The notification didn't appear on my Lemmy app so I didn't see your reply! I would have gotten back to you a lot earlier had I seen this! Whoops.
No better time than now to dive into Bleach, with the new anime season currently airing. There's a lot to critique about the story and how frustrating the pacing and power scaling can get towards the end, but Kubo is unparalleled when it comes to style, whether it be in storytelling or in character designs. I think it's worth reading just to see illustrations of some the characters and their powers.
I'm not sure what your appetite for explicit material (violence, sexual content etc.) is like, but I'll throw out a couple of titles I think might interest you:
I can't resist recommending Spice and Wolf to anyone who mentions fantasy. Originally a light novel adapted into manga and anime form, this story set in medieval times follows the journey of a travelling merchant, Lawrence, and his encounter with a wolf deity, Holo, that takes the form of a girl. I admit that this series is first and foremost a romance, but I think the writer also does a great job immersing the reader into a world set in the middle ages but where folklore were real. It's also a story that revolves around macroeconomics, and manages to make the subject digestable and even appealing to understand. One of my favourite series.
Another one in the same vein is The Ancient Magus' Bride, this time with a little less focus on the romance and a little more on fantasy. Chise, a teenage girl with a strong affinity to magic that brings her nothing but exclusion and sadness, finds herself up for bid at an auction. There, she is bought at a high price by a sorcerer named Elias and is told she is to become his apprentice. And also his bride. It's a more Harry Potter-esque story especially towards the more recent arcs, but it goes HARD on the Celtic and Nordic folklore. I know barely anything about European cultures and beliefs, but I loved this series and every new chapter and creature it introduced for a long, long time. Not to mention the art is gorgeous.
I'll end with Made in Abyss. I don't know if you've heard about this series, but it's a controversial one for sure. The city of Orth surrounds a vast pit which has been aptly named the Abyss. The citizens of this city make a living as Cave Raiders - people that explore the Abyss and dig up valuable treasures and relics left over from ancient times. Riko, a young orphan girl who dreams of becoming a great Cave Raider, meets Reg, a mysterious boy who has no memories of his past but has some strange abilities. Together, they descend into the Abyss and adventure together, and find out just how cruel and unforgiving the Abyss truly is. There's no denying some of the author's decision to make the characters children is very questionable, and that it'd be strange to read this without feeling uncomfortable at times. That said, Made in Abyss is a modern day classic. The art is breathtaking. It is a masterclass in storytelling, and there's no other series quite like it being written right now. And it has been adapted into anime (which is debatably even better than the source material) so you've got options!
I apologize, I didn't mean to write an essay, but these are manga that I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing so I couldn't help but write in a little more detail. I hope these descriptions made you a little curious!
I quite liked the awkward flow in their conversation. Interested to see where this goes.