I have two young girls in my extended family, ages 8 and 10. I have been gifting / recommending them movies, TV shows, and so on that is as free of current year as possible. The older one has shown interest in reading manga, which I know nothing about, so I am turning to you fine gentlemen in hopes of getting some quality reading for her.
Some points to consider is that it should be something that is translated to local, which is probably the more popular stuff. She has also shown interest in horror movies and such, so some scary / spooky / supernatural elements I guess are fine. Bonus points for having good father figures, I found that to have a good effect on girls.
Not sure if anything else is of import, so, if you have any recommendations, fire away!
Thanks!
I think I already recommended this to Smith1980, but it's worth repeating: I think lots of girls in Japan love Natsume's Book of Friends. I enjoy it too, although I've only seen the anime. A solitary boy who can see youkai inherits a notepad full of their names, from his dead grandmother. He's educated about this notepad by a powerful spirit in the guise of a lucky cat, who becomes his grudging bodyguard and they go on to have ghost adventures together. It's like Mushishi but more playful and in my (probably unpopular) opinion better, notwithstanding a sprinkling of sappiness which should appeal to young girls.
Spooky elements are there but very mild. Natsume's growing relationship with his foster family is a background theme but it's wholesome. As family friends, they've taken him in in their twilight years, so he has a bit of a personal journey where he learns to appreciate them as parent figures who care about him rather than strangers whom he's inconveniencing.
My Ordinary Life, also known as Nichijou. Its a silly manga and anime posing as slice-of-life, but is really more akin to a sketch comedy. Funny and very child-friendly.
I'd also recommend Shuna's Journey by the one and only Hayao Miyazaki. It's not quite a manga, it's more like what's called an "emonogatari." It reads more like a book with illustrations, although there are some sections that have a manga-like structure where character dialogue and thoughts are depicted in word balloons. But it's a good story, the illustrations are beautiful, and there's definitely an element of horror in it the girls should enjoy.
Emphatically seconded.
Underneath the sketches and the ordinariness, there's a lot of endearing and surprisingly deep...what I'd venture to call existential commentary, nicely packaged for 'all ages' and refreshingly lighthearted compared to the R&M-tier stuff that's strewn about over here.
This sells it pretty well.
How current does it need to be? I found kamikaze kaitou Jeanne and full moon wo sagashite pretty decent
Does not need to be current at all. As you can imagine I have been mostly getting them older stuff, as I do not trust most new stuff.
Odd recommendation but my niece loved Fist of the North Star but maybe she is an outlier
Could work, if it is not as gory as the anime.
Is way worse
Seriously? I will read it then.
Doesn't exactly fit what you're asking for, but I've heard good things about Witch Hat Atelier.
Young female main character, interesting and compelling male pseudo-father figure, excellent art, and a pretty unique fantasy story and setting.
I can't speak to whether it goes off the rails in its later volumes, but the vibe I got when I checked it out was that it was not woke.
Worth noting the author is known to be a wokeoid. I've never read it so I have zero idea if it leaks into his work or not, so proceed with caution.
Had zero idea. That's too bad.
Not sure about the extent of his illness, but he was posting drawings of his characters holding Palestinian flags. Regardless of one's opinions on all that bullshit I think it's pretty safe to assume. 99% of the people that would do that are insufferable.
Thanks, I will check it out.
Don't know about Manga but I ran into a couple somewhat educational and funny slice of life Anime.
One is Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater, a show about a high school fishing club that's all about some girls learning to fish, no relationship drama, superheros, demons or whatever. https://9animetv.to/watch/diary-of-our-days-at-the-breakwater-2066 (Unfortunately the dub is kinda .. cringe .. because they picked the thickest Southern US accent for some of the characters, but it exists.)
The other is Laid-Back Camp, a show about another high school club, this time outdoorsy/camping stuff. Teaches about camping and stuff like that. It's reasonably funny and relaxing. Haven't watched more than a couple of episodes yet though, so no idea if it goes off the rails later on: https://9animetv.to/watch/laid-back-camp-242
Ghibli anime should all be fine.
Since this is a request for manga specifically, I will go ahead and vouch for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind as being a good work.
Already gave / recommended them anything Ghibli, I think except for Mononoke Hime, that looked like it should wait a few years.
It is hard to say since I am not a young girl, but I would like to recommend some stories I have seen that are pretty family friendly and the topics they cover stay pretty tame. As well as having positive messaging which I personally appreciate.
A Delinquent's Life Hacks - young "mean" looking guy gives people life hack tips in little slice of life stories, great positive stories in terms of families, relationships, friendships, strangers
Teasing Master Takagi-San - slice of life story about 2 kids(middle school i think) that "compete" in different little contests each day, eventually fall in love and have a kid in a follow-up series called (More) Teasing Master Takagi-San
Horimiya - high-school romance that does not have fan service, and has generally positive stories about the kids coming into their own, some overcoming bullying and general teenage angst
Haikyuu!! - volleyball story, focuses on all males on the series but is a fun good series and would suggest it to anyone into manga/anime personally
Spy x Family - one of the more obvious/popular ones, fun family story
Tomo-chan is a girl! - romance/slice of life series, a bit of fan service but not much and is a fun + complete series
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity - high school romance series, no fan service, great role model characters in terms of both families and friendships in this one that I appreciate, even if it is overly dramatic at times.
I'll leave it at that, in my mind that would all be appropriate for my daughters but I have no kids so I will leave it up to you to judge those, and I appreciate you watching out for your kids in a good way.
I would also like to suggest looking at a website like this;
https://www.mangasee123.com/
To look up the series we have mentioned here, not only can you see a quick summary about each one, but you can see a few chapters of them, or anything else they may have an interest in to see what the content looks like.
I'm not really into manga, but I remember K-0n, Azumanga, and Yotsuba being relatively safe titles. Do your own due diligence before gifting:
https://myanimelist.net/manga/13001/K-On?q=Keion&cat=manga
https://myanimelist.net/manga/85/Azumanga_Daioh?q=Azumanga%20Daioh&cat=manga
https://myanimelist.net/manga/104/Yotsuba_to
Side note: There is no Japanese equivalent to the Comics Code like in the US. Just because something has cute art doesn't mean it's meant for kids. When researching anime/manga, you might run into the following terms that can be helpful to filter content:
shojo: manga or anime intended primarily for girls
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShoujoDemographic?from=Main.Shojo
shonen: manga or anime intended primarily for boys
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ShonenDemographic?from=Main.Shonen
josei: manga or anime intended primarily for women
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Josei
seinen: manga or anime intended primarily for men
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/seinen
ecchi: soft-core pornographic or sexually suggestive anime and manga
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ecchi
hentai: sexually explicit anime and manga
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Hentai
LIST OF ANIME/MANGA GENRES:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AnimeGenres
for some older (as in published 15+ years ago) ones
angelic layer (people engage in fighting tournaments using angels - dolls that the owners design and create clothes for and then control via some kind of mind impulse unit thing)
cardcaptor sakura (magical girl manga main character has to collect cards created by a powerful wizard that have been released and cause havoc)
azumanga daioh (high school comedy pretty funny nuff said)
Because of ages I'd need more detail on how much violence and the like is acceptable, I can only tentatively recommend these with that in mind:
My Daughter left the nest and returned an S-Rank Adventurer: this one also has an Anime but the manga is great and a perfect example of a father figure in one of the main characters, has some violent and dark elements.
My Daughter is the Final boss: regression Manwha in which as the title suggests, the daughter becomes the final boss as the world nears destruction, the father dies in his last attempt to make her stop abd regresses to when his ex first introduces his daughter to him so he decides to be a better father and help his daughter avoid a dark future.
I'm a lot more holding off on the horror stuff I know as I wouldn't give without guardian permission.
As long as the violence is not too bloody it should be ok. They really liked some Bud Spencer & Terence Hill movies, as well as some Jackie Chan stuff. As for horror it should not be gory of course, but being chased by a somewhat scary monster and similar should be ok too.
Right that helps, I'll update if I run across anything else
There is also the fact that Japanese children aren't quite as protected against stuff as Western ones. So stuff they'd find blase and not even register to be "traumatized" by would set off alarms here.
Like the first couple pages of Dragon Ball, an otherwise pretty easy recommend for children, has Goku's dick out a bunch of times. Which was/is just normal to see in a lot of Japanese stuff.
I dont recommend Sailor moon manga for a 10 year old .(people think sailor moon is kid friendly just cause they saw the very watered down 1990's 4kids anime version of it. but the manga is not ) Officially its for 13+
Tokyo Mew Mew/Mew Mew Power - a cute magical girl story about a girl who gets infused with animal DNA and gets magic powers to protect the planet from invading aliens
Campfire Cooking In Another World With My Absurd Skill Involves Food That Boosts Game Players' Stats - light-hearted isekai about a man who is transported to a fantasy world and discovers he has access to a magical online shop that lets him buy cooking supplies, which he uses to make delicious food out of the local ingredients
I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level - a girl is reincarnated into a fantasy world as a witch, but she stays in the forest killing slimes, becoming absurdly powerful by sheer grinding. Eventually she sets out to explore the world more and has adventures
The girl from the other side. A demon raises a little girl because she has the power to heal.
Inuyasha is basically crack cocaine for young girls. They will walk out of it with their "type" in men set in stone for the rest of their life.
Its also a good starting point to spring them into the "isekai" genre. Which is the current big thing and has the largest collection of options to pick from for non-romance works.
For 'diametric opposite of $CURRENT_YEAR' with good role models of all kinds, ya really can't go wrong with Ghibli.
I would suggest Hakumei and Mikochi. It's a lighthearted series about some small fantasy fairy people. I would say Inuyasha, but that has some nudity that may not be acceptable. Maybe Cardcaptor Sakura. I'm not sure what would be a good fit that has minor horror/scary stuff that isn't too bad, maybe Dark Gathering.
Just give her the Legend of the Galactic Heroes novels. Ten is the perfect age to learn how to become an effective fleet admiral.
my wife is into a manga horror writer named junji ito... I think most of his stuff is for an adult audience but she mentioned one called "soichi" which is apparently more for all ages. can't really tell you it's entirely appropriate, don't read that stuff myself but I think its pretty popular so should be easy to find
Thanks, I will check it out.
While Soichi is a lot tamer than normal Junji Ito horror stuff it still has some rather disturbing content. Better wait few years before you buy it for such young children.
I personally recommend Chi's Sweet Home- a cute and funny manga about mischievous kitten and his new family
fuck off with your shit! you calling me a fag? who else would like this stuff!!!!!11111
whisper Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord
has an anime but i would recommend the light novels aswell. they are finished and even more funny. both up on nyaa.si
edit. i'm retarted just realized the 8-10 year stuff. maybe just wait with that till theyre teens...
Someone recommended Sailor moon. I definitely dont recommend Sailor moon manga for a 10 year old .People think Sailor moon is kid friendly because they saw the watered down censored 1990's 4kids anime version of it.
but the manga is not for kids. Officially its for 13+
Also sailor moon has a lesbian couple in it (famously made in to "cousins" in the 4kids version)
Thanks for the info, I would rather skip any faggotry.
If you're considering anime as well, then introduce her to Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
ATTENTION OP:
This may be a troll answer. Please watch at least the third episode yourself first before subjecting yourself to an afternoon of having to calm down your crying daughters.
And then you can go on to School Live!, while we're thinking of girl-appropriate, age-appropriate shows! It also has a cute cover image featuring a younger female lead, it must be child appropriate!
Depressing nihilism.
For magical girls, better to go with Nanoha and teach her that all you need for to form strong friendships is overwhelming firepower and the resolve to use it.