Manga recommendations that doesn't have lolicon, excessive fanservice and other retarded tropes

[YWNBAM]

I would like to take this opportunity to recommend Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san. It's one of the few comedy anime/manga series that made me laugh out loud. It's pretty funny and chaotic, and there's no homo/loli content.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Ushio & Tora

Ushio Aotsuki finds a yōkai pinned to a rock under his family's shrine with the Beast Spear, and some time after freeing him and calling him Tora, they travel across Japan fighting with and coming across other yōkai and bakemono on the journey to learn more about his disappeared mother, whom he believed was dead. Arcs are labeled as "stories", and there's many stories and really cool fights and some comedic slapstick involving the titular duo. The common thread linking them together is "humanity". Gonna give a taste of one of my favorite moments.

(Tora there is using Ushio as a mace. Makes sense and is awesome in-context.)

Fruits Basket

Classic shoujo while not being your typical shoujo, and is beloved for a reason. Tohru Honda lives alone in a tent after her mother's death, and is taken under the Sohma family's wing thanks to her kindness (and the need for a "feminine touch" in the house, Shigure's words). But she has to keep the family secret if she's to stay, because they're cursed by the spirits of the zodiac animals and transformed when hugged by the opposite sex. Hilarity, and heartfelt drama about familial abuse ensue.

Oh yeah, it's also a romance (because shoujo), but I don't believe it falls in the same trappings as other shoujo romances.

Goodnight Punpun

The most fucked up slice-of-life coming-of-age you'll likely ever read, but if you can get over the deafening nihilism, it's engaging and has gorgeous artwork where no one's suffering from same-face syndrome. First couple of volumes are kinda a little weird since you're seeing it through the eyes of a child, like this moment which even in-context makes you go "wtf".

Think this was a running sight gag in the first volume, which makes it stand out because that's otherwise rare in this manga.

Gon

Do you like spunky little dinosaurs? Do you like animals? Do you like nature landscapes? Do you like just looking at artwork without having to read? Seven volumes of pure eyegasm as you follow little Gon on his adventures.

They don't make 'em like this anymore.

 

[DSP for president 2032]

The only manga I ever read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_de_Dokuha#Mein_Kampf

(Link)
Thanks for introducing me to this manga! Having read the original Mein Kampf (I was going to include a link to the audiobook version on youtube here, but it seems to be gone) I never knew I needed this!

Lots of Baki recommendations, but it is extremely sexually charged and weird and involves gay rape.


Berserk is another excellent recommendation. Both Baki and Berserk involve gay rape, but Berserk does it much more tastefully. The main character gets sold for sex by his mercenary captain / father figure as a young boy. The depiction of sexual assault colors the entirety of the rest of the story in a bleak, hopeless, monochrome dark fantasy. Absolutely amazing manga art though, I'm not sure any other manga can compete.


I don't even care about boxing or combat sports, but Hajime no Ippo is glorious.

The heavyweight champ beats a bear to death at one point and nobody believes him lol

Nobody's gonna mention Fist of the North Star? (hokuto no ken)

The seven scars and fists of fury?

 

[skykiii]

Osamu Tezuka
an author. Some of his works can go into areas OP hates, unfortunately, but he's one people often seem hesitant to experience because they tend to think he's just writes simple children's stories. Then they actually read him and get wowwed.

Most notably I recommend Blackjack, Phoenix, and Message to Adolf.

Detective Conan (released as Case Closed in some English-language countries for whatever reason).

Don't be fooled by the cute kids on the cover. It's a murder mystery series, and sexual content is borderline nonexistant. So if you like murder mysteries, you will like this.

There's another murder mystery manga (not by the same author) called the Kindaichi Casefiles, which tends to have more intelligent mysteries, but unfortunately its worse than Conan in other areas (most notably, it has more pervy content and characters who are closer to standard anime archetypes). I like both but there is definitely a feeling of "trade offs" when going from one to the other.

Lupin the Third
The adventures of an international thief. Tends towards thriller territory. All the major characters are adults--I actually don't recall children ever figuring into the manga at all, and in the anime they tend to be one-episode characters.

 

[liam dees]

From what I've read so far, Uma Musume Cinderella Gray has pretty much no fanservice, and is a thrilling read about horse (anime girls) racing.

Side Note: Lupin's original manga most definitely has fanservice and sexual content. Lupin in its earliest days were its edgiest and dare I say had more personality as a manga. The franchise softened up once Miyazaki came along, and it hasn't been the same since.

 

[Ayana Otonashi]

I’ve heard people talk a lot about Oyasumi Punpun in that regard, but some say you have to be depressed to a certain extent to truly experience it at its best.

As for what I’d recommend? Girls Last Tour is one I’d immediately recommend to anyone, impeccable post-apocalyptic atmosphere contrasted by moeblobs doing moeblob things.

Even if you’re a “lol moeshit is for trannies” type of person, I feel like anyone could find enjoyment in it. (And tkmiz’s following manga, Shimeji Simulation as well)

 

[Junk Dog]

Slam Dunk and Vagabond, both by Takehiko Inoue are some of my favorites.

Slam Dunk is a comical slice of life/sports manga about basketball. The main character ends up joining the basketball team at his high school for the sake of impressing the girl he falls in love with and things go from there. It also had an anime in the early 90s you can watch if you get interested. It's also credited for popularizing basketball in Japan.

Vagabond is a dramatized version of the life of Miyamoto Musashi. Think Berserk, except with no demons and its instead set in late 1500s-early 1600s Japan. The series is also up there with Berserk with having some of the best art you'll ever see in a manga. It never got an anime adaptation, and probably never will.

They both easily mog whatever moeblob bullshit you typically see a lot of today.

The manga version of Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo is also something worth checking out if you've watched the film before. Simply because like 80% of the story gets cut out just for the sake of fitting as much as possible into a 2 hour movie. The art is also insanely good.

 

[Van Darkholme]

Battle Angel Alita is still my favorite. Violence, Cyborg stuff, decent story arcs, Alita wrecks people's shit.

Just the original manga though, Last Order and Mars Chronicles are very mediocre.

Second on Akira, the manga's reputation is well deserved. Amazing art even now.

 

[Susan-O]

The Fable.
Probably one of the most grounded manga's I have read in the last years. No fan service, no tropes. A good story, very likeable main characters. Excellent stuff.

A story about two top-class assassins having to go silent for a year, where they, for the first time in their life, try to live a completely "normal" life.

 

[AnsemSoD1]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

 

[Squanto Airi]

I don't even care about boxing or combat sports, but Hajime no Ippo is glorious.

If you like Hajime no Ippo, I suggest both the manga and anime adaptation of Ashita no Joe. Also about boxing, but about a rapscallion of a kid who learns to box from a drunkard who finds his purpose in training Joe. A great underdog story if youre into that.

Also second the Vagabond mention.

 

[Maricón de Mierda]

I'll post a few:

Soil by Kaneko Atsushi

A seemingly normal family in a seemingly normal town goes missing. But it's a lot more complicated and irrational than it seems. Very distinct drawing style. David Lynch was a big inspiration.

Mother Sarah by Katsuhiro Otomo (story) and Takumi Nagayasu (art)


A sci-fi post-apocalyptic story. Humans escape to space for several years after a war that nearly rendered the world unlivable. Two different factions eventually begin re-colonizing the planet. That's the backdrop to the story of a mother looking for her missing children in a Mad Max like world. I normally don't like Otomo that much, but the story is great. The artist must have been one of his assistants since he perfectly copies his style.

My Name is Shingo by Kazuo Umezu


An industrial factory robot arm becomes sentient and seeks its "parents," 2 children who played on its keyboard and caused it to become self-aware. Done by the absolute legend Umezu, one of the most bizarre mangakas to ever live, and who greatly influenced Junji Ito among others.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou by Hitoshi Ashinano


Slice-of-life about an android that runs a coffee shop in the comfiest and slowest apocalypse ever recorded.

Hito Hitori Futari by Tsutomu Takahashi


An unremarkable prime minister is given a guardian angel and with her help starts to seriously try to improve Japan.

 

[Staticness]

Black Gate
A surprisingly good Stargate SG-1 homage.

Goblin Slayer
Put a bunch of Indians and a single 4chan user in a medieval realm, drawn by a science fiction fan. This is the result.

My Pico
A slice of life, with ice cream.

 

[Caligura]

https://comick.io/comic/hideout

It's a shortie, just read it. It's basically Japanese OJ Simpson.

 

[Tezcatlipoca]

Fourteen by Kazuo Umezu

 

[Optavia Sales Rep]

Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san
A cute episodic slice of life manga about the everyday life of Kiyo, a failed maiko who supports her former classmates by handling the housework and cooking.

 

[Dan of Steel]

Ninja Scroll AKA the only good anime. (only half joking when i say that)

 

[skykiii]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Is this a joke? This runs afoul of what OP asked for.

Ninja Scroll AKA the only good anime. (only half joking when i say that)

No love for Golgo 13: The Professional?

That's gonna be my newest recommend. Lately I've been getting into Golgo 13 again. Unfortunately only a small bit of the series is available in English.

To describe it for OP.... Golgo 13 is about a professional hitman. He's usually not the main character, as such--stories can be everything from someone's emotional state, to Golgo pulling off an impossible snipe, to security people learning Golgo has been hired and trying their damndest to survive or protect the target, so on and so forth.

Fanservice is the major thing this one might run afoul of, but all the women are adults AFAIK. I also sometimes feel you have to be in a certain frame of mind, because the stories don't usually concern themselves much with morality.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Is this a joke? This runs afoul of what OP asked for.

JoJo is required reading, no exceptions.

 

[Colress]

There was a specific series about people who deal in the recently deceased and basically do mortuary services. I would recommend it if I could find the name. Kind of horror-ish, one dude had a pendulum that would find bodies.