Jun Ikeda "Sukupa"

Good manga for girls (12 -14)

Sukupa is a comedy manga by Jun Ikeda. It is a story of four girls, classmates, who under a very optimistic, thirsty for activity, Sora regularly fall into the absurd and amusing situations. Sora with her unpretentious humor and ability to create silly situations seems even cute.

The announcement of the manga says that it is so funny that the reader is sure to be laughing "to tears". In fact, Sora’s humor is worthy only a smile, although sometimes a smile is very broad. For example, the moment when girls invented a new kind of golf (they hit the golf ball with tennis rackets) is really hilarious. In general, Sukupa leaves only positive emotions, even though it is unlikely to be remembered for a long time.

As for  sketching of Sukupa, it does not differ by originality.  Sketching, being a completely standard for manga, gives the impression to be outdated. This automatically lowers its level to average, not much standing out among its kind. 

Sukupa did not get a special popularity at home. However, the manga is worthy to stand on a bookshelf next to the familiar to all Yotsuba and Azumanga.

Clamp "XxxHolic"

Good manga for girls 14+ 

Manga Xxxholic is one of the projects of the  famous studio CLAMP, staffed by female artists. What differentiates CLAMP’s works from the others? The worlds illustrated by them are more or less related. This feature is manifested most clearly in Xxxholic and Tsubasa Chronicle.

XxxHolic and Tsubasa Chronicle have completely different plots, which are linked by some common characters. Organic integration of the same storylines in both works, palpable connection between them even if they deal with completely different events, close interweaving of the characters and destinies, all this makes us to admire the boundless imagination of the creators.

One of the common characters of XxxHolic and Tsubasa Chronicle is Itihara Yuuko, a witch of measurements and an owner of a shop of desires. To make a more or less complete picture of Yuuko, it is better to read both mangas, as each manga is only one aspect of the events. However, Yuuko in Xxxholic is one of the main characters and her image is revealed a lot better than in Tsubasa Chronicle.

Yuuko-san, as she is called by the schoolboy Watanuki, is a young eccentric (seemingly anyway) woman who knows magic. Among other things, Yuuko manages the store of desires where Watanuki works. The shop is a small building, which can be accessed only by those who desire for something passionately. Yuuko helps people to attain the desired for the rewards in form of artifacts or some services.

The witch is very sharp-tongued which her favorite Watanuki. Despite the constant ridicule from her part, Yuuko is bound infinitely to her young employee. She teaches him gradually not only magic, but also other important things. Development of Yuuko’s character is slow and hardly noticeable to the reader, however, in the last volume she is not quite the same sarcastic, drunken, always eager for entertainment witch. There are in her character, oddly enough, more and more secrets, some of them still remain uncovered. The more Yuuko opens the more she becomes mysterious. Also the tragedy of her fate appears, and some romance becomes noticeable.

Unfortunately, the manga Xxxholic, as well as Tsubasa Chronicle, has not yet ended. Admirers can only hope that the creators come up with an ending not less great than the story itself.

Tamaoki Benkyo "Blood: The Last Vampire 2000"

Tamaoki Benkyo remained true to himself while creating this one-volume manga. Working in the horror genre, the author followed a realistic trend in the graphics that is why the scenes of violence and blood are impressive. What makes this manga distinctive is the atmosphere of all shades of madness correctly embodied by the creator.

The main heroine of the manga is a girl named Saya. She is the secret weapon of the state secret organization that tries to eliminate the consequences of their own experiments on human beings. The creatures, which appeared as a result of these experiments, are forced to feed themselves with human blood. Saya’s mission is to kill them. The girl herself has no idea who she actually is. As the events unfold Saya learns of the existence of a girl, an exact picture of herself, and finally meets her face to face.

Despite the fact that Saya looks like a schoolgirl, she perfectly masters katana and is quite dangerous. It is almost impossible to kill her since she is not a human being. However, Saya is a docile instrument in the hands of her commanders, at least until the moment when she discovers the truth about herself.

The second main character of Blood: The Last Vampire 2000 is Maya, which is a replica of Saya. However, they are only superficially similar. Maya runs a gang of vampires, those creatures born from experiments. The aim of Maya is to meet with Saya that is why Maya organizes a variety of provocations. This character bears all sorts of vices, which was clearly illustrated in the pages of the manga. Maya, in a sense, is even more interesting than Saya as her motives are hidden until the very last chapter.

Kajio Shinji and Tsuruta Kenji «Memories of Emanon»

Menories of Emanon

good manga for girls - 16+

This seinen manga is written in the genre of science fiction with a dramatic and philosophical bent.

Emanon is an assumed name of the manga’s heroine, it is the invert of the words «noname». She presents herself as Emanon when she meets a young student on whose behalf the story is narrated. Emanon is a seventeen years old girl who often behaves like a child. She has a sense of humor and charisma, which at once attracted the youth. Emanon tells him an incredible story that she is the repository of 3 billion years of memory on the world’s existence. These memories are transferred in her family from generation to generation at the DNA level, and the one who passes that memory recalls afterwards nothing but his or her own life. Emanon recognizes that she did not understand immediately what was happening to her, whether these memories she saw were real or just a hallucination.

Graphics of "Memories of Emanon" deserve special attention. You should start with the fact that the  manga artist used a specifically casual style of drawing in which the jagged lines and fragmented hatches were used. However, characters and detailed backgrounds are at a very high level. Most striking is how realistic the scenery looks even if the drawing is negligent. It should be noted that a lot of attention was paid to the backgrounds and scenery, which in today's manga does not happen very often. Characters’ design does not give rise to any comment. Highly detailed and realistic style is perfectly executed, especially considering that the graphics are in the same careless style, like large strokes. In this sense, the graphic style is in harmony with the artistic means that the author used in the story. The only thing that may be considered as a “minus” is the lack of emotional facial expressions of characters, although this does not interfere with the perception of the story.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Manga - The Girl Who Leapt Trough Time

good manga for girls - for all ages

Manga "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" was created based on the book of the same name written by Yasutaka Tsutsui and released in 1972. Two movies were filmed later and an animation film was issued in 2006, almost simultaneously with the one-volume book of comics.

The main character of this famous story is Makoto Konno, a seventeen year old schoolgirl, who accidentally got the ability to move through time. Otherwise, she is no different from other high school students. She is not clear abot her future. More like a boy, Makoto loves to play baseball with her two best friends – Chiaki and Kousuke. These friends often make fun of Makoto, but they really care about her. The girl is a bit clumsy and always rushes somewhere, since she is late all the time.

One day, Makoto has an accident: she cannot slow down in front of a train. Only by some miracle of luck did she stay alive, and she performs a dizzying leap in time. With that, it all begins...

Nobody in this manga tries to save the world, at least, in the usual sense. But for Makoto her friends and her life are also a world that needs help and salvation. Throughout the story Makoto learns from her mistakes, and if at the beginning she takes the lessons rather lightly, by the end of the story a very grown-up girl is presented to readers.

The manga's characters are revealed perfectly, not least due to emotional facial expressions of characters. It should be noted that the graphics, though drawn in a typical way for modern Japanese comics, captures your attention by a very well drawn atmosphere of the school routine.

This manga is primarily about love. That does not mean in any way that there is nothing other than a school romance diluted by some time travels. "Girl Who Leapt Through Time" is a story about how important the time is and what value it has in human life.