Eeh ... halfway? Earlier? Not sure. You'll know it when you see it though. When it starts, it doesn't stop. Ever.

Edit: I think they take a trip somewhere, and Jaegu makes a decision. It's a retarded decision. You'll know what I'm talking about. Stop there Banta Just assume he acted like a normal human and that the series ended there. The drama has already started by then though, so feel free to stop earlier.

 

Girls of the Wild's

So based on the discussion here, I smashed throughGirl of the Wild's last week and overall, enjoyed it a lot.

It certainly comes across as a typical harem anime to start with - what, with the main character being the only male student in an all girls school and all - but it quickly moved past that.

I really liked that the story is not really about the protagonist's becoming a martial arts genius, which would have really have diminished all the other characters (who have been doing it their whole life). His development was about getting over the "survival" mindset he had forced on himself, and getting strong enough to stop the bullying.

The heroes of the martial arts aspects of the plot - the shounen sports tournaments as well as the endless supply of thugs and gangsters that apparently populate Korea (which, despite being a cheap trope, never stops being fun) - are the girls. They may seem to fit the usual anime archetypes to start with, but they have some depth to them that makes them real characters and are absolutely badass in their own unique ways. And one of the things you notice (at least in comparison to typical female anime characters in stories like this) is how rational and reasonable they are - particularly in how they interact with the protagonist. It's a bit depressing when you realize how refreshing it is to actually have that for once.

The art style is amazing. I hadn't really come across any action manhwa/manga that were done in colour before and it's really sold me on it as a medium. The artist uses lighting and colours to an absolutely brilliant effect to add mood, action and just breathtaking aesthetics to many of the panels. I'd almost go as far to say as this is one of, if not the best, depiction of action I've come across in comics before.

The comedy is fun and I didn't really get bored of the running gags that go through the whole story. It was also sort of funny to see the scenes of the guys being the ones portrayed as cute and moe as a bit of a gender role reversal.

And then we come to the awful drama that @Republic has already ranted about. It starts off with your usual contrived plots and situations, which are meh, but expected. In return, there are some nice emotional scenes that are enjoyable to read.

You feel like you hit the climax of the romance plot, but the tension doesn't actually abate there and the contrived romance plots and build up drags on.

And on. And on. And on. And on.

And when they run out of contrived plots to drag it even further, they literally resort to time skips. To keep dragging it on.

It's just ridiculous. I don't even understand what was going through their author's head at that point - an attempt to build even more tension? This is all done as a complete replacement to the martial arts plot. It's like, the final conclusion scene to a series to wrap up all that sexual tension - except that it lasts for around 25% of the whole story. It probably felt even worse for the people who were reading it week by week rather than smashing it all in one go.

Either way, having smashed through it all in one go, I do think it was one of the most immersive and fun bits of manga I've come across. It's not top quality or complex storytelling or anything, but still awesome fun. Think a better version of Kenichi.

DICE

After finishing Girls of the Wild's, I was really in the mood for something similar to fill that gap. So I decided to try some of the other coloured manwa on webtoons.

Dice is a pretty fun story that is worth checking out (which was actually half recommended in this thread in 2014) that currently has 125 chapters out.

It is about a bullied high school kid who finds a pair of dice that give him the ability to change his physical abilities - strength, looks, intelligence, etc. He gets drawn into a game that involves a mysterious figure, X giving out random quests with dice as a reward. As you can imagine, more and more people become Dicers and the quests gradually get darker and darker. To give you an example, people seem to be getting killed all over the place at the moment within each arc.

Like Girls of the Wild's, it has some spectacular art - especially in how it uses light and colours to bring scenes to life. The fights are energetic and keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters are reasonably interesting to follow.

If you enjoyed Girls of the Wild's and want something similar, but without the comedy and awfully drawn out drama, it's worth a look.

Thanks for the recommendations!

Watashi no Sekai wo Kousei suru Chiri no You no Naru ka (that's a mouthful) was great. Like Octave, follows young adults and so explores the more mature aspects of the relationships and people rather than just the cute aspects. I also found it pretty interesting how it explores the role of sex in a relationship (without actually having that many sex scenes for a yuri manga) and about how it can be the make/break point for some people.

None of the others really stood out to me as much though.

 

You are correct. I once had four teeth removed at once with only local anesthesia and at least one extra root in each, and it was less painful than having to slog through this piece by piece over months(years?).

 

I dont know if it was that painful but definitely could have been improved. I read DICE a while ago, waiting on it to update to where im at on Webtoon so I can add it to my weekly reading list. Its a bit cliched, but a fairly solid read IIRC.

 

I have two manga to recommend.


Murasakiiro No Qualia:

“Hatou Gaku has a very odd friend at school named Marii Yukari. Yukari has purple eyes and a bizarre way of looking at the world: she sees all living things as robots. Yukari insists that the things she says she sees is true, and her vision seems to give her insight into the abilities of others. Gaku thinks she's just weird, but she soon realizes that Yukari has unexpected talents.”

On the surface, this is a cute story about a moe girl who thinks people are robots and the hijinks it brings. Deeper, the story can be gory and disturbing, bringing up philosophical questions about the nature of Yukari’s powers. Maybe Yukari’s gifts aren’t all good…

But that description, too, is wrong.

This manga is about quantum mechanics.

It’s there in the first few chapters, but by chapter eight, the story switches tracks into something completely different. The second story has the same characters, but the shift in focus is so complete that the first story seems irrelevant. I’m not sure whether this change is a good or bad thing, but the second story is interesting enough that I’m recommending this manga just for that- not that you should skip the first story. The manga is short at eighteen chapters, it’s not a huge read.

The art is cute and pretty, and while I didn’t quite understand all the quantum stuff, I could follow the story all the same. The biggest flaw is that if you think about the story too hard, it falls apart. Obvious questions and choices that should have come up never do, and it gives the plot a contrived feel. I’ve also never had the urge to tell a manga of all things to show and not tell, but this one relies on narration too often.

As a whole, I don’t think this manga is as deep as it thinks it is, but I had a nice time.

3.5/5.


Bokura no Kiseki:

“From a young age, Minami Harusumi has had recurring dreams of Veronica, a princess whose kingdom is on the verge of destruction. He believes them to be recollections of his past life, and that he is her reincarnation. Because of this, he is ridiculed by his classmates. One day, when the mockery escalates into bullying, he rediscovers magic—something Veronica had studied and used. Reassured his past life is not merely a fantasy, Minami tries to learn more about his past memories and the reason behind them...”

This manga jumps between the past and present, one half focusing on Veronica’s life and the final few days of her castle and its inhabitants, and Minami as he tries to solve the mystery of what happened and why he died. He’s quickly joined by his classmates, also reincarnations of the castle’s inhabitants, though they aren’t all on the same side and have grudges they have yet to bury.

Right off the bat, I’ll tell you the reincarnation gender-swap is never treated as a big deal. While Veronica was married to a prince and was rumored to have a male lover, Minami hooks up with his female friend who is the reincarnation of Veronica’s female bodyguard. This happens in the first few chapters and it’s nice to read a romance where the characters have to struggle with their developing relationship while dealing with drama.

The first couple chapters are rough and the art style is ass, but it gets better and I was surprised at how invested I got in the story. What I thought would be a short read at forty-seven chapters was overturned by chapters being between 30 and 70 pages. There’s a lot of characters and relationships to keep track of, made worse by each person having two lives and appearances that aren’t often similar. Sometimes it’s confusing, which may be the biggest detriment I could give it.

I liked this manga quite a bit, though I found the conflicts with Veronica more interesting than Minami’s because of her medieval, magical setting. I can only take so much of high school, but it still held my attention.

Take a look if you have time.

4/5.

 

Spirit Circle by Mizukami Satoshi

Fuuta Okeya is a normal 14-year-old boy, except for his perpetually bandaged cheek and his ability to see ghosts. A cute girl called Kouko Ishigami transfers into his class one day. He admires her, but she is angry and aggressive towards him. In contrast, the ghost of a man called East that follows her around seems happy to see Fuuta, although they've never met before.
Fuuta almost succeeds in getting along with her, but ends up failing after she sees the birthmark on his face that he usually keeps covered. She then declares that he is her enemy, that his birthmark is a cursed brand she gave him in a past life, and that they have a long history through many reincarnated selves.
Who is this girl and her ghost, and why does she think she must destroy Fuuta's very soul?

This is a manga about reincarnation and the connections between souls that people make, starting with the very basic story of a 14 year old boy who meets a cute girl that transfers into his class. What I loved was that it explored their past lives in so much attention to detail; each life was a distinct character of their own, with their own motives and reasons for living and acting the way that they did. I sympathized with all of them.

 

Musou Telepathy


The conceit of this comic is that the long-haired girl above can see/hear other people's thoughts. Black and white is used to show what is going on in the real world, while color is used to show what she sees in other people's minds.

This contrast is used to great effect in showing reactions. The simple designs and the creator's use of color allows for everything to pop out more. I honestly can't think of a better manga when it comes to reaction shots that isn't Shokugeki no Souma.

It's really easy to read, the gimmick is fresh and interesting, and it has some really good jokes. I highly recommend checking this one out.

 

Natzu no Zenjitsu by Yoshida Motoi.

A romance/slice of lfie story focusing on a painter and an art gallery owner.
While the art is good, it isn't spectacular, and the story isn't groundbreaking, the characters are very well done, and it feels more like a story about real people than something made purely for readers.

 

Hey everybody; I just watched the Anime Spice and Wolf (Yes I just got around to it I have been busy okay?) I loved but it ended in 2nd season and I heard there was more of it in LN and Manga format so I would like to ask if Manga of it is good or should I just read the LN?

Cheers.

 

There's only one volume of the manga that is ahead of the anime. So if you want to continue the story the LNs are the way to go.

 

Yeah, Light Novels are the way to go.

Love me some economics.

 

Got into webtoons from this, couldn't get through Girls of the Wild's, but Dice was interesting and looks to be speeding up and possibly getting to the climax.

You kinda understated how dark it is, but I'm honestly pretty enjoying it right now. I'm just wondering if anyone else has been following it lately.

 

For those who enjoyed Beelzebub, its creator has a new manga: Hungry Marie.

 

Been a while, have some recommendations.

Nomi Joshi: the tale of three 29 year-old women going out and getting hammered.

Spoiler

Rokudou no Onna-tachi: Generic Male Protagonist becomes the object of affection for every girl delinquent (sukeban) because magic.

Spoiler

Grand Blue: Friends Acting Horrible to Eachother, the Manga (and also scuba diving).

Spoiler

Beastars: Angsty Teen Zootopia. (I really like the art for this one. That it's, hands down, the best highschool drama manga I've read in years is just icing on the cake.)

Spoiler

Area 51: Supernatural mercenary and guns. Edit: The art and tone of this story reminds me a lot of Sin City (minus the misogyny).

Spoiler

I'm a Spider, so What?: Generic Protagonist (can't remember if it's a girl or boy) reincarnates as a low-level spider mob in a fantasy game.

Spoiler

Mai Ball: Female Protagonist plays soccer, and a ton of fanservice. There's no page that doesn't have some level of fanservice on it. What's in the spoiler tags is the tamest I found that actually includes some soccer action. (And even then, I'd recommend not looking at them at work or school.)

Spoiler

 

Mai Ball is a decent sports/ecchi manga, worth a flick through.

Going to look into Area 51, I'm a big fan of stuff like Darker than Black and Black Lagoon and im getting that kinda vibe. Also great formatting Banta.

Unsure if repost but here are a couple I read recently.

Shokoku no Altair: Alternate history/political manga in a middle ages setting where the smaller trading nation of Turkiye comes into conflict with the militaristic Balt-Rhein Empire. Characters are maybe drawn a little too young and cute for the tone but I think its pretty exciting.

Spoiler

Akumetsu: In grimy Japan corruption and debauchery have stretched the country to breaking point. Then a masked man appears who begins brutally and theatrically murdering those at fault before blowing his own head off every time. This is a stylish, ultra violent story.

Spoiler

Dungeon Meshi: On a fantasy island, there exists a magically sunken ruin which has become a dungeon. The manga follows a small group as they journey to rescue a lost party member. The twist is, they have no money for food, and have to find some way to kill and eat all the monsters they encounter as they delve deeper! Half adventure and half cooking manga, this one is highly recommended.

Spoiler

 

Shoukou no Altair is great. The page that always gets me is this one:

Spoiler

Shiori Experience: I recced this one a while ago, but new format and all and some may have missed it. This is a play on the classic tale of a musician making a contract with the Devil, except the "Devil" here is the ghost of Jimi Hendrix, who basically posses our heroine Shirori and gives her rockin guitar skills (literally and figuratively). It's pretty damn great.

Spoiler

Is Reiroukan Still Alive?: This is one of my favorite comics to come out in the last few years. It's a great slice of life story about the residents in a mansion turned dorm. Eachr esident has his or her own unique design and personality; I really wish this comic had gone on longer than it did (around 12 chapters total, I think) because the characters and their interactions were amazing. The creator has become one of my favorites that I follow. (So yeah, I can't recommend this one enough.)

Spoiler

 

Can second the Altair one, read quite a bit of it a few years ago and it's seriously fun. The anime started airing on Amazon Prime but haven't checked it out yet.

 

Fate Apocrypha turning out to be anime of the season. We'll see how A1 compares to ufotable.

 

Uh, looking at latest posts, it seems someone really ought to recommend something actually good here, and that someone might as well be me.

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness is an autobiographical manga originally released on Pixiv that just got released in the west by Seven Seas. This one-volume tells author's story of trying to find a way to fix the failure that her life ended up being. A crucial point - one alluded in the title, and shown in the beginning - is her hiring of the lesbian prostitute at age 28. How she ruined her life, how she came to reach that decision and what changes it brought in her life, all of this is shown in this manga.

 

Wow they're adapting Shokoku no Altair! Looks like itll go through until the Greater Turkiye arc. Im pretty excited but having just read the manga recently I might wait until its finished airing to see it. Cool stuff though!

Also I havent read Sataniel's rec, but I've heard excellent things. A mature emotional one shot story is very impressive in the manga world.