Looking for a Recommendations: Value of "Normal"

[nbhstcqbvvpmacjrmv]

I'm looking for recommendations of manga that follow a particular theme of finding value in normal things. Anything people often take as granted. I loved Re:Zero because beyond the desperation and pain, there was an honest desire to just live (sometimes also to just die). When I watched the anime of Higurashi, the most powerful moment was when

Spoiler

Rika, on one of her lives, climbs a ladder to her death and talks about how she will find a way to live and grow up one day.

Both of those are more towards the despair side, but they both show characters trying their damndest to achieve what is ultimately something people often take for granted.

Another that somewhat falls under here is Iris Zero, which I loved for the main character's struggle to just be left alone and not be constantly tormented by his peers. Haganai kind of as well for the whole seeking friends thing, although it ended up drifting from that point a bit. Komi-San also comes under the friends bit, but it has obviously expanded well beyond that. Finding friends is a really common one, but it also VERY often ends up going away from that initial theme, so it's not preferable.

Stories where the main character is poor but hardworking also are appreciated for this reason (although I hate We Never Learn because...a lot of reasons, actually). I'll note that I had really high hopes for B Group no Shounen, but that was a complete disaster.

Lately, I've found Leveling Up, by Only Eating charming because the main character is willing to put in so much effort to do what other people consider basically mundane and worthless. For him, it means so much to just be able to eat. The Strongest Florist is another one because the main character wants a really modest goal of having a flower shop, something he could never otherwise do. Study Group kind of as well. Some of the slow life series fit here, although it depends on the character's motivation.

Sorry if that was a bit long, but hopefully I explained it well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[schlo]

@nbhstcqbvvpmacjrmv
don't know if this quite fits the bill, but this about 4 or 5 students who have trouble at a more elite school and get told they will be kicked out if they don't shape up. Basically get assigned to a study group. They all have some sort of problem and work to help each other. The problems aren't light weight problems.
https://mangadex.org/title/31848/blue-hearts

There is another but can't remember the name. I'll mention it here and maybe someone else will know it. It is about a night school or alternative school. The main character is a teen who's father left. He quits school so he can get a job to take care of himself and his sister who is a year or two younger (not a sis or bro con story). The sister is now old enough to goto high school and talks him into going to the alternative school. She wants him to have a few good memories since he has given up so much for her. He experiences things like at work getting passed over for a position he had been promised for the owners relative. There is an older man who never got his high school diploma and now has decided to get it as a senior. A single mother who left her husband, think he was abusive and is trying to get her diploma so she can get a better job and raise her daughter.

It's pretty good, lot of drama but last time I read some of it I didn't consider it in the soap category.

Not sure if this fits, but I also thought of this one. A daughter has a physically abusive father and the mother can't do anything to stop it. The story is about her dealing with it, about wishing to not be there. It's a good story, is completed with 22 chapters. From the description: "This is the story of how one girl takes back her own pain and her chance at a normal life."
https://mangadex.org/title/29437/the-bones-of-an-invisible-person

 

[AK140]

Try the Anime "Tsuki ga kirei", there isn't a manga of it, but it's one of the most normal depicting romance of Japanese youth out there. Another is https://mangadex.org/title/213/nazo-no-kanojo-x the first manga I voluntary interested to read. Small bits of supernatural is added, but it's highly normal.

 

[nbhstcqbvvpmacjrmv]

@schlo and @AK140 I've read all of the translated chapters for Blue Hearts and watched Tsuki ga kirei before. Blue Hearts is kind of close, but it was way over dramatized (basically just back-to-back-to-back-to-back drama and problems for the characters). I could never really get into Mysterious Girlfriend X for whatever reason.

It's not that I'm looking for "normal" manga. If that were the case, I could just search for slice of life or maybe school life series. I'm looking for characters who care about what other people take for granted as normal, usually because it's something they couldn't "normally" get. Sorry if it's too niche or I'm just bad at explaining.

 

[PantsMan]

I'm looking for characters who care about what other people take for granted as normal, usually because it's something they couldn't "normally" get. Sorry if it's too niche or I'm just bad at explaining.

It's a pretty common theme in drama series, especially coming of age stories. Himizu is very close to what you're looking for, and it's explicitly about a character obsessing over normality. Another one with a similar dynamic going on is Freesia, although it's a different genre (very cynical action/psychological series); the protagonist is a full-on schizophrenic who clings to keeping up a normal, professional routine and demeanor despite how out of place it is in his dystopic world. They might not be your cup of tea given your examples, but I can vouch for both.

Something more lighthearted that might give you what you're looking for is Medaka Box's Kumagawa; it's a battle manga in which everyone is an absurd prodigy at some very specific thing(s) or another, and the guy's whole shtick is that he's a failure at everything he sets out to do. Also, he's not the hero, but the antagonist. Not exactly "normal", but it's a fun take on it. It's Nisioisin, so if you've ever read/seen Monogatari/Katanagatari or anything else by him you probably know what kind of writing style you're in for.