One of the awesome things about the Manga & Anime panel at Sirens was how many non-fans attended it, including my friend shveta_thakrar, and who subsequently became interested in the genre. I promised Shveta to recommend her a few series, so here we go!

(For the purposes of being a dutiful fan, I am linking to legal sources where you can buy and/or read them, but it is very simple to get them illicitly.)

Fullmetal Alchemist was a series we talked about quite a bit. It starts out small -- a simple story of two brothers who are trying to return to their original bodies after an alchemical experiment goes horrifically wrong -- but quickly snowballs into an epic tale where the fate of the world is at stake. It has monsters, deception, political intrigue, humor, terror…pretty much everything. It deals with a whole host of philosophical and moral issues, such as how do you define a human being, how do you atone for wrong-doings. It touches on racism, genocide, abuse of religion.

It also has an amazingly diverse cast of female characters. You have gentle and retiring women, whose strength lies in their maternity and compassion. You have ruthless, ambitious women who command legions and have earned the unswerving loyalty of their followers by their relentless, almost unforgiving adherence to principle. Their stories are all intertwined with the stories of the men in the series, but they all have their own story. This is probably my favorite manga ever and I cannot cannot CANNOT recommend it highly enough.


Otomen is one of my favorite one shots…and I only just recently found out it's actually a series! I haven't read beyond the first volume yet, but I have been watching the live action adaptation and honestly, I think it works best as just a one-shot. The rest of the series is fun, but fairly predictable shoujo (I have thoughts about this, but that's another entry entirely).

But what makes Otomen so special is how it mucks about with perceptions of gender performance. The heart of this story is how important it is to be yourself, no matter what…even if you're a strong, muscular guy who loves sweets, stuffed animals, and sewing. It also has one of my favorite love confessions ever. The first volume is available for free in that link.


Speaking of gender performance, Ouran High School Host Club has fun with them too. It's problematic in a bunch of ways, but how many series do you know of where the leading character says "I don't really have a gender"? It also has several queer parents who actually get screen time, as opposed to "OH YEAH I LOVE MY GAY DADS" that you never actually meet. Fair warning - it is ridiculous and cracky and strange in a uniquely Japanese way. But it's a lot of fun.

Beauty Pop is pretty similar to Host Club, but slightly less ridiculous. It avoids the problematic aspects of Host Club, but doesn't deal with the awesome things that Host Club deals with either. Despite that, I find I like it better. It's a series of Cinderella stories, but with few exceptions, it's not about the girls becoming beautiful and therefore being worthy. It's more about how when you feel like you look good, you feel good. I'm not explaining the distinction very well. I think part of what helps nullify the possible "Girl is only worth something if she looks conventionally beautiful" is that the leading lady, Kiri, never tries to make herself conventionally pretty. She has a very plain, almost boyish style, and that never changes. Her character arc has absolutely nothing to do with appearance, and everything to do with the courage to go after her dreams.

I just realized that, except for >Full Metal Alchemist, none of what I've recced so far has been fantastical. Oops. To bring us back to fantasy, I will add Natsume's Book of Friends. Full disclosure, I have not read the manga, nor have I finished watching the anime. But what I've seen so far is beautiful and sweet. It's a quiet, pretty gentle story, full of monsters and demons (how often do you hear that?). It's fun getting glimpses of Japanese mythology, though admittedly it takes a great deal of creative license (As it should!). If you can, watch the anime - it's like watching a watercolor painting, and the opening song is like a hug. It makes me cry happy tears.