Parent and Child theme Manga

[Nemuru]

As the title suggest I'm looking for a manga series which contains the theme of a parent and child. Some examples are Witchblade (anime), Solty Rei (anime), otaku no musume-san (manga), Ontama (anime), Ashita no Nadja (anime).

My minimum requirement would be character development since this is what I crave the most when watching/reading anime/manga. Although, the series in question has to be thoughtful to some extent. The second requirement would be the theme itself being central towards to the story. However since there are many manga that uses this theme but can be irrelevant to the series or does not emphasis it as the main point, I wish to avoid any recommendation that doesn’t follow point two however it is debatable how strong this theme is in any given series.

EDIT: hmmm someone might recommend me Aishiteruze Baby so I will leave this here that the anime felt rather pretentious in what it was trying to accomplish in what seem like a typical shoujo development with a child as a plot device. or perhaps the Voice acting kinda killed it for my ears lol. however I might be a bit hasty in my judgment.

[Guardian Enzo]

This has to be Seirei no Moribito as far as I'm concerned. Not only is it thematically consistent with what you're asking for, it's so good it can change the way you think about what's possible in a TV anime.

Edit: I see you asked for a manga - though I heartily recommend you still check out the anime if you haven't seen it. As the manga adaptation of the Moribito novels ended after a few chapters that isn't going to meet that part of your request. How about Flat? It definitely turns on adult-child relationships, though the main "adult" is 17. It's sentimental, but for me not at all sappy or too cute.

[Shiroth]

Usagi Drop is a must read. It has an adaptation planned for the Summer if you feel like waiting for that instead though.

[Nemuru]

shameless bumping!
lol, does anyone have any recommendation? I suppose it's a hard question.

[MeoTwister5]

As Shiroth has mentioned, Usagi Drop.

[Irenicus]

Thirding Usagi Drop for great justice. Also, try My Girl by Sahara Mizu for a gentle, sentimental story about a father and daughter pair.

For more a comedic take on parent-child relationships, Nicoichi is a lot of fun. It also has one of the most epic crossdressing efforts ever.

And I'd recommend retrying Aishiteruze Baby in manga form to see if you can tolerate it better (maybe the pace of the anime affects your enjoyment in some way?). Or if you don't want to, the author's newer work Yamamoto Zenjirou to Moushimasu should fit your interest more. There the elder figure is older and more mature/adult, and the story is primarily told from the child's perspective. Though of course it still has a more shoujo-y tone than most of the listed manga, to me at least it's good shoujo.

[FireChick]

Try reading "With The Light -Raising an Autistic Child-"! it's a lovely story. All the manga volumes are out here in the US (except for the final posthumous volume that's about to come out later this year). it's my #1 all-time favorite manga!

[Nemuru]

I would like to thank everyone for providing suggestion since I was running out of manga to read, lol, of course I am sincere. Atm I'm reading Flat and Usagi Drop would be next.

Originally Posted by Irenicus

For more a comedic take on parent-child relationships, Nicoichi is a lot of fun. It also has one of the most epic crossdressing efforts ever.

And I'd recommend retrying Aishiteruze Baby in manga form to see if you can tolerate it better (maybe the pace of the anime affects your enjoyment in some way?). Or if you don't want to, the author's newer work Yamamoto Zenjirou to Moushimasu should fit your interest more. There the elder figure is older and more mature/adult, and the story is primarily told from the child's perspective. Though of course it still has a more shoujo-y tone than most of the listed manga, to me at least it's good shoujo.

I'm not picky on whether it's shoujo, shounen, josei or seinen. More or less I'm looking for character development between the relationship of parent and child shinning throughout the entire series. As for Aishiteruze Baby I can't remember much of the series. Mostly it came off as a three people relationship with Keppei, Yuyuzu and kokoro (?) forgetting names. Which seems more like a 2 people relationship with a third wheel at times. I certainly couldn't figure out whether it's a typical shoujo romance or a parenting anime, the series felt disjointed at times whether the two themes would played of each other as plot device. I did say I was hasty since I was looking at the first few episodes and voice acting >.>

[germanturkey]

You should watch all of Aria. its basically three children, Akari, Alice, and Aika, being raised by three "parents;" Alicia, Athena, and Akira. The third season especially has a TON of character development. it doesn't hurt that it's the best series ever made by man.

[Nemuru]

Originally Posted by germanturkey

You should watch all of Aria. its basically three children, Akari, Alice, and Aika, being raised by three "parents;" Alicia, Athena, and Akira. The third season especially has a TON of character development. it doesn't hurt that it's the best series ever made by man.

I don't remember adding sarcasm to my request unfortunately I have already seen all of Aria. Although you should note the request specifically ask for manga being the main source ^^,

[kk2extreme]

Yotsuba???

[germanturkey]

Aria's manga is very superior to the anime. which is saying something, because the anime is already incredibly good.