Any good fighting mangas around? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-04, 06:11 AM

So, Air Gear ended. It was awesome. Aside from One Piece and Fairy Taily, all other fighting-focused manga I follow are ending and/or kinda disappointing. Can anyone suggest something new? I'll list what I am/was reading.

Naruto- I don't really know why I keep reading it, since it sucks.
Bleach- It's kind of a guilty pleasure. It sucks most of the time, then there is a cool scene and I convince myself it's good enough to keep reading.
One Piece - Simply awesome. Excellent character interaction, ongoing myth arc that makes sense, chracter advancement, diverse world, love it.
Hunter x Hunter - My favorite manga ever. A solid 'magic' system, charismatic characters and the most awesome fights ever put in a manga. When Togashi gets time to actually draw, he is ridiculously good. His art is amazing and he is a very good writer as well. Sadly on hiatus.
Fairy Tail - Lighthearted and fun. I quite like the characters, but the creator clearly has no idea where the story is going. The fights are pretty simple, if visually appealing.
Rurouni Kenshin - I'm not very excited about this remake. Really wish it was the Hokkaido Saga instead.
Air Gear - Sadly, it's over. AirGear is visual poetry, despite all the unnecessary fanservice.
Katekyo Hitman Reborn - Tried to read it. Couldn't. Very silly and boring. When people told me it took 80 chapters for the plot to took off, I gave up.
Gantz - I read until Kurono died. Tried to get back to it recently, but it has just lost it's appeal to me. Too much fanservice and gore.
Tenjou Tenge - Really want to like it, since it's by Ogure Ito, but he seems so lost here. Stopped reading almost immediately after Souichirou got his haircut. Does anyone know if it's getting better or nearing completion?
D. Gray Man - I really liked it, stopped reading just after the protagonist recovered his arm and got the upgrade. The upgrade just looked so silly! Might get back to it.

I'm open to all suggestions. :smallsmile:

Terraoblivion

2012-09-04, 06:22 AM

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is excellent, but probably focuses more on character development and growth on the actual fighting. It is quite creative with both and being a relatively subdued seinen manga it avoids both much of the stupidity and needless dragging out typical of shounen fighting and most of the senseless gore common to much seinen action. Also, it's full of intentionally funny expressions, eccentric main characters and a horse that is very adamant about not being ridden. It is, however, both over and much shorter than the stuff you've mentioned, due to not being a cash cow to be milked by a major magazine, but rather a quirky secondary story.

Probably the best advice I can give since my tastes tend to run more towards the smell of lilies and heavy amounts of both fluff and angst, not so much action.

tensai_oni

2012-09-04, 07:25 AM

If you want a long series, let me suggest Mahou Sensei Negima. It's consistent and very well-researched, with interesting and likeable characters (which is an achievement considering how many of them are there!). There are however two conditions - you must not mind Love Hina-ish comedy and fanservice, as the former is what the series starts at and then later develops into a fighting series (while still retaining some comedy elements), while the latter... exists pretty much through the whole manga. It's pretty tasteful though.

And if you want something shorter than 100 chapters... the Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer. Seriously.

Cen

2012-09-04, 07:32 AM

The Breaker and The Breaker:New Waves technicaly it's still ongoing manhwa and it's really good - starts kinda slow - and at the beginning - first 2-3 chapters it sounds kind of like a GTO ripp-off (humiliated and beaten by 'collegues' depressed school boy befriends new teacher who is genious martial artist) but it turns into completely different direction and gets way better. It mixes comedy action and serious stuff raather well, fights are dynamic and never ends with asspulls, yet outcome usually can't be predicted in advance .

Naruto- I don't really know why I keep reading it, since it sucks.
Amen to that.

Manga Shoggoth

2012-09-04, 08:11 AM

If you don't mind something slightly older, there's always Ranma 1/2.

Generally referred to as a Martial Arts Comedy of the Genders*.

Young martial artist cursed to turn into a girl if hit with cold water (hot water reverses the change). To add to his woes his father has saddled him with an unwanted engagement plus extra fiancees on top of that. Oh yes, the school's idiot swordsman has a crush on his female form as well.

*Let's pre-empt the naughty words filter, shall we?

SlyGuyMcFly

2012-09-04, 08:40 AM

The Tower of God and Noblesse, both excellent. Um, I'm not sure I can do a good summary of either but seriously, check 'em out.

Yora

2012-09-04, 08:42 AM

How about Vinland Saga?

Technically it's a historic manga following the biography of Canute the Great, who became king of England, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in the 11th century. But actually it's about rediculously over the top viking battles.

What if Kenpachi had been a Dane? This manga will tell you. (http://upload.colonbrush.com/files/original/1247099603thorkell.jpg)

Eldariel

2012-09-04, 08:52 AM

Kitten Champion

2012-09-04, 09:22 AM

Yureka, although a manhwa, takes the MMO setting and applies it to some nicely designed action. The plot becomes convoluted but the characters and setting are interesting, like Sword Art Online or the Dot.Hack series.

One of my personal favourites Alive - The Final Evolution, puts a darker spin on a fighting manga than most Shonen stuff. If you've never heard of it, the story begins with an epidemic of mass suicides apparently caused by a disease. Some of those who survived the temptation to kill themselves started developing supernatural powers and a profoundly nihilistic viewpoint, leading to a rash of horrifying homicides and a cult-like group of sociopaths. The protagonist managed to hold on to his life and sanity, only to find his friend kidnapped by the monstrous cult and world crashing down around him. The story plays up the horror/psychological aspect quite a bit without falling too much into gore, the protagonist is charming in how much he feels like average high school boy, and the rule of cool is often absent or thawed.

Yora

2012-09-04, 10:56 AM

What exactly are you looking for in a fighting manga? Combat takes a major role in many manga, but those still can range over a very wide variety.

Shadow of the Sun

2012-09-04, 11:06 AM

Toriko. A fighting manga that has a focus on food as well. Much better than it sounds.

Knaight

2012-09-04, 01:24 PM

Fullmetal Alchemist is worth reading. If you like Bleach as a guilty pleasure you will probably also like Beet The Vandel Buster, which isn't good by any stretch of the imagination but is a lot of fun.

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-04, 01:57 PM

I'll check Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, thanks. Looks cool.
All of my friends who read Negima have given up on it, so I don't know if it's worth trying. I've already read Ranma 1/2, it's very funny. I like Rumiko Takahashi, even though everything she does seems to follow a set formula.
Many of my friends have suggested Vinland Saga, I might just start reading that as well... but I've heard it's similar to Berserk. If it's all about the gory shots I'll pass.
Kenichi looks like exactly what I wanted, I'll be sure to check it out, thanks for suggesting.
I'm not much of a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist... don't know exactly why, I just don't like it.

What exactly are you looking for in a fighting manga? Combat takes a major role in many manga, but those still can range over a very wide variety.
Basically something with some action that I can read at work. Nothing too complicated, because reading at work is fractured at best. Nothing too gory or with too much fanservice, because not only am I not a fan of those it doesn't fit a work environment. Charismatic characters and interesting tactical battles are always good.

Yora

2012-09-04, 02:48 PM

Vinland Saga often gets quite bloody, but once it really gets going it's more about outragous exploits. But it's always rather bleak.

Tengu_temp

2012-09-04, 02:59 PM

All of my friends who read Negima have given up on it, so I don't know if it's worth trying.

It's a slow start. Negima starts to spread its wings during the Kyoto arc, and reaches the peak of its quality during the festival arc. Before that, just treat it as a light-hearted comedy, don't pay too much attention to the fanservice and bear in mind that it will get later better. So much better.

And yes, read L&BH. It's amazing.

Terraoblivion

2012-09-04, 08:28 PM

Except the fanservice, that part never eases up, though later on more of it is at least combined with cool outfits. Really, the fanservice is the biggest problem Negima has and was the reason I didn't straight up recommend it myself. Which is a shame, really, since the actual fighting, story and characters are all quite awesome and for once provides a shounen fighting series where the girls get to be cool. Especially Yue and Kaede.

Cikomyr

2012-09-04, 08:30 PM

A fighting Manga?

Gee... it's not that popular...

Tvtyrant

2012-09-04, 08:37 PM

Hajime no Ippo is the template for a lot of other fighting mangas, with the kid being bullied and then saved by a super strong thug senpai who he then emulates. There are at least 6 mangas I have read that simply copy the formula from it. It centers around professional boxing, and varies between silly and good. None-magical.

Holyland is another kid-who-was-bullied story, but it centers around street fights in Tokyo. One of my favorite fighting mangas. None-magical.

Veritas is kind of a reversal in that is centers around a thug who runs into a ki using martial artist, and idolizes him. Extremely over the top fighting, with some of the best fights in manga (IMO).

Hiro Protagonest

2012-09-04, 08:43 PM

Shaman King.

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-04, 09:03 PM

Shaman King.

Already read it. Pretty good.
I think I have already read pretty much all the classics... Hokuto no Ken, Saint Seiya (including G, Lost Canvas and Next Dimension - boy, were those last two sucky), Dragonball, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, Shaman King...

AtlanteanTroll

2012-09-04, 09:07 PM

If you liked Shaman King alright, there's Ultimo and Jumbor. Although Jumbor is really, really short. As in it only has 10 chapters. There was this lovely new manga in JUMP recently called Barrage/Sensei no Bulge, although I think it's set to end soon, which is a shame, as it easily could have replaced BLEACH with time. Alas.

If you want something a little longer running I would recommend both Toriko and Blue Exorcist/Ao no Exorcist, as both are in full swing, have good art, and fun characterization.

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-04, 09:10 PM

Yanagi

2012-09-04, 10:29 PM

Vagabond, drawn by Takeshi Inoue. It's a fictionalized take on the life of Miyamoto Musashi. Beautiful art. Lots of sword fights, obviously.

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-04, 10:53 PM

Vagabond, drawn by Takeshi Inoue. It's a fictionalized take on the life of Miyamoto Musashi. Beautiful art. Lots of sword fights, obviously.

I wouldn't call Vagabond a fighting manga. I've read most of it, though. As with Blade of the Immortal.

Terraoblivion

2012-09-05, 12:18 AM

Another possibility could be Hayate x Blade. I've only read the first twenty chapters, so I don't know how much screen time the fighting will get down the line, but there were several fights in that short amount of time and the one between Ayana and Jun was really good, so if that ends up being the norm it's definitely a fighting manga. It's mostly a comedy with a cast who are pretty much all both crazy and awesome, who attend a girl's school centered around fights between teams of two. Mostly just really fun with some surprisingly good drama and action at times.

turkishproverb

2012-09-05, 12:24 AM

The heavens cry out! The earth cries out! The people cry out! ThiagoMartell cries out! They cry out for a manga with awesome fighting! Listen up, potential readers...Read about the warriors of justice, in Kamen Rider Spirits!

Lord Seth

2012-09-05, 01:27 AM

Hrm, you didn't mention it, so...how about one of the classics, Dragon Ball?

Xondoure

2012-09-05, 02:12 AM

Hrm, you didn't mention it, so...how about one of the classics, Dragon Ball?

Mentioned further down as read.

@OP: You should probably update the first post with what you have seen (that isn't already there) and what has been suggested.

Tebryn

2012-09-05, 04:58 AM

A vastly under-represented manga it seems. Reborn! is really good after you get past the first arc it gets good and honestly ramps up rather well with not a whole lot of power creep.

Killer Angel

2012-09-05, 04:58 AM

Basically something with some action that I can read at work. Nothing too complicated, because reading at work is fractured at best. Nothing too gory or with too much fanservice, because not only am I not a fan of those it doesn't fit a work environment. Charismatic characters and interesting tactical battles are always good.

So I suppose Berserk is not an option?

A late edit:

I might just start reading that as well... but I've heard it's similar to Berserk. If it's all about the gory shots I'll pass.

Yora

2012-09-05, 05:32 AM

Many of my friends have suggested Vinland Saga, I might just start reading that as well... but I've heard it's similar to Berserk. If it's all about the gory shots I'll pass.
No, probably not... :smallwink:

Julian84

2012-09-05, 10:42 AM

Veritas

A korean manhwa that, while seemingly cliched with a school of martial arts, it quickly evolves into brutally awesome fights, webs of intrigue, an interesting cast, and awesome art.

Unfortunately, it's been on hiatus for like five years now after an amazing cliffhanger. It can be found on Mangafox.

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-05, 12:38 PM

A vastly under-represented manga it seems. Reborn! is really good after you get past the first arc it gets good and honestly ramps up rather well with not a whole lot of power creep.

Man, I tired with Reborn. I really tried. But it sucks.

Nekura

2012-09-05, 01:11 PM

I’ll second Hajime no Ippo. I never thought I would get interested in an anime about a sport so I was surprised I liked one about boxing. Although It might not be the best if you are reading at work. It has a lot of genital humor and came of rather racist with the black boxer. Not anything negative but comments about that’s why he is such a good athlete like black people are another species from them. I did give up on reading it but I got pretty far into it before I did and you might like it more.

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-05, 01:24 PM

dehro

2012-09-05, 02:13 PM

History's Strongest Disciple: Kenichi is pretty awesome; less about mystics and more about martial arts too. The anime's pretty good but the manga is truly awesome. I definitely suggest giving it a go if martial arts interest you. The story itself is fairly typical; a guy wants to learn martial arts in order to protect a girl (who is more than capable of defending herself) and then gets tangled up in a bit more than just that. The writing though is just brilliant.

seconded..it's fun and reads well (also, the anime was pretty good indeed)

in the same vein, but in less.. grand scale, and more lulz and hilarious training methods, Noritaka
I think the original name is hakaiou noritaka.. I remember reading it in italian though..not sure what it's called in english.

another one: Tough, a bit of a modern day samurai kind of thing...but with more punches.

Ranma 1/2.. would be pointless to introduce..you probably already know it.

Fist of the North Star.. the manga is better than the anime
actually...anything by Tetsuo Hara, such as Keiji.. the tale of historical figure/folklore character Maeda Keiji

finally, something a little different: Takeru, by Buichi Terasawa.. the first ever computer graphics comic book.. in 4 colour volumes.. about a ninja-like character in the kingdom of Yamato.

P.S. there's an old manga, by the title of Chinmi Ironfist.. which I only ever read the first 2 volumes of and of which I'd love to read the rest.. don't know if it's available somewhere, but you might want to check it out.. it's much more like a classic wuxia movie than any of the others I've listed

Prime32

2012-09-05, 03:22 PM

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure)? The fights are creative, the plot isn't too hard to follow, and there's plenty of material (though from Part 4 on it's trickier to find consecutive chapters).
There's occasional gore, but I don't remember it being too graphic.

Radar

2012-09-05, 04:03 PM

I haven't read this one, but Rurouni Kenshin is supposed to be good.

If the action doesn't have to be martial oriented, then there is The Legend of Koizumi, where the fate of the world is decided at the Mahjong table. The series is beyond crazy and the main rule of the game is "it's not cheating, if you're not caught."

endoperez

2012-09-05, 04:27 PM

If you like something about Chinese martial arts training, try Kenji by Ryuchi Matsuda. It is mostly realistic, and the martial arts are also real. However, the focus is more on the training and the arts, and less on the fights.

Some of the explanations are mystical, but only a few things go beyond what real-world martial artists might be able to do. Things are slightly exaggerated (making a big tree shake with a strike), but not over-the-top (you can't break a full-grown tree with any strike).

Tebryn

2012-09-05, 05:35 PM

Man, I tired with Reborn. I really tried. But it sucks.

It really isn't that great in the first arc I admit. But it gets a lot better in the Varia arc

AtlanteanTroll

2012-09-05, 05:46 PM

I hated Ultimo. Like, really hated it. I tried really hard to like it (I mean, Stan Lee) but just couldn't. It's too cheesy.
I still really recommend Blue Exorcist.

Also, the thing about Reborn! is that when reading it, one has to recognize it does start out as a gag manga before turning into a serious (and fairly well done) fighting manga.

Terraoblivion

2012-09-05, 06:00 PM

If the action doesn't have to be martial oriented, then there is The Legend of Koizumi, where the fate of the world is decided at the Mahjong table. The series is beyond crazy and the main rule of the game is "it's not cheating, if you're not caught."

It also has Moon Nazis as the enemies. Everything has been proven to get more entertaining when you include Moon Nazis...except for Touhou, but nobody talks about the Lunarians anyway.

Man on Fire

2012-09-05, 07:38 PM

Many of my friends have suggested Vinland Saga, I might just start reading that as well... but I've heard it's similar to Berserk. If it's all about the gory shots I'll pass.

Nah, it's nowhere near that violent. It's more brutal than most shonens, pretty much why they moved it to seinen magazine, but it's nowhere near Berserk's or Zetman's level. Also, it's awesome.

People compare Vindland Saga to Berserk because they have similiar, cynical looks on the world and people like to say that, if you would put Claymore and Vindland Saga in a blender, you would get Berserk.

And if you want battle manga, how about the one that fathered the genre? Devilman. May get pretty brutal at times, through nowhere near Berserk or it's own spinoff AMON (or anime Amon, which was pretty insane with violence) and some chapters do have some gore, because it's also and primarly, a horror, but it's violence is only when there's place for it. Really worth checking out.

There is also manga I heard a lot of good about, Sachi-chan Gū!!. It's a collaboration between creators of Zetman and Dragon Ball, humoristic superhero story about space cop coming to Earth to fight evil.

Tebryn

2012-09-05, 08:14 PM

Also, the thing about Reborn! is that when reading it, one has to recognize it does start out as a gag manga before turning into a serious (and fairly well done) fighting manga.

Indeed. And they do a rather good job keeping the gag characters around and relevant to the story. Lambo is actually a pretty interesting and serious character in the Varia arc onwards.

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-05, 10:59 PM

Yora

2012-09-06, 01:51 PM

Appleseed is a sci-fi special forces fighting manga. It's a lot like Ghost in the Shell, so it's quite elaborate with the action, but it lacks almost all of the philosophical layers and goes full out for unapologetic action mayhem. :smallbiggrin:

http://sucf.manga365.net/manga/184048/appleseed-25-9.jpg

http://sucf.manga365.net/manga/184072/appleseed-25-33.jpg

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-08, 03:50 PM

What is Hoshi no Samidare and how is it related to Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer? :smallconfused:

Terraoblivion

2012-09-08, 06:17 PM

It's the Japanese title, so it relates by being exactly the same. I have also seen it written as Wakuzei no Samidare at one point, but that's just a mistake, I believe.

ThiagoMartell

2012-09-08, 06:56 PM

It's the Japanese title, so it relates by being exactly the same. I have also seen it written as Wakuzei no Samidare at one point, but that's just a mistake, I believe.

Oooh, OK.
I found it, but half of it has a different title so it confused me. Specially since it has a pretty different translation. :smallbiggrin:
Thanks for clearing that up.

Areswargod139

2012-09-11, 08:22 PM

Most people have already covered these, but I'll put in my two cents anyway.

Veritas is Tengo Tenge with a cleaned up plot

Both are about a school where people with special abilities/lineage are pitted against non-special/no awesome lineage in the hopes of finding out which is more AWESOME.

In Veritas this is straight foward, the central tension in the series between the old money-er martial arts families versus the people who came into the martial arts world on their own merit is directly stated several times. Tengo Tenge, on the other hand, flowers this concept with stuff about feudal Japan, branch families, evil sorcerors and other stuff until the reader is left with the impression that the series is was just a directionless love letter to shonen fighting manga of the 80's and 90's. And the main charaters are a BORE.
I'd go with Veritas.

I'd recommend Rorouni Kenshin, Jojos bizarre adventures, but only the first three arcs, it starts to fall apart after that, IMO.

Grappler Baki hasn't been mentioned yet. It can be a tad gorey but not on the scale of Beserk or Gantz.

Iron fist Chimne is alright and has been mentioned before, but very hard to get a hold of.
Pretty Face is a damn funny romance/slapstick comedy with quite a bit of fighting. Short lived but damn funny. A tough kid gets into a bus accident and is horribly scarred. A scientist/medical surgeon finds him and reconstructs his demolished face into the only picture the kid had on him--the picture of his crush. Hilarity ensues, especially after the kid is mistaked by the girl as being her long lost twin sister.
It's a much more crass version of Ranma 1\2, but has more genuine sentiment than the manga version of Ranma.