CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I'm looking for a good survival/horror manga. I've read all that's out of 'High school of the Dead', and a little of BioMeat. I'm looking for something with Zombies; More along the lines of 'Scientific Disaster' than 'Supernatural Phenomenon'. Any good recommendations, or is HsotD the only good one in that genre?

I've read a little of King of Thorns, and it seems kind of like that-- Scientific Disaster/ survivor/ horror. It's a genre I'm pretty intrigued with, but I can't find many good titles (but then again, I have a low violence threshold.) Most people have told me it's quite good; no zombies, unfortunately.

So here's a rec request that might be a bit of a stretch-- I love shoujo manga and seinen manga; shounen and josei just don't cut it for me. As usual, my taste in seinen is pretty non-violent, and conspiracies, financial drama, and a lone hero on the wrong side of the law are always great. For shoujo, I like romantic comedies that are a bit fresher and poke fun at stereotypes, with biting and sarcastic characters, but a couple that can still be adorable together.

Any manga out there that cross the two XDDD? \(^o^)/

I am looking for an intelligent manga, that will challenge me.

I have already read Death Note and loved it. Any manga along those lines would be fantastic.

pyro_moogle (post: 1202592) wrote:I am looking for an intelligent manga, that will challenge me.

I have already read Death Note and loved it. Any manga along those lines would be fantastic.

Naoki Urasawa's Monster and 20th Century Boys. The former is licensed and being released right now, and the latter will follow directly after, sometime later this year. They are 18 and 22 volumes, respectively, and they are two of my all time favorites, to boot. XD

Radical Dreamer (post: 1202594) wrote:Naoki Urasawa's Monster and 20th Century Boys. The former is licensed and being released right now, and the latter will follow directly after, sometime later this year. They are 18 and 22 volumes, respectively, and they are two of my all time favorites, to boot. XD

i second both of those wonderful titles. might i also add a recommendation for Mushishi and Akira. both of which are licensed and are being released, the latter series is already complete.

Thanks. I am got the first volume of Akira from my local B&N and found 20th Century Boys and began to read that there.

I must say these were great recommendations, thanks!

Can anyone reccomend me any other good magical girl/light fantasy shoujo manga that's legally available in the US? Right now, I have Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Tokyo Mew Mew, Full Moon Wo Sagishite, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Miracle Girls, Dream Saga, The World Exists For Me, Fruits Basket, Cyber Idol Mink, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, and Zodiac P.I.(long list, I know), and I've enjoyed all of these except Fruits Basket and The World Exists For Me.
As for ratings, I'd prefer no higher than 13+, the lower the better, although I have enjoyed a couple 16+ titles(Utena and Absolute Boyfriend).

FullMetal Alchemist would make some fine reading material.

And welcome to the site.

MomoAdachi (post: 1203880) wrote:Can anyone reccomend me any other good magical girl/light fantasy shoujo manga that's legally available in the US? Right now, I have Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Tokyo Mew Mew, Full Moon Wo Sagishite, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Miracle Girls, Dream Saga, The World Exists For Me, Fruits Basket, Cyber Idol Mink, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, and Zodiac P.I.(long list, I know), and I've enjoyed all of these except Fruits Basket and The World Exists For Me.
As for ratings, I'd prefer no higher than 13+, the lower the better, although I have enjoyed a couple 16+ titles(Utena and Absolute Boyfriend).

I'm surprised after reading a list this long that Cardcaptor Sakura wasn't in there somewhere.

One of my absolute favorites is "Her Majesty's Dog". It's a little darker than most of these, but it ought to fit right in to your collection.

If you want to wander a little farther afield (actually, to something I'm pretty sure is meant for the shounen market, but which is kinda borderline in its style) check out "Hayate the Combat Butler". Not 'magical girl' (it comes close to 'magical boy', actually), but it has the same kind of overall endearing cuteness.

You might also enjoy "Cheeky Angel", which isn't magical girl, and may also not be technically shoujo, but I think should appeal to readers of both genders.

rurounistefan (post: 1208900) wrote:ok i just finished up rurouni kenshin i have all 28 books and every thing, now that its over i don tknow what else to read besides me picking up the new one piece or tsubasa. does anyone have any good sugestions? i dont mind violence and medium language or alchohal and tobacco.

Irrasshaimase!

Rurouni, Tsubasa and One Piece... this is a toughy...

Okay, I'm sending you toward "Her Majesty's Dog" also, for entirely different reasons.

Also, either of the "Fushigi Yugi" series.

And, you may like "School Rumble". Not sure why, but your three examples all have the general sense of 'action manga' without the actual action being the story... School Rumble is a comedy, but often plays off of action manga stereotypes in a way you may enjoy a lot.

EricTheFred (post: 1208912) wrote:I'm surprised after reading a list this long that Cardcaptor Sakura wasn't in there somewhere.

One of my absolute favorites is "Her Majesty's Dog". It's a little darker than most of these, but it ought to fit right in to your collection.

If you want to wander a little farther afield (actually, to something I'm pretty sure is meant for the shounen market, but which is kinda borderline in its style) check out "Hayate the Combat Butler". Not 'magical girl' (it comes close to 'magical boy', actually), but it has the same kind of overall endearing cuteness.

You might also enjoy "Cheeky Angel", which isn't magical girl, and may also not be technically shoujo, but I think should appeal to readers of both genders.

Oops, yeah, I forgot to put CCS on that list, and, anyway, thanks for the reccomendations. I started Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne too, which I'm enjoying, though I can see why it might be considered iffy from a Christian perspective.

rurounistefan (post: 1208900) wrote:ok i just finished up rurouni kenshin i have all 28 books and every thing, now that its over i don tknow what else to read besides me picking up the new one piece or tsubasa. does anyone have any good sugestions? i dont mind violence and medium language or alchohal and tobacco.

seems as if you enjoy manga series w/ lots of sword fights and such. i suggest giving Blade of Immortal a shot. however, it's pretty darn violent and has some pretty strong language.

What is Jing: King of Bandits and why should I read it or burn it.

I believe I'll again put out my request for some good survival\horror titles. minakichan's low-violence threshold is evident in her recommendation, but a good one nonetheless. Are there any more good titles? I'm tellin' ya, good ones of these are hard to find... At least by my methods.

RidleyofZebes (post: 1211031) wrote:I believe I'll again put out my request for some good survival\horror titles. minakichan's low-violence threshold is evident in her recommendation, but a good one nonetheless. Are there any more good titles? I'm tellin' ya, good ones of these are hard to find... At least by my methods.

Haven't read past the first chapter, but I understand from a friend of mine that Parasyte goes down the survival horror road (if you can stand some early high school comedy). A race of alien parasites land on Earth and begin infesting the human populous. What little I read started off light hearted, but a brief look down the road confirms things get pretty messy.

Ooh... I'll check that out. Thanks!

Fish and Chips (post: 1211028) wrote:What is Jing: King of Bandits and why should I read it or burn it.

An extremely funny series if the particular brand of humor appeals to you. In my experience, it doesn't appeal to everyone. I thought it bore a lot of similarity to Trigun, but a fellow Trigun fan whom I recommended try Jing didn't like it.

The art style is neither realism, but it isn't typical manga either (well, it does have the big-eyes-little-mouth thing going, but other than that, it's pretty original). I love the mangaka's sense of panorama on establishing shots and wide shots, but he spends most of his time closer-up (I suspect to save time. Those wide shots are brutally detailed in some cases.)

Jing does have a Captain Kirk-like tendency to find a cute girl at the center of every new town's plotline, but it's just part of the charm.

Be aware that, just like Trigun and Battle Angel Alita, there are two series, both starting at volume 1.

Great, now there are loads of tittles I need to read.. >.<

Anyway, are there any recommendations for adventure Manga tittles? Something with... a quest, or a goal, I suppose. ^^; I'm all for the cliche hero ones, also. 8P

This is Manhwa, but by one of the very top Korean writers:

"Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun" by Sun-Woo Park.

Good stuff, set in legendary times Korea.

That was off the top of my head, and just because I'm reading the series at the moment. This request is difficult, because there are a lot of titles, but they are Shoujo, Shounen, Seinen... there may be a Josei title or two even. Japanese of all ages and genders seem to love adventure stories, but the market strongly influences the product. For example, I think your request could be legitimately answered with both "Magic Knight Rayearth" and "Blade of the Immortal".

"Fushigi Yugi" is a good choice if I use Beast Master (mentioned in your sig) as guidance for what market you are in. FY is a reverse harem (cute girl central character surrounded by bishounen) with goals, plot, magic, angst, etc. etc. I seldom like this sort of manga (47-year-old straight males aren't exactly the target audience) but I genuinely enjoyed FY, thanks to quality writing. It has been ripped off by other mangaka too many times to count, which also says something about it.

RidleyofZebes (post: 1211064) wrote:Ooh... I'll check that out. Thanks!

Let us know your opinion of it. I'm never satisfied in this genre, because mangaka and American comic artists both seem to think excessive gore is highly desirable. I love ghost story type horror (especially 'Ghost Hunt') and demon-hunting stories, but the survival-horror genre has always gone directions I don't like.

Thanks! I appreciate the recommendations. They sound great. ^^

LOL. I was surprised I liked Beast-Master. Especially since I've never been addicted to Shoujo. ^.~

MomoAdachi (post: 1203880) wrote:Can anyone reccomend me any other good magical girl/light fantasy shoujo manga that's legally available in the US? Right now, I have Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Tokyo Mew Mew, Full Moon Wo Sagishite, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Miracle Girls, Dream Saga, The World Exists For Me, Fruits Basket, Cyber Idol Mink, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, and Zodiac P.I.(long list, I know), and I've enjoyed all of these except Fruits Basket and The World Exists For Me.
As for ratings, I'd prefer no higher than 13+, the lower the better, although I have enjoyed a couple 16+ titles(Utena and Absolute Boyfriend).

I love shoujo manga. I'd recommend these titles (ALL titles have 13 and up rating unless otherwise stated).

La Corda D'Oro: Great series about students who attend a school for music. The main female protagonist is a GEN ED student (which basically means she attends public school) through a series of events she is one of the chosen few picked to attend the prestigious music school (Sorry I don't mean to be vague by calling it "music school" but the name of that school escapes me at this moment ^__^) but there's just one problem: She doesn't know how to play an instrument or even read a single note of music! Perhaps with the help of the schools "music spirit" Lili whom she can only see she may possibly become the greatest violinists this school has ever seen. I love this series, it has the perfect amount of drama, comedy, and romance.

High School Debut: Another wonderful title about a tomboy named Haruna who wishes to become a true lady. Only problem is she screws it up way too much on her own and her only hope at ever achieving her dream (which is basically getting her first boyfriend) is to get a coach. Yoh, the hottest guy in school agrees to become her coach but he has one rule: "Don't fall in love with me." to bad for her she's already starting to fall.

Love*Com: You may have already heard a lot of reviews on this series. It's about a really, tall, girl named Risa who loves a boy named Otani who is the shortest boy at their high school. There's a lot of ups and downs in this series and you'll become enthralled with Risa's antics and attempts to snag him as well as feel sorry for her because Otani is a complete blockhead. x___X

Sugar Sugar Rune: This is by far my favorite title. You should really check it out. It's about two girls Chocola and Vanilla who wish to become the new Queen of their world. In their world Chocola is very popular with the guys and has many friends whereas Vanilla is shy and timid towards guys with her only friend being Chocola but in order to gain the title of queen they must venture into the human world and collect as many human hearts as possible. The only thing is in the human world Vanilla is the most popular and Chocola isn't which makes for a very complicated and interesting twist. Moyoco Anno's artwork is neat. I really love it. It's very different from other manga-kas works.

Aqua (age rating: 13 and up): This only has two volumes and I can't stop reading it. I've read it four times already though this is mostly a slice of life series so if you don't like that you won't like Aqua. The artwork is breathtaking, the story though slow paced is like a breath of fresh air, and it's fun to see how the main character goes through her day to day life in another world, striving to become a gondolier (or "Prima" the highest gondolier rank as they call it in the series). Aria is it's squeal. That manga is rated 16 and older. There is nothing objectionable in it though. It only had one profanity and that was it. Before Aria was re-licensed the series was 13 and up I have no clue why Tokyopop rated it for older teens.

Kilala Princess: This is classified as a "kiddy series" but I think it's pretty cute! It's Disney based manga about a girl who wishes to become a Princess and is cast into the Disney worlds in order to find her missing friend. It sounds a lot like a Kingdom Heart premise but the story is different and did I mention how adorable this series is?! ^__~ This series is rated for ALL ages and is a quick read. I believe each volume is maybe 122-140 pages max. There are 4 volumes in the series.

Another title would be Someday's Dreamers. I thought the anime was very slow paced but it's sequel is fantastic. It has the proper amount of drama and romance. Definitely check it out if you're interested!

And though you didn't mention it Peach Girl but I am assuming you've read it since you have Momo as your icon! Sae's Story is a nice 3 volume read on her take of the whole "Momo Ordeal". That series is rated 16 and up though.

All right, so I'm looking for some manga I might like....

Basically, mangas I read are Tsubasa Chronicle and D.N.Angel.

I'm really liking the Rurouni Kenshin anime, so I think I'll check out the manga too.

Some non-manga books I like are books by Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, CS Lewis (especially Narnia), and others. I like Christian suspense and fantasy novels, but I read a bit of anything that's good (to me).

I prefer cleaner titles, too, but so long as I know what's objectable in a series, I can judge from there.

mysngoeshere56, you could try out Fullmetal Alchemist. it's an excellent adventure series that boasts quite a bit of characterization, clean appealing artwork, and a very in-depth and intriguing plot. an overall excellent series though at times it can be rather bloody though the majority of the violence in the series is quite tasteful.

mysngoeshere56 (post: 1226886) wrote:I'm really liking the Rurouni Kenshin anime, so I think I'll check out the manga too.

If you're enjoying the anime, I think you should absolutely read the manga, as it's about 10 times better. XD Also, I'll reiterate Jon_Jinn's FMA recommendation, and throw in Yotsuba&!, if you're looking for a clean comedy.

Aight! Thanks. I'll have to keep these in mind next time I go to Barnes 'N Noble. Or Wal-Mart on the off chance they have them (highly unlikely, since the only mangas I've seen there are Naruto and Fruits Basket. Seems like romance novels are their "big thing").

Feel free to keep recommendations coming. And thanks you two!

Can someone recommend manga purely on the art? I'm not interested in picking up a manga to read through, so story is not important and I don't care if its only in Japanese.

I like highly stylized and somewhat exaggerated. Just a couple mangas you believe has exceptional art and style would be good. I can look up the pictures on google to see if its something I'd like.

Just want em to have something to look at and study and help with my own art. Never picked up a manga before, I don't even know where you'd buy em aside from amazon but... thought this would be a good idea if I wanna get better at drawing though.

Scarecrow (post: 1227244) wrote:Can someone recommend manga purely on the art? I'm not interested in picking up a manga to read through, so story is not important and I don't care if its only in Japanese.

I like highly stylized and somewhat exaggerated. Just a couple mangas you believe has exceptional art and style would be good. I can look up the pictures on google to see if its something I'd like.

Just want em to have something to look at and study and help with my own art. Never picked up a manga before, I don't even know where you'd buy em aside from amazon but... thought this would be a good idea if I wanna get better at drawing though.

For stylized art (and something you can find on the shelf), I would actually recommend Tsubasa. I don't think it's a good artstyle for storytelling, as it's terribly hard to see during action scenes, but I will say that some of the chapter and cover art pages are really very neat.

I would also recommend Tanemura's works (Full Moon wo Sagashite, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, etc.), as her art style is very intricate and detailed.

And just because you said "stylized" and "exaggerated," I have to:

Akagi. XD

Scarecrow (post: 1227244) wrote:Can someone recommend manga purely on the art? I'm not interested in picking up a manga to read through, so story is not important and I don't care if its only in Japanese.

I like highly stylized and somewhat exaggerated. Just a couple mangas you believe has exceptional art and style would be good. I can look up the pictures on google to see if its something I'd like.

Just want em to have something to look at and study and help with my own art.

For a blend of detailed and bizarre exaggeration with a dash of realism, I'll direct you towards Hirohiko Araki's Steel Ball Run. I can find some other samples to hit the point home, if you would prefer that.

Fujisaki Ryu's illustration is absolutely gorgeous, especially for his recent works like Waq Waq, Shiki, and his CGI paintings of Houshin Engi from his artbook Putitakityu. Generally, it's very exaggerated and stylized-- I wouldn't recommend him for practicing figure drawing-- but he is highly proficient in multiple media. I personally believe that he is more technically accomplished than Obata Takeshi (who everyone considers the epitome of manga technical skill); although his art isn't realistic, it's more impactful. He covers a pretty wide range-- from insane crack to very serious-- but I like his idyllic and beautiful works best ^^

You can see his stuff at http://www.houshin-engi.com/ ; two examples:
http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/8199/hebannerlove0uvli1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/kirimi/jump/013-shiki.jpg

Wow awesome suggestion guys Really like the Tsubasa ones... more to the type I tend to draw... or try to anyway I'll have to pick a couple of those up.

I also really liked the stuff at that houshin-engi site... very exciting pictures and nice colors. I had a hard time navigating the site but I really liked the stuff you showed samples of... particularly that in the first sample. Wouldn't mind getting that art book if it had more stuff in there like that.... I really want mangas though to see the layouts and different shots and stuff like that.

Steel Ball Run I think I'd have to dig a little more. I liked the sample posted but when I googled more I wasn't too impressed but really didn't find many pictures (most of what I did find was just cover art and I didn't like it).... found a lot of literal steel balls pictures and stuff though

(OT really and doesn't matter really for what wanna get these fore but IMO, these should color these instead of black and white I actually really like the realistic look in black and white but the stuff like Tsubasa needs to be in color )