Soul Eater
Wiki's Def: Soul Eater (ソウルイーター, Sōru Ītā?) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Atsushi Okubo. Set at the "Death Weapon Meister Academy," the series revolves around three teams consisting of a weapon meister and (at least one) human weapon. Trying to make the latter a "Death Scythe" and thus fit for use by the academy's headmaster, Shinigami, they must collect the souls of 99 evil humans and one witch, in that order or they will have to restart all over again.
Jwalker's Opinion: If any one has attempted to look for a manga outside of all the extremely popular ones, then you might have very well read or at least heard of this great manga. The Wiki's definition doesn't do the series justice. The manga has a fairly decent plot with absolutely wonderful action scenes. The characters in the manga are all unique and have their own unique traits that seperates them from each other. In short, they are memorable. Some people however tend to dislike the manga's artwork. This is one of those manga's were you either hate the art or you love it. It certainly is unique. I have never seen another manga copy its art style. THis manga definitely hits my favorite list and it should not be missed by anyone.
Extra Comments: I highly suggest you not only give this manga a try, but also the anime. The action is reeeeaaaallly good. However know that somewhere around the ending of the 1st season, its strays off the original story. It almost makes a complete U-turn. Needless to say it is still good, but the fact of the matter is the plot to the manga is alot better, and they should have stuck with it.
Fairy Tail
Wiki's Def: A young celestial wizard, Lucy Heartfilia, travels to the land of Fiore to join the magical Fairy Tail Guild. Along the way, she meets Natsu Dragneel, a teenage boy looking for a dragon named Igneel, with his best friend, Happy. Shortly after their meeting, Lucy is abducted by Bora of Prominence, who was posing as Salamander of Fairy Tail, to be sold as a slave. Natsu rescues her and reveals that he is the real Salamander and has the skills of a Dragon Slayer. He offers her membership into the guild, which she accepts, and they become a team performing various missions for the Fairy Tail guild.
Jwalker's Opinion: Once again, the definition doesn't do the series justice. This is actually one of those manga who's popularity is increasing every day. Soon, as long as the plot maintains its luster, it should be as popular as bleach and naruto. If any of you loved RaveMaster, you should love Fairy Tail considering the same author made it. Plus, some of your favorite characters are back such as Plue and Sieg (though Sieg nows goes by the name of Gerard and has no connections to Sieg besides the name in Ravemaster). Also, if one was to look real closely, you can tell that some influence from the popular anime One Piece was thrown in their for good measure. As far as the storyline goes, it is pretty cliche, however it is presented in such a way that you really don't care, considering the battle scenes are well drawn and choregraphed. The characters are quite memorable as well. If you are looking for a manga that is starting to become popular, or have an interest in manga that deals with heavy wizardry and flashy well done action sequences, I highly suggest you give this one a try. Currently, this manga is at the very top of my favorites list tying with Katekyou Hitman Reborn for the lead.
Extra Comments: The manga is absolutely excellent, however I reccomend you stay away from the anime. As far as I watched, the anime follows the manga like a shadow, but its action sequences are not as nearly dynamic as it is in the manga. I don't know if it is a matter of production costs or just plain laziness, but something went very wrong the anime as far as the fight sequences go. Hopefully it will get better in the future.
Claymore
Wiki's Def: Claymore is a dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Norihiro Yagi. In a world where humans coexist with sentient monsters called Yoma (妖魔?) that feed on human innards, an organization has created an order of half-human, half-yoma warriors to protect humans from the yoma, for a large fee. The people of this world have dubbed these warriors "Claymores" based on their swords. They are also referred to as "Silver Eyed Witches", based on their appearance and seemingly cold nature toward others. Each Claymore has a rank number which is based on their strength and ability. There are 47 ranks corresponding to the number of regions of the land/world.
A Claymore known as Clare saves a small town by killing a Yoma living there, and meets Raki, a boy whose parents were killed by the Yoma. Out of gratitude, Raki ends up following Clare from town to town during her Yoma-killing jobs. The two travel together until they are separated when Clare is forced to battle a sadistic Claymore named Ophelia. Before parting, Clare promises to find him if she survives. The story becomes a tale of revenge, as Clare seeks to confront someone from her past.
Jwalker's Opinion: Aaaaaargh. I can't make up my mind which manga is my top top top top top top favorite. But before I blow my brains out of commission, let me just say this. THis manga is freakin amazing! The plot is awsome, the action is even more so, and the artwork is completely unique. However like Soul Eater, the art work is either you hate it..or you love it. However, i won't lie to you. At first, i hated the artwork, but something happened. Since I pretty much forced myself to read it, the artwork grew on me in a way I never expected. Now I think it is some of the best art around. This is also one of those cases in where the plot is actually interesting...and most of all...unpredictable. Fellow side characters that carry almost as much importance to the main character die when you don't expect them to, and while this may seem like a bummer to some, it serves it purpose well in propelling the excellent story forward and is quickly forgiven. The action is great to! Its dynamic and never boring, however be warned. This manga, at least in my opinion, is not for the faint of heart. It is very gory and has numerous torture scenes...though don't expect it to be on the same violent side as Hellsing. This manga is not for everyone, but if you can somehow get into it, then you will probably soon agree with me that this manga is a diamond in the rough. If you are a fan of dark fantasy, or just a fan of action overall that can handle blood and gore, then I highly suggest you check this one out.
Extra Comments: The manga is still ongoing, but I believe the anime is not. Why? Well, its sort of a unique answer. First off, the anime is great. The action sequences and the voice acting are top notch (japanese voice acting...I only watch anime in its original language with subs). The anime follows the manga like a shadow in terms of plot....but once the anime gets to chapter 20, the storyline does a complete 180 and strays off the path like crazy? WHy? For some strange reason, the developers wanted to start and end the series in one entire season, so in order to do that, changes had to be made. Drastic changes that may anger faithful followers of the manga. However that doesn't mean you should skip the anime up. It is still excellent and deserves to be watched.
Hellsing
Wiki's Def: Hellsing is named after and centered around the Holy Order of Protestant Knights, originally led by Abraham Van Helsing. The mission of Hellsing is to protect Queen and Country from the undead and other supernatural forces of evil. This organization is currently led by Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, who inherited the leadership of Hellsing as a child after the death of her father. She is protected by the faithful Hellsing family butler and former Hellsing "trashman," Walter C. Dornez, and Alucard, the original and most powerful vampire that swore loyalty to the Hellsing family after being defeated by Van Helsing one hundred years before the story takes place. These formidable guardians are joined early on in the storyline by former police officer Seras Victoria, whom Alucard turned into a vampire.
As the scale and frequency of incidents involving the undead escalate in England and all around the world, Sir Integra discovers that the remnants of a Nazi group called Millennium still exist and are intent on reviving the Third Reich by creating a battalion of vampires. Millennium, Hellsing, and the Vatican section XIII Iscariot clash in an apocalyptic three-sided war in London, and Millennium reveals its true objective: to destroy the vampire Alucard, ending a feud begun during World War II.
Jwalker's Opinion: Though this one isn't particularly a favorite of mine, it is still excellent and should be read by anyone who loves action and can stand its gritty gore. Speaking of which, this manga is the bloodiest, and goriest action manga I have ever had the chance to read. If someone can point me in the direction of an even more violent manga (that doesn't include hentai), please feel free to show me. As far as the plot goes, I wouldn't call it necessarily unique, but I wouldn't call it cliche and overated either. The story is tons of fun and has alot of plot twists as well as a bit of mystery thrown in there for good measure, but of course, the real value of its sheer unadulterated goodness is within its action is which superbly well done. This isn't one of your run of the mill vampire manga. Trust me on this. If you are fan of dark fantasy, or vampires, or just plain bloody fun, then you are sure to fall in love with this particular manga.
Extra Comments: I have never watched the original anime but I was told I was blessed for it. I heard it was complete crap and didn't follow the storyline one bit, however, what I did watch was Hellsing OVA, which was a remake of the series that followed the manga's plot, and was overall 10x better. If you are going to watch a Hellsing anime, then watch the OVA. It is supposedly that much better.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
((SUBMITTED BY CLARU))
Wiki's Def: Evangelion is an apocalyptic mecha action series which revolves around the efforts by the paramilitary organization Nerv to fight monstrous beings called Angels, primarily using giant mecha called Evangelions which are piloted by select teenagers, one of whom is the primary protagonist.
Claru's Opinion: I would like to point out before anyone reads it and yells at me that this manga/anime is VERY COMPLICATED. It has lots of references to the evangelical christian religion. It also has more questions about existence and morality than anything else combined. I personally think it is a good series if you really stick to it. It will probably make you want to hurt yourself or the writer at times(coughtheendcough), but ignore this. This might not be for people who get queasy around either nudity or insane people. As both show up around most corners. Especially near the end. The main character, Shinji Ikari, is the whiniest kid in the entirety of manga/anime. Everyone in the series has a messed up life, But beyond the characters the bad guys(thats right. I said bad guys) and fights are intense and well developed. Feel free to not see the movie that ends the series as it will most likely disappoint.
Extra Comments: As a warning the anime censors the nudity but amps the violence to make up for it. The anime also ends in a drastically different way. They have remade the anime recently with better picture and a slightly changed story. I have yet to see it, but it is not produced by Geneon, so i have high hopes.
Chaosic Rune
Wiki's Def: This is actually the first manga I have come across that did not have an actual wiki page, so instead I will copy and paste the onemanga definition,
After being the only survivor in a plane crash and losing his parents Ryouga, a young boy, is troubled by nightmares and taunted by other kids at his school. Fed up, he agrees to transfer to another school intrigued by a mysterious offer and the hope they may know why or how he was able to survive the crash. Arriving at the new school, he learns he must play a little card game with three others before being accepted...one card each, one vicious monster each, one gruesome death for all save one.
Jwalker's Opinion: I found this manga by pure happen chance. I saw the name of the manga and I pretty much thought it sounded cool so I tried it out. Glad I did. Though in itself, this manga is relatively strange...picture this in your head. Card Capters and Pokemon mixed in with an uncensored R rated movie, and you pretty much got Chaosic Rune. Weird right? But its the truth, and to be truthful...I kind of like it. I have literally seen nothing like this manga before and it has always kept me interested. Keep in mind though that this manga is not for little kids. There is alot of gore, and alot of Ecchi with a bit of bad language thrown in for extra measure. If your old enough, I suggest you try this out, but overall whether you like it or not will be up to you. Though I sincerely hope you like it, this underrated manga really needs to gain a decent fanbase, which it has failed to do so far.
Extra Comments: Believe it or not, but despite this series being relatively unknown, it has already made an anime. However I have not had the pleasure of watching it just yet so I cannot pass any kind of judgement. However, I had read some reviews and I have heard some good things about it. CHeck it out when you have the time.
Psyren
Wiki's Def:Psyren is a Japanese shōnen manga series by Toshiaki Iwashiro. Psyren follows Ageha Yoshina, a high school student who is chosen by Nemesis Q as a participant in the game Psyren. The games take place in a world known initially as Psyren, which is revealed to be the real world a decade in the future. Ageha and his friends then attempt to change the future and save the world from becoming the Psyren they know.
One day while heading home, Ageha Yoshina finds a public pay phone ringing by itself. He picks it up, receiving no answer except a calling card with the word "Psyren" printed on it. After Sakurako Amamiya, a girl in Yoshina's class, disappears after mentioning "Psyren", Ageha uses the calling card in hopes of finding her. After answering a long and detailed quiz on a pay phone, he is asked if he wants to go to Psyren. The next day, he answers a ringing phone and is immediately drawn into the world of Psyren. A world which is inhabited by monsters called Tavoo. A world where players must fight to survive using the psychic powers known as PSI.
During their many trips between his world and Psyren, Ageha and his friends learn that Psyren is actually the world a decade into the future. They learn the cause of the world's destruction is a group known as W.I.S.E and a meteor known as Uroboros.
Jwalker's Opinion: A very, very, very good manga. It gets A's in all departments such as action, originality, and character development. It's plot is completely unique. I have never read anything like it before. It is all about this guy called Ageha who is accidentally thrown into the future (a full decade) to find that Japan has become a barren wasteland due to the actions of an organization called the W.I.S.E. Powerful warriors who utilize the power of Psi, to due battle. Eventually, the story becomes focused on having Ageha and his friends learning how to use Psi to defeat the W.I.S.E. Ageha eventually learns to utilize this power in the form of black energy known as Melchee's Door. A extremely powerful and dangerous ability that absorbs energy, plus, it seems to have a mind of its own. But unfortunately that description doesn't do the series justice, you just have to read it. The actions is fast and dynamic, the characters are interesting and diverse, and the artwork seems to take much inspiration from Bleach (though I could be very wrong). Just read it. You will be missing out if you don't.
Extra Comments: Unfortunately, this great manga has no anime, but it is fairly new with a small, but evergrowing fan base. Hopefully in the future it will be made into the show that follows its excellent plot and action sequences.
