I’ve previously recommended manga that I would consider to be less popular but still great and, given how popular that article has turned out to be, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some manga that you might have missed and give some recommendations. The goal of this article will be to try to appeal to both those who are very familiar with manga and those who are just looking for some manga to get started with.
Utsubora, also known as Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist, was released by Vertical in 2013 and was originally released in Manga Erotics F, an experimental manga magazine. The manga opens up with a young woman committing suicide and Shun Mizorogi, an author with a mysterious relationship with the young woman, comes across her sister who resembles her in nearly every way. What follows is a very compelling mystery drama that manages to grip your attention as you figure out what is going on. The artwork is also very stylised with some excellent use of negative spacing. There is some strong sexual content so those that are squeamish may want to avoid Utsubora but others should definitely seek it out.
Ichi-F, whose full title is Ichi-F: A Worker’s Graphic Memoir of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, was released in English in 2017 but, despite critical acclaim, it does feel like the manga was overshadowed by many other manga releases. An autobiographical manga covering the author’s experience working as a cleanup worker at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused nuclear meltdowns. It covers plenty of the minutia of working at the plant, the type of equipment they use, safety protocols etc. and ends up being a surprisingly pleasant read with Kazuto Tatsuta’s coverage of little funny moments as well as covering the manga’s own creation later on in the work! The art starts out slightly rough but covers the important details and steadily improves over the course of the manga. If you haven’t read Ichi-F, I think it’s worth checking out.
In Clothes Called Fat is written by Moyoco Anno, the wife of Hideaki Anno, and follows a character called Noko who eats food as a way to relieve stress. After being bullied at her workplace and worrying about her relationship with her boyfriend, she decides to lose weight but eventually ends up resorting to bulimia. The story can be a tough read at times but it has plenty to say about society and the supposed need for women to become skinny. I also really admire the art style that Moyoco Anno uses to portray this tale with some highly stylised characters that emphasise their personality traits. As with Utsubora, there is some strong sexual content so I’d warn against reading if you can’t handle that type of content.
The last one is a little bit of a cheat since it isn’t a manga but it’s still a series that I want to talk about. My Girlfriend’s A Geek is a light novel that follows a college student who is going out with a girl a couple of years older than him. However, it turns out that she’s a fujoshi who’s really passionate about her otaku lifestyle. What follows is a heart-warming, funny story about how this college student handles her passions, encountering all types of content that he’s unfamiliar with and how their relationship develops. It has an ungodly amount of references to all aspects of otaku culture but there are notes that explain these if you’re unfamiliar with them. It’s a great series and one that I don’t hear people talking about too often.
So those were some interesting manga that you might have missed recommendations, I also snuck a light novel in there. Let me know your thoughts on these series, whether you’ve read them, if you have, what do you think of them, other manga that you’ve liked that you think have been overlooked and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!