"Basara is my absolute favorite non-yaoi manga. Though it's a cliche to say so, it really does have a sweeping plot and literally dozens of memorable characters, major and minor, both male and female … and among them, my favorite manga character ever: Ageha of the Blue Nobles. ~
Basara has so many interesting motifs – gender identity, doubling (many of the main characters have secret or double identities), the tension between being and becoming … There's drama, passion, angst, humor, a strong yet believable heroine (and a female pirate queen!), honorable enemies, not-so honorable friends, twists, and heartbreaking reveals."
The second one - which comes with the same caveat as your comments about the content of Blade of the Immortal - is Kentaro Mirua's Berserk. (I admit I only made it to about volume 20.) Berserk is the only seinen manga I've ever read. Normally I'd be entirely resistant to its bleak, violent content - but 10 years ago a friend sent me the first disc of the anime. I was hooked, and after reaching the devastating end of the anime (which portrayed material from vols 1 and 4-10) I turned to the [even darker) source material. Not for the soft-hearted, this manga will pierce you through with pure misery -- and perhaps that's what made it unforgettable to me.
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Most strongly, I recommend Yumi Tamura's award-winning shojo epic Basara (which I blather about a bit here: http://oishiitokoro.net/stage/411basara.htm).
"Basara is my absolute favorite non-yaoi manga. Though it's a cliche to say so, it really does have a sweeping plot and literally dozens of memorable characters, major and minor, both male and female … and among them, my favorite manga character ever: Ageha of the Blue Nobles. ~
Basara has so many interesting motifs – gender identity, doubling (many of the main characters have secret or double identities), the tension between being and becoming … There's drama, passion, angst, humor, a strong yet believable heroine (and a female pirate queen!), honorable enemies, not-so honorable friends, twists, and heartbreaking reveals."
The second one - which comes with the same caveat as your comments about the content of Blade of the Immortal - is Kentaro Mirua's Berserk. (I admit I only made it to about volume 20.) Berserk is the only seinen manga I've ever read. Normally I'd be entirely resistant to its bleak, violent content - but 10 years ago a friend sent me the first disc of the anime. I was hooked, and after reaching the devastating end of the anime (which portrayed material from vols 1 and 4-10) I turned to the [even darker) source material. Not for the soft-hearted, this manga will pierce you through with pure misery -- and perhaps that's what made it unforgettable to me.