Howdy! I've opened similar threads several times in the past, I'm fucking desperate. Anyhow, I'm looking for mangas ( with a modern design, not old shit ) where the mc experiences character development ( like going from a clueless kid to a badass fighter ) of course, I'm not expecting it to happen in the timespan of a couple of chapters, nor do I want it to, although I wouldn't mind it that much. Also, it should contain a romantic subplot to fill my loveless and lonely life ( I dare you to laugh ) and fantasy elements, or superpowers. Ohhh... please, the main character must not be a douchebag, I mean, weak? Okay. But stupid? No thank you. If I have to give an example then the best one that comes to my mind right now would be: The Tower of God ( I just caught up with all of the chapters available, and now I'm ready to stockpile for months/years/decades... so that I can enjoy a supreme binge read, anyway I digress... Another thing that it must have is... a lot of chapters. Thank you
A manga that fits your criteria, but one I never see recommended is Zero In. Probably one of my favorite stories, has about 75 chapters, and the MC ends in a different place than where he started mentally and physically. You also see his progress over time. It doesn't all happen at once. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll stop here. The chapters have a lot of pages. That's one of the things you should specify when asking for manga. If something has 300 chapters, but only about 15 pages a chapter is that considered long when another can have 100 chapters at 45 pages per?
Mushoku Tensei: mc experiences character development ( like going from a clueless kid to a badass fighter. contain a romantic subplot to fill your loveless and lonely life. and fantasy elements. main character is not be a douchebag.
OP asked for a manga, and Rudeus has next to zero character growth for a large portion of the novel and even when he does get some it doesn't take him much to revert to a blubbering fool. Oops, I think my bias is showing.
there is a manga, and rudeus does get a little more badass (though I agree not much) like OP asked for fighting: the breaker, sequel new waves boku no hero academia kubera shingeki no kyojin kekkaishi hoshi no samidare one piece (there is character development, but not much) tsugumomo (nsfw) non-fighting: xxxHoLic natsume's book of friends an ancient magus bride
Mushoku Tensei is also out in manga, it's around halfway the story already. I don't know how it's possible to think that the MC has no character growth. He started as a worthless/jobless neet and ends as a hero, 7th world strongest, world changing character. He goes through a lot and switch a lot in occupation like being teacher/refugee/school student/adventurer/hero etc. The story is full of progress and the MC is smart and learns along the way. It's romantic subplot to fill your loveless and lonely life is also great and with a good built-up.
Few recommendations: Rokudou no Onna-tachi Hero waltz/Hero waltz 2.0 Trigun/Trigun MAXIMUM Gekiryuuchi Mahou Tsukai Kurohime Grappler Baki/Baki: New Grappler Baki/Hanma Baki/Baki-dou/Baki-dou 2018 (in this order and without spin offs or side stories, you can check them if you want) Rosario to Vampire Feng Shen Ji Verdant Lord
Oyasumi Punpun. Intense character development, modern design, romantic subplot, a lot of chapters, and some fantasy elements you could say w/ mc being portrayed as different things and often having conversations with god. Idk if you wanted character development in a martial arts weak-to-strong sense and Oyasnumi Punpun's a pretty dark manga, but it fits your criteria
Kaibutsu Oujo. there's no romance, but the growth of the protagonist is real. Accel World. it's an LN, but there's a manga adaptation. action, romance, character growth, all of those exist. Hoshi no Samidare. action, romance, supernatural. I don't know if there's character growth (probably there is, but not too big), but it's good, in fact, this is the best among my recommendation. Kekkaishi. action, romance (probably), supernatural, character growth, all exist. all of those are completed.
I have a whole post on this, it summarizes down to Rudeus' true character is shown in his soul form. Notice how it never changes. He is not that smart. He shows a complete lack of imagination when it comes to wielding magic. Notice how he uses his vast mana pool to cast stone bullet 5 billion times during the novel. He doesn't really change the world, his birth itself is an anomaly, and seeing as he's not behind that, you can't really give him the credit. Also, the manga isn't even close to being halfway. Rudeus is my poster child for decent story, horrible MC. Followed closely by Grid from Overgeared. The manga I recommended has an MC that starts out as generally worthless, and we see him actually progress through the story. The problem with Rudeus is his growth never sticks. He always reverts to type. He basically becomes the real MCs lackey 3 quarters of the way through the story, even going so far as calling himself a lackey.
Finally someone who understands, your reason is correct, Rudeus even having huge mana pool and past life knowledge still is a wuss, not the kind who are like `too afraid to kill and dense` but the one who are fully stupid considering his actual age, and its also the reason why mushoku tensei is not a top tier novel, but still the ending was good(WN) Here is my recommendation Release that witch