So hard to find serious, mature manga for adults. Any suggestions?

I

InnerSpace

Hey guys, could any of you help recommend some serious, mature manga (or comics?) In the same category of maturity as Berserk, Akira, or Vegabond. I want as little shonen and tropey stuff as possible, and of course more mature artwork style too. It seems incredibly rare for modern manga to deliver on this.

What Ive read so far (that matches what i'm looking for:
- Vegabond
- Ghost in the Shell
- Blame
- Akira
- Vinland Saga (slightly too shonen)
- AoT (slightly too shonen)
- Aliens (comic)
- Biomega
- Slaine (comic)

Eden: An endless world looks good, but I the last volumes were never released in English. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Define "mature".

Anyway, I'd recommend Shinichi Sakamoto's Innocent, which tells the story of the executioner Charles Sanson, against the backdrop of the French Revolution. It's a fascinating story about a fascinating period of history, told with stunning artwork, so I don't think you'll go wrong there.

I'd recommend sticking with Vinland Saga and Attack on Titan, if you haven't read all of them. I'd hardly call either "too shonen". AoT, for example, is in many ways a subversion of the Shonen, as you will see in its later parts. The transformation of its protagonist was something to behold.
 
Yeah, Vinland Saga gets really introspective in its back half, so I also recommend sticking with it. Also seconding Naoki Urasawa's Monster, as well as another work of his, 20th/21st Century Boys. Devilman and Fist of the North Star are (demographically speaking) literally "shonen", but certainly not in any 'trope-y' way; and both influenced Berserk.
 
guuuuuuuuts said:
Battle Angel Alita. Claymore. Lone Wolf and Cub. Blade of the Immortal. Monster.
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Thanks will check some of these. I actually read Claymore too, which is really cool, although gets more shonen as it went on unfortunately. I watched the Monster anime, didn't know it was a manga. Great example actually, where its a completely adult story, it just so happens to be animated/illustrated.

Lawliet said:
Define "mature".
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Vegabond is probably the most mature anime I have read. Complex themes, impeccable art-style (best ever done?), no tropes, strong dialogue. Nothing cheesey, childish, with generic anime/manga style tropes and styles. Vinland and AoT does unfortunately fall into this sometimes, but dont get me wrong I love them. They are very unqiue though i'd say, hence their global fame. They satisfy both young and mature audiences because they do both segments well and with creativity.

Will def check Innocent!

Zephyr42 said:
Yeah, Vinland Saga gets really introspective in its back half, so I also recommend sticking with it.
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Ive enjoyed all the released books so far. Hoping for more politics as it goes on, we'll see. Some of the dialogue and character interactions are a touch shonen though, like when Floki throws giant spears 50 miles, the big overly characterized facial experessions, and some of the dialogue with the chain man and his goons. I dont mind touches of humor here or there but it is a bit younger for me. I'm approach 40 so my tolerance is quite low for these kinds of things. Even the later volumes of Berserk got really bad for it for my own personal taste, very shonen at times.
 
Why the allergy to shonen, my good fella? :ganishka:

Shonen can be great too. I mean, One Piece is a prime example. Behind all the gags and silliness and shoneny stuff, it's a wonderful and touching story that deals with many, many mature themes. It's one of the best stories ever. I'd probably put it as my second favorite work of fiction, after Berserk, and its author, Eiichiro Oda, as our best living storyteller, since Miura-sensei is no longer with us.

InnerSpace said:
Thanks will check some of these. I actually read Claymore too, which is really cool, although gets more shonen as it went on unfortunately. I watched the Monster anime, didn't know it was a manga. Great example actually, where its a completely adult story, it just so happens to be animated/illustrated.
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Monster is pretty good. And I will also support the recommendation of 20th Century Boys.

InnerSpace said:
Vegabond is probably the most mature anime I have read. Complex themes, impeccable art-style (best ever done?), no tropes, strong dialogue. Nothing cheesey, childish, with generic anime/manga style tropes and styles. Vinland and AoT does unfortunately fall into this sometimes, but dont get me wrong I love them. They are very unqiue though i'd say, hence their global fame. They satisfy both young and mature audiences because they do both segments well and with creativity.

Will def check Innocent!
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Well, like I said above, you can have mature themes, great art, and so on in a shonen (granted, most of them don't have that). Conversely, you can have cheesyness and 'childish' shit in a seinen. It depends on what you pick.

InnerSpace said:
Ive enjoyed all the released books so far. Hoping for more politics as it goes on, we'll see. Some of the dialogue and character interactions are a touch shonen though, like when Floki throws giant spears 50 miles, the big overly characterized facial experessions, and some of the dialogue with the chain man and his goons. I dont mind touches of humor here or there but it is a bit younger for me. I'm approach 40 so my tolerance is quite low for these kinds of things. Even the later volumes of Berserk got really bad for it for my own personal taste, very shonen at times.
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Well, for Vinland Saga, the ridiculous displays of strength and so on are meant to reflect the tall tales told in classic Norse legends. That's why you see Thorfinn leaping like he's been shot out of a cannon or Thorkell mowing down dozens of men casually. It's not trying to be "shonen".

As for Berserk, it always had humor of the kind you mention, and the better for it!

Anyway, I'm not trying to say your taste is wrong or anything. Just providing another perspective. I hope you enjoy the above recommendations!
 
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I just thought of one for you... check out Dorohedoro. The Netflix anime is really fun.
Blade of the Immortal also has a solid anime adaptation on Amazon Prime. It does get very dark and disturbing.
 
Read Fukumoto stuff namely Legend of the Strongest Man Kurosawa, it's about a guy in his 40s that's a construction worker deciding he wants to finally make friends and do something better with his life. It's hilarious and emotionally engaging. Kaiji is great too although you'll have to wait on the official release to come out since the first part isn't fully translated in manga form, or watch the anime and then catch up on the manga after where it ends. It's a bout a loser in his 20's getting into massive debt and ending up in insane gambling games set up by the ultra rich in order to force people into further debt and enslave them. The art is very surprising and hard to take seriously at a glance but once you get over that it really does show the emotional state of the characters very well.

Also, expand your horizons a bit and look at stuff that inspired/influenced Berserk, if Miura liked it and was influenced by it, even if at a glance you'd call it "too shonen" it's got merit for sure.

Devilman looks goofy with its early 70s manga art but the story is very mature and is a huge influence on all the "darker mature" manga you probably enjoy. The expressiveness of the art and the paneling is top tier. It's a great starting point for getting into more classic series and seeing the evolution of manga while being amazing in its own right.

Ashita no Joe is a great manga about a violent cynical young man starting to put that energy into competitive boxing, the art is amazing, the characters are great, and the development of Joe is one of my favorite stories in manga.

Tezuka's stuff is also very important and worth reading. Outside of his "kiddie" stuff like Astro Boy you have his "Gekiga" stuff that was a sort of response to the manga creators trying to surpass his style and be more mature, stuff like MW, Ode to Kirihito, Adolf, Buddha, etc.

Remember you're reading comics which are supposed to be entertaining and fun even when telling interesting subversive stories. What would Berserk be without cool action, a giant sword, really fun expressions alongside the badass ones, and moments of levity?
 
Been reading some gambling manga lately. Give Akagi or Kaiji a look if you're into that sort of thing. Be forewarned, the pacing can be unbearable sometimes though.
 
guuuuuuuuts said:
I hear a lot of good things about Kingdom
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As someone that loves Kingdom and has been reading it for years, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is looking for a "mature" manga. If they find Vinland Saga and Attack on Titan "slightly too shonen", Kingdom is just straight up shonen at times.
Though if you're looking for an action drama with huge scale battles and a ton of chapters focusing on war strategies, you might enjoy it.
 
Keratos23 said:
As someone that loves Kingdom and has been reading it for years, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is looking for a "mature" manga. If they find Vinland Saga and Attack on Titan "slightly too shonen", Kingdom is just straight up shonen at times.
Though if you're looking for an action drama with huge scale battles and a ton of chapters focusing on war strategies, you might enjoy it.
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It is also based on historical events, so that's a bonus.


Another manga the OP could check out is Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin.
 
I think teen and adult manga all have merit and can be enjoyed at any age and honestly I don't really like manga that are too dark and "mature" and have little to much else, I love berserk because its filled with both dark and light moments and everything in-between because that's how life is, it's full of different feelings and emotions. Honestly I stopped reading a lot of manga after I found Berserk because berserk was the series I was looking for, it literally had everything I could ever want from a series but I do still read manga of course, and shonen series too mainly one piece. mature stories with a realistic artstyle? with and no shonen tropes? Personally I haven't read that many mangas, but I read Gantz a while ago, to be honest it could easily be a shonen series if it just cut out all the nudity and blood but it was a fun read and I liked the artstyle. Another one is monster amazing story and villain and it conveys a really deep message and philosophy by the end. Another one was Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin it's pretty good it's about these teenagers sent to jail and their lives before and after but I still haven't finished it yet it's extremely depressing. I also started reading
To Your Eternity so far so good, it's a very interesting concept for a main character and I'm interested to see how it progresses at the moment it feels a lot like small arcs and a different group of characters each time to progress the main character who basically starts out as a mindless being that gradually gains emotion and develops on his journey.
To your eternity
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Pretty much any work by Asano Inio, but his most recent work, Dead dead demon's dedededestruction, is prolly most 'reader-friendly' for people new to his manga. His meticulous attention to detail is very reminiscent of Berserk, although their styles are entirely different. His most famous manga is probably Goodnight Pun Pun, but it's very dark work and deals with difficult topics. Only read if you're in a good position mentally.
Other than that - and what has already been mentioned above - Otoyomegatari, Nobunaga no Chef, and Chihayafuru are all reads you shouldnt miss out on. They excel and stand out in everything from the story to characters and art.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou has some of my favourite takes on a post apoc world next to GIrls' last tour: https://myanimelist.net/manga/4/Yokohama_Kaidashi_Kikou
Nana is one of the best drama manga I've read to date. Really sad it's on hiatus due to author's health.
All of the manga I mentioned are free of shonen elements and anime tropes, are historically and culturally accurate, and with splendid art, believable characters you cant help but love, and a story u cant help but want to see to the end.
 
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Shigurui happens to come with Miura's seal of recommendation. Actually, that's the only reason I started reading it, I was immediately turned off by the cover — seemed like a gore for the sake of gore kind of manga. I haven't finished it yet, but I can see why he thought it was the most interesting historical manga at the time.
 
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