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I'm looking for suggestions of manga that would be good for early to mid teenaged girls who are in a residential theraputic program. The only criteria is that there can be no nudity or inuendo, minimal violence, and no profanity. These are girls who are dealing with severe emotional trauma and we want the material to be as tame as possible. Please let me know any suggestions you might have.
I'm looking for suggestions of manga that would be good for early to mid teenaged girls who are in a residential theraputic program. The only criteria is that there can be no nudity or inuendo, minimal violence, and no profanity. These are girls who are dealing with severe emotional trauma and we want the material to be as tame as possible. Please let me know any suggestions you might have.
I gotta admit that's a tall order... about the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Astro Boy (some cartoonish violence but non-bloody [usually robot-vs-robot]) and Doraemon (but that one's never been translated and released here in the States)
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I'm looking for suggestions of manga that would be good for early to mid teenaged girls who are in a residential theraputic program. The only criteria is that there can be no nudity or inuendo, minimal violence, and no profanity. These are girls who are dealing with severe emotional trauma and we want the material to be as tame as possible. Please let me know any suggestions you might have.I gotta admit that's a tall order... about the only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Astro Boy (some cartoonish violence but non-bloody [usually robot-vs-robot]) and Doraemon (but that one's never been translated and released here in the States)
Yeah I know it's a tall order. That's why asked for advice from people more knowledgable then I am. I recommended Angelic Layer based on having seen the first half of the series as anime. But even something as fun as Ranma might be too far over the line with some of these girls. But we have a lot of manga fans among our students who have been trying to bring in things like Chibi Vampire and I Love Halloween and so our director wants to get a libray of approved manga for them to read.
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How about
NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WINDS from Hayao Miyazaki?!
check this link WIKI
Ah, this was the link for the movie, but theres a link on the top of that page which brings you to the manga page. Sorry!
Maybe do-re-mi.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojamajo_Doremi_%28series%29
I never red it but it looks very friendly to me. Being a student of Japanese science however i have to admit that over the top violence and sexual violence are deeply routed in many publications and Japanese Pop culture in general. If something Final Fantasy like is ok, I would recommend Last Exile (just know of an anime), but since conflict and war mostly conducted by airships features in this series you should definitly check it all by yourself bevor deciding.
Edit: Yep Concerning Films check out everything from Myazaki, hes brilliant.
Totoro is just brilliant and considered a classic by most Japanese. I would say it has even pedagogical value.
I'm looking for suggestions of manga that would be good for early to mid teenaged girls who are in a residential theraputic program. The only criteria is that there can be no nudity or inuendo, minimal violence, and no profanity. These are girls who are dealing with severe emotional trauma and we want the material to be as tame as possible. Please let me know any suggestions you might have.
Off the top of my head, you might try "Yotsuba &" (ADV manga)- a story of an usual little girl and the people around her, "Emma" (CMX?)- a story about a maid in 18/19th century England, "Aqua"/"Aria" (Tokyopop?)- a story a gondoliers in a future water-filled Mars, & "With the Light" and "With the Light 2", (Dmp?)- a story about an autistic child and his parent's subsequent real-life trials and tribulations. Those titles seem pretty family-friendly...
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Just a quick warning, check with people on any manga series to make sure the series you're getting them stays safe content-wise throughout. There are quite a few series out there that can pull a severe bait-and-switch, Shadow Star(NOT recommended at all for those girls) being an infamous example. And then there are the series that pull a Gainax-ending right out of left field.
Seconding Aria, though I haven't read much of it. I feel a bit sad that I really can't think of many series that fit your criteria. I'd like to recommend Nausicaä: Valley of the Wind, but I don't know if it stays entirely safe throughout.
Just a quick warning, check with people on any manga series to make sure the series you're getting them stays safe content-wise throughout. There are quite a few series out there that can pull a severe bait-and-switch, Shadow Star(NOT recommended at all for those girls) being an infamous example. And then there are the series that pull a Gainax-ending right out of left field.
Agreed, that has happened before- no reason not to suspect that it wouldn't happen again with any of the available titles out there.
Still, if the ratings are something to the effect of "all ages", it should be a fairly safe bet, usually.
P.S. wanted to make a quick correction to my earlier post, "With the Light 1 & 2" is published by Yen Press, not dmp.
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Just a quick warning, check with people on any manga series to make sure the series you're getting them stays safe content-wise throughout. There are quite a few series out there that can pull a severe bait-and-switch, Shadow Star(NOT recommended at all for those girls) being an infamous example. And then there are the series that pull a Gainax-ending right out of left field.
Agreed, that has happened before- no reason not to suspect that it wouldn't happen again with any of the available titles out there.
Still, if the ratings are something to the effect of "all ages", it should be a fairly safe bet, usually.
P.S. wanted to make a quick correction to my earlier post, "With the Light 1 & 2" is published by Yen Press, not dmp.
Part of our process is that our director has to approve all books before they are put into our library. That way we really don't run into too many problems like that.
How about
NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WINDS from Hayao Miyazaki?!
check this link WIKIAh, this was the link for the movie, but theres a link on the top of that page which brings you to the manga page. Sorry!
The only problem that I can see with that one is that it does have a fair amount of violence in it (in the movie, for instance
I've only see a volume of it, but another good one to perhaps try would be Haruhiko Mikimoto's "Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel", which deals with a young UESF cadet thrown into the One-Year War int he Gundam universe. There didn't seem to be much in the way of bloody violence and there was no sexual innuendo (but then again, Mikimoto doesn't go in for a lot of overtly racy stuff in his artwork anyway, AFAIK.)
If you can track some of the paperbacks down, 'What's Michael' seems like it would be okay. It's pretty much a series about cats. Doing cat things. That's about it, and it's very humorous.
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I'd second Yotsuba&! and also by the same author, Azumanga Daioh. Innocent school-age humor. Good stuff.
Azumanga seconded! Can't believe I didn't think of it straight away. The humour can get very off-the-wall (which is why it's made of purest awesome), but what little violence there is, is pure slapstick, and whilst there's some very mild innuendo, it's no more than you'd expect from a cast of teenage girls going through high school (so it doesn't go any further than having crushes, comparing breast sizes and trying to get their teachers to tell them about old boyfriends). Oh though one possible sticking point I can think of if these things need to be skirted as far as possible; there is a teacher who's a peeping tom, but he's very tame, and his ogling is never portrayed as anything other than completely pathetic...
I'm all for What's Michael, Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba&. I'd also like to recommend Maison Ikkoku, Oh My Goddess, and Dragon Half(if you can get your hands on the manga, which would be next to impossible, but that stuff cracks me up like there's no tomorrow), Prince of Tennis, Hikaru no Go, and Eyeshield 21(which is more for guys, but it still has a lot of girls crushing over the male characters).
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I'm looking for suggestions of manga that would be good for early to mid teenaged girls who are in a residential theraputic program. The only criteria is that there can be no nudity or inuendo, minimal violence, and no profanity. These are girls who are dealing with severe emotional trauma and we want the material to be as tame as possible. Please let me know any suggestions you might have.
I'd have to chime in with Hikaru No Go. it's a manga about a coming of age story tied to a chess game. I can't remember any scenes of inuendo, nudity, violence or profanity, but it's been an while. your best bet is to check it out yourself first. I do remember that it had one of the worst endings I've ever seen, but it's a story about a game. not much to expect there.
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I'd have to chime in with Hikaru No Go. it's a manga about a coming of age story tied to a chess game.
It's about Go (hence the title), but I would recommend it as well.
Nobody's really dipped into shoujo series yet:
Gals (CMX, 10 vols, Rating: Teen) - Ran, Miyu, and Aya are 15-16 yrs. old high school juniors who deal with the problems of family, school, jobs, friendship & boyfriends while trying to have fun, be happy, and live a chic-on-a-budget lifestyle. Good combination of silly antics, simple and real-life obstacles/motivations, and healthy morals without feeling preachy. Written for girls age 9-13.
Ouran High School Host Club (Viz, 13+ vols, Rating: Teen) - 15yr. old Haruhi experiences culture shock and off-the-wall hijinks when she is mistaken as the cutest "boy" in school and joins a student club designed to pamper rich girls. Very funny school comedy with elements of Cinderella-style fantasy and an undercurrent of character drama/development. Written for girls age 12-18.
Happy Hustle High (Viz, 5 vols, Rating: Older Teens) - 16-17 yr. old Hanabi learns to take responsibility and falls in love when her all-girls' public school is merged with an all-boys' private school. Cute, mostly-realistic relationship story with fairly little angst and lots of zany one-liners - note that there is an implied sex scene in vol. 5, so you might restrict that one for older readers. Written for girls age 13-18.
Magic Knights Rayearth (Tokyopop, 6 vols, Rating: Youth 10+) - 14-15 yr. old Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are whisked away from the real world to save a princess in a magical fantasy world beset by monsters, using RPG-style weapons and magical powers. Classic story of friendship, teamwork, building self-confidence and trust, with cartoonish monster-killing - note that the mid-series climax gets pretty emotional and may warrant some explanation/follow-up for younger readers. Written for girls age 9-13.
Cardcaptor Sakura (Tokyopop, 12 vols, Rating: All Ages) - 9-10 yr. old Sakura learns about family, responsibility, cleverness, friendship, and self-confidence when she releases a bookful of mischievous magical sprites/cards and has to retrieve them to protect her neighborhood/family/friends. Modern classic "magical girl" series that's wholesome without ever getting cynical or titillating - mostly Sakura chases and coaxes the sprites, so there isn't any violence, but the second half of the series gets a little intense emotionally. Written for girls age 9-13.
These 3 are more emotionally intense and have a few violent-argument scenes (several battle scenes in Basara), but you can see if they might be good for your older/more mature readers who are looking for something more melodramatic and "meaty" than the series above. They also feature heroines with a good deal of common sense, mental/emotional balance, and a good-sized dollop of guts.
Fruits Basket (Tokyopop, 23 vols, Rating: Teen 13+) - 15 yr. old Tohru shares her heart, friendship, and indomitable spirit with the lonely and mostly heartbroken members of the cursed Sohma clan, who turn into animals at the touch of anyone of the opposite sex (including their own parents, siblings, etc.). Good treatment of family & relationship emotional drama with a decent dash of sitcom humor and a supernatural/fantastic aura. Written for girls age 13-18.
Basara (Viz, 27 vols, Rating: Older Teens) - 16 yr. old Sarasa stoically builds and leads a resistance army against a family of tyrant-kings in a desolate, no-tech version of post-apocalyptic Japan. Her revolution is complicated by the fact that she is posing as a boy to give her people strength and she is unwittingly falling in love with one of the kings that she despises. Written for girls age 13-18.
Please Save My Earth (Viz, 21 vols, Rating: Older Teens) Sci-fi story about 15-16 yr. old students who discover that they are reincarnated aliens and must decide whether to continue the petty squabbles of their past lives or to forge new relationships and destinies with the gift of a second chance. Classic sci-fi story with beautiful art/imagery and mostly-realistic character motivations/development - note that there is an implied rape/betrayal scene in one of the later vols that is pretty tightly woven into the story and may need some explanation/follow-up. Written for girls age 13-18.
Hope these help - I'd definitely recommend them for any teens going through hard times, but especially for girls.
I agree with Mandisa's suggestions, although all except Rayearth deal with more serious or even slightly "naughty" issues in a toned-down, G-rated way.
I might suggest the following which are even more "safe" while still being entertaining:
Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma (ADV Manga): unspeakably adorable, hilariously funny, and safe for any age or sensitivity level. The antics of a completely innocent preschool girl who sees everything with a wide-eyed sense of wonder.
Anything written by Tomoko Taniguchi; I recommend "Aquarium" (CPM); she writes a little angsty but in a very safe-for-anyone style.
The Aqua/Aria series by Kozue Amano (Tokyopop): the incredibly mellow, laid-back SF adventures of a girl who travels to a future, terraformed Mars to become a gondolier in a city that is a replica of Venice. Sweet and surprisingly engrossing when you consider that almost nothing remarkable or noteworthy ever happens; most of the stories are about a nice girl helping people relax and get past their worries.
Okay, I take back that "Anything by Taniguchi" statement; I checked her bibliography and it includes some horror titles. The protagonist in Aquarium was suffering from depression and Taniguchi wrote it specifically with the intent of helping girls suffering from depression to overcome their problems and see the beauty in life and friendship; it obliquely references thoughts of suicide in a style intended to be therapeutic for girls in the age range you spoke of; you might want to screen it first.
A good place to "preview" this sort of thing, or get the jump on whats to come out soon, is OneManga.com. It has some search parameters which might help you with your quest as well.
Viva manga!