i'm also a low level reader myself, so the things i read are always a compromise between what i can read and what i really want to read.
学校怪談 **
this is the first manga i read. a collection of short horror stories and urban legends, each around ten pages long. it's a bit harder than yotsubato, mostly because you get a lot more vocabulary. at 650yen for 400 pages i feel it's a good value for money. has furigana, except for author's notes(but they're pretty simple).
不安の種**
similar to 学校怪談, but even shorter stories, around five pages. urban legends, as told by locals. each story has a picture and name of the place where the incident supposedly happened. stories range from silly to some really creepy ones. has furigana and there's a movie coming out this year.
赤色エレジー ***
this is actually quality manga. it's partly autobiographical story about an animator trying to make his own manga. told in a non-linear way, with often stream-of-consciousness passages and inventive drawings. resembles french new wave films a lot and is probably one of the most famous independent manga from japan.
unfortunately, seiichi hayashi is best known for making illustrations for 小梅 sweets and influencing that guy who created 'tatami galaxy'.
vocabulary and grammar are actually pretty simple and it's not text heavy, but three starts go for the absence of an obvious plot. sometimes i would get confused about who is saying what and to whom. no furigana.
犬神博士 ****
this is one of the best from suehiro maruo and the only one i read in japanese. it was a tedious read, because he uses a lot of old style kanji and obscure vocabulary. five(or six?) horror stories about demons and black magic. it's ero-guro style, so if you don't like explicit sex and violence, avoid it. but maruo is one of the best manga artists and his drawings here are simply amazing. no furigana.
ps. i would be grateful if anyone could recommend some authors like seiichi hayashi or maruo, i.e. non-otaku stuff with non-generic manga drawings(like pointy hair and big eyes). i have two taiyo matsumoto books, but they are written in kansai-ben and are a bit of a pain to read.
学校怪談 **
this is the first manga i read. a collection of short horror stories and urban legends, each around ten pages long. it's a bit harder than yotsubato, mostly because you get a lot more vocabulary. at 650yen for 400 pages i feel it's a good value for money. has furigana, except for author's notes(but they're pretty simple).
不安の種**
similar to 学校怪談, but even shorter stories, around five pages. urban legends, as told by locals. each story has a picture and name of the place where the incident supposedly happened. stories range from silly to some really creepy ones. has furigana and there's a movie coming out this year.
赤色エレジー ***
this is actually quality manga. it's partly autobiographical story about an animator trying to make his own manga. told in a non-linear way, with often stream-of-consciousness passages and inventive drawings. resembles french new wave films a lot and is probably one of the most famous independent manga from japan.
unfortunately, seiichi hayashi is best known for making illustrations for 小梅 sweets and influencing that guy who created 'tatami galaxy'.
vocabulary and grammar are actually pretty simple and it's not text heavy, but three starts go for the absence of an obvious plot. sometimes i would get confused about who is saying what and to whom. no furigana.
犬神博士 ****
this is one of the best from suehiro maruo and the only one i read in japanese. it was a tedious read, because he uses a lot of old style kanji and obscure vocabulary. five(or six?) horror stories about demons and black magic. it's ero-guro style, so if you don't like explicit sex and violence, avoid it. but maruo is one of the best manga artists and his drawings here are simply amazing. no furigana.
ps. i would be grateful if anyone could recommend some authors like seiichi hayashi or maruo, i.e. non-otaku stuff with non-generic manga drawings(like pointy hair and big eyes). i have two taiyo matsumoto books, but they are written in kansai-ben and are a bit of a pain to read.
Edited: 2013-06-11, 3:38 pm