What is your favorite manga series?

mine is Mars by Fuyumi Soryo

This is my absolute favorite manga. It’s the story of two high school students: popular Rei and shy Kira. Kira is a quiet art student who can’t afford to go to college after high school, and Ray is an outgoing motorcycle driver. This is the story of how two completely different people come together.

I don't have a single, favorite series. With so many good stories out there it's really hard to pick just one. My current "top works" (things I am actively reading and enjoying right now) include Banri Hidaka's I Hate You More than Anyone and V.B. Rose, Aya Nakahara's Love*Com, and Riichiro Inagaki's Eyeshield 21.

I tend to read more widely (genre-wise) when it comes to manga than when I'm reading prose works. There are quite a few series I need to catch up on, and as I do my favorites of the moment will morph and switch.

Mars is my favorite if I had to pick just one. other series that I really like are Tail of the moon, Paradise Kiss, Girl got game, Fruits Basket, Emma and, Kenshin.

Ranma 1/2, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Card Captor Sakura. :3

Oh, dear. Just one? So many to choose from. :) Some of my favorites:

Aria/Aqua
Wish
Cardcaptor Sakura
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
xxxHOLIC
Hayate the Combat Butler
Black Jack
Hayate x Blade

Ranma 1/2 and Magic Knight Rayearth are both on my to be read list.

I have read/own 9 out of the 12 CCS books (I guess I should probably finish the series some time, lol)

I was actually considering buying Wish...since you like it, maybe I will...

Ranma 1/2 is soooo addicting, and it's 36 volumes long!~

MKRI is better than MKRII IMHO.

Wish is certainly a cute, short little manga set. I'd recommend it.

My favorites are Her Majesty's Dog, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (anime and manga) and Fake.

>6 novelandmangacrazy:
Wish was my gateway to CLAMP fandom, so it's got a special place in my heart; still one of my favorite series. If you can wait for a while, Dark Horse will be re-issuing Cardcaptor Sakura (along with MKR and Chobits) in omnibus form in 2010-ish.

>9 MadLudwig:

I'll probably be able to get the CCS books at the library, so I won't actually buy them.

How many volumes are there in Wish?/ Are they all published?

>10 novelandmangacrazy:
Wish has four volumes; all were published in the US (by Tokyopop).

On another note, if you haven't checked out Viz's new SIGIKKI Online Manga Magazine http://www.sigikki.com, give it a try. It's a free online manga anthology aimed at older teens and adults. Children of the Sea was its first title, and it's a beautifully-drawn title with an interesting story. Saturn Apartments and Afterschool Charisma are showing promise, and while I haven't tried it yet, I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow sounds like it could be fun just from its title. There's a couple of other titles in the anthology too, so there's a good chance you'll find something you like.

wow, thanks for the link. I don't generally read online manga too much, but I think I'll check it out.

My favorite is Genshiken. It's the only manga series that I reread in its entirety. Not only did I reread it, but a year hadn't even passed before I did again.

Also, I agree with everyone who mentioned Ranma 1/2. Fond memories of it being my first manga.

Tokyo Babylon and Silver Diamond are probably my overall favorites. Since there's now two books, I like the Kyuuso wa Cheese no Yume wo Miru and Sojou no Koi wa Nido Haneru series.

The first things that spring to mind are Ranma 1/2 and Rurouni Kenshin, but when I think about why I really started learning Japanese in the first place, it was to read Yuu Yuu Hakusho (then essentially unavailable whether in scanlated, fansubbed, or professionally translated form).

I'm currently reading Yotsuba To, which is hilarious.

My biggest weakness though is for extremely 1970s series, especially the action/martial arts/spy shoujo series. (Yes, I said "shoujo". They're not all romance you know!) Shinji Wada is great. I love Eroica and all its many side stories, especially Z.

I'm currently binging on Year 24 Group artists like Hagio Moto, most of whom are less fond of spy thrillers than Yasuko Aoike is, but who are all still fantastic (and fantastically 70s).

I have too many favourites just to pick one:
skip beat! 1
Please Save My Earth 1
Red River 1
Hana-kimi 1
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 1
Clover 1
Pluto 1
Otomen 1
Nana 1
Ouran High Host Club 1

I have a lot more that I like besides these. lol

>16 Tsubasa-Hime:

Picking just one favorite is not easy, lol

Naruto,Bleach, Vampire Knight

I've watched the anime for Naruto and Bleach, and both are really good. I've heard a lot about Vampire Knight. Maybe I'll read it some time.

It is really hard for me as well...

Death Note for a "normal" manga...
Skip Beat , Bride of the Water god (even this one is a manhwa) for shojo
Finder , Crimson Spell , Love Pistols for yaoi manga
Wild Adapter, Silver Diamond, Totally Captivated (also a manhwa) for shonen ai- manga
Otomen, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei for comedy-manga.

these are roughly my favorites for "my" favorite genres..

I have so many...
My first manga was Inuyasha (or InuYasha or Inu-Yasha, whichever spelling you prefer). Since then, my favorites have expanded greatly. I try new series all the time, but here are the ones that will never stray from my heart:
Bleach by Tite Kubo
Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi
xxxHolic by CLAMP
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles by CLAMP
Chrono Crusade by Daisuke Moriyama
Demon Diary by Lee Chi Hyong (at least for book 1)

Other than those, my other favorites constantly change.
Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya
And Rurouni Kenshin
It's too hard to choose just one! >.

My favourites are Inuyasha and Vampire Miyu (by Kakinouchi Narumi).
Some other series, which might become favourites too, I'm still reading. But above two will most likely stay favourites (as they've already been favourites for a long time!).

>21 Carmun:

I've read or watch almost every series that you named and they are all really good. I'm actually re-reading fruits basket now that the last volume has been published.

As for Demon Diary, the first book was really funny. I've read some of the other books as well but I have yet to finish the series. Maybe I'll read it after fruits basket.

I finished reading Demon Diary last month. I liked it, but found the ending to be rather unfullfilling. It could just be me.

Mine are definitely Loveless and Godchild. Gravitation also holds a special place in my heart because it was the first shounenai title I ever read.

hmmm...this is SUPER DUPER hard to just pick a few. I'd have to say Switch and Dragon Eye. I don't know if many of you have heard of these but they're amazing and i LOVE them! Of course i love bleach and such but these just seemed like the less obvious and who wants to hear the same manga repeated over and over as a favorite!?

>26 tearsXsolitude:
lol, your right, I've never heard of either of those series. What are they about?

I have the first volume of Switch but haven't read it yet. I'll have to dig it out and read it!

to novelandmangacrazy: lol I didn't think so. Switch is about- Two newbies at the Narcotic Control Department in Japan, Hal and Kai, struggle against: drug dealers, gangs, murderers, psychopaths, mysterious organizations, and mad people in general. The gentle and caring one of the group, Kai, who has problems of his own, has the tendancy of turning into a lethal killing machine in certain scenarios. The way he acts changes like that of a "switch". As the two do their job, answers of what is behind Kai's strange behavior and who exactly he is, is revealed.

Dragon eye is about- Ten years ago a terrible virus spread throughout the world, and people and animals alike were infected and transformed into horrible monsters that eat the flesh and drink the blood of the uninfected. These creatures were hence forth known as "Dracules" and what created them the "D-virus". Even worse, because the virus affects the sufferer immediately, a cure has never been developed; the only way to "save" its victims is to kill them. Luckily, there are those who were born with an immunity to the D-virus - they are the VIUS, a Dracule elimination force based in the city of Mikuni who safeguard humanity from extinction.

to Jenson_AKA_DL: omg you to totally should cause i most certainly are in love with it. when you read it tell me what you think!

tearsXsolitude - I will certainly let you know, from your description it sounds like something I'll really like.

Dragon eye sounds like the movie of "I am Legend" with Will Smith. I watched it the other night and thinking about it still creeps me out!

Today I've continued reading Fushigi Yuugi. Last year I read volume 1 and 2, yesterday and today I've read volume 3, 4 and 5. I like it~~~!!! I have the rest of the series too so I can continue reading it :D (I got it from a friend who bought it but could not read Japanese). That's a good thing about reading an old series (1992-1996 according to the dates in my manga volumes) - that it's already finished and I won't have to wait for new volumes to be published!

Jenson_AKA_DL: sweetness! i hope you do like it. it's very intresting!

hmm... you know I never thought about it but yeah i guess it is kinda like that. omg in know it's a scary thought that something like that could actually happen.

>29 tearsXsolitude:
They both sound really interesting. If my library gets them I'll definitely check it out.

>31 mene:
Fushigi Yuugi is a nice series, but I find that it should end at Vol. 13.
Vol. 14 to 18 (I believe there are 18 volumes) is simply dragging on the story.
There is also the "spin off" to the series, fushigi yugi genbu kaiden.

Yes, I have 18 volumes. I'm now reading #7. I'll see if I like 14~18 too... I don't know yet, of course :)
Is Genbukaiden nice?

>33 novelandmangacrazy:
okay! haha or you could just do what i do and loiter around the bookstore!

>33 novelandmangacrazy:
okay! haha or you could just do what i do and loiter around the bookstore!

>34 mene:
I read fushigi yugi genbu kaiden volume 1 and fushigi yugi about 2 years ago, so I don't really remember much. All I remember is that fushigi yugi genbu kaiden seems as though the story is very similar and the characters are only slightly different.

Fushigi yugi genbu kaiden is also not fully published yet.

>37 novelandmangacrazy: >34 mene:

I've been enjoying Genbu Kaiden; it's kind of a prequel to Fushigi Yugi (the story in Genbu Kaiden's briefly touched upon in the later part of FY). Personally, I like Genbu Kaiden's heroine better than Miaka; GK's heroine actually reminds me of Yui from FY.

> 37/38: I read the summary of GB on wikipedia now too - and why it isn't finished yet.
To my surprise, the first volume of GB was on Bookmooch. So I can read it and see if I like it :)

>38 MadLudwig:
Maybe once the series is fully published I'll read it. Do you know if there suppose to be 18 volumes in this series as well?

>39 mene:
I recommend not reading both series at the same time, you'll get confused.

> 40:
I hope they will not make 18 volumes just because FY also has 18 volumes.

I'll finish FY first of course :)

About another series:
I just read volume 1 of "Yotsuba&!". It was such a nice manga, I laughed aloud several times! Anyone else read it?

>41 mene:
nope, never heard of it. What is it about?

It is this one: http://www.librarything.nl/work/196881
It is about a little girl who discovers new things which are very normal for older people. The girl is a bit abnormal, but it's a very cute story :)

>40 novelandmangacrazy: >41 mene:

Definitely read Yotsuba if you haven't already. It's from the creator of Azumanga Daioh, and it's a fun series - one of my favorites. As mene says, it's basically about Yotsuba (a 5-year-old) discovering the world. Someone described it as being not so much about the experience being a 5-year-old, but the experience of being the parent of a 5-year-old. Lots of great characters, and some funny stuff.

n.b. - Yotsuba&! (vols. 1-5) was originally published by ADV Manga, but it's recently been republished from the beginning by Yen Press (which is now up to volume 6). The translations and covers differ, but they should be the same otherwise.

>43 mene: & 44
I really did not like Azumanga Daioh and therefore I don't think I'll read Yotsuba any time soon. Sorry.

Kazan is my all time favourite series EVER. It's OOP now, but I recommend it to everybody anyways.

>46 taiofmine:
I've never heard of it. What is it about?

OOP ???

>47 novelandmangacrazy:
OOP = Out of Print

>48 MadLudwig:

oh, ok
I hate when books are out of print :P

Hot Gimmick, Skip Beat!, NANA, Fruits Basket, Hana Yori Dango, Hikaru no Go, Hunter x Hunter, Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, xxxHOLiC, Honey Hunt, Ouran High School Host Club, Monster, 20th Century Boys, King of Cards, V.B. Rose, I HATE YOU more than anyone!, Me & My Brothers, After School Nightmare, and Gakuen Alice.

As for BL, my favorites are Yellow, Haru wo Daiteita, Boku no Koe, ZE, Love Mode, Koushi Kakka no Himitsu Gaikou, and Jyunjyo Romantica.

>50 HatsumiShinogu:
thats quite the list!

it's hard to pick one... here's a "few":

kareshi kanojo no jijou by tsuda masami
mars by souryou fuyumi
please save my earth by hiwatari saki
itazura na kiss by tada kaoru
i hate you more than anyone! by hidaka banri
kagen no tsuki by yazawa ai
mint na bokura by yoshizumi wataru
suki tte ii na yo by hazuki kanae
tokyo crazy paradise by nakamura yoshiki
card captor sakura by clamp
basara by tamura yumi
sekai ha minna boku no tame by saitou rin

I can't pick a overall favorite series so I'll list my current favorites, Pluto and Berserk

>52 lilasia:
Mars is my favorite so it's nice to see that you like it too.
A lot of people have been mentioning i hate you more then anyone! What is it about?

> 54
hmm... i think it's one of those stories that you should try reading (perhaps a 2-vol try) for yourself to see if you'll like it or not.

at the most basic, i hate you more than anyone! is about akiyoshi kazuha, the oldest of 6 children. the story starts out with her having a crush on her youngest brother's kindergarten teacher, but finds herself constantly harassed (flirted with) by _his_ friend, sugimoto, who happens to be a hairdresser. the story deals with her family life, her exploration into a future career, and her dating an older man (which the characters themselves don't make too much a big deal out of, but is more of a point in the story, by experience). the series has 13 volumes.

(you also see glimpses of kazuha in the hidaka banri's other series, v.b. rose... and, of course, in the akiyoshi family series - a series of one shots about her siblings)

I don't think that I've ever not read an entire series that I've started because I did not like it. To me a manga series is like a novel. I can't say if I liked it or not until I've read the whole thing.

> 56
lol, i wish i could do that sometimes... but i can't find myself continuing to invest in a series in which i just cannot stand the character.. and, sometimes, when the final number of volumes is unknown (esp when we're talking about SOME shounen titles that can easily go up to 30-50+ volumes) - sometimes an executive decision needs to be made on when to call it quits. XD the ocean of manga is vast.........

>57 lilasia:
First of all, the longest series I've read was 23 volumes long (to me that is a nice length).
Second, I get most of my manga from the library, so it does not cost me anything.
Free manga is amazing!

The longest I've read was Inuyasha (56 volumes). But beyond that one, I haven't read any series longer than 18 books (Fushigi Yuugi, Sailormoon, not counting the related series like FY Genbu Kaiden or Sailor V).

InuYasha is really long. What other series are really long? How long are Naruto and Bleach?

When it comes to long-running series a number of factors come into play. Series that run in weekly Japanese magazines like Shonen Jump and Shonen Sunday tend to have higher volume counts than series which run in magazines that only come out monthly, and many of them tend to run for longer periods of time. Also of note, you tend to find more long-running shonen series than any other type.

Taking just one US publisher (Viz) and looking at the list of titles they are releasing in English, here are some series that are over 25 volumes in length:

Bleach - 30+ volumes, still coming out in Japan.
Boys Over Flowers - 37 volumes, complete.
Detective Conan (aka Case Closed) - 60+ volumes
Eyeshield 21 - 30+ volumes
Flame of Recca - 30+ volumes
Golgo13 - 130+ volumes, and apparently still coming out in Japan
Naruto - 40+ volumes, still coming out in Japan
One Piece - 50+ volumes, still coming out in Japan
Prince of Tennis - 40+ volumes
Ranma 1/2 - 38 volumes (complete)
Red River - 28 volumes (complete)

This is, as I said, just a sampling. Everyone's definition of "really long" is going to be different, and it can vary based on genre and target audience as well.

I love Blade of the Immortal. It can be somewhat disturbing and is rather gory, but the art is simply fantastic.

Is the Prince of Tennis series complete? I was actuality thinking of reading it if my local library carries all/most of the volumes.

Prince of Tennis is complete in Japan... except he started a new series called New Prince of Tennis... XD;

ok, thanks, I'll have to check an see how many volumes my library has.

>63 novelandmangacrazy:
34 out of 42 volumes of the Prince of Tennis manga have been published. Volume 35 will be published next month.

The New Prince of Tennis is ongoing as it just started this year. Hopefully Sakuno won't be in the new series. She is annoying and I totally don't want to see her together with Ryoma.

Godchild!

I saw an ad for Godchild in a manga I recently read and it instantly caught my attention. I've ordered the first couple through my library. Good to see someone else likes it :-)

The little description kind of reminds me of the new Sherlock Holmes movie (which was very good BTW)

>64 lilasia:/66
So I checked and my library only has the first 32 volumes, but that's really good considering there are 34 books out at the moment.

>68 Jenson_AKA_DL:
I really want to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It looks so good :)

Naruto #47 is due out in February. #48 June. #49 October 2010. They seem to be doing three per year. Of course, in Japan they are ahead of us, but I think we are trying to catch up.

>68 Jenson_AKA_DL:

I saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie last week and it was really good.

My fav. mangas are D.N. Angel, Fruits Basket, Vampire Knight, Death Note, Ouran Highschool Host Club. But I like to also watch Darker than Black, and School Rumble.

>72 midnightrose:
Well I know almost every series that you named (which for me is pretty good).

Whats better, Death note anime of manga? How many manga volumes are there?

Whats Darker then Black?

hmm. I have to go with manga. I don't know how many volumes there are. I'll have to google that one.
Darker than Black is an anime/manga that basically there are people called contractors (Warning: spelling can suck). Contractors has a power but each time they use it they have full their contract, like smoking when they don't like to smoke, breaking their fingers, etc. The main character, Hei/ Lee who is a contractor, goes and kills the bad contractors that threatens others or saves the good contractors or innocent people.

>52 lilasia:

I also love Mint na Bokura! I'm happy to see it on somebody's list. Even after rereading it several times I still laugh out loud! I like Yoshizumi Wataru better when she's being funny than when she's being melodramatic.

>75 macsbrains:
agreed... some of her melodramatic stories make me want to tear my hair out... like... capuccino... =____=

>74 midnightrose:
"breaking their fingers" doesn't sound too good...

>75 macsbrains:-76
I love funny manga, too bad it's in Japanese.

>73 novelandmangacrazy:
Both the Death Note manga and anime are good, but I'd say the anime's better. They both follow each other closely for a while, but the anime condenses the (IMO) not-so-good second half after the big plot twist.

77: It's not good
78:the second half somewhat sucks

>78 MadLudwig: & 79
lol

I've only watched the first few episodes. I may watch it at some point but I think I'll try catching up on Naruto and Bleach first.

Mine are:

1) Hunter x Hunter
2) Yu Yu Hakusho
3) Inuyasha
4) Full Metal Alchemist
5) One Piece

All of them are great stories. I felt like One Piece was written extremely well for a long time but I've gotten bored with it now that the crew is all split up.

FMA, though, is amazing. It's a story with a plot that stays on track and unfolds BRILLIANTLY. The latest chapter (107) knocked my socks off. I looked back at the rest of the series and went, "Holy cow. This writer knows what s/he's doing. They've had this planned for a long time! And come to think of it, everything has been that way the whole series!" I'm thoroughly amazed and excited!

Hunter x Hunter is really interesting. I love Gon and Killua and the rest of the cast. And I feel like it tells a good story but the latest arc with the ants... I don't get it or like it so it's hard to be excited about it... And Yu Yu Hakusho is complete so my excitement has waned there too. But they're both favorites. Not as amazing storywise as FMA but so entertaining!

Inuyasha... My greatest love for the longest, longest time. The show that cemented my love of anime & manga forever. Recently I've started to loose interest (which I thought would never, ever happen). But even more recently I've started to become interested in it again. So we'll see what happens. I love it, I've just gotten frustrated with the fact that the whole series happens in only a year's time when it should've spanned three years at least. And the story meanders so much. And the villain is a villain but not an evil enough one. It feels like Takahashi held him back a lot, like they always do in kiddie cartoons. FMA has me spoiled now with it's awesome storytelling, I guess.

Really hard to pick even a few, there's so many great ones out there. Mine are, in no actual order, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Strawberry Marshmallow, Yotsuba, Kodomo no Jikan, Shadow Star, and Saikano. I like science fiction and little girls, what can I say~

>81 riddleraven:
1) Hunter x Hunter
Don't know much about it, only that it's been mentioned on the boards before.
2) Yu Yu Hakusho
The series is not fully published, so I did not read after the second book, however the storyline was good.
3) Inuyasha
I watched the anime, but got bored after a while.
4) Full Metal Alchemist
Again, I watched the anime and really liked it. However I was told that the ending is different from the manga. Maybe someday I'll read it.
5) One Piece
I have never read or watched it. I don't really like the art, but I do like the music of the anime.

>82 sriq:
I have never heard of any of those series except for Yotsuba, but even then I don't know much about it.
P.S. not a fan or yuri manga.

>83 novelandmangacrazy:
None of those are actually yuri. Maybe a bit of shojou-ai in the first two and Kodomo no Jikan, but you've got a lot more to worry about in that one than yuri. You seem to like shojo-type manga more though, so the only out of my favorites you might like would be Saikano. But then you'd have to like really tragic romances too.

>85 lilasia:
i think saikano made me want to kill myself from depression... (and, yet.. i still went and bought the extra book post-series...) and i was really angry with shuuji.. after all of that!? it was really pretty, though. one of the few shounen mangas that i have all volumes of... (the much lower number of volumes probably helps...)

P.S.

when you put > followed by a number, it means that you are replying to that message.

For example you can't put

Message 7: novelandmangacrazy
>7 vikitty:

(because that means that you are replying to the message that you are currently writing)

Er, yeah, I know. That was a typo. I've fixed it if that makes you feel any better.

>87 sriq:
I kinda figured it was a typo, but just in case I decided to explain it

no worries *smiles*

My all time fav is Sailor Moon (I have quite the extensive collection built around it). But I have a good handful of series that come in a close second:
MARS (loved it)
Fushigi Yuugi
CCS
Ranma 1/2
Peach Girl
Marmalade Boy

I've tryed more than a hundred different manga's this year, but only down around 15. Most I really like. So I really can't choose a favourite. Though I really do like the ones I'm reading online now.

-Wild Damon
-Fruit Basket
-Kitchen Princess
-Knight Princess
-Black Cat
-Black Blood Brothers
-Fairy Tail
-1/2 Prince

>89 jovemako:
I love mars too. It's so good. I find that not a lot of people have read it and it's too bad because it's a great series. It's actually one of the first series I've ever read.

>90 espadagimmjaw:
out of the ones you names I've only read Fruits Basket and I watched a few anime episodes of Black cat (which was good). I'll have to check out the other ones.

Fruits Basket is my hands down favorite. I started loaning them to a friend of mine, recently, and it caused me to review the first few volumes, and then I just could not stop reading them! This is my fourth reread (2nd time in English) and I think that it gets better and better each time. I'll read a scene and remember when it first came out and everyone was talking about it and speculating about what would happen. I remember my own crackpot theories and how surprised I was when I ended up on the right track. I remember rereading it and realizing how many of the conversations meant two things at once and how many clues are everywhere and how dumb I must have been to miss them. (I wasn't, of course, but hindsight is always 20-20).

So, anyway, yeah. I've just reread the whole thing in just a couple of days, and am feeling very strongly about it. I wish more manga (and books too) could stand up to so many rereads. It felt so different this last time that it was like reading it anew. (It is several years since the last reread, and I'm older now, so that affects things.)

If you haven't read it, do - it really is worth it and it holds up well to analyzation.

My favourite manga for right now is... Nobless. You can only find this manga online.

>92 macsbrains:
I very much enjoyed Fruits Basket, but I was disappointed in the ending. There was all of this tension build up and nothing happened. Everything just falls into place.

P.S. you might like Mars

Noblesse is a great manga!

I'm also enjoying:
1/2 Prince
Black Bird
Loveless
Immortal Rain
Library Wars
Vampire Knight
Ouran High School Host Club
Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu

>96 bookmacchiato:

I was considering reading Library Wars. I'm glad someone is enjoying it.