Interesting Concepts for Manga

[Tamerlane]

Thread where we shoot the shit about idea that we think would make for good series or concept shooting for things that might work as ideas.

This may double as a writing thread, who knows. I'll post it later.

 

[Greenfrost]

One Punch Man Isekai spin-off. I mean yeah, the overpowered main character trope in Isekai's is already overused; but the authors style of humor, and Saitama as a character would still make it unique. The world could be your standard medieval Europe fantasy. Perhaps one that relies heavily on magic, and discriminates against those who can't use it. Saitama of course can't, so he'd be underestimated like always. Also, Saitama could at first be happy that maybe he would find something or someone in the new world that who could match him.

 

[jreadingmanga]

A manga set in antiquity about the story of an orphan who lives on the streets, but it is one day picked up by an altruistic old man who teaches the orphan how to read/write and some philosophy. The old man one day sets off on a hermetic journey and hopes the orphan keeps his teachings and becomes a just and genuine person. The orphan then strives to rise up in society during a time of strife and civil war, he begins to establish himself as the head of a kingdom/empire which he rules based on the optimistic ideals he was taught as a child. However, as time goes on he becomes more and more despotic as political factions within his empire and enemies outside vie for power and look for weaknesses in his kingdom/empire. Although the orphan, now an aging king/emperor, tries his best to balance his beliefs with the reality that he faces he begins to doubt himself in his old age. Now, raising a grandson just like the old man who raised him, he begins to question his life and actions. He turns to the reader, who turns out to be a trusted servant, and asks the reader what they would do and if the current golden age his kingdom is experiencing was worth all of the turmoil and bloodshed he forced it to go through (think of Augustus rising to power and the death of famous figures like Cicero as well the sheer number of soldiers and civilians who died before he became Princeps for the gravity of the orphan's questions).

Probably watched too much Historia Civilis recently and have gone crazy from quarantine/finals but here's my idea. Basing the empire/kingdom off the Romans, the Macedonians, one of the Successor Kingdoms, or just making one up from combining a bunch of historical ones is up to you.

 

[yoofo]

I think that a manga about speed running video games might work. Something like Hi-Score Girl where they explain the strategies and glitches that go into the various games and how to speed run them. The rivalries would make for a shonen sort of plot.

 

[justforthelulz]

@yoofo
TriHex: "So, you've come to challenge me at last, have you? You may have the skill to surpass my 9th place time, but are you willing to wager that which is worth as much as your life?"
Challenger: "My soul? I've been prepared to do so ever since I first picked up a game controller!"
TriHex: "Not your soul; but your Twitch subs!"

 

[yoofo]

@justforthelulz yeah pretty much

 

[Tamerlane]

I was thinking of a story that at first seems like a stereotypical romance story between a tsundere and a boy who she has trouble expressing her feelings too. It primarily focuses on her during the first few chapters and we never really see his side of the story.

At first, it's just a stereotypical affair where they re-enact all the standard anime tropes, however there's definitely moments where it's clear that there's something...off...about MC and that he's kinda putting on a front or that he's not all really there, and there are some uncomfortably quite moments sprinkled in. They're subtle and not noticeable upon first reading, but it will make sense why upon re-reading.

Eventually, one day, MC doesn't show up to school, and you think it's going to be the stereotypical romance plot where the girl visits the guy or vice versa when they're sick and takes care of them. However, after FMC agrees to take his stuff to him, (at first being like "who would miss that idiot?" or "how cares if he's gone?" but mentally she starts to tell herself to go anyway) she gets her whole world shaken.

Spoiler

When she arrives at his house, she sees an ambulance and a police car. The house is old and crumbling apart at the seams, and she can hear yelling from inside the house though she can't make out what they're saying. One of the police officers comes to the tsundere and asks her what her business is and she says that she's come to deliver someone from school's assignments, telling the officer MC's name.

There's an awkward silence for a moment as the police officer struggles to put the situation into words in the least harmful way, but eventually he comes to tell her that MC's going to a crisis center for a suicide attempt, and that he's not going to be in school for a while.

After FMC eventually gets a hold of MC's suicide note, she realizes the internal struggles he's been facing with depression, abusive/neglectful parents, bullying at school, etc. and everything that has lead to his decision. She then begins to reconsider her relationship with MC, trying to learn about him more as a person and reevaluating her feelings for him, and how she never considered what he might be going through, instead kinda focusing on herself as tsunderes tend to do by proxy.

The rest of the series after that is the two working through their own struggles with mental health, trying to support one another. When the Tsundere begins to relapse into her old tendencies, she remembers how MC internalizes his struggles and becomes non-vocal, and she'll bite her tongue and apologize, or when MC's own insecurities and faults shine through, the tsundere has to give in a bit and support him in her own way.

I would want the series to focus on how you never know what's going on inside a person's head, and how people can be seemingly fine or fit in whilst in reality their own circumstances may be absolutely miserable, and that it's for this reason you should try to be nice to everyone. I don't want this to be like Gal Cleaning where it's shocking for the sake of being shocking but because it's using that shock to prove a point about how someone's lack of information and assumptions could lead to unfortunate circumstances.

Plus it would be interesting to pair a tsundere with someone who doesn't react well to it and has their own issues, like what happens in NGE, and seeing how the psychology of the two characters works out.

 

[ArpanaR]

You know, the story of Adam and Eve? God made Eve from a limb of Adam when he was sleeping, but left it on the wall of a well, she cried as the gust of wind blew her and she fell down the well of time in the garden of Eden. She was a new born baby brought to our time (maybe a few centuries give or take?). There she’s named Eve, for a very silly reason too (cuz her adoptive mother found her in evening )😉.
From there she embarks on her adventure, she not knowing she’s adopted, her mother getting tangled in her troubles(but she rescues her, so it’s fine), as she faces the enemy only she can defeat and find her truth eventually, just to return to the garden of Eden, as an adult/teenager ie. already grown up, before Adam wakes up.


*This is entirely fictional, with some biblical references, not associated with any person, places, or afflicted with any religion or races, not meant to be offensive to anyone in anyway, for entertainment purposes only.

 

[ideathbell]

Why not an All-Star manga with a Final Fantasy Dissidia setting?

 

[Crazyperson117]

Personally, I liked the concept in After Transformation, Mine and Her Wild Fantasy where it's 2 bodies with a shared mind. But it isn't done well and it's more like 2 people with a psychic link and absolutely no other connection/meetings except rarely. I.e. The 2 get separated at the end of the very first chapter and make no effort to group back up and only ever meet by coincidence and for moments at a time.

@yoofo

I think that a manga about speed running video games might work.

Tbh, that's very similar to describing 2 manga I've already read:
Kono Sekai ga Game da to Ore dake ga Shitteiru
Short description: MC gets trapped in a video game known for being extremely buggy and extremely noob unfriendly. He abuses the bugs/mechanics he's spent years learning to beat the game without dying.

FFF-Class Trashero
Short description: Hero spent 10 years to defeat the demon lord but he didn't do it with nakama power so he's forced to do it all over again from the very moment he's summoned. He then abuses his 10 years of experience to speedrun the demon lord. Of course, I'm leaving out specific details to avoid spoilers (i.e. the very reasons why the title is "FFF-Class Trashero"). It's not exactly a game but has game mechanics often used in isekais (status screen, skills, exp, etc) which are abused.

 

[HughMann]

Historical manga about the life of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II.

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

Hmm... Maybe a Don Quixote-style deconstruction of Isekai?
One where the MC is so mentally dependant on the classical Isekai tropes that he pretty much is a menace to society and misses the actual interesting stories the world has because they do not revolve around him.
Also yeah, historical manga happening in the Byzantine empire would be quite cool

 

[yoofo]

@crazyperson117 I meant real video games. Like the MC goes around and learns stuff like the SMB64 Backwards Long Jump or Mario Kart Wii Ultra-Shortcuts, all while trying to get a PB on the game that he speed runs (Possibly Super Mario Bros for NES). In-between major arcs and tournaments, the MC learns strategies for different games from different speed runners. For example, he meets a Punch-Out speed runner and learns Glass Joe's 42 second KO.

 

[vinsegas]

I would love historical mangas that are actually realistic. But I guess that wouldnt sell good.

 

[Tamerlane]

I'm a Samurai Warriors fan and I can assure you that if there's one thing Japan can't do very well, it's realism. @vinsegas

But part of that is because Japan believes that part of good story telling is over-exergation to make it distinct from reality, plus they tend to want to romanticize and mythologize history to an extent, which is why Nobunaga is always depicted as a dark lord.

 

[bakiomari]

A WW2/Russo Japanese war manga. I have yet to encounter any manga focusing on the former or the latter, which is quite surprising.

 

[zyllan]

@Greenfrost
I recommend the manga Mashle: Magic and Muscles. MC is born without magic on a world of magic very similar to Harry Potter and he compensates it for his strength. I really recommend it because the MC looks like Mob from Mob Psycho 100 and the humor is really great.

 

[justforthelulz]

@panzerkampfwagyu

One where the MC is so mentally dependant on the classical Isekai tropes that he pretty much is a menace to society and misses the actual interesting stories the world has because they do not revolve around him.

Is This Really a Different World? might be close to what you're looking for.
While the MC here isn't quite a menace to soceity, he's so hung up on what a "proper isekai" experience should be like that he misses out on all the actual neat things around him.
https://mangadex.org/title/47260/kochira-isekai-de-yoroshikatta-deshou-ka

 

[comedyxtragedy]

Isekai, but the protagonists (yes, a hero and heroine) are in coma and they were blackmailed and forced to save the other world so they could go back to their world.

So the called "God" in other world has been transporting multiple people in our world. They raise prestige by raising hero and gain followers. However, few of these Gods killed the transported people to gain more power for more followers. One of the Goddess found this inhumane and looking for people to kill her own kind.

- The God can move between two worlds, but their power is limited in our world.
- God used to be a human who gain special status.
- God cause few incident in our world that cost lot of deaths so they can transport the soul.
- Transported from our world to other can only be done through taking soul, so you need to be die or in coma.
- Transported people are stronger, some had children with people in other world.

Protagonists:
-The girl gains non combat skill (which is rare) and it's investigation.
- The boy skill is accuracy. He get isekai'd first and the girl follows 2 weeks later.
-The girl can see other status. Blue for people in other world, silver is for transported people, golden is for mixed children and red is for God.
- The boy found his grandfather in there. Turns out the he is descendant of Goddess and his grandfather.

... Why am I making scenario in my head but never write it?

 

[panzerkampfwagyu]

@justforthelulz Thanks for the recommendation