Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone knows or would like to share manga they're reading or have read which is not yuri but of different genre like horror, het romance, sci-fi, psychological, mystery, tragedy, etc. that you think is of quality.

Currently, I have finished reading the available chapters for an on-going series which is:

•Ousama game: kigen (horror, tragedy)

From what I've come across the net, Ousama game: Kigen is a prequel to Ousama game (which has terrible reviews on MAL). I haven't read the sequel, but so far this one has got me grasping at my breath in anticipation about the true identity of the King and whether it is human or... Someone omnipotent.

• The story goes like this: A teen from a village sees a "black envelope" with a letter inside. It talks about the "Ousama Game," and some specific tasks some or all of the villagers have to carry out in a limited amt of time (usually 24 hours). If they don't do it someone or everyone in the village will die. It's quite.. curious. And so far, I like it.

(Advance) Happy new year everyone!

I believe there is already a multi-page thread about misc manga discussion somewhere, maybe someone can find it

Alright, time to break out the manga from my het days.....
Life is Money: About a guy that has a little sister that needs a heart transplant, and gets invovled in a game that allows you to kill others for money: but there's a catch. You can't actually kill them with your hands, you have to kill them psychologically by finding out their life secrets and use it against their own demise.
Aho Girl: This manga is so funny I can see past the fact that it's not Yuri.
Evergreen: It's made by the same girl that made ToraDora! as well as Golden Time, so you know it has tons of drama. Very interesting! However it hasn't updated in a while.... have fun reading!!

Dragon Head: Cheerful romp through fields of pretty flowers. Just the thing to brighten anyone's mood.

More seriously, there are a few I read and re-read regularly:

Baby Steps: Tennis manga about a guy who's incredibly analytical and methodical, who finds his passion in sport. This approach isn't always a strength, but it's great to see him push through obstacles and receive advice from a number of points of view.

Ghost Hunt: High school girl becomes a part-time worker for a psychic research company, and is involved in a number of unusual and often dangerous cases. Based on a series of light novels.
Mahou Tsukai Kurohime: Comedy adventure about the strongest gunslinging witch ever, now stuck in a child's body after attempting to conquer the gods. She can't return to normal unless she feels true love, but due to her arrogant and greedy nature she just ends up reverting again. Also has one of those "love story for the ages" aspects, but it's not what I'd call romance.
Dengeki Daisy: Yeah, it's got an age-gap het romance, but somehow it doesn't come off as skeevy. Hacker adventure stuff, although some of the hacking is a bit laughable. Good characters, and a lot of fun scenes throughout.
Katsu: A bit more romance, but with a pretty light touch. Young guy joins a boxing gym because pretty girl in his class' father was a boxer, but didn't realize until too late that her folks are divorced and now she hates boxers. But not for the reason you'd think. A lot of whimsical humour, so don't expect Hajime no Ippo here or anything.
Aqua/Aria: Pure scenery porn with cute girls on gondolas. What's not to like?
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: More scenery porn, but this one is a view of the serene and somewhat cheerful end of humanity, through the eyes of an android barista. Well worth the read.
Id: I've only read the first five volumes, but it's pretty good. Straight-up heroic fantasy, straight out of D&D. Elves, dwarves, the whole bit. Korean manhwa, so there are subtle differences in the storytelling from the Japanese stuff.

Thiron I didn't know there was one already! Thanks for informing me.

Thank you KAIDOU, all three sound exquisite! Can't wait to read it! :)

Nezchan, you really put some effort for this! Thank you I really appreciate it. I've tried Dengeki Daisy. It's quite good. I suggest you give Liar x Liar a try. It's het romance and the author is the same as the author for Mermaid Line (yuri).

The story begins when a 20 yo girl wearing an HS uniform for fun bumps into her step-brother. Her brother asks her why she was wearing an HS uniform but she plays dumb and tells him that she wasn't her sister, that she was really a high schooler. Surprisingly he believes her. The step bro quite attracted to this high school girl gives his # number to his step-sister unknowingly.

Basically, the bro falls in love with his step-sister's "other identity". If not for the story, it's worth reading for the cute MC!

Now, I have quite a number on my to-read list. Should keep me occupied. ^^

What I'd like to find is something like Mushishi or XXXHolic, with a mysterious atmosphere and heavily based in folklore, maybe a bit stylish while we're at it. Or maybe with that feel of discovering unseen facets of the world, like the bits of YKK where Alpha is travelling, or the Cait Sith-related parts of Aria. One of the things that attracts me to Touhou, for instance, is the creative take on Japanese folk stories, so other stuff that relies on the same would be appealing.

I will cheat a little because I actually very rarely read manga and it needs alot to motivate me to read stuff without voice acting, Sounddesign and Soundtrack, which are by far, atleast for me, one of the strongest aspects of how to tell stories.

One Outs: Tokuchi is a gambler. A very good one at that. Basically everything he does is to get the upper hand at everyone and he enjoys every minute of it. Oh, you mean like a poker player? Nope. He gambles in everything imaginable. So, when he loses a bet against Kojima a professionel baseball player he is forced to become the pitcher for the Lycaons who are on the brink of extinction thanks to a ruthless business man/manager who just sees the money in their demise. Tokuchis goal is to bring the Lycaons back to their old fame and make them the number one team.
As every enemy around him tries to one up him Tokuchi just get's back at them and get's one step closer to his goal.
I think the title of the series is fitting:

Nobody wins but I.

Umineko: When the seagulls cry: Now I don't wanna beat around the bush here: the Sound Novel is far superior. Like in every aspect, especially with the voice and sprite patch. In fact, I even hate some of the artist choices they had for entire arcs because they were horribly misproportioned or just a pain to look at when you are used to better things. Some arcs are drawn just fine. The Anime is just better in that it has cemented the cast they used in the PSP/Ps3 remake and actually had some good renditions of the music but it only covers half of the entire story with it's two seasons and that even counts the horrible pacing at parts. Yes, the sound novels can feel like an eternity and I don't expect you to read the 8 arcs which feel like 20 hours per episode but maybe an appetizer like the manga can help you decide that for yourself but I vow to you that when you break the barrier that is hovering you will love every minute of it. Or alternativly read the manga,(for bonus points, play the soundtrack if you want, it's up on youtube!) cuz these are supposed to be manga recommendations I guess.

So, yeah, I got a bit sidetracked anyway: Umineko...Ahhh, Umineko, a series that should be easy to categorize but when you actually try it it gets really hard to pinpoint. Is it a love letter to the mystery/detective genre or a brutal deconstruction with no survivors? Is it Higurashi with a more observing edge or is it just spitting in your face and laughing while you try to entangle this mess the golden witch of Rokkenjima has left you with?

I guess without love it cannot be seen. (<---Take note, this will come on the exam later)

(I guess in extension you could actually take the Higurashi Manga into account as well, because people say good things about it but I never read those because I am still trying to finish the original sound novel.)

last edited at Dec 31, 2014 1:55PM

What I'd like to find is something like Mushishi or XXXHolic, with a mysterious atmosphere and heavily based in folklore, maybe a bit stylish while we're at it. Or maybe with that feel of discovering unseen facets of the world, like the bits of YKK where Alpha is travelling, or the Cait Sith-related parts of Aria. One of the things that attracts me to Touhou, for instance, is the creative take on Japanese folk stories, so other stuff that relies on the same would be appealing.

Natsume yuujinchou ? To me, it gives similar vibes to Mushishi.

last edited at Dec 31, 2014 2:09PM

What I'd like to find is something like Mushishi or XXXHolic, with a mysterious atmosphere and heavily based in folklore, maybe a bit stylish while we're at it. Or maybe with that feel of discovering unseen facets of the world, like the bits of YKK where Alpha is travelling, or the Cait Sith-related parts of Aria. One of the things that attracts me to Touhou, for instance, is the creative take on Japanese folk stories, so other stuff that relies on the same would be appealing.

Natsume yuujinchou ? To me, it gives similar vibes to Mushishi.

Oh! I'd read a bit of that quite a while ago (or did I watch some of the anime, it's been ages so I forget). I'd totally forgotten about it, I really should read the rest. Thanks!

So, recently a scanlator group got their hands on this particular manga right here and i swear to God this is the best manga ever made right after Kase-san

Anything by Junji Ito is great for the horror genre. Gyo, Uzamaki, Black Paradox, Hellstar Remina (a bit lighter on the horror side of things but still really interesting), Mimi's Ghost Stories, and the Tomie one-shots are all great. A lot of his one-shots are actually really interesting.

What I'd like to find is something like Mushishi or XXXHolic, with a mysterious atmosphere and heavily based in folklore, maybe a bit stylish while we're at it. Or maybe with that feel of discovering unseen facets of the world, like the bits of YKK where Alpha is travelling, or the Cait Sith-related parts of Aria. One of the things that attracts me to Touhou, for instance, is the creative take on Japanese folk stories, so other stuff that relies on the same would be appealing.

I don't know if this qualifies, but I would recommend Black Bird by Kanoko Sakurakoji. If focuses on a human girl who has special value to demons (not necessarily alive), and a tengu yokai (black bird demon). Heavy doses of het romance, action/drama and traditional Japanese folk tails. It is the most recent het work I've gotten into; if I remember right, I found it after I was already getting into yuri (that is after Girl Friends).

edit: This has been licensed and published in English, though I think there may be a scanlation out there. (if you look at the scanlation and like it, please support it by buying the licensed version.)

last edited at Dec 31, 2014 9:56PM

What I'd like to find is something like Mushishi or XXXHolic, with a mysterious atmosphere and heavily based in folklore, maybe a bit stylish while we're at it. Or maybe with that feel of discovering unseen facets of the world, like the bits of YKK where Alpha is travelling, or the Cait Sith-related parts of Aria. One of the things that attracts me to Touhou, for instance, is the creative take on Japanese folk stories, so other stuff that relies on the same would be appealing.

OMG!!! A fellow YKK and Aria fan!!! So few of us exist!! YKK and Aria are probably two of my favorite stories of all time!!! I love both to bits. Natsume Yuujinchou (Natume's Book of Friends), as far as I know, comes pretty close to what you're asking about. I've been reading it off and on and I find it to be pretty good. Hmmm... I don't know if it fits your criteria but check out Socks Goblin. I believe it's a manwha and I read it on a whim and I have to say I quite like it. Other than that, I'm stuck on suggestions for what you're asking for as both Mushishi and XXXHolic are the only other ones I know of. I'm sure there are more but I wouldn't know where to start looking.

EDIT @ Yuri Girl 1001 - Thanks for the suggestion.

last edited at Dec 31, 2014 10:49PM

I don't know if this qualifies, but I would recommend Black Bird by Kanoko Sakurakoji. If focuses on a human girl who has special value to demons (not necessarily alive), and a tengu yokai (black bird demon). Heavy doses of het romance, action/drama and traditional Japanese folk tails. It is the most recent het work I've gotten into; if I remember right, I found it after I was already getting into yuri (that is after Girl Friends).

edit: This has been licensed and published in English, though I think there may be a scanlation out there. (if you look at the scanlation and like it, please support it by buying the licensed version.)

i read a lot of that a while back, before I realized that the romance is actually kinda creepy in many ways. i do appreciate the scenes where the female lead is like "fuck expectations, i'm going to take matters into my own hands and actually succeed". That's one of the things I especially like about Dengeki Daisy, for that matter. Those scenes where Teru is like "I know what the villain expects me to do, but I ain't NOBODY'S stereotype".

i read a lot of that a while back, before I realized that the romance is actually kinda creepy in many ways. i do appreciate the scenes where the female lead is like "fuck expectations, i'm going to take matters into my own hands and actually succeed". That's one of the things I especially like about Dengeki Daisy, for that matter. Those scenes where Teru is like "I know what the villain expects me to do, but I ain't NOBODY'S stereotype".

Yes, the romance is in some ways kinda creepy, but I've seen much worse and I very much liked this one. I personally don't think any of the creepiness comes from the leads themselves, unless it's that they are so strongly tied to each other that they'd die if separated (and that's common in romance stories). And I, too, like the way the female lead would often take things into her own hands. I read all 15 volumes and it has a lot of positives and does come to a happy end. Aah, but its up to you whether you'd want to give it another chance.

edit: Having said all that, I think I've talked myself into rereading it soon.

last edited at Dec 31, 2014 11:32PM

Nezchan, I see so you fancy other-worldly settings! I started reading Centaur's Worries and just re-visited my childhood studio Ghibli movie, Sen to Chihiro. I've started reading YKK, am in chapter 9. Although, I am not a big fan of old-school drawings, I'm reading it because.. Well, you recommended it and because it's not so bad so far!

O/A: A popular young idol who was caught in a scandal that was really in no fault her own and ends up having to start from the bottom again. Her main project is a radio show, but during an incident where she becomes unavailable, the staff discover that there's another girl (a down-on-her-luck comedian) with a similar voice and had her fill in for the idol. This eventually leads to the two of them cohosting the radio show together while trying to pass it off as if there's still only one host.

last edited at Jan 2, 2015 10:44AM

O/A: A popular young idol who was caught in a scandal that was really in no fault her own and ends up having to start from the bottom again. Her main project is a radio show, but during an incident where she becomes unavailable, the staff discover that there's another girl (a down-on-her-luck comedian) with a similar voice and had her fill in for the idol. This eventually leads to the two of them cohosting the radio show together while trying to pass it off as if there's still only one host.

That seems interesting, I think I will try