Hikaru no Go: (Difficulty: * * )
It's a manga about the game of Go. This manga apparently was quite influential just for it's beautiful layout/design. The visual impact of reading it is very engaging. The characters are life-like, especially when they are coniving.
Plot: Hikaru, kind of a rabble-rouser kid who gets bad grades, discovers an ancient blood-stained Go board in his grandfather's attic. He touches the board and out comes the ghost of Fujiwarano Sai, a genius Go player only Hikaru can see who used to teach Go to royalty a thousand years ago. Hikaru goes from being dismissive of the game, to everyone around him discovering that he has an innate talent. He rises in the ranks chasing his rival, the kid prodigy, Touya Akira.
The anime is good as well and mirrors the manga well. I don't think it's too hard to read, there is furigana, and many terms that are specific to the world of Go.
I guess everyone knows Death Note. Difficulty ***/****
And then there are Chibimarukochan and good old Sazae-san (** and * difficulty, respectively). Chibimarukochan is aimed at kids, but I find it's not as easy as Yotsubato or Hikaru because there are less visual clues for the plot and lots of dry humor dialogue. It's a huge long-running franchise like Doreamon so try to get the old stuff.
@Twomorecharacters, I haven't read Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo yet, but I enjoyed the show. Taken with a grain of salt, it's pretty edutaining. Sometimes I like to watch something before I read it, that way I know if I'll like the book and I won't be upset about how they interpreted it for the screen. Also, if you watch the movie or anime first, then you can read the book and gain more insight into the characters' back stories.
Sorry I don't have a lot of manga experience so I can't recommend too many.
It's a manga about the game of Go. This manga apparently was quite influential just for it's beautiful layout/design. The visual impact of reading it is very engaging. The characters are life-like, especially when they are coniving.
Plot: Hikaru, kind of a rabble-rouser kid who gets bad grades, discovers an ancient blood-stained Go board in his grandfather's attic. He touches the board and out comes the ghost of Fujiwarano Sai, a genius Go player only Hikaru can see who used to teach Go to royalty a thousand years ago. Hikaru goes from being dismissive of the game, to everyone around him discovering that he has an innate talent. He rises in the ranks chasing his rival, the kid prodigy, Touya Akira.
The anime is good as well and mirrors the manga well. I don't think it's too hard to read, there is furigana, and many terms that are specific to the world of Go.
I guess everyone knows Death Note. Difficulty ***/****
And then there are Chibimarukochan and good old Sazae-san (** and * difficulty, respectively). Chibimarukochan is aimed at kids, but I find it's not as easy as Yotsubato or Hikaru because there are less visual clues for the plot and lots of dry humor dialogue. It's a huge long-running franchise like Doreamon so try to get the old stuff.
@Twomorecharacters, I haven't read Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo yet, but I enjoyed the show. Taken with a grain of salt, it's pretty edutaining. Sometimes I like to watch something before I read it, that way I know if I'll like the book and I won't be upset about how they interpreted it for the screen. Also, if you watch the movie or anime first, then you can read the book and gain more insight into the characters' back stories.
Sorry I don't have a lot of manga experience so I can't recommend too many.
Edited: 2013-06-09, 3:23 pm