While I am not a HUGE manga reader, I have read and am currently reading quite a few of them. I will give some recommendations to some lesser known titles (relatively unknown, anyway and with a few exceptions) that I think are rather underrated/are some of my favorites. Most I am still reading but some of these I have finished reading. This is both kinda a list and serves as some recommendations/suggestions. Apologies for the massive length of this post, but I wanted to include a little of everything.
Seinen/Romance:
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Kimi Wa Pet: This manga isn’t terribly long, but contains easily some of the most human characters I have ever read in any manga. It is somewhat similar in the vein to a Slice of Life manga but instead centers around a magazine publication rather than a high school. While the plot may not be some epic tale or quest, it is a great fairly easy going manga with some well-written drama, comedy and of course dynamic and realistic characterization.
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Deep Love: Compared to Kimi, this one is a LOT heavier/darker. It’s rather short but is a very grim and depressing tale that is definitely not for the feint of heart. It still is a very well told story all the way through and has a very haunting/sad ending. I would almost compare this tonally with other manga like Berserk, though I wouldn’t say it’s quite as dark (still very explicit though).
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Kamisawa ga Uso wo Tsuku: This will easily be the shortest one on the list, but by GOD is this one fantastic. It is a very short (like 5 chapters short) story that at first, seems like just a simple love story. Underneath it though is some brilliant metaphors, downright GORGEOUS artwork, fantastic characterization and some very sharp writing. This is one that you can attempt to dive deeper in to examine or just enjoy the ride.
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Oyasumi Punpun: I am still reading this one but if you like the darker/more psychological spin on the typical school format, then this is a great manga to read. Like Deep Love, there is some really disturbing stuff in it though, so if you aren’t into that then I probably wouldn’t. But if you don’t mind some uncomfortable/dark themes, then there should be no problem. It is also very… abstract and weird but I think that just adds to the charm.
Shoujo:
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Dengeki Daisy: I am still reading this one actually but of all the manga I have read thus far, this is likely my favourite of all time. It has some of the best characterization I have seen in any manga and definitely goes far in breaking shoujo conventions by having its protagonist (Teru) slowly become braver and compliments the main lead (Kurosaki) really well. There is even a lot of stuff in there that affected me emotionally on a very deep level (comparable to some of my favourite Key stories), especially around the midpoint of the series.
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Ouran High School Host Club: Obviously, this is well known, but I think for anyone who really enjoyed the anime I argue the source material is even better. Especially the ending, which I felt gave the characters much more development and shows you where they all ended up in the future. Some may not like that it moved away from being a fairly unique reverse harem/comedy with romance elements and moved to a more romanced/typical shoujo based story, but it does it really well and I felt it was a smooth and natural transition, since the anime and earlier manga chapters had hints of this already.
Ecchi:
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Sore wa Totsuzen, Unmei no Aite ga: This is fairly lighthearted ecchi material, though this one comes with a bit of a warning ahead of time. If you are like me and get uncomfortable with… well, lets say family relations that are a little TOO close for comfort, then you might want to skip Chapter 0 and 4.5. The stories are broken up into a few cute and well-written love stories. It’s all really adorable and has an interesting premise overall.
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Suzuka/Fuuka: This one is definitely a bit more popular (especially the latter with the anime adaptation) and fairly polarizing, but I really like these two mangas. They are both done by the same mangaka and boast some amazing artwork, well written/fairly realistic characters and a interesting romance. It definitely has some issues with pacing (especially in Suzuka) and some plot points some may seem as cop-outs, but I think the emotionally deep storytelling and characters are good enough to push past some of the problems these manga has.
Rom-Com/Slice of Life:
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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai/Haganai: This one I finished somewhat recently and defintely delivers on the comedy aspect of things. Nice balance of well timed jokes and later on starts developing characters and creates some well thought out Drama. Honestly just a very humourous but enjoyable manga (though it isn’t finished and may or may not be on hiatus).
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Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou: I have been currently re-reading this one and is overall a really good piece of slice of life manga. The art quality is VERY high, the characters while one dimensional at first
grow into more fleshed out people who start to become your own friends in a sense and sports easily one of the most adorable female characters in manga history. -
Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu: This one is fairly light on story and definitely leans to the more Slice of Life side of things, but I definitely think this one is really underrated. The comedy is great and
the characters are really enjoyable, especially Komi herself. This manga is honestly worth reading just for her alone. -
Onani Master Kurosawa: Ok, so this one is… interesting to say the least. I know some might be put off by the introduction to it but its honestly far deeper than it seems at first and has some incredibly deep character development for its protagonist. I am still reading through it but for those who aren’t put off by the concept for first couple chapters, this is definitely worth a read.
Action/Shounen:
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Vagabond: A great historical/adult long running manga (300+ chapters) that has some immensely beautiful art and some considerably complex characters and stories. Haven’t read a ton of this, but I really liked what I was reading.
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Bokurano: I read a little bit of this but… DAMN this one is something. The way I describe it is if you mixed Evangelion with Madoka Magica. Definitely another disturbing psychological one that deals with some really grim circumstances for those who are into that kind of storytelling.
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Pokemon Adventures: Wanted to end with a much more uplifting manga compared to the last two. A solid adventure manga that is just really enjoyable to read through. The protagonist has some solid character depth and is certainly one of the better Pokemon doujinji out there.