Good Manga

[Bluesky]

Everyone says FMA is amazing but I've just never gotten around to reading/watching it O: It's on my list after Hellsing and Chobits, though

[Willowfoot]

FMA is hands down my favorite manga ever. If Alphonse Elric existed in real life I would marry him.

I can't really find myself getting into other ones lately.... though Skip Beat is addictive.

[Tinderpaw]

xxxHolic and Tsubasa (though I've only watched them) were also super amazing, as was Fruit Basket.

Also High School Debut is another good one.

[Lightfur]

I totally agree with Skip Beat, xxxHolic, Black Butler, and Tsubasa! Fruits Basket was pretty good. I read FMA for a while, but I could never really get into it for some reason!

I love From Far Away, Saver, Anatolia Story/Red River, Tokyo Crazy Paradise, Noblesse, Shibatora, Saiyuki (all the different series), Gokusen, Hatenkou Yuugi/Dazzle, Angel Heart, and many many more, but those are the ones that just popped to the top of my head right this second. There are a bunch of different genres in there, I don't know where these came from. >. >

[Starlight]

The One, Zettai Karen Children, Beauty Pop, Brilliant Magic, Crazy For You (Shoujo), Guru Guru Pon-Chan, Hana Kimi, Matantei Loki (aka Detective Loki or Mythical Detective Loki)...

[Bluesky]

Oh, Hana Kimi is a good one! (never finished it, though)

I found some more by looking at mine and my friend's bookshelves lol :B
Absolute Boyfriend, Hetalia (...lol), Tokyo Mew Mew (and A La Mode), 11th Cat, Death Note, Shugo Chara, Zombie Loan, Zombie Powder, Spice & Wolf (>__>), Omamori Himari (again, >___>), Time Guardian, and I read CLAMP School Detectives from our library a while back, it was short but really cute

[Lightfur]

Oh, I love Hana Kimi, Beauty Pop, and Death Note!

Um… there's always the classic Hana Yori Dango, lol! And I love Arina Tanemura's stuff, that was some of the first anime/manga I ever encountered… Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne is just full of lulz. Monster is great, but about as far from shoujo as one can get… It's like really dark, violent, and excellent literature in the form of manga!

I liked Vampire Knight when it was funny, before it went all crazy-emo. Historie is really awesome, but definitely not shoujo and definitely not for kids, and I think that I liked the earlier chapters better… More shoujo: W Juliet, Oresama Teacher, Beast Master, Crimson Hero. Even more highly recommended shoujo: Red Lion, Mekakushi no Kuni.

Emma is an epic historical romance that is SO FREAKING historically accurate! I love Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden but Fushigi Yuugi probably wins the award for "manga that I most despite and want to set on fire." (Actually, more like main characters than manga, I do like the side characters.) Basara is REALLY dark and REALLY violent, hard to get through, etc, but it's really interesting!

I really like Operation Liberate Men, it's a pretty awesome premise… Superior is another great shoujo! Claymore is good, Savage Garden is great and has incredible art! Cat Street is another nice shoujo. Vampire Game is SO hilarious, and SO good, I've read it at least three times! Ares is another awesome war manga. Vanilla Ice is an excellent shoujo, but it stops in the middle of the action and it's on hiatus with little chance of ever being continued, so…

Again, if these seem random that's because they are, this is pretty much stream-of-consciousness. xD

[Sleetfoot]

Does anyone else like ElfQuest?

[Lightfur]

Sorry, never heard of ElfQuest, but has anyone else read King of Thorn? That is a CRAZY GOOD manga, I've been trying to find the film ever since I discovered that it was coming out!

[Wildstar]

Yoru Made Matenai - The lead chick is (obviously) wishy-washy, but the lead male (aka, the little kid) totally makes up for her with his obnoxious…ness. I've read it twice in the past year? and I still wanna read it again. It's kinda like Meru Puri (ANOTHER RECOMMEND), but without the fantasy. I absolutely love the art.

Hot Gimmick - First manga I read of my own accord. Typical drama all up in the place, but the characters are really deep (except maybe the step-brother ), but it can get smutty (there's a lot of forewarning, though). LOVE LOVE LOVE

Absolute Boyfriend - Can't believe you guys haven't mentioned it yet!! D< Read it three times, watched the drama series and the movie special (and bawled my eyes out at 3AM). This manga is golden.

Sugar Sugar Rune - Basic magical girl stuff, but it's got an appeal all its own. The art takes a little getting used to, but this should be on your list!

Cromartie High School - I'm not much for old-school shounen manga (sorry, but GTO, can't get into it), but I was laughing my head off in the first chapter. Only nerds can make delinquent schools so hilarious.

Special A - SUPER LONG (can drag) but it was one of my first manga, and it never fails to make me laugh. The leads are beast, and everyone gets a happy ending. <3 (Anything by Minami Maki should be devoured by readers, in my opinion.)

Bakuman - Come on, is this not the cleverest way to get a billion chapters and a bunch of money?! Even though the story can drag, it always keeps you entertained and you find yourself thinking "this artist has a multitude of styles! GENIUS!"

Nineteen, Twenty-One - Dedicated to all cat lovers!

Mishounen Produce - The latest in nosebleeds! The art is 100% drool worthy (and so are the guys xD).

Usagi Drop - A drama fit for the classics! The art is simple and the storyline and characters are just so adorable yet serious. It's like eating chips--y'just can't stop once you start!

[Lightfur]

Wildstar- Absolute Boyriend, Mishounen Produce, Nineteen, Twenty-One, and Special A are all quite good! Hot Gimmick I liked the first time I read it, but the second time through… The main female character gets on my nerves a bit.

Usagi Drop was AMAZING, one of my favorite mangas… until the time-skip. Then it became just another shoujo, only worse because OHMIGOSH THE ENDING ARGHHH IT BURNS. Have you read the ending? What is up with that?? *dies* So yes, the first half was genius, the second half broke my soul.

[Lightfur]

(Sorry for double-posting, but this is a new topic so a new post)

What kind of art do you guys like best in manga? I find that my very favorites tend to be either the better style of manhwa (like Saver, not like those awful Hwang Mi Ri-type mahwas. *shudders*), or styles that one one else seems to like. =/ For example, some of my all-time favorite mangas as far as art (and storyline, actually- the storylines for all of these are insanely good- these four are all gems) are The Demon Ororon, Kirai, From Far Away, and Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, none of which seem to be considered by others to have stunning art? I like interesting, simple, even minimalistic art styles, I guess? Or something.

So, what about you guys? Do you like the ulta-flowery huge-eye shoujo style of Arina Tanemura? Realistic style? Minimalistic? Abstract or impressionistic? Hm?

[Wildstar]

I haven't read the end of "Usagi Drop", but I don't really have high hopes for it, now that you mention it. The time skip just made everything sad, and I haven't read much after that.

As for my favourite art style…? I like the style that a lot of mangakas picked up in 2006, like "Say, I Love You"… something about it (probably the fact that it reminds me so much of Mannerism, heh) appeals to me. Also, any manga where the art is really sketchy (like Yoru Made Matenai, or anything by Oota Saki, I think her name is). I don't like the manga of pre- or early 2000, the huge creepy eyes and the lineart are just… yuck. (By the way, I HATE Hwang Mi Ri's style.) Even though the manga depends heavily on the style of art, sometimes the plot can completely override and make it 100% better. Still, I find that I like the style of more Korean/Taiwanese/Chinese type manga (screw the names) as I go on.

Oh! Another good one (although it hasn't been updated in ages) is "Girl in Heels" the female lead is so girly yet butch.

Right now I'm watching another Japanese drama "Hana Yori Dango" (couldn't resist). The actors are better than the other dramas I've seen in the past, the pacing is great, and the characters just grow on you like mold. xD It's incredibly addictive. (I haven't read the manga yet, I'm savin' it for later, and it'll be the longest manga that I've ever read through.)

[Lightfur]

Ooh, I adore Hana Yori Dango! That was one of the very first anime I ever watched, truly excellent.

As far as dramas, I haven't been able to get into any of the versions of Hana Yori Dango that I've tried, oddly enough. I LOVED the J-drama version of Hana Kimi, though. The 2007 one, since apparently they're making a 2011 remake?? (What the heck?) Recently I've been watching the K-drama Goong, which is awesome! I tried reading the manhwa once and didn't care for the art, but the drama is incredible! Other good dramas would be… Coffee Prince (K-drama), Shibatora (J-drama), Kurosagi (J-drama), Gokusen (J-drama), and Summer's Desire (freaking hilarious drama, Taiwanese I think… soooo melodramatic).

I LOVe Girl in Heels! That's another really cool art style!

Honestly, I'd say don't read the ending of Usagi Drop at all… I actually couldn't bear to keep reading after a while, but I read summaries and it was just… >. > So ruined. So ruined.

Hwang Mi Ri is an abomination. She is also either multiple people, or a robot mass-producing crappy manhwas with the same plot. Have you seen how many works are attributed to her?? It's like five lifetimes' worth of work, even work as awful and cheap as hers! I made it through one or two of her works, I think, but overall they just make my skin crawl. It's a pity that when some people think "manhwa," they think of her rather than incredible works like Saver (I cannot express how much I love Saver), Absolute Witch, Demon Diary, Rure, Girl in Heels, or any of all the awesome Korean webtoons that are being scanlated so much lately.

[Sleetfoot]

Just finished watching the 2003 FMA and the movie and I lived it...now I'm moving onto Brotherhood aaaaaaaand...not so much...