CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

yeah. so, what are some mangas that you believe have really, really good plots/plot twists? here's a list of mangas that, i believe, have some of THE best plots ever:

20th Century Boys
Monster
Berserk
Bleach
Death Note (gotta give 'em some credit...)

Hmm...

Full Moon wo Sagashite (Great character development, a good *and unexpected* plot twist, and a plot that makes you care about what happens at the end).

Death Note (Really good character development, original idea, excellent execution of plot, keeps the viewer very interested). Granted, I've only watched the anime, but I hear they're similar enough. XD

Rurouni Kenshin (Wonderful characters, a very fun plot that keeps the reader interested through all 28 volumes).

That's all that comes to mind for now. XD

Death Note
Fruits Basket
Get Backers

And probably some others that have... 'fwooshed' out of my mind. xD;

Battle Angel
HELLSING
Berserk
Deathnote

and FMA is pretty cool

Hellsing's rather light on plot, but what it lacks in storytelling it makes up for in premise.

As for plot advancement, I'd say 20th Century Boys, Death Note, FullMetal Alchemist, and Monster would be my essential selection.

Fullmetal Alchemist and Death Note immedately come to mind for me. Fruits Basket as well.

The Kindaichi Case Files have great twists and turns.

Fish and Chips wrote:As for plot advancement, I'd say 20th Century Boys, Death Note, FullMetal Alchemist, and Monster would be my essential selection.

yeah! another urasawa fan here!! anyways, welcome to CAA fish and chips.

jon_jinn wrote:yeah! another urasawa fan here!! anyways, welcome to CAA fish and chips.

Urasawa is a genius. Good to know I'm not the only aficionado of his work here.

And cheers for dusting off the welcome mat.

Firefighter Daigo because it's all about a guy who wants to do his best and save people... that's not a twist, though. I've only read two (non-consecutive) volumes, but the plots were not hard to follow. They seemed to be almost stand-alone, yet linked together with the main plot.

Have I mentioned this series enough you can tell I love it? Really, I should buy more. (I should be saving money for other things right now, though.)

Without a doubt, Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Death Note.

Hunter x Hunter actually has a pretty good plot too. though it is rather generic, the characters and unique abilities make the manga quite original.

DEATH NOTE. Definitely. There's a plot twist about every, what, third page? XD
xxx_HoLiC ~ I like how it's comedy, but with a neat coming-of-age-ish subplot and a good message about dealing with your problems [having to commit and stay committed to dealing with them].
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle ~ The theme of Syaoran's selfless love is touching.

.rai//

good gosh. i mentioned berserk but i never realized that the plot was so thick. seriously. the manga's like all about character development.

I've never heard of 20th Century Boys... I'll have to look that up as soon as I've caught up with D. Grey Man.

Other than Death Note and a certain DnD title, I will have to think about what mangas really had good plots. It's often very easy to confuse character development with plot.

ikimasu wrote:I've never heard of 20th Century Boys... I'll have to look that up as soon as I've caught up with D. Grey Man.

20th Century Boys is by Naoki Urasawa, author of Monster. 20th Century Boys is a drama mystery set in both 1970s and an alternate future version (Although not Sci-Fi style future) of Japan. It takes place over these two time zones and tells the story of a group of people it falls upon to save the world. This manga is certainly one of the most intriguing i've read for some time, with some excellent mysteries that keep you guessing right till the final plot twist. As with all of Urasawa's mangas you quickly end up feeling for the characters because unlike in many manga, they are based in reality. This results in you genuinely feeling emotionally involved with them as their fates unfold adminst extraordinary events.
Initially I wondered how the initial plot device of saving the world from the evil 'friend's' plans could possibly last past 10 volumes. This is to the merit of the series though, it just goes to show to what extent the plot subtly unfolds.
The artwork is of an excellent quality throughout with some truly impressive and detailed final panels. The level of emotion involved in the characters faces and the ease of which the plot could be followed through the frames was brilliant and almost movie-esque at times. The translation is also good for the series with the translator explaining many aspects of japanese culture which the uninitiated might not know at first and also explaining at times why he has chosen or decided to change particular uses of phrases throughout. I wholeheartedly recommend the series to anyone who likes character and plot based manga with a mystery element.

Warrior 4 Jesus wrote:The Kindaichi Case Files have great twists and turns.

Yes. The mysteries in them are excellent.

"Remote" is another great manga title that also happens to be a mystery. It was penned by one of the KCF writers and is IMO much more unique as far as how the plots are set up.

Plotwise, GantZ, but I don't recommend it to anyone here.

Berserk.
Death Note.
Flame of Recca.
Rurouni Kenshin.

I've read a lot of manga in my life, but the manga whose plot my interested me and maintained the most complexity through its duration was Fruits Basket. While I may only be 15 volumes in, the depth of the characters and mystery surrounds the Sohmas has won it a place in my heart as one of the best written manga that I've ever read.

Actually, I would disagree on Gantz. So far it gives the appearance of potentially having a good plot, but even after 200+ chapters barely anything has actually been revealed. It could very well yet prove to be a manga with a pointless plot that merely happens to have a decent premise. In any case, the pacing is much, much too slow for my taste (it ranks up there with Vagabond as far as pages per plot movement).

Tom Dincht wrote:Plotwise, GantZ, but I don't recommend it to anyone here.

yes. it is rather hard to recommend. i, personally, believe that Gantz's forte is its character development. yes. the plot progresses at an incredibly slow pace, but the characters do develope in a very real way. it's very interesting to see how the act around one another and how they work in order to carry out the missions assigned to them. still though, this manga isn't really on my "fav. manga list".