Page 1 of 2

"Clean" Manga

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 5:52 pm
by *Hope*
Can anybody suggest any manga that is pretty clean and can be found at barnes and noble or sam goody? I've seen alot of manga at stores but I'm always reluctant to buy it because I don't know what's in it. If u have any suggestions I'd be happy. Also, please explain why it's rated what it is if you know why. I hate it when they don't tell you why it's rated!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 7:30 pm
by Kireihana
Well checking the age rating is always a good thing. What kind of manga are you interested in? Angelic Layer and Magic Knights Rayearth (both by CLAMP) are supposed to be excellent manga and very clean. I've never read them, but they've been suggested many times. I would also suggest Azumanga Daioh, which despite some crude jokes is also clean.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 8:44 pm
by PotBelliedCow
Try Azumanga Daioh (Kireihana and I are always recommending it hehe)...it's rated teen just b/c of some language and a few mentionings of sex, but only as gossip and such.

Gatekeepers is also a fun manga. It's rated "All Ages" by Tokyopop but it has more profanities than Azumanga...still clean though.

Anything by Yuu Watase: Fushigi Yugi (pronounced Foe-shiggity Yugi by me), Ceres, are are pretty clean but with some undetailed nudity. Not as bad as say, Chobits.

STAY AWAY FROM LOVE HINA...its the opposite of clean lol

But yea...check the rating. I made the mistake when I was new to manga and ended up getting something at Borders with lotsa lotsa gore which wasn't a very good thing since I was like 12 years old lol...Now at my Borders they have some policy about mature manga...but anyways have fun looking!!

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 10:22 pm
by Bobtheduck
I think "Kodocha" is pretty clean... Sana calls her manager an embarassing name (though Tokyopop toned it down, and used a less offensive term) and there is a little bit of language, but there's no sex and it's a very good story.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 6:15 am
by Mangafanatic
How clean are we talkin' here? If we're talking sqeaky clean, then the only thing I can say with confidence is Saint Tail-- which is cute and if you like things like sailor moon then you'll like Saint Tail too. Saint Tail has a little bit of language in the first few volumes but it pretty much ceased to exist after about volume 4.

As far as ratings go, well, that depends on what company. The only policy which I've seen in black and white is tokyopop's. I think their all ages rating means no offensive material-- but I have seen some very minor language. Then their youth rating may contain some violence-- but there's some language in those too. Again, nothing severe. And then there's the teen rating this may contain violence, brief language and some semi-nudity. And if you're asking us for some titles for clean manga, then I don't even need to go past teen.

But really, the rating system is not standard and it's different from company to company. I've been looking everywhere for a key to the rating system VIZ uses, but I don't think one exists.

Clean really varies from person to person. Define for us yur version of clean (example: "no sex, little language. I don't mind violence." or "No violence, little sex or nudity and no gory violence") and I'll come back and list some most titles for you. By the way, what kind of manga do you like? Are we talkin' girly-girl manga, semi-girly-girl manga or down right masculine manga? If you have a favorite series, you might want to list that too so we can help you to the best of our abilities.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 11:41 am
by Kireihana
Mangafanatic, I'm making you my personal manga consultant. :lol:

Oh and you mentioned stores; Barnes & Noble sells a lot of manga, but it really depends on where you live. In my area there isn't a real big demand for manga or anime, so the selection isn't very large. You should be able to find the popular titles, though. And I've never been to a Sam Goody.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 2:26 pm
by Mangafanatic
Kireihana wrote:Mangafanatic, I'm making you my personal manga consultant. :lol:



*pulls our schedule* Let's see, I think I could squeeze you in at 3:00 o'clock on October 13th. Sound good to you? ;)

But, yeah. if you have a Sam Goody as well as a Barnes and Nobles, you should have some pretty good chances of getting some good stuff. Sometimes Sam Goody even has 20% off sales on the manga!!! Yeah! *does a dance to celebrate.*

PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 5:29 pm
by kirakira
hmm, I must second Angelic Layer. They mention panties once or twice, and one of the characters says something to the effect of 'sent you opponents straight to hell', which irked me rather and got 'the pen'. The first D-N-Angel manga is good. (is the second one out yet?) The 6th Tokyo Mew Mew (the only one I've read *lol*) Had some undetailed nudity, but it wasn't sexual. It also got 'the pen'. But I don't remember any language in it.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 7:38 pm
by Mangafanatic
kirakira wrote:Had some undetailed nudity, but it wasn't sexual. It also got 'the pen'.



You have a 'the pen'?" I have a 'the pen'! We should start a club.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 6:08 pm
by *Hope*
Ok, by "clean" I mean little swearing, no nudity (or veryyyyyyyyy little) um, my mother doesn't want me to read anything with demons in it. As far as blood/gore goes, I don't want anything worse than the fourth volume of kenshin. I really like fantasy/adventure and that type of things. Despite being a girl I actually prefer shonen more. I own azumanga daioh, angelic layer, and magic knight rayearth and I've read all of saint tail. Does that help at all? I was looking into to buying D. N. Angel. Can anybody give me a plot description and/or the bad stuff in it?

PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 6:26 pm
by kirakira
Mangafanatic-*lol* ok! ^^


Hope- *salutes smartly* The basic plot is somethig to this effect:
A fourteen year-old boy named Daisuke Niwa has an extrodinary genetic 'condition'. Whenever he thinks too much about his first crush, a girl named Risa, something in his dna reacts, adn he transforms into the legendary 'Phantom Thief', Dark. Dark turns back into Daisuke whever he thinks ot mushg about the girl he likes, Risa's twin sister, Riku.

bad stuff--Daisuke accidently walks in on the girls while they're changing for PE, but you don't see anything at all, and he's horribly emabarrased. I think, emphasize, think someone slips out the 'd' word at one point, but I could be mistaken. Dark is referred to as a 'fallen angel', but he's not literally one. I think it's just a title (please, someone correct me if I'm wrong....)
Oh, and the short story in the back is about a girl who summons shikigami in order to protect her from a demonic attack. My mom wasn't too pleased about it, in all honesty, but I'm not sure if in context it's talking about actual fallen angels. Can't the origional japanese word be translated as fairy or something along those lines? I don't know, nevermind. :sweat:


I believe Gypsy wrote a review on the anime somewhere. It's more than likely far more acurate, adn would behoove you to read it. *lol*

PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 6:30 pm
by Kireihana
Mangafanatic wrote:You have a 'the pen'?" I have a 'the pen'! We should start a club.


What is this "the pen?" I'm curious.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 2:06 pm
by Knives
*Hope* wrote:Ok, by "clean" I mean little swearing, no (or veryyyyyyyyy little) um, my mother doesn't want me to read anything with demons in it. As far as blood/gore goes, I don't want anything worse than the fourth volume of kenshin. I really like / dventure and that type of things. Despite being a I actually prefer shonen more. I own azumanga daioh, angelic layer, and magic knight rayearth and I've read all of saint tail. Does that help at all? I was looking into to buying D. N. Angel. Can anybody give me a plot description and/or the bad stuff in it?

Ooh well cyborg 009 nine may have a little bit more than a little ammount of swearing but nothing more than d*mns and sh*ts, H*lls. Naruto well a medium ammount of mild language in this one. SO far though the only is the sxy no jitsu which doesnt show much.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 3:42 pm
by Mangafanatic
*Hope* wrote: I was looking into to buying D. N. Angel. Can anybody give me a plot description and/or the bad stuff in it?


Let's see, I just read DNAngel at the book store. Let's see. Okay, plot: It's about a kid who discovers on his fourteenth birthday that he sorta has a split personality and, under certain condictions, he transforms into the older, handsome theif Dark. This transformation is triggered when the poor little guy looks at the girl he's in love with. She'd in his class-- so as you can imagine, he has a bit of a time keeping his secret criminal alter-ego a secret. In the first the volume, we discover that he can only stop becoming Dark if he gets his little girl friend to like him like he likes her.

And of course, she doesn't. All I know is what we can gleen from Vol. 1.

As far as content goes, let's see. Um, there was some language. I don't remember any major violence. The only thing that sticks out in my mind is one point when the girl's locker room is under construction, so the kid's class room is turned into a makeshift girl's changing room. He, unfortuneately didn't know this and he walks in on them changing. We see nothing more than a few bras, but still-- it's ain't squeaky. There's maybe half a page of girl's grasping their t-shirts to themselves and staring at him.

Also, I don't know exactly how they explain Dark. Is he inhabiting the main character. I don't think he's portrayed as demonic. It didn't strike me that way, but let others who are more strudious in their DNAngel fandom set me straight.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 3:45 pm
by Mangafanatic
Kireihana wrote:What is this "the pen?" I'm curious.

A "the pen" (dang, I just love how that sounds. I dare you to say that without smiling!) is the instrument of doom for foul language, offensive statements, or low cut dresses. It's pretty much just our pen we use to edit our manga. Tommorrow I"m gonna "the pen" my Fruits basket. Poor Kyo is going to have a whole lot less to say.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 3:58 pm
by Inferno
Here i'll make a list of manga i've read and thought it was pretty clean:
Rorouni Kenshin (kind of bloody, but not really that bloody)
Yu Yu hakasho
One piece
Naruto (in the first vol. there is some undetailed nudedy)

I'm gaving a mental block right now so i know i have read more clean manga but i just cant remember!:sniffle: I'll add more when i remember.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 01, 2004 6:36 pm
by Lady Arianrod
I haven't read a lot of manga, but from what I've seen:

-One Piece isn't very offensive. It has a surprisingly low amount of fanservice/sexual moments, but there are a few mild curses. Nothing to be too worried about. There are some moments of violence, but the entire series is very light-hearted and unique.

-Magic Knight Rayearth is very good. Check out the first three books.... the second series quite different from the first. It does have some violence and blood, but people aren't killed. There are no curses and the only sexual content includes a female character who wears a bathing suit- like costume.

-Suki by CLAMP is a cute, interesting series that I enjoyed very much. It has a few mild curses, but the story itself is interesting and very sweet.

-Angelic Layer is also supposed to be clean and entertaining as well. It's a shojo/girl's manga by Clamp with little or no cursing and no sexual content.

- Fruits Basket has many good morals, sweet humor, and even character development. Kyou has a bad mouth, as someone said :(, but the series has little or no sexual and violent content.

-Rurouni Kenshin has an excellent plot and great morals. The art is good, but there are some instances of bloody violence. The manga is worth it though.

- People have mentioned Naruto. This manga is very good, but it's full of violence and fighting if you don't like that type of thing. There are also a handful of mild curses in each volume and humorous situations that involve perverted character(s).

Overall, it depends on what kind of manga you like. If you're looking for a quality story, you should be able to find a few manga with good plots, especially by Clamp. If you like action/shonen manga, you should expect violence, cursing, and some sexual jokes, while shojo/girl's manga usually have mild nudity (transformation scenes) or references to sexual relationships (in a romantic plotline like Fushigi Yuugi).

Just find what kind you like and then find some good manga :P

PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:53 pm
by Heart of Sword
I don't know about Fushigi Yuugi or things by Watase, it's got sex in it.

I can recommend...hmmmm, Rurouni Kenshin is safely recommended. Oh! And Fruits Basket! Some language but other than that it's good.

PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 1:22 pm
by Lynx
i'd recommend fruits basket and trigun.

PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 4:57 pm
by Heart of Sword
However Rurouni Kenshin does have some swearing. It's pretty mild but about once a book there's the finger...-.-

If you want "very little swearing" Fruits Basket has a moderate amount as Kyou's got a potty mouth. Just d***s and h***s as far as I remember though. *gets out the plunger*

And in Naruto, the main character is part fox demon (I may be wrong).

PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 4:58 pm
by Fireproof
Hikaru no Go is very clean in terms of content, but you msut know that Fujiwara no Sai is a ghost, and Hikaru said that he "feel[s] like a god above the Go board." Other than that, the manga is extremely good, and has the Fireproof stamp of approval. *Stamps a graphic novel of Hikaru no Go with a stamp which reads "Fireproofed"*

PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 6:34 pm
by Lady Arianrod
Heart of Sword wrote:And in Naruto, the main character is part fox demon (I may be wrong).


You're almost right ^__^. Naruto holds the power of a fox demon, a powerful monster-like being whose power was "sealed" into Naruto's body. The fox itself isn't really demonic... it's more of a giant wild animal that is cruel by nature.

Does that make sense? :P

PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 2004 5:18 pm
by Fireproof
Yeah, basically. It's just a giant evil critter that the head ninja sealed into Naruto to get rid of it. They refer to it as a demon, as do they a rogue ninja named Zabuza, but be aware that they could say "monster" for either, and it wouldn't affect the story one bit. There's a little bit fo swearing in Naruto, but it's mostly in moments of stress, and none of it is very bad. Also, there is a little bit of nudity when Naruto uses a technique that makes him look like a lady who, er, um, doesn't have any clothes on. but it's only one panel, and any details are covered up by smoke from the technique. Naruto's got a lot of violence, and some blood. As far as I've read, a ninja gets a n arm stuck right through them, but there are no guts or anything. Other than that stuff, people get stuck with various sharp objects or beaten to a pulp. But don't let that scare you off. It's a really good manga.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 9:28 pm
by Xavier249
Mangafanatic wrote:You have a 'the pen'?" I have a 'the pen'! We should start a club.


I'd join. :) I have had a "The pen" in the past, but recently I have ignored it. Manga I am getting includes, Rebirth, Dragon Knights, Sister Red, Juvenille Orion, Excel Saga, xxxholic, Tsubasa, Full metal panic, .hack, etc.. Yeah with the pen I would have to block a lot in some of them . . .

Of those I can only reccommend
Tsubasa
xxxholic.

Tsubasa has some cussing I think, but thus far it is clean.

xxxholic, despite it's title, is pretty much devoid of nudity. It has some cussing and some points where the space-time witch's clothes seem barely attached if you look closely (you have to really look closely!). Also there are occasional spirits, but they are more goony than evil.

from my overall collection, I'd recommend Rayearth, but you have that.

From what I have read, I reccommend
Saint tail
Wedding peach.
Cardcaptor Sakura
Man of Many Faces
Blue Inferior

The worst things in wedding peach is maybe the goony outfits.
Saint tail you have. . so that's redundant.
Cardcaptor Sakura has some strange romances, like teacher to student, but a very clean series otherwise.
Man of Many faces is great, the only thing that is odd in it is that the main character has two moms and a dad. They never explain why though.
Blue inferior is good too. can't remember it well enough to give a full analysis though.

Others that I really don't know enough about:
Gundam Seed
Gundam Wing
Angelic Layer
Clamp School Detectives
Corrector Yui
Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders
R²

Edit: I have added Crest of the Stars 1 and Get Backers 1-3 to my manga
Get backers is older Teen and therefore not recommendable.
Crest of the Stars is GREAT!! There is a little bit of casual bath nudity, but considering the sheer size of the volume its a blip on the radar

Also, I have now read Tokyo Babylon. Stay far away from that one. :sweat:

PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:16 pm
by Vash is a plant
Stay away from Rebirth, it gets sacreligious (sp?). Kenshin and Trigun are good, they are a bit violent though. Stay away from Chobits, Love Hina (or anything by Ken Akumatsu), X1999, Muki-chan in wonderland ( a lot of fan service..)... Um.. GTO has a lot of crude humor, but I like the undertones of the series, the whole teacher trying to help his students and teach them things of life but in the most unique ways. Revolutionary Girl Utena has some suggestive themes, main homosexuality. Umm... that's all this one has to say...

PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:01 pm
by Xavier249
Vash is a plant wrote: Stay away from Rebirth, it gets sacreligious (sp?).
Well, the main good guy is a vampire after all. :sweat: Currently it is one of my favorite series though. The fight scenes are superb, and not devoid of blood. Though I can't stand the occasional nudity that occurs.
As to why the series is sacrilegious(looked it up to sp.) is the way spirituality is dealt with. . . . . Good is not associated with light nor is Dark associated with evil. The two are only as opposite as water and fire. Power is all that matters. . . . . Yeah. That is screwy.
For the most part of it, I think of any anime/manga/mawha that has a vampire as in a world devoid of God. After all how could a vampire exist under God? They weren't given the chance to chose either good or evil, rather evil was thrust upon them without a real chance for free will. Hmm, yeah I am still a fan of vampires though. . . not sure why...

Vash is a plant wrote:Kenshin and Trigun are good, they are a bit violent though.
Really? Trigun. . gun?
Mostly though they are about guys who are trying not to kill. While I thought Trigun was okay, I know it to be a great series. Kenshin on the other hand is one of my favs.
The japanese shorten the name of Ruroni Kenshin to Ruroken.

Vash is a plant wrote:Stay away from Chobits, Love Hina (or anything by Ken Akumatsu),
Oddly enough Chobits is pretty good. yEah right!!!!!! :eh: Avoid chobits. WAY too much nudity/ jokes about porn. Hmm. . . . similar problem with Love hina. A lot of awkward situations for the main character that almost inherently end in a panty shot/hot springs nudity. Really off-color humor.

Vash is a plant wrote:X1999, Muki-chan in wonderland ( a lot of fan service..)...

X1999? why? Why is it so bad? Umm seriously, I liked this series so . . . umm. . give me a second. OH!! Violence in the form of fights and, nudity when it is born... Plus the inordinate focus on uncontrollable destiny. Oh yeah and it has the two charas from Tokyo Babylon adding in the yaoi factor. Umm. . . . why did I like it? Hmm . . . . Clamp series. The art rocks, Sorata and Arashi rock, and for some reason I liked the ending... .
Vash is a plant wrote:Um.. GTO has a lot of crude humor, but I like the undertones of the series, the whole teacher trying to help his students and teach them things of life but in the most unique ways.

No experience in GTO. . . next.

Vash is a plant wrote:Revolutionary Girl Utena has some suggestive themes, main homosexuality. Umm... that's all this one has to say...
umm same, I can only regurgitate what others have told me. Utena is bad!! :P
Yeah Xavier will be silent now...

PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2004 9:26 pm
by Vash is a plant
Reguardless of the guys in Trigun trying not to kill, there's still violence. The same with Kenshin. I love both series, but am just saying that they can get violent...

X1999... have you seen the movie for that? Seriously, it's an odd series... Personally, I didn't find the series appealing...

I liked Rebirth, thought it was really good, but when Desh says to some guy, "Your God has foresaken you," I think it's time to put it away...

PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2004 7:55 am
by Mangafanatic
*Manga's voice comes over a P.A which mysteriously appeared in the thread.* For the sake of *hope*, we must consider the purpose of this thread recall what she was looking for. The young lady would like some CLEAN manga. I haven't read all of the manga you've listed but I have read some of it.

Alice the 19th was briefly mentioned, but there is an extended nude sequence (and a very UNNECCESSARY nude sequence I might add with great sadness--because I really wanted to finish that one :waah!: .) I'd say any manga with alot on nudity it would probably get out of the clean manga category. Please, let's stay in the family friendly bracket. You know-- the Saint Tail area of the manga.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2004 2:31 pm
by Xavier249
Gomen Nasai! I'm sorry, I was just trying to clear up why he didn't reccommend said series, and to mention the few positive things in them. A simple comment like "It's sacrilegious" could mean that it has a God D---- it in it. No offense meant. I will be quiet now because I have already said my piece on clean manga. Good luck in your search! :)

PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2004 8:12 pm
by kirakira
Ah, beata_mishi, with all due respect I'm afraid I haffta disagree with you about Inuyasha. I've looked through several volumes and everyone of them had a partially naked woman in it. I supose it is different for a girl like Hope to be reading that than a guy, but still. A naked woman is a naked woman, and having brothers and knowing how much guys struggle over things like that, I cannot reccomend it. Should we really be supporting something like that anyway? That being said, it really wouldn't fall under the category of mother-pleasing clean, which I think we were going for here.

*bows and sits down to eat a plum*