Recommend dark, provocative manga to me!
July 21, 2011 7:03 AM Subscribe
MangaFilter: So, I recently watched Gantz, the live action movie, and it was so delightful, it inspired me to read the manga, and now I am addicted to it. A couple years back, I also enjoyed the DeathNote movies, as well as Oldboy. I seem to be attracted to a kind of manga that is quite grounded in reality, that trespasses into the fantastic, and goes to very dark places, and likes to play with ideas. Please, can you recommend other manga of the type I like? Thanks.
Maybe Monster? It has a cat-and-mouse plot like Death Note and Oldboy do. Not as violent, more thinky, but still fits the criteria you mentioned. (Not sure if you wanted spoilery info or not so I didn't link.)
posted by methroach at 7:13 AM on July 21, 2011
posted by methroach at 7:13 AM on July 21, 2011
Oyasumi Punpun? It's not quite in the same vein as Gantz, but it's based in reality, and is pretty dark. The main character and his family are people drawn as cartoon birds who live in otherwise normal Tokyo. Asano Inio's other stuff is worth looking into too.
posted by Sar at 7:40 AM on July 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Sar at 7:40 AM on July 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
I enjoy the general sort of sub-genre you are talking about as well. The best recommendation I have is Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When the Cicadas Cry). It was originally a PC visual novel, but has been adapted into many different formats including manga. I've only seen the anime adaptation. It's sort of David Lynch-esque, at first it seems like a generic slice-of-life school-themed story that's common in a lot of manga/anime, but quickly goes into darker and weirder territory. Also the narrative is split into multiple arcs that seem to show the same story but all contradict each other, while still building on the backstories of the characters and setting.
posted by burnmp3s at 7:40 AM on July 21, 2011
posted by burnmp3s at 7:40 AM on July 21, 2011
@Sar, man, i've wasted the morning reading Punpun. Nice stuff!
posted by jangie at 8:40 AM on July 21, 2011
posted by jangie at 8:40 AM on July 21, 2011
Well, Gantz-like, there's always Battle Royale, but personally I didn't care for it, and I like a mix of realism/fantastical and exploration of ideas myself.
Definitely Recommended:
Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto
Bokurano
Future Diary
you might want to check out:
Bloody Monday
Liar Game
Others in a similar vein:
Parasyte
Ikigami
Eternal Sabbath
Maoh Juvenille Remix
Homunculus
King of Thorn
Spiral (if you don't mind the artwork)
posted by tachikoma_robot at 8:55 AM on July 21, 2011
Definitely Recommended:
Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto
Bokurano
Future Diary
you might want to check out:
Bloody Monday
Liar Game
Others in a similar vein:
Parasyte
Ikigami
Eternal Sabbath
Maoh Juvenille Remix
Homunculus
King of Thorn
Spiral (if you don't mind the artwork)
posted by tachikoma_robot at 8:55 AM on July 21, 2011
You may want to try Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, where five students carry a body wherever they have to free its soul. It balances humor and suspense and can be a bit dark. Also has a notable amount of gore and nudity.
posted by gargoyle93 at 8:55 AM on July 21, 2011
posted by gargoyle93 at 8:55 AM on July 21, 2011
The same author who did Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service also did a short series called "Mail", which is THE BEST modern, urban ghost stories I've seen, ever.
posted by yeloson at 10:01 AM on July 21, 2011
posted by yeloson at 10:01 AM on July 21, 2011
You might like Until Death Do Us Part. which is very modern and does touch on fantasy quite a bit.
posted by patheral at 10:18 AM on July 21, 2011
posted by patheral at 10:18 AM on July 21, 2011
An obvious choice is Code Geass. Although it has a somewhat futuristic setting, it otherwise fits the bill very well. A boy discovers a fantastic power that at first seems to solve all his problems, but power corrupts. It's one of the most genuinely horrifying stories I've experienced in the medium.
(It's also got some problems. Ah.)
posted by grobstein at 10:55 AM on July 21, 2011
(It's also got some problems. Ah.)
posted by grobstein at 10:55 AM on July 21, 2011
While I enjoyed Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, I didn't find it all that dark. Around the same time I was reading MPD Psycho which I found to be darker in tone.
I second Uzumaki and other Ito stories.
posted by safetyfork at 11:28 AM on July 21, 2011
I second Uzumaki and other Ito stories.
posted by safetyfork at 11:28 AM on July 21, 2011
If you liked the Death Note movies, the guy who played Light also starred in the movie version of Kaiji, a gambling manga that gets dark and fantastic at times.
Also, there's Deadman Wonderland, which is a manga set in a futuristic prison/amusement park.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:33 PM on July 21, 2011
Also, there's Deadman Wonderland, which is a manga set in a futuristic prison/amusement park.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:33 PM on July 21, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by griphus at 7:11 AM on July 21, 2011