tsurara

I'm out of reading material again (I read 3 or 4 volumes a day thanks to my commute ~_~; )

And this time I'm in the market for a romance...

I read Japanese well enough that pretty much anything is game, but I HATE the usual romances. I'm allergic to shoujo manga, I think most boys love is inane, I'm not turned on by harems or 14 year-olds in ichigo panties :/

What I want:
-More than 4 volumes
-COMPLETE (I want to be able to finish it in a reasonable amount of time)
-a romance (boy-girl, girl-girl, boy-boy are all okay)... it doesn't have to be the center of the plot, but it should play a large part and it should be believeable.
-The main characters should NOT sleep together in the first volume... I'd like to see them fall in love over time NOT hop in bed together on page 4 and then "learn to love each other" by page 16.
-something ELSE to the storyline. ie. the WHOLE point isn't just "they fall in love"... they should be doing something ELSE interesting too. I don't care if it's ballet, policework, nuclear fission, or world-saving.

Examples of exactly the sort of thing I'm in the market for: Animal X, Banana Fish, Please Save My Earth, Hana Yori Dango, pretty much anything by Hagio Moto... (GANTZ and BERSERK would be good examples from the seinen side if not for the "complete" requirement -_-; )

*keep in mind that I'm "old" now... ninjas and vampires don't excite me the way they used to and I'm about as likely to relate to a bubbly 13 year-old schoolgirl protaganist as I am an animated cabbage.

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Evol

well considering I get most of my recent manga recs from you this might be pointless :P

not sure how you feel about Ai Yazawa and at the risk of being too shojo/mainstream, have you tried Paradise Kiss? I'll skip the synopsis since its old and you've probably read. Fashion, luff, and angst. <3

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atomik_sprout

Well, I don't know how "complete" this series is, or if you've read it--I've only read the first few chapters, myself--but, 'Midori Days' is pretty good. It's about a junior high student who's feared by all, due to his fighting skills and his "Devil's Right Hand". But, he wishes to give up fighting to find a girlfriend. Well, after a few--lots, actually--turn downs, he wishes for a girlfriend and wakes up with a girl attached to his right hand. Come to find out that the girl has had a crush on him for ages and wished to be a part of him. Looks like wishes are granted literally these days, LOL.

If you haven't read it, I suggest you check it out. ^_^

"Why does my hand have... T*ts???"

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abby724

Sort of old, you've probably read it, but Great Teacher Onizuka might seem like a fitting read for you. Athletic, run-of-the-mill college graduate Onizuka Eikichi takes up a job as a teacher in the renowned (yet dysfunctional) Musashi Seirin Academy, in the hopes of being able to catch a girl. Over time, Onizuka starts to realize he loves the profession, he actually has a descent conscience when it comes to who he's gonna sleep with, and that the educational system of Japan is screwed up. He also starts to fall for a certain someone also at the Academy...

Did I mention he gets the job of being the homeroom teacher of the most dysfunctional class in the school?

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peachie gurl

Kiss

Through piano lessons a love slowly grows between the cool adult, Goshima-sensei, and one of his students, a high school girl named Kae. Well it's a mixture of comedy, drama, romance and slice of life. To me it's pretty good; it's drawn well and the story rocks.

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lordofbaka

i guess you could always try to watch poptan^^ its a incredebly amusing hentai/shoujo/ something unclear who amuses you as much for the cheesy story line. there is no lack of "good" romance mangas, serch the clamp site lol^^

aceman67

I particularly enjoyed NANA, don't know if you would though, the main character is kinda bubbly and at times makes you want to reach into the page and strangle her. Its not complete, but there are 18 volumes out right now

The anime that was released followed the manga fairly well (Something that doesn't happen very often).

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tsurara

I'm currently satisfied with "From Eroica with Love" (Eroika yori ai wo komete). And since it has some ungodly amount of volumes out I won't be frustrated by it's unfinish-ed-ness for quite some time.

It's incredibly funny, has a lot of things going on, is fairly intelligently written, has loveable main characters and with 33 double-volumes of sexual tension promised: I think I'll be happy for awhile

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Dark Hero

Hey you should read HotGimmick. Its about a girl that sees alot of problems when her little sister thinks she is preagnent, she all most gets raped and the one preson that causes the beging of the trobles is the real hero and it is a nice stroy after all. I liked it and Im a hateful preson.

Byaku Guy

Just make sure y'all stay away from Pleasure Dome. I'm scarred for life!

ZeelZy

read cowboy bebop...it has some romance I guess....It's still amazing! :P

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