shounen or seinen, considering that the definition for this terms are normally how they are published in Japan.

Edited by gropcbf on Jan 26th 2019 at 6:05:05 PM

The Legend of Maian had potential, but it got ruined for me by the main character, who's like the worst, and the story insistence to coddle him. I had to drop it at the tournament arc. Sad, really.

... We may be an inexperienced couple but... is a romcom about a newlywed couple that just too awkward to have sex, but is doing their best to try and figure it out. It's sweet and fluffy as hell.

I once read a interview of a bookstore owner and a publisher where they said keeping the "shonen/seinen/shojo" tags was basically the least worst solution, as the sheer diversity of manga makes a classification by genres a headache.

Though honestly, even from a Japanese point of view these classifications seem more and more arbitrary.