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There are a lot of shounen series out there that don't warrant their own thread. They might have already been completed, have an erratic release schedule, or just have a limited fanbase. I'll focus mostly on ongoing series that I don't hate for now, but setting rules for a thread is silly. My summaries will suck, so don't over-think them. Onemanga links only for now, because it generally has every incomplete shounen series I follow. In no particular order: Kekkaishi: Onemanga link. Summary: The story of two families who use barriers to protect an area that emits a dangerous amount of spiritual power. The Good: Excellent character development, creative battles, unique protagonist ability, broken cliches. The Bad: The beginning is terrible, the anime is mediocre, many chapters are translated poorly. Burning Spirit: Occasional. Gash (Zatch) Bell: Onemanga link. Summary: Demon children from the demon world come to Earth to find partners. The demons and their partners battle each other for the right to become the next king of the demon world. The Good: Very funny, bizarre character designs, surprisingly hardcore battles, Victoreem. The Bad: This series is so shounen it will make your eyes bleed. It hits every common point without fail. Also, the premise is rather stupid. Burning Spirit: Always. Veritas: Onemanga link. Summary: A delinquent who learned a martial art based on lightning learns that his master (who he barely knew) has been killed, and receives an invitation to a school run by the organization that killed him. The Good: Ruthless bastards galore, frequent and brutal fights, gorgeous art. The Bad: The premise is nothing original, and the series is a bit slow-paced. (Note: This is actually manwha.) Burning Spirit: Does pure spite count? Record of Fallen Vampire: Onemanga link. Summary: The vampire king attempts to free his queen who was sealed 1000 years ago after almost destroying the world. The Good: Almost completely unpredictable plot (Behold, the vampire king's astronaut training in preparation for a war against aliens!), complex characters, excellent fight scenes. The Bad: It is about vampires. Hellsing aside, vampires always seem to lead to gothic bullshit. Also, a heavy emphasis on flashbacks. Burning Spirit: Only from a character who gets beaten up a lot. Psyren: Onemanga link. Summary: Teenagers get drawn into a desolate wasteland by a mysterious entity temporarily. They then fight to survive, gain superpowers, and try to learn the truth. The Good: Relatively innoffensive, interesting villains. The Bad: Sort of bland, borrows elements from too many sources, training arcs. Not one of my favorites, so I don't really have much to say. Burning Spirit: Little to none. Karakuri Circus: Onemanga link. Summary: A martial artist with a bizarre disease tries to protect a child pursued by puppeteers with the help of the child's bodyguard, a female acrobat/puppeteer. The Good: The martial artist is a pretty awesome character, and the main story is only now being revealed. The Bad: Deadly giant marionettes are rather silly, the art is of varying quality, half of the series thus far was taken up by a terrible filler arc, every character besides the martial artist and a recently introduced old woman suck to some degree. I'm not gonna lie, this is a deeply flawed series. Burning Spirit: You bet your rear end. Ares: Onemanga link. Summary: Three young mercenaries with different Mysterious Pasts join a famous mercenary group. Wars ensue. The Good: Long-running, peculiar fights, some likable characters. The Bad: Glacial pace, funky character design. (Note: Another manwha.) Burning Spirit: Pretty much never. Alive- The Final Evolution: Onemanga link. Summary: Large numbers of people worldwide all suddenly commit suicide at the same time. Those who were affected but managed to resist the urge come out changed. The Good: Nice art, funny when it tries to be, a few endearing characters, somehow manages to avoid being preachy (a real accomplishment, considering some of the story), superpowers inflicted on a normal world with fatalities. The Bad: Mediocre fight scenes. The story moves at a pretty decent pace, but the main plot has been very slow. Burning Spirit: Once or twice, unless you take the burning part literally. Break Blade: Onemanga link. Summary: Magic powered mecha attack a kingdom, but an ancient mech that can only be piloted by someone who can't use magic is excavated. The Good: It is like putting a Zaku in Escaflowne. The Bad: Scanlated very erratically, only 8 chapters out, the execution has yet to quite do the premise justice. Not really enough of it is available to tell how good it is. Burning Spirit: None yet, but too soon to tell. Ga-Rei: Onemanga link. Summary: Guy who can see ghosts is recruited into a government agency that deals with the supernatural by a girl with a giant demon dog living in her back. The Good: Nice art, interesting character designs, a story where things actually happen, decent fight scenes. The Bad: Story recently changed a lot from the initial premise, somewhat ineffectual protagonist. Burning Spirit: Mostly from old guys. Now here are some seinen series that are structurally similar to shounen (I like them, they are violent, and they don't warrant a different thread). Ubel Blatt: Onemanga Link. Summary: A swordsman returns after being betrayed and murdered by his comrades who abandoned the mission, then took the credit for his deeds. The Good: Excellent art, fully justified revenge, crazy magic and swordplay. The Bad: Lolicon fanservice. Lots of it. Burning Spirit: Not in the traditional sense. Aiki: Onemanga link. Summary: Supreme martial artist/rear end in a top hat gets dragged into the problems of a martial arts university. The Good: Nice balance between pure bullshit and actual martial arts, generally funny, a magnificent bastard protagonist. The Bad: Protagonist is a borderline rapist, very little besides fighting actually happens. Burning Spirit: Amateurs only. Until Death Do Us Part: Onemanga link. Summary: A precognitive girl seeks protection from a badass blind swordsman who hunts criminals nonlethally. The Good: Beautiful art, characters who actually look human, a katana with a monomolecular edge being put to good use, great characters in general. The Bad: Apparently the mangaka intends it to be taken as a romance between the little girl and the swordsman. That is rather odd, since the story doesn't reflect this and there is very little that could be termed lolicon fanservice. Still, that intention is loving terrible. Burning Spirit: Police Detective Style! Serious Frolicking fucked around with this message at May 16, 2009 around 18:00 |
| # ? May 16, 2009 17:57 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 01:30 |
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Want to throw in support for Break Blade. I feel this could become a great manga if only more chapters would come out. As it is now I love the characters and mech, and the storyline seems to be heading in a decent direction.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 18:13 |
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Don't forget Beezlebub. It's a new and pretty popular Jump series. You can check it out at http://www.onemanga.com/Beelzebub/
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| # ? May 16, 2009 18:28 |
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D.Gray-Man Onemanga Link Summary: A kid that looks like Edward Elric has a cursed eye that lets him see bio weapons called Akuma, and fights them with his Trigun style angelic arm. It's pretty drat dark sometimes, and lots of people die. As a bonus, it takes place in Victorian England and has some slight steampunk vibes. The Good: Really good character development, some really awesome character design, and the art is sort of like if Full Metal Alchemist mixed with Death Note. The Bad: The fights are sometimes almost incomprehensibl, ala Trigun. The scans on Onemanga are also quite terrible, but the volumes you can buy translated look great. The author is maybe pregnant or had a kid because she keeps going on leave.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 18:30 |
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I like Psyren, but lately its getting pretty  . I mean seriously So not only is it the Wise who gently caress up the Earth in the future, but a meteor that doesn't hit the Earth, but gets blown up and its space juice covers the lanetI also like Veritas a lot, though the plot is hard to follow sometimes. Plus its nice that The majority of the fights the protagonist has been in he has lost horribly.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 18:40 |
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until death do us part is seinen, bro.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 19:05 |
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I love the Zatch Bell anime. I think I made it to around episode 90 before I finally got tired of it. Not every episode is a laugh fest, but its some of the funniest animated stuff I've seen, still.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 19:05 |
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666 Satan (Known in the US as "O-Parts Hunter")Onemanga Link Summary: A boy and a girl go on wacky adventures, looking for ancient artifacts called "O-Parts". The boy is actualy Satan (yes, the biblical one) and wants to rule the world. They meet enemies who later become friends, and they all train and fight in tournaments. By Kishimoto Jr. The Good: Appealing character designs (though a bit too similar to Naruto). Hebrew mythology themed powers that escalate in crazyness. Good pacing. The Bad: Complete Shounen cliche checklist. The ending feels a bit rushed.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 19:16 |
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Serious Frolicking posted:
How many megathreads do we even need? Seinen is a very broad category, after all.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 19:21 |
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I'll throw in a rec for Violinist of Hameln. http://www.onemanga.com/Violinist_of_Hameln/ I like the art, love the humor, and while it can be over the top at times, it's a series that sticks with you. Plus the main character fights with music, and that can only be awesome. Also, Ushio to Tora is good. http://www.onemanga.com/Ushio_and_Tora/ I haven't read all of it, but what I've read has hooked me in. Welcome to the NHK is great. http://www.onemanga.com/NHK_ni_Yokoso/ A must-read for all the hikkis and NEETs out there. The novel is good, too. Kaiji, Akagi, Ten( http://www.mangafox.com/manga/ten_tenna_toori_no_kaidanji/ ), and Zero All manga by Fukumoto, all involving gambling, and all awesome. yoyomama fucked around with this message at May 16, 2009 around 19:56 |
| # ? May 16, 2009 19:44 |
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bondster posted:I like Psyren, but lately its getting pretty Both theories have their problems; if the wise moved the asteroid, than they're ridiculously powerful even before getting the cores and living in Psyren's atmosphere, and shonen power creep dictates that eventually the protagonists will literally be able to destroy the world with their minds. On the other hand, there's no indication of any space rock psychic aliens yet. I'm still hoping that a third party's involved though. Serious Frolicking posted:Until Death Do Us Part: Onemanga link. I wasn't aware of that, are you saying that just because clairvoyance girl said that they're getting married? I wouldn't really say that something like that would be classified as "romance". I think the problem is how the protagonist belongs to a vigilante organization which is basically groups of people sponsoring him to be batman for them. Thankfully, that part of the plot seems to have been forgotten very early on. Algid fucked around with this message at May 16, 2009 around 19:58 |
| # ? May 16, 2009 19:53 |
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meant to do an edit, ignore this please
Algid fucked around with this message at May 16, 2009 around 20:04 |
| # ? May 16, 2009 19:58 |
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Gonna have to recommend Kongou Banchou. The Good:  The Bad: Only four chapters translated, while there are four volumes/about 60 chapters released in Japan. Also gonna throw out a rec for Eyeshield 21, which has it's own thread. If you like football and sports manga, give it a look.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 20:12 |
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Algid posted:I wasn't aware of that, are you saying that just because clairvoyance girl said that they're getting married? Edit: http://www.onemanga.com/Until_Death...art/8/omake-01/ Double Edit: Kongou Banchou is loving awesome. Serious Frolicking fucked around with this message at May 16, 2009 around 21:35 |
| # ? May 16, 2009 20:43 |
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yoyomama posted:Kaiji, Akagi, Ten( http://www.mangafox.com/manga/ten_t...ri_no_kaidanji/ ), and Zero None of those are shounen, I'm pretty sure!
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| # ? May 16, 2009 21:53 |
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alkanphel posted:Don't forget Beezlebub. It's a new and pretty popular Jump series. You can check it out at http://www.onemanga.com/Beelzebub/ I'm really enjoying Beelzebub just for it's ridiculous premise. Medaka Box just started in Jump (Mangafox link One-shot and first chapter up), but it's barely more Shounen than To-LOVE-ru. No power levels or harem to be found here, for now.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 22:18 |
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Wild Life Summary: The story of a young man with perfect pitch (i.e. the ability to hear perfectly.) who becomes a vet in order to help cute animals.  The Good: Decent character development, arcs are decent The Bad: Cliches are pretty much a given, every major doctor character has perfect x, lowering the uniqueness of the main character. Burning Spirit: Rare. Air Gear Summary: Ikki and co. ride super rollerblades around and battle their enemies. The Good: Remarkably well drawn, the anime was good. The Bad: Fanservice all over the drat place. Also, Barack Obama inexplicably makes a cameo for about 4 chapters, getting brainswitched into another character. No, I'm not loving with you. Burning Spirit: Usually near the end of each arc.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 22:48 |
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Zorak posted:None of those are shounen, I'm pretty sure! Yeah, they're seinen, but I think anyone who likes shounen would like them as well.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 22:50 |
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SpazmasterX posted:I'm really enjoying Beelzebub just for it's ridiculous premise. Wow, Medaka Box is pretty terrible. A wealthy luminary 'helps' people to conform more strictly to her ideas about society. Just what the world needed, yet more pandering to masochistic otaku.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 23:10 |
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Serious Frolicking posted:Aiki: Onemanga link. Aiki is great because it has the best protagonist in a martial arts series. Most shounen arcs are about how the main character has to become The Strongest. Joukyuu isn't aiming for the top. He's at the top. He's so far beyond the top he'd have to fall a few miles before he was at the top. And he knows it. The plot of this series is ostensibly about how two teachers at a school focussed on martial arts enlist him to help train their charge to take over said school. The actual plot is about watching Joukyuu being the biggest pimp/rear end in a top hat in the genre.
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| # ? May 16, 2009 23:37 |
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SpazmasterX posted:I'm really enjoying Beelzebub just for it's ridiculous premise. There's another new manga, Drifters, just out. I think it's more considered seinen but it might worth reading by those who like shounen too. Only one chapter out so I can't really comment but the premise seems interesting. http://www.onemanga.com/Drifters/
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| # ? May 17, 2009 01:03 |
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alkanphel posted:There's another new manga, Drifters, just out. I think it's more considered seinen but it might worth reading by those who like shounen too. Only one chapter out so I can't really comment but the premise seems interesting. http://www.onemanga.com/Drifters/
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| # ? May 17, 2009 01:40 |
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I've been waiting for a thread like this! Got to recommend Violinist of Hameln some more. Some crazy group managed to scanlate all 34 volumes, so there's a lot of manga for your non-existent buck. Humor is character-based, which means it translates well, the main protagonist is an unrepentant jackass, the story does mood shifts from comedy to action to tragedy and back to comedy rather well, the fight scenes are great, and it has one of the greatest and most epic endings of any manga I've ever read. Plus the side characters are pretty cool (how many times are the main characters' mothers supreme badasses?). And there's a sequel. Also, if you like One Piece, you'll also like Zatch Bell. Plenty of comedy, hot-blooded fighting spirit, and battles that lead to huge amounts of  . Null just released a volume today, so I'm in a great mood.Anyways... Hunter x Hunter: Onemanga link Summary: A young boy sets off to become a Hunter, a member of an elite group of individuals with incredible talents who go around the world and do cool things like find treasures or capture criminals. The Good: Pretty interesting setting with lots of possibilities for adventures, most hunters have unique abilities, psychopathic gay clown. The Bad: Runs on Togashi Time owing to the artist's undisclosed medical ailments, which means that some of the later art suffered and nowadays he works for maybe all of two months a year. Burning Spirit: Only when sufficiently pissed. Mx0: Onemanga link Summary: Through a series of strange circumstances, a young man winds up at an elite high school where the students learn magic. The problem is that they think he's an incredibly gifted magic user when he can't use a single spell. The Good: Lots of interesting magical tricks and applications, protagonist survives mostly on wits and determination rather than any actual talent. A pretty smart series. The Bad: Apparently the audience wasn't big enough, so it had a forced conclusion after 99 chapters. A similar thing happened to this author's previous work, Pretty Face. Burning Spirit: It's about all his has. Midori no Hibi/ Midori Days: Onemanga link Summary: Meet Seiji Sawamura, the toughest delinquent in high school, known for his "Devil's Right" and his utter failure to ever get a girl. Believing that he's destined to live with only his right hand for a lover, he states that he'll accept anyone... then things get strange. The Good: Utterly ridiculous premise leads to a pretty funny series. Manages to avoid being creepy about things. The Bad: It's a fun series. Not outstanding, but I don't have any real complaints about it, although maybe it could have gone on a bit longer? Burning Spirit: The spirit is willing but the flesh is currently... occupied. Ai Kora: Onemanga link Summary: By the guy who did the above, it's a story of a guy who moves to Tokyo in search of women with his ideal physical body parts. To make a long story short, he winds up living at a girl's dorm with four girls each possessing a different ideal part. The Good: Harem series, but not like other harem series, it's pretty straightforward about the protagonist having notable flaws in his fetishism. Variety of characters who may or may not be completely cliche, pretty funny. The Bad: That said, it still is a harem series, so your mileage may vary. Burning Spirit: Surprisingly yes
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| # ? May 17, 2009 06:19 |
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned Yakitate!! Japan. Maybe there's a thread on it but I don't think I've ever seen it. Yakitate!! Japan http://www.onemanga.com/Yakitate_Japan/ Summary: Boy dreams of creating bread that best represents Japan. Follows his journey of baking bread for a bread company. The Good: Funny, unique and odd premise and extremely ins ane. The Bad: Grows a little tired, there's only so much you can do with bread. Very formulaic. Burning Spirit: How else would they bake their bread? One of their major opponents: http://www.onemanga.com/Yakitate_Japan/89/06/
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| # ? May 17, 2009 08:52 |
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Sledeau posted:I love the Zatch Bell anime. I think I made it to around episode 90 before I finally got tired of it. Not every episode is a laugh fest, but its some of the funniest animated stuff I've seen, still. I loved it too. I think I got to around ep 120, but then they switched Gash's voice actor and I couldn't bear watching it any longer (she was out for medical reasons). 
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| # ? May 17, 2009 12:18 |
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Soth posted:Air Gear Is that arc finally over? I enjoyed the manga up to that point, but as soon as "Omaha" made an appearance and that brainswitching got involved, I figured it was time to wait out the storm. Anyway, I haven't had a chance to really check out new manga in a while, thanks for all the awesome suggestions!
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| # ? May 17, 2009 12:19 |
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Yeah it really only lasted a few episodes.
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| # ? May 17, 2009 16:43 |
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LightWarden posted:Mx0: Onemanga link This was the best shounen series I'd read in forever, and it got cut off long before it's time. Apparently the Japanese can't enjoy a protagonist that wins mostly by wits, trickery, and looking like a badass motherfucker.
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| # ? May 17, 2009 18:48 |
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SpazmasterX posted:This was the best shounen series I'd read in forever, and it got cut off long before it's time. Apparently the Japanese can't enjoy a protagonist that wins mostly by wits, trickery, and looking like a badass motherfucker. Shounen is targeted at children and obsessive otaku. Neither group is generally interested in new things or a good story. Mx0 just didn't pander enough to people with terrible taste.
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| # ? May 17, 2009 18:59 |
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Serious Frolicking posted:Shounen is targeted at children and obsessive otaku. Neither group is generally interested in new things or a good story. Mx0 just didn't pander enough to people with terrible taste. Not to say it never pandered on occasion. 
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| # ? May 17, 2009 19:06 |
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If you're going to include Seinen, where is my Gantz?
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| # ? May 17, 2009 20:24 |
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Casao posted:If you're going to include Seinen, where is my Gantz? Do it yourself if you like. I don't follow Gantz any more.
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| # ? May 17, 2009 21:05 |
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Serious Frolicking posted:Until Death Do Us Part: Onemanga link. (precognitive kid + guy with sword that cuts anything)/2 = jedi
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| # ? May 17, 2009 21:17 |
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Is my heart going to be broken if I read Mx0? I just read the first 2 chapters and I loved it. Is the ending at 99 chapters at least satisfying?
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| # ? May 17, 2009 22:10 |
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Apocron posted:Is my heart going to be broken if I read Mx0? I just read the first 2 chapters and I loved it. Is the ending at 99 chapters at least satisfying? Pierson fucked around with this message at May 17, 2009 around 22:35 |
| # ? May 17, 2009 22:32 |
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Serious Frolicking posted:The Bad: This series is so shounen it will make your eyes bleed.  One series that hasn't been mentioned yet is: Kurohime OneManga link Summary: A gun-slinging sorceress attempts to overcome a curse that can only be broken by a feeling of true love. The Good: Interesting battles and good artwork. Actual plot progression. The Bad: Somewhat convoluted plot in places. Burning Spirit: Whenever a character's true love is in danger.
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| # ? May 17, 2009 23:25 |
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Apocron posted:Is my heart going to be broken if I read Mx0? I just read the first 2 chapters and I loved it. Is the ending at 99 chapters at least satisfying? You will rage so hard you may pop a blood vessel. The mangaka basically had to have the character abandon his gimmick and start learning magic legitimately to give it a half-rear end ending.
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| # ? May 17, 2009 23:35 |
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Not as bad as the Double Arts ending. Oh hey, it's me the main character, I'll just jump in here at the last second as a narrator from the future and say it all worked out and we danced off into the sunset. Now there was a gimmicky shounen series that died just as it was starting to look worth reading.
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| # ? May 18, 2009 00:17 |
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Double Arts: The girl dies if he lets go of her hand, but they still have to fight people, so they learn ballroom dancing and turn it into a martial loving art. Japan: Meh. :/ Publisher: lol canceled Is there a way to goatse an entire country?
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| # ? May 18, 2009 00:41 |
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| # ? May 22, 2013 01:30 |
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I'm giving Beelzebub a look out of sheer curiosity, though I'm sort of wondering where it can go. If past SJ titles have taught me anything it's that any series involving delinquents and demons/babies will pull a switcharoo and turn into a fighting based series at some point. I predict it will happen with Beelzebub when the baby levels up and goes from being the naked baby to some sort of Laharl-like. Still, it seems to be doing well enough so I'll give it a watch out of curiosity at least.
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| # ? May 18, 2009 00:44 |
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