I think that part of what you dislike is based upon cultural differences, if you’re talking about the way they’re drawn. A lot of the overexaggeration is part of the Japanese cultural heritage. I liken it to the masks of Noh theatre. You either learn their tropes and read things like that from their perspective or you don’t.

But as for characters acting realistically, you simply need to read the right manga.

You are definitely right. I personally do enjoy manga and the artwork, but as I said there are cultural differences that don’t quite allow me the full experience. Of course I have read extremely few manga, because the market in my country is not exactly open for such products (we don’t even have comicbooks) so I haven’t found the right one.

Ooh, I second the rec for Basara. I utterly, utterly adore that series. The random things you find on library shelves . . .

http://shaenon.livejournal.com/28663.html

… you have to scroll down a bit.

There aren’t many longer shoujo series I like either. But I would recommend Basara. :) And Fruits Basket, which ended up being 23 volumes with none of the standard shoujo romance filler to be seen. I think what makes those two different is that they contain large numbers of three dimensional supporting characters that help keep the story moving with a real plot so there’s never a need for that awful filler.

I think One Piece is fun for its exuberance. But while I can accept, for instance, a five chapter fight in Naruto, in One Piece it drags on for ten chapters and isn’t interesting because there never seems to be the character development involved in OP that there is in a Naruto fight.

Slam Dunk, I’m just going to keep trying. The all-time number one manga in Japan is worth the effort.

Thank you for the information on the Honey and Clover anime. You make it sound really enticing. Though I tend to prefer manga, there are a number of series for which I prefer the anime (see my Haruka and Princess Tutu reviews). Sometimes the story works better with action and voice talent, and sometimes the creators put so much love into it that it’s just a fantastic thing to watch. It sounds like H&C is the latter. I’ll pick i up when it’s released here. ^__^

I also don’t like a lot of high-profile manga, but different ones :D I quietly despise Shinjou Mayu, and love Slam Dunk ^_^ One Piece…never read, but it doesn’t look like anything special to me *ducks*.

Hana Yori Dango…I loved it until around…22 or so, but it was dragged on WAY too long. I find a lot of long shoujo series do that – I stopped reading HanaKimi, Parfaittic and Tea Prince after about 12 volumes (well, Parfaittic after 4), when I could see that they were the never-ending back and forth type. I get annoyed with heros/heroines who continue to flip back and forth or be dense to the point of stupidity. I’m afraid that Special A might go that way too, I haven’t read past Volume 8 because of that.

Now I have an unofficial policy of not reading shoujo series that are over 15 volumes :) It’s saved me lots of money and time. Shounen I find aren’t so bad because it’s fight scenes that are dragged out, which you can get through quickly. But emotional angst…I just don’t appreciate repeated hand-wringing and soul searching. Romance yes, angst no.

Of course, I haven’t read the end of Hana Yori Dango yet because I’ve been to busy and it’s not on top of my list of titles to read, but I always enjoy it. In a way, I’m not that fond of the main relationship, but I still have fun because the sense of humor fits mine perfectly. If there is no resolution, I’m cool with that. Their relationship is never truly getting together. When two people are that tempestuous, I always have trouble believing HEA.

As for Gundam, Gundam Wing is a guilty pleasure of mine. I’m also pretty sure I’m one of the few people alive that likes Endless Waltz.

I started Kaiken Phrase and loved it, then stopped for some reason . . . I should go read it again. Sometimes I try to balance too many titles at once and one gets lost in the shuffle. And now I also need to find the anime.

I hope as the audience US companies are currently targeting (11-14) grows older, more adult titles will be brought over. Plus, many of those kids are hooking their parents on anime and manga. (It’s a sound financial decision. This was my dad buys the titles and I watch them. ^_^ I’m still working on my mom. And I completely unintentionally infected my dorm mates. It’s their fault for stealing Pretear from my DVD case.)

Shinjo Mayu is a guilty pleasure of mine. I wouldn’t recommend any parents give them to their young daughters, but for those who can take them as the hot uber-alpha male (and sometimes @sshole) sexual fantasies that they are, they’re mighty entertaining. My favorite is Akuma na Eros. That sex scene of theirs in hell is yummy.

By coincidence Kaikan Phrase is one of those series that I mentioned above, where I prefer the anime. The music is great, if repeated a little too much, and I love the beginning where the show focuses on the band getting together.

I *loved* Hana Kimi! I didn’t mind the end to that though it could have been better. But it seemed appropriate. That’s another I need to review.

I really enjoyed Hanazakari no kimitachi e (For You in Full Blossom), although like Hana Yori Dango the ending was pretty weak. (Better than the one in the latter though!)

One of my absolute favourite shoujo mangas’ was Kaikan Phrase by Shinjo Mayu~
Have you read it?

I think that part of what you dislike is based upon cultural differences, if you’re talking about the way they’re drawn. A lot of the overexaggeration is part of the Japanese cultural heritage. I liken it to the masks of Noh theatre. You either learn their tropes and read things like that from their perspective or you don’t.

But as for characters acting realistically, you simply need to read the right manga. The things I’ve been reviewing the past couple of weeks are romances mostly written for young teenage girls, ages 11-14. Would you argue that Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries, written for the same age group, is more realistic? Naruto is written for boys the same age. Is it really less realistic than Harry Potter? Of course not.

The vast majority of books brought to the US are for that age range, because most Americans just don’t accept that comics don’t have to be kids books. There are books for older audiences, but very few. I challenge you to read Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms and tell me it’s childish and irrational.

What other high profile series don’t you “get”?

One Piece. I mean, it’s cute and imaginative, and I can see little kids liking it. But I really get bored with the dragged on fights and the repetitive nature. And I really don’t understand slashing those guys. But to each his own.

Slam Dunk. OK, I forced myself up to Vol 11 and the art started getting better. When the guy draws basketball games he’s amazing. But outside that? The humor doesn’t translate for me, and the characters are painful to look at.

Hana Yori Dango. Worst. Ending. Ever. OK at least no one died. But after 36(!) volumes, I want a resolution to the freaking romance!!! Why do people love it? It isn’t even that good a story.

20th Century Boys. Supposed to be a masterpiece. I’m a few volumes into it, and unless I’m really mis-reading it, they’ve given away everything there is to be suspenseful about. I have no desire to read further now.

GTO. One of the first I ever tried. I couldn’t stand it. It must be a guy thing.

Azumanga Daioh. One of everyone’s favorite comedies, except mine. I really really tried to find this amusing. It just bored the heck out of me.

Negima! – I positively loathe this one.

Evangelion (will they tar and feather me for saying this? No, that will be the next) – This wasn’t bad. It was pretty good for a mecha series. But I don’t like most mecha series and so found it only average SF.

Gundam anything. Since I don’t like mecha (except Escaflowne, though the manga for that sucks), Gundams are pretty much out. And any slash between the prepubescent boys is just not for me.

I can see Slam Dunk growing on me, but it’s been a really slow start. I’d rather read his Vagabond.

What other high profile series don’t you “get”?

Honey and Clover left me wondering why it was so lauded. I’m thinking it may be because of the anime. Perhaps that’s better? I’ve never seen it. But because of that, it joins the ranks with several other high profile series I just don’t “get”.

I also put links at the bottom of the review to the place I usually order manga from, although I use a few other stores too. If you can’t find something at animecastle, you could try justmanga.com, or rightstuf.com. Discountanimedvd is cheap but sometimes they say things are in stock that aren’t.

I don’t like Amazon (aside from last week here LOL) because they’re generally slow in stocking and getting things out to people. Manga dealers are fast (and if you can order straight from the publisher it’s fastest :))

As for Honey and Clover, I’m glad to find someone else who doesn’t love it. I always feel like a party-spoiler since people gush about it. (I read it, because I get it in Shojo Beat, but if the mag stopped carrying it I wouldn’t care.)

@Sarah: Comic book stores often carry manga – and they’re more likely to have clearance volumes. http://freecomicbookday.com has a good locator. You can only find participating stores, but there are likely to be some in your area.

I also order Sorcerers and Secretaries. Thanks for that recommendation too. It sounds really good from the review and the graphics were really good from the scenes you posted.

You might like Sorcerers and Secretaries by Amy Kim Ganter as well. It’s only 2 volumes, and both are out. It’s a nice romance. I reviewed it here.