Resa's Recommendations - Manga & Anime

Hi everyone! This summer, CON SEASON is starting up once more!
Thus, why not a better time than to talk about my favorite mangas and animes?

Oh, the good ol' Hetalia days. Click here for 2016 vlog!

By the way, if you happen to be coming to FanimeCon 2016, make sure you stop by Fanimaid Cafe and Fanimaid!Live, as well as Fanime Cosplay Chess!

I know of the existence of Free and Attack on Titan, which are already wildly popular. But I feel like there are some older ones that need more revival of popularity. So not series like Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, One Piece, Sword Art Online, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, etc that everyone still remembers.

Air (2005) - Yukito is a solo traveling "puppeteer" in search of releasing a winged maiden from a curse, when he stumbles across a quiet town and an unusual girl named Misuzu. This had beautiful animation of the mid-2000s and the tragic story of a group of people who will never meet their happy endings; favorite storyline was Kano Kirishima and Kanna's backstory.

Air Gear (2002) - Air Treks are motorized flying rollerblades and Ikki is thrown into the world of AT street racing. Humor ensues with lots of hentai-esque, competition, sweat, and tears; favorite arc was the Agito & Akito storyline.

Black Butler (2006) - Ciel Phantomhive, a 12-year-old boy with a dark past who operates as the "Queen's guard dog", is aided by Sebastian, a demon butler, to solve unsettling events within Victorian England. Beautiful artwork, well-written mysteries, horrifying backstories, and fabulous characters abound. I've cosplayed several versions of Grell Sutcliff and they are fab.

D.gray-man (2004) - With a cursed left eye and arm, Allen Walker joins the Exorcists to destroy the Akuma; weapons made by the Millennium Earl with the suffering souls of the dead. If you liked Attack on Titan or Full Metal Alchemist, you will enjoy this. Favorite storyline is the Noah's Ark(ship) arc.

DNAngel (1997) - Daisuke Niwa has a family curse to transform into Dark Mousy, a phantom art thief, as they steal magical art pieces & solve their mysteries. Lots of fictitious art history, hilarious yet dark storytelling, a tragic curse, and loads of bishonen and shotas. Sounds better than this, I promise.

Elfen Lied (2005) - Lucy is a "Diclonius," born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her as a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government and deals with a lot of shit when she escapes. Lots of mortifying race and ethics issues; boatloads of gore, violence, boobs and vulvas. Favorite tragic storylines were Mayu's and Nana's.

Fruits Basket (1998) - Tells the tale of the Sohma family, whom are cursed to transform into the Chinese Zodiac, and Tohru Honda, an usually optimistic girl, who eventually attempts to break the curse.
A shoujo that begins lighthearted, but becomes increasingly darker with nastier and nastier ethical decisions- make sure to read the manga before the anime.

Hana Kimi (1996) - A classic shojo manga where a girl, Mizuki, crossdresses to get into the all-male high school of her sports idol, Sano. A refreshing simple story, with no complications, and fairly light-hearted romantic comedy.

Jigoku Shojo (2005) - Hell Correspondence is a mysterious website open only at midnight that allows a spiteful person to ferry their enemy to hell. Ai Enma, the Hell Girl, will exact that revenge in exchange for your soul.
Creepy creepy creepy. The drama is kind of stressful "monster of the week" style... or soul of the week.

Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006) - Haruhi Suzumiya, a bored "student" who is unknowingly "God", forms the SOS Brigade with Kyon, Mikuru, Yuki, and Itsuki, to appease her desire for misadventures.
Slapstick comedy on the surface, with what-the-fuck multi-universe theories that would make Einstein & Stephen Hawking confused.

Nabari no Ou (2004) - Miharu has the power of the "Shinrabanshou," a powerful technique many ninja clans desire to possess to become the ruler of Nabari. Miharu's apathy & ethical dilemma later on with Yoite was refreshing compared to other "strong" anime protagonists at the time. Unfortunately, the manga kind of derails.

Ouran High School Host Club (2002) - Another popular crossdressing story, where Haruhi Fujioka is swept up into the ridiculously posh Host Club featuring a very colorful cast of high school students. How do I comment on the ridiculousness and pointlessness of this series?

Princess Tutu (2002) - Ahiru/Duck, a duck-turned-human, transforms into Princess Tutu, a magical girl ballet dancer that fights soul/heart conflicts. Conflict originates when Drosselmeyer, a mysterious writer, fucks up "The Prince and the Raven". The series is more dark than it seems, especially the sucky situations in the middle.

Rozen Maiden (2004) - Seven bisque (antique) dolls come to life to fight in the Alice Game, taking each others Rosa Mysticas to reunite with their maker, Rozen. I think I should've read the manga first, but the characters' asshole fighting to each other is fascinating. Gorgeous artowrk + I've been wanting to cosplay Suigintou forever.

Tokyo Mew Mew (2000) - Magical girl series where Ichigo & co. are zapped with the DNA of endangered animals to fight aliens. I'm not sure about the anime, but trust me when I say the manga is much more deeper, tragic, and more political than that.

My top two forever all-time favorite mangakas:
CLAMP favorites: Card Captor Sakura, Chobits, Angelic Layer, xxxHolic, Magic Knight Rayearth, X/1999, Clover.
Yuu Watase favorites: Fushigi Yugi and Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden, Ayashi no Ceres, Alice 19th, Sakura Gari.

Webcomic/Manhwa/Other:
Faeries' Landing (1998) - Modern variation of the South Korean folktale "Faerie and the Woodcutter", starting out with the curse of 108 doomed relationships and plenty of reincarnation complication.
W.I.T.C.H. (2001) - Italian magical girl series utilizing the power of the 4 elements, and a complicated boatload of tyranny and dysfunctional government family issues.
Axis Powers Hetalia (2006) - Japanese webcomic where the countries in the Axis Powers and Allied Forces are personified as an allegory for WWII events.


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Bonus...
I also happen to staff for YaoiCon and, of course, that can only mean that I'm also interested in Boys Love. So without further ado, here are my personal recommendations:

Loveless, Gravitation, Only the Ring Finger Knows, Princess Princess, Junjou Romantic, Gakuen Heaven, The Tyrant Falls In Love.

Somewhat obscure Boys Love: Bukiyou na Silent, Eerie Queerie, Desire, Aisubeki Dokusaisha, Deep Flower, NG Life.

Favorite yaoi mangakas (which means I recommend everything from them): Kyuugou, Junko, Fujinari Yuuki, Honjou Rie, Takanaga Hinako, Eiki Eiki, Iimo, Harada

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And with that, go ahead and share what your favorite mangas and animes are!