Manga |OT|: No matter how I look at it, it's discord's fault we're not popular

dramazen · Feb 3, 2019

January 2019 Recommendation: My Brother's Husband

Simple slice of life | 4 volumes, complete work, licensed in English, French, and Italian

Yaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, affable Canadian named Mike Flanagan, who declares himself the widower of Yaichi's estranged gay twin, Ryoji. Mike is on a quest to explore Ryoji's past, and the family reluctantly but dutifully takes him in. (source)

From Lain:

This first volume felt like a great read to face some of the issues and preconceptions gay people face and some of their problems too like the lack of people to talk with at a young age when they realize their sexual orientation, how faking interest in the other sex and hiding brings them anxiety and troubles. (source)

dramazen · Mar 2, 2019

February 2019 Recommendation: Kimi ni Todoke

"Queen of slowjo" | 30 volumes, complete work, licensed in English, French, and Italian

With her jet-black hair, sinister smile and silent demeanor, Sawako "Sadako" Kuronuma always had trouble fitting in. But her whole life changes when she befriends the most popular boy in class, Shota Kazehaya. Can love trump her cursed life? (source)

From FlowersisBritish:

And, extra weird recommendation criteria, my favorite break up manga. Going through a shitty breakup? Read this and get lost in love and drama and all that nonsense and realize she/he/they were just not the one. (source)

dramazen · Apr 6, 2019

March 2019 Recommendation: Beastars

Carnivore-herbivore psychological shounen | 12 volumes, ongoing, licensed in English (Summer 2019)

At this high school, instead of jocks and nerds, the students are divided into predators and prey.

At a high school where the students are literally divided into predators and prey, it's personal relationships that maintain the fragile peace. Who among them is a Beastar-an academic and social role model destined to become a leader in a society naturally rife with mistrust?

Last night at Cherryton Academy, an herbivore student was killed and eaten. Among the members of the drama club, the herbivores' suspicions naturally turn to their carnivore classmates. The prime suspect? Legosi, a large wolf. But he wouldn't hurt a fly-or would he? And will dwarf rabbit Haru bring out the beast in him? Or are his feelings for her.something else? (source)

From OniBarubary:

The strength of the writing is impressive. This is a very subtle and carefully deliberated story. It deals with what would be very heavy topics in the world it takes place in but dances through them very deftly and uses it's strong character writing to move the plot forward instead of having things simply happen for the sake of development. (source)

dramazen · May 4, 2019

April 2019 Recommendation: Tenju no Kuni

Historical Tibetan romantic slice of life | 3 volumes, ongoing, licensed in English

Khang Zhipa is a 13-year-old doctor's apprentice living in a mountain village in 18th-century Tibet. One day, when he gets back from collecting medicinal herbs, he finds a bride-to-be and her wedding party will be resting at his home for the night. The bride's name is Moshi Rati and it turns out she's actually Khang Zhipa's fiancee from another land, here to stay! Enjoy this heartwarming slice-of-life tale woven by a kind-hearted boy and his mysterious bride. (source)

From bright side of life:

My favorite thing is the art is nice and clean with proper emphasis on the characters with toner, details, and blacks so the characters never feel lost in a busy panel. Also those vibrant colors on the colored pages! (source)

dramazen · Jun 1, 2019

May 2019 Recommendation: Grand Blue

Note: Published as Grand Blue Dreaming in English.

Comedic diving + ecchi youth story | 12 volumes, ongoing, licensed in English

After moving out on his own to a seaside town, Iori Kitahara makes a college debut he never anticipated. A new chapter of his life unfolds, full of diving with beautiful girls and shenanigans with a gaggle of lovable bastards! Idiot-expert Kenji Inoue and au naturel authority Kimitake Yoshioka bring you a glorious college tale filled with booze-fueled antics! (source)

From Zweizer:

Grand Blue is a manga loosely associated with diving in broad strokes, at times. In most other sport manga, who make the featured sport the principal focus and build up the cast and setting around it. Here, diving itself is at times little more than an excuse for the authors to create the appropriate setting to let loose a colorful and likeable cast, involved in all maneers of antics as they live their youth, coupled with biting humor and awesome expressions. (source)

dramazen · Jul 7, 2019

June 2019 Recommendation: Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey

The Japanese name of the series is Kakukaku Shikajika.

Autobiographical josei | 5 volumes, complete, licensed in English

High schooler Akiko has big plans to become a popular mangaka before she even graduates, but she needs to get much better at drawing if she ever wants to reach her goal. Looking for an easy fix, she signs up for an art class, thinking all her problems will soon be solved. She's in for a surprise: her new instructor is a bamboo sword-wielding taskmaster who doesn't care about manga one bit. But maybe this unconventional art teacher is just what she needs to realize her dreams! (source)

From striferser:

This is a story about youth, regret, hard work and more importantly it's about human relationship. I guess the author want to put her regret into an art. Maybe she want to tell the reader to cherish the thing you have. Maybe she really want to say sorry. Maybe this is her way to have her teacher live forever. I don't know. But i appreciate her effort in sharing this. (source)

dramazen · Aug 3, 2019

July 2019 Recommendation: Dream Fossil

1980s short story collection | 1 volume, complete, licensed in English and Italian

Dream Fossil is a collection of 15 short stories by the late Satoshi Kon. These stories, serialized in a variety of magazines in the 1980's, give a rare glimpse into the early stages of Kon's uniquely compelling style of storytelling. The buds of dream-like themes and imaginative worldviews that would blossom in his later animated works are also readily apparent. Yes the flights of fancy are anchored by knowing, empathetic portrayals of the very human nature of each story. (source)

From Lain:

Dream Fossil is good. The stories in it have a wide range. From the sad and a bit disconnected kind like Carve, which opens the book, to the more comedic ones like Summer of Anxiety or Beyond the Sun to the otherworldly ones like Guests. (source)

dramazen · Sep 7, 2019

August 2019 Recommendation: SOIL (Atsushi Kaneko)

Horror mystery | 11 volumes, complete work, licensed in French

Something strange is going on in "Soil New Town." The sudden disappearance of a seemingly normal family leads the two detectives Yokoi and Onoda to the idyllic town in the middle of nowhere. What looks like a routine case at first quickly turns into a complex and deadly riddle where nothing is what it seems to be. Will the two disparate investigators manage to solve the mystery before it's too late? (source)

From 4 is a cutie:

The mystery manages to be intelligible but is still strange enough to allow for a variety of interesting scenarios that plague the town. (source)

dramazen · Oct 5, 2019

September 2019 Recommendation: Astra Lost In Space

Sci-fi adventure thriller | 5 volumes, complete work, licensed in English
Available to read on official publisher's site.

It's the year 2063, and interstellar space travel has become the norm. Eight students from Caird High School and one child set out on a routine planet camp excursion. While there, the students are mysteriously transported 5,000 light-years away to the middle of nowhere! Will they ever make it back home?! (source)

From BassForever:

Astra's strength lies in it's 9 characters, they're all really well developed and balanced where you find yourself enjoying all of them...As a big fan of sci-fi I appreciate the effort the mangaka takes to ensure each planets has a reason for all it's weird alien decisions. (source)

dramazen · Nov 3, 2019

October 2019 Recommendation: 6000 - The Deep Sea of Madness

Supernatural underwater horror | 4 volumes, complete work

After a tragic accident at a large facility 6000 meters below water killed its workers, the facility was abandoned for three years. After the Japanese company owning it is taken over by a Chinese company, the facility will be opened again. Kadokura Kengo and his colleague Danzaki are sent along with the team reopening the underwater facility. However, right away, an 'accident' grievously injures Danzaki. Kengo is left alone with colleagues he doesn't trust in an eerie underwater environment that may have more to it than meets the eye... (source)

From OniBarubary:

Very VERY good at creating an uncomfortable and spoopy atmosphere and utilizes it well. Might fall off a bit when you learn some stuff but I didn't mind it at all. (source)

dramazen · Dec 9, 2019

November 2019 Recommendation: Sanju Mariko

Slice of life dramedy | 10 volumes, incomplete work, not licensed in English

The manga centers on veteran novelist Mariko Kōda, who lives with the families of both her son and her grandson in one house. Feeling like she no longer has any place in her home, she decides to leave the house and strike out on her own, beginning with living in a manga cafe in the city. (source)

From striferser:

A tale that highlight the problem with older people and their relationship with their family. I really recommend it due to subject it talked about. (source)

dramazen · Jan 4, 2020

December 2019 Recommendation: An Absurd Relationship

Office lady romance | 1 volume, completed work, not licensed in English

Emi Yamanaka is an office lady working in Tokyo. She's brash, opinionated, smokes, and likes girls. Having gone through various failed relationships with other girls, she resigns herself to cynicism. Her equilibrium is shattered by the appearance of a new worker at her office, Taneda-san. (source)

From Black Bishop:

Thankfully this series manages to do a nice job of setting up Emi as the brash, opinionated, smoking lesbian that she is. (source)

dramazen · Feb 7, 2020

January 2020 Recommendation: Seizon - Life

Emotional detective story | 3 volumes, completed work, not licensed in English

Takeda is diagnosed with cancer and feels that he has nothing to live for. His wife had died of cancer and his only daughter has been missing for fourteen years.

One day, when he is about to attempt suicide, the phone rings. It's the police, and they inform him that the dead body of his long lost daughter has been found, that it appears to have been a homicide. Takeda is crushed but resolves then and there to spend the remaining days of his life hunting down his daughter's killer. (source)

From striferser:

It's only 3 volumes, so give it a read if you're in the mood for something that can be uplifting and tense mystery. (source)

dramazen · Mar 9, 2020

February 2020 Recommendation: Level E (by Togashi Yoshihiro)

Sci-fi weirdness | 3 volumes, completed work, not licensed in English

Tsutsui Yukitaka is a freshman entering high school who hopes to become a good baseball player. However, when he walks into his new apartment, there is a man in the room who claims that he is an alien who lost his memory. He is in fact the first prince of Planet Dogra, known to have the best brain but the worst nature. (source)

From AoM:

You very much get the sense that it was Togashi writing what he wanted to write, telling the stories he wanted to tell. There are several progenitors to stories, themes, characters, etc. that would eventually show up in HxH. (source)

dramazen · Apr 5, 2020

March 2020 Recommendation: Neuro: Supernatural Detective
(by Yuusei Matsui)

Hungry demon detective mysteries | 23 volumes, completed work, not licensed in English

The Demon Neuro has a raging hunger for 'mysteries.' Being dissatisfied with his current regime in hell, he's come into the mortal realm in order to satiate his ever-growing appetite. The murder case of a young girl's father seems to be sufficiently enticing for the Demon's needs.. But what else might happen between these two? Find out in this disturbingly good murder-mystery series. (source)

From OniBarubary:

Don't read if you want to figure out the mystery yourself as Neuro uses demon tools and shit to figure stuff out; it's not about the mystery being solvable by you it's about watching him figure it out and be amused and entertained. (source)

dramazen · May 2, 2020

April 2020 Recommendation: My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness
(by Kabi Nakata)

Autobiographical LGBT+ (adult) | 1 volume, completed work, licensed in English

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness offers readers an honest and heartfelt look at one young woman's exploration of her sexuality, mental well-being, and growing up in our modern age. (source)

From Zweizer:

Thank you Nagata Kabi, for this wonderful book. I hope you'll keep moving forward at your pace. I for one will eagerly await whatever future works you'll bring out. (source)

dramazen · Jun 6, 2020

May 2020 Recommendation: Angel Densetsu (by Norihiro Yagi)

Shounen slice of life comedy | 15 volumes, completed work, not licensed in English

The story is of Kitano Seiichirou, a very kind and pure-hearted young man, with a horrifying, monstrous face. People being what they are, they think he's a terrifying delinquent, and there are plenty of chance misunderstandings (coupled with Kitano's convenient inability to understand what's happening around him) that propel him into the position of "school guardian", a.k.a. head thug on campus. (source)

From Richter1887:

Finished reading Angel Densetsu, it is a manga made by the creator of Claymore. This manga is one of the most wholesome things I have ever experienced. (source)

dramazen · Aug 1, 2020

June 2020 Recommendation: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (by Hitoshi Ashinano)

Introspective sci-fi slice of life | 14 volumes, completed work, not licensed in English

In a not so distant future, where mankind has scaled back considerably, where most cities have all but disappeared, where nature is slowly reconquering Earth, Alpha, an exceedingly human-like robot, is watching over a small coffee shop in the middle of nowhere.

What is her life like?
- Zweizer

From Zweizer:

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is in short possibly one of the most beautifully crafted and unique slice of life series I have ever come across. Be it for its gentle, wistful melody that makes up its tone, its gorgeous visuals, or its subtle story, read it. (source)

I took a break for beginning of July.

dramazen · Sep 5, 2020

August 2020 Recommendation: Hinamatsuri (by Masao Ohtake)

Supernatural slice of life | 18 volumes, ongoing, licensed in English

Nitta is an ambitious, young member of the Ashikawa-gumi yakuza syndicate. One day, a mysterious, oval-shaped object falls out of thin air into his apartment, and suddenly changes everything! Inside of the object is an expressionless young girl named Hina. The girl has formidable telekinetic powers that she uses to threaten Nitta, forcing him to allow her to live in his apartment. Dangers abound as the yakuza member and young psychic begin their life together as roommates! (source)

From dani_dc:

Great series about the struggles of life and how the world can affect even the brightest of children, it explores how far someone is able to go in a path they were forced upon and the consequences it has on the life of everyone around that person, one of the best stories of coming of age of our times. Heavily recommended. (source)

dramazen · Oct 11, 2020

September Recommendation: Kimetsu no Yaiba (by Koyoharu Gotouge)

The origin of all exorcist manga in Jump | 23 volumes, complete work, licensed in English

In Taisho-era Japan, Tanjiro Kamado is a kindhearted boy who makes a living selling charcoal. But his peaceful life is shattered when a demon slaughters his entire family. His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor, but she has been transformed into a demon herself! Tanjiro sets out on a dangerous journey to find a way to return his sister to normal and destroy the demon who ruined his life. (source)

From Ascheroth:

It has: plenty of body horror, cool antagonists (with body horror :P), cool non-body-horror techniques (although that probably also counts as body-horror?), impossible architecture (I love impossible architecture), an awesome protagonist (seriously, that expression in the last panel gets me every time), dumb comedy faces... (source)

A bit late this month because my pc broke last week.

dramazen · Nov 8, 2020

October Recommendation: Fragments of Horror (by Junji Ito)

Supernatural shorts from a cat lover | 1 volume, complete work, licensed in English

An old wooden mansion that turns on its inhabitants. A dissection class with a most unusual subject. A funeral where the dead are definitely not laid to rest. Ranging from the terrifying to the comedic, from the erotic to the loathsome, these stories showcase Junji Ito's long-awaited return to the world of horror. (source)

From Lain:

I'm sure any horror fan or Ito's fan has already read it and I'm the one late to the party here, but if someone hasn't read it or even if someone isn't a big horror fan (I'm not one either), give it a chance, it's decidedly worth your time investment. (source)

dramazen · Dec 5, 2020

November Recommendation: Jitsu wa Watashi wa (by Eiji Masuda)

Monster romcom? | 22 volumes, complete work, licensed in English as "My Monster Secret"

High school student Kuromine Asahi is the kind of guy who literally cannot tell a lie. Whether it's trying to maintain a poker face in a simple game of cards, or keeping scurrilous gossip to himself, Asahi is a total failure when it comes to the art of deception.

So what happens when he stumbles upon the most shocking secret of his life? (source)

From OniBarubary:

Ignore that simple premise and just realize that this is one of the funniest manga that has ever existed. And in much the same way as Gintama, it is excessively good at getting you to emotionally invest in the characters by laughing along with them and their silly hijinks and then when shit gets real it gets realer than fucking real. This manga has made me cry. (source)

You all sure read a lot more manga in November

dramazen · Jan 3, 2021

December Recommendation: Bloom Into You (by Nakatani Nio)

Girls Love Romance | 8 volumes, complete work, licensed in English

Yuu has always loved shoujo manga and awaits the day she gets a love confession that sends her heart aflutter with bubbles and hearts, and yet when a junior high classmate confesses his feelings to her...she feels nothing. Disappointed and confused, Yuu enters high school still unsure how to respond. That's when Yuu sees the beautiful student council president Nanami turn down a suitor with such maturity that she's inspired to ask her for help. But when the next person to confess to Yuu is Nanami herself, has her shoujo romance finally begun? (source)

From Dany1899:

Personally I would recommend it, as long as a person does not expect it to be a full masterpiece, but just a simple and enjoying story with some nice messages. (source)

dramazen · Feb 7, 2021

January 2021 Recommendation: Little Fluffy Gigolo PELU (by Junko Mizuno)

Cute Alien Sci-fi Horror | 3 volumes, complete work, licensed in English (dropped after 2 volumes)

Little Fluffy Gigolo PELU is a comic tale of a cute extraterrestrial creature that comes to Earth determined to find himself true happiness in the form of a human bride. Our hero's search takes him from the surface of his fantastic alien planet to an off-kilter modern Japan where Pelu meets aspiring singers, sassy girls, paint- sniffing bad boys, and the body- switching students of a mysterious high school.

Artist Junko Mizuno unleashes her unique graphic storytelling sensibilities on a tale that's frequently adorable, sometimes grotesque, and surprisingly moving.

Please note: This item is not really erotica, but it does contain a fair amount of nudity. (source)

From flawfuls:

Most of the time is a sort of dark comedy where you are supposed to take pleasure in this innocent adorable things endless suffering, but it's much more than that at times. The stories of the each of the girls are pretty fun, creative and surreal. (source)

dramazen · Mar 7, 2021

February 2021 Recommendation: Shimanami Tasogare (by Yuuki Kamatani)

LGBTQ+ drama | 4 volumes, complete work, licensed in English (title: Our Dreams at Dusk)

Not only is high schooler Tasuku Kaname the new kid in town, he's also terrified that he's been outed as gay. Just as he's contemplating doing the unthinkable, Tasuku meets a mysterious woman who leads him to a group of people dealing with problems not so different from his own. In this realistic, heartfelt depiction of LGBT+ characters from different backgrounds finding their place in the world, a search for inner peace proves to be the most universal experience of all. (source)

From OniBarubary:

The characters are the strength of this work as it's focused on how issues affect people in a lot of ways and as such they have to be strong to move the narrative forward. When the narrative focuses on Kaname's issues or the other characters and how they deal with prejudice or social pressure or everything else that comes with being LGBT it really shines. (source)

dramazen · Apr 4, 2021

March 2021 Recommendation: Cross Account (by Tsunehiro Date)

Social Media Romance Drama | 4 volumes, complete work, not licensed in English

A romantic comedy about a boy and his social media rage; a story of social media and the crossing fates of a young man and a young woman who were never supposed to meet.

Say hello to Daichi, a.k.a. Mr. Harmless. Because of his compulsive need to be liked, he never makes waves and maintains an easy going attitude. So easy going, everyone thinks he's a dud. But online he's a stud! His angry otaku online persona has garnered him thousands of followers! But real life and online life are two very different things. A lesson he's going to learn the hard way! (source)

From BassForever:

This is another canceled manga that I can solidly recommend, and in some ways I kinda wish this was just a 90 minute film since it easily could be. (source)

Manga |OT|: No matter how I look at it, it's discord's fault we're not popular

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