Both mangas sent an inexplicable tingle down my spine as I was reading them and when I finished them, I knew that I had read something amazing.
To make my criteria more specific, I am looking for profound story lines filled with deep characters. I am looking for mangas which make me think and which invite me to re-read them again and again. They should have good artwork, thought-provoking storylines and excellent character development. Although both mangas have stand-alone stories, I don't mind an overarching narrative as well.
I seem to be looking at a sub-set within the seinen and josei catergories as there are lots of mangas in both genres that don't fully satisfy me. In fact, I think that both these mangas transcend the two genres!
Really high expectations? Haha, here are some other mangas which I enjoyed reading as much as the three mentioned above:
Witches (Fantastic!)
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
Hourou Musuko
Cesare
Children of the Sea
Sexy Voice & Robo
A new manga which is being released is
Shoujo Nemu which I think is very promising. Will have to wait and see ...
Recommendations highly appreciated!