River's Edge

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A collection of amazing 1 volume manga that can be read in under 1 hour, for anyone wanting a quick but fulfilling read.

Growing up sucks lmao

One thing I've noticed over the years is the sheer amount of people that want recommendations based on a handful of titles that get the whole "being a teenager is physical and emotional hell" angle down pat. You know the ones, we've all been there.

The listed series all deal with the relationships between youths and their bodies, the bodies of others, and the difficulties of becoming an adult. I tried to select series that are more grounded, but ones that capture that same mood and themes will be considered as well.

Please do check out Part 2 if you want more! https://myanimelist.net/stacks/14189

(Ignore my ratings, you should dictate the enjoyment yourself)

What definitely makes manga great would be that it goes over a broad range of themes/topics. Manga isn't afraid of addressing taboo topics, nor does it avoid concepts that most other entertainment mediums WOULDN'T DARE to touch. They also provide an imaginative exploration of how the Japanese perceive these topics. We rarely get cultural perspectives on certain topics.
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Includes topics that are rare in animanga compared to other mediums.

Manga that I really like. These entries are generally josei and gekiga series that aim to accurately portray contemporary life. I'll update this occasionally, and I'm open to reccomendations. No entry should rely too much on genre tropes or be fantastical.

I'm not opposed to including series published in shonen or seinen magazines, such as Inu wo Kau. But most series from such magazines are genre works, focused on being fantastical and giving an idealized view of the world. Many of these works deal with sexual themes, such as sexual assault or LBGTQ+ characters. I'm also using "contemporary" to mean the last 50 or so years. Not entirely accurate I know, but "not fantastical" doesn't have the same ring to it I feel.

Not all of these are fully translated.

don't expect (all) of them to blow your mind, make you rethink your whole life, or anything like that; some may just make you go "oh, i haven't thought about it that way before!" it's just as simple as that.

also, not necessarily every chapter of each manga was something to meditate on. so don't expect about that either.

also!! "thought-provoking" does not necessarily equal "philosophy".

also, (ah, i'm getting tired of this word), all of those manga have under 15k members, hence why i call them "hidden gems"

manga exploring issues or topics that aren't discussed often enough.

'taboo' topics = actual taboo topics + subjects that aren't really talked about

all of them are under 16 chapters, and most are 1 volume long.

some contain guro, so check the description if you don't want to see that.

not all manga here are necessarily disturbing (or at least not as much as others), but are still dark/twisted. at the same time, some are disturbing/twisted, yet not necessarily (that) dark (take Kanojo wa Sore wo Gaman Dekinai, for example).

Manga that aren't on MAL:
- Bibliomania, by Obaru & Macchiro
- Goths Cage, by Yasushi Suzuki
- Yuugatou, by Arima Tomasu (one shot)

Manga with less than 6 volumes. Not based on a certain genre, contains anthologies.

shoujo and josei manga that started publishing in the 1990s

I plan on reading 100 manga in one month. Manga I will read are on this lists.
First try: part 1&2
Second try: part 3&4

Part 1: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/22727
Part 3: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/22729
Part 4: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/24269

Here are all the josei manga I think one should read in order to cover all bases. I organized this list by general theme, with publishing series at the bottom.

We start off with the classic slice of life and coming of age stories, then to a couple of autobiographical manga, then to the dark and realistic drama stories, then to action and horror stories, then to mystery stories, then to the rom-coms, then to the more light-hearted slice of life stories, and lastly to the important ongoing series.

I'm currently using this list too, despite me being the one who created it!

A list of manga titles that I think are fucked up in some way, be it in the psychological sense or in matters of gore/violence. Each title has its own set of trigger warnings, I suggest looking them up on mangaupdates for more detailed tags.

all the shoujo + josei manga currently scheduled to release volume 1's of english prints in 2023! wanted to make this stack for anyone whos like me and wants to keep track of the new shojo and josei that is coming out this year so they can add some to their collection. i will try to keep this updated if more series are announced throughout the year, enjoy <3

Edit: We have so many coming out this year that i had to break it up into 2 stacks!

Every manga covered by the Mangasplaining podcast in Season 4.

Do you want to read as many manga as possible?
Do you want to read manga of different genres?
I try to collect as many manga as possible that are only one volume long.
Please check the genres before reading!

- Note: I haven't read every single one of them. It's also a personal reading list
Have you finished the first part? Here is the second part:
https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31188

Get her to the countryside! Maybe the fresh air will cure it

a Tw is probably good here. the way mental illness is portrayed is not great in all of them, but i find some solice in these types of characters

Will update as i read more

Keywords: paranoia, paranoid, anxiety, panic, antisocial, depression, coping mechanism, coping mechanisms, dysfunctional, eating disorder, self injury, self harm