I’ve always been a big fan of manga and have been reading a variety of different manga and manga series. While I’m usually torn more towards horror manga, I also love well-written manga.
I’m not merely talking about the plot or the story of a manga here, but also about themes, characters, twists or the general presentation of the story.
For this list, I gathered together 24 well-written manga anyone needs to read. I’d also like to give a spoiler warning since I want to discuss why I added these titles to the list.
Ikigami by Motoro Mase is set in a dystopian future. A strange law is in effect, the National Welfare Act, under which certain citizens between the age of eighteen and twenty-four are selected to die for their country.
Twenty-four hours before they die, they get sent an Ikigami, a notification informing them about their impending death.
Kengo Fujimoto, our protagonist, is a government messenger responsible for the delivery of Ikigamis.
The manga’s mostly told in episodic fashion, and centers on the people who receive an Ikigami. We’re shown how they react to the terrible news and how they spend their last day. While some of them accept, others wallow in despair and a few even rebel against it and try to change their destiny.
Ikigami presents a scenario that’s nothing short of terrifying. And yet, it also makes the manga quite thought provoking. It’s interesting to see how all sorts of different people react to the terrible news.
It’s the stories of those people that makes Ikigami such a well-written manga. They are unique and realistic, at times heartfelt and beautiful at others poetically beautiful.
While the art might not be the best, and the time we spent with most of the character is limited, it doesn’t mean Ikigami isn’t a well-written manga. Some of the short, often only a few chapters-long stories, are better than other, much longer tales.
Overall, Ikigami is a manga very worth reading. It’s interesting and not a bit thought-provoking and it makes you wonder how you’d spend your last day on Earth.
Ji-Hoon Jeong’s The Horizon is amongst the most depressing, yet beautiful manhwa I’ve read. While it’s not a manga, I still included it in this list of the most well-written manga because I think it deserves more attention.
In a world ravaged by war, a young boy witnesses the death of his mother. Before long, confused and stunted, he decides to walk the road towards the horizon.
It isn’t long before he meets a little girl and from then on, the two of them travel together.
The Horizon is the depressing, showcasing the brutality of war and the world in its aftermath. It’s a dark story, and, at times, one that gets almost a bit too dark.
The manhwa features some fantastic art. It’s often raw and gritty, sometimes simplistic at others, detailed, but always beautiful.
The Horizon comprises only twenty-one chapters, but it’s the perfect length. There’s a limit on how long you can keep up the gloomy atmosphere before it dissipates.
One of the greatest feats The Horizon accomplishes is the showcasing of raw emotions via the art. The entire style becomes grittier, rougher, and distorts completely when emotions spiral out of control. It’s a feat I’ve seldom seen in a manga, and The Horizon does so masterfully.
The Horizon is a hidden gem. It’s an unforgiving and depressing tale, one that showcases the brutality of war, and especially its aftermath. It’s a fantastically well-written manhwa one I urge anyone to read.
Anyonefamiliar with the works of Inio Asano knows they are famous for being depressing. Oyasumi Punpun is no different, but it’s an extremely well-written manga.
It’s the story of Punpun Onodera, an eleven-year-old boy. His life is fine, but changes when a new girl, Aiko, joins his class. Soon, Punpun has to learn how fickle relationships can be. We also learn more about Punpun, his family, his friends and watch how a shy little boy is consumed by darkness.
Punpun’s life is filled with problems. While it’s one of the best and most well-written manga I’ve read, it’s not an easy read. We experience Punpun’s romantic troubles, alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety. Yet, it’s the raw, gritty details in this manga that showcase how even the smallest things can influence us. It’s a relatable story. We’ve all experienced our share of misery and we all can relate to Punpun on some level.
The manga gives us multiple glimpses of Punpun’s life. In the earlier chapters, he’s a little boy, then a high schooler and ultimately a young adult.
Punpun is a mature manga, featuring its share of nudity and adult themes, but they are merely there to make us uncomfortable.
The same is true for Oyasumi Punpun’s cast of characters. They all suffer from problems and are all damaged to a degree. This is not a story of perfect people. No, it’s a story of real people. And similarly to the characters in Oyasumi Punpun, we all have our share of problems.
And yet, Oyasumi Punpun is an extremely well-written manga. It’s a depressing, deep story, yet it never becomes misery porn. No, it’s a thought-provoking tale, one that showcases how easy it is to fall into darkness.
Holyland by Kouji Mori is not only one of the best martial arts manga out there but also a well-written manga.
It’s the story of Yuu Kamishiro. After being bullied and abused, he turns to boxing and trains a single punch. He does so for an extended period, and finally takes to the streets to find his Holyland. After fighting street thugs, he soon builds up a reputation and becomes known as the ‘thug hunter.’
The reason I consider Holyland such a well-written manga is not for its plot, however, but for its characters. In essence, Holyland is a coming of age story, one driven by its characters. Instead of revolving around a general plot, the manga focuses more on character development.
Yet, the manga isn’t solely about Yuu. During his time out in the streets, he makes friends, but also enemies. Each one of them is as carefully developed as Yuu himself, especially Masaki Izawa and Shougo Midorikawa.
The biggest problem about Holyland, however, comes with its form of story-telling. It focuses almost entirely on character-development and uses street fights as a vessel. For this reason, the plot itself becomes rather repetitive.
Even though it didn’t deter my enjoyment of the series. It’s a fantastically well-written manga in terms of character-development. If you’re looking for a well-written manga about martial arts, read Holyland.
Annarasumanara by Ha Il-Kwon is yet another manga, but I still included it on this list. It’s extremely well-written and one of the most heartfelt and beautiful stories I’ve ever read.
The story centers on Yoon Ah-ee, a high school girl and a magician living in an abandoned theme park. Yoon is living in poverty. Her life comprises studying, working and taking care of her sister.
Eventually, after rumors of the mysterious magician spread, she stumbles into the theme park and visits him. It’s this visit that changes her life forever.
The manhwa centers on a variety of themes. The central one of those is growing up and living up to your own expectations and that of others. This theme is brought into conflict with the question of what happiness and life are about.
And yet, those are only two of a multitude of themes. Others include parental pressure, understanding yourself, and social expectations.
Magic is another important theme, but while it often showcases magic tricks, it’s more about the magic of life itself.
Annarasumanara is a story of real, genuine people, all with their own problems and genuine emotions. It’s a story that looks at life, at growing up and the questions we all encounter. And it might also be a story of magic and the question if magic can be real.
It’s a quick read, comprising only three volumes, but it’s very well worth reading. It’s a fantastic story and one of the most well-written manhwa I ever read.
Shuuzou Oshimi’s Chi no Wadachi is one of the most well-written manga I read in recent times. It’s a psychological masterpiece centering on abuse, trauma and manipulation.
Seiichi Osaba is a normal young boy. Yet, there’s one thing in his life that’s a bit strange, his mother. She’s overprotective of her son.
While it’s strange, it’s nothing too out of the ordinary. That is until Seiichi and his family go on a hiking trip. It’s there that a certain incident should change his life and that of his mother forever.
The manga might start out simple, even ordinary, but as it continues, we watch as things spiral out of control and become crazier and crazier.
What makes Chi no Wadachi such a well-written manga is the attention to detail and the way the story is told. It’s an extremely slow paced manga, but this slow pace adds a lot of tension and suspense. There are a lot of still shots, focusing on facial expression and emotions. Sometimes entire chapters are dedicated to nothing but a single interaction between two characters.
The manga’s art plays a huge part in it. Chi no Wadachi looks stunning and unique. At times, pages are sparse, others they are dense, almost oppressively detailed. Yet, it always helps to set the mood.
At first glance, the story might not appear too deep. It’s, however, the way it’s told, the way we experience it, that makes it special. Chi no Wadachi is an extremely well-written manga, one you can’t help be unsettled about.
If you’re looking for a psychological manga, one told uniquely and coming with stunning art, I urge you to read Chi no Wadachi.
Naoki Urasawa’s famous for his mystery manga. My favorite amongst his works is 20th Century Boys, which I consider one of the most well-written manga of all time.
The manga’s plot centers on Kenji endo and his friends.
Kenji’s a normal guy, working at a convenience store, but his life changes when he learns of the suicide of his former friend, Donkey. Incidentally, a cult lead by a mysterious figure, known as Friend, becomes popular in Japan. It isn’t long before Kenji realizes this cult is not only related to Donkey’s suicide, but also to him and his childhood.
From this point onward Kenji sets out to reunite his childhood friends and to learn the truth.
While conspiracy plots are nothing new, and neither are those about saving the world, 20th Century Boy’s stands out by how the story is told.
The sense of mystery and the foreboding atmosphere never let up. With each new development, new questions appear. What I especially enjoyed was the inclusion of different time periods. Many times, the manga takes us back to Kenji’s childhood to showcase certain events and reveal new pieces of the puzzle.
The manga comprises three arcs. The first is set at the end of the 20th century, the second in the year 2014 and the last during the Friend Era.
Amongst those arcs, the first two are masterfully told and amongst the best of the entire mystery manga genre. It’s during the third arc where things become a bit too strange and quality dips a little. It’s not bad, but it feels a bit detached from the rest.
Overall, 20th Century Boys tells a fantastic story and is amongst the most well-written manga of all time.
Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi is one of the longest-running most popular manga of all time.
It’s manga about hunter, who are essentially treasure hunters with various privileges. If you want to become a hunter, you have to pass the Hunter Exam.
Our protagonist, Gon Freecss, is a young boy who wants to be a hunter and takes part in the Hunter Exam. This exam makes up the first arc of the manga and introduces us to a majority of Hunter x Hunter’s main cast.
I consider Hunter x Hunter a well-written manga for various reasons. The first is the introduction of Nen, Hunter x Hunter’s equivalent of super powers. Yet, Togashi wasn’t satisfied by merely creating super powers. Instead, he created an elaborate system with rules and restrictions.
Another are the characters. The protagonists are all likeable, but it’s the antagonists I came to enjoy. Hisoka is one of the most bizarre characters I ever came upon and Chrollo, and the Phantom Troop, are extremely interesting.
While some of Hunter x Hunter’s arcs can be weaker, it’s the Chimera Ant arc that stood out to me.
There was, of course, Meruem, who served as a fantastic and well-written antagonist. The second was the presentation of the last part of the arc, the Palace Invasion. It was fantastically done and in many ways broke conventions in the way it was told.
Yet, it’s not only the Chimera Ant arc that stood out to me. The York New arc, as well as the newest the Succession Contest arc are both well written in their own right.
Overall, Hunter x Hunter is one of the best shonen manga out there, and one of the most well-written manga.
Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo might be the most influential manga of all time. It spawned one of the most influential anime of all time, and also the Japanese cyberpunk subgenre.
Akira’s set in the dystopian, futuristic city of Neo Tokyo. It’s a cyberpunk hell hole in which technology and skyscrapers go hand in hand with poverty and biker gangs.
Shoutarou Kaneda and Tetsuo Shima are two such bikers. They are best friends, but also bitter rivals. When Tetsuo tries to prove himself by pulling a desperate stunt, he sets into motion a chain of events leading to the awakening of Akira.
Akira is a story of government conspiracies, secret experiments, but most of all, one of megalomania.
It starts out as a story set in Neo Tokyo, featuring drug orgies and gang fights, but it soon shifts to government conspiracies. Among all this, however, Tetsuo stands out, an edgy teenage boy, a chilling and tragic character, who finds himself in possession of immense powers.
The story of Akira evolves, however. While the earlier volumes center on government conspiracies, the latter volumes are more post-apocalyptic, set in a derelict world.
The story-telling itself, however, is always brilliant and is always engaging. It’s for this reason I consider Akira such a well-written manga.
All of this is presented to us in Katsuhiro Otomo’s stunning art. Be it the dystopian cyberpunk hell that’s Neo Tokyo or its derelict ruins, it’s always shown in fantastic detail.
While Akira might have its share of problems, it’s still one of the greatest and most-well written manga of all time. It’s a stunningly beautiful cyberpunk masterpiece I recommend to any fan of manga.
Shigurui by Norio Nanjou and Takayuki Yamaguchi is one of the best and most well-written manga I ever read.
The story centers on a proclamation by the daimyo Tadanaga Tokugawa. He wants to hold a martial arts tournament with real swords and fights to the death.
The very first fight of the tournament is between the one-armed Gennosuke Fujiki and the lame and blind Seigen Irako. And yet, Shigurui doesn’t show us the result of their fight. Instead, the rest of the manga focuses on the backstory of those two characters and what led to their fight.
Shigurui’s a beautiful manga to look at and features some of the medium’s finest art. Characters, backgrounds and nature are rendered in beautiful detail while fights are ripe with gore and brutality, rendered in stunning detail.
What makes Shigurui such a well-written manga, however, is its depiction of samurai culture. Many manga often romanticize it, showing samurai as ideal and honorable fighters. Shigurui, however, sheds light on its unforgiving nature and the many lives lost because of it.
Shigurui’s a character driven manga, focusing on the paths of the two protagonists. It’s interesting, however, that there’s no distinction between good and bad. Instead, there are merely shades of grey. Both characters have their flaws and by following them along, we come to witness the true evil of the story, samurai culture itself.
The entire manga gives of a feeling of depression. It’s a story about the sword and how it forces people into a life of servitude and obedience under the guise of honor.
Shigurui is one of the best and most well-written manga in the samurai genre and in general.
Hideo Yamamoto’s Ichi the Killer is one of the most depraved manga I ever read. And yet, for all its sickness, for all its brutality, it’s also one of the most well-written manga out there.
Ichi the Killer centers on two characters. One is Ichi, the titular killer, the other is Kakihara, a twisted and insane yakuza. After Kakihara’s boss vanishes, he sets out on a brutal search to find him. This search brings him into bloody conflict with other yakuza groups, but also leads to a confrontation with Ichi.
Ichi the Killer is a depraved, sick story, featuring copious amounts of violence and a variety of disturbing incidents. And yet, the manga isn’t merely a gore fest. No, it’s a carefully developed, deeply psychological story that centers on a variety of themes. The most prominent is that of the interplay between sadism and masochism, but others included are childhood abuse, manipulation and identity disorder. The manga mixes all those together into one of the most brutal, but also most compelling and well-written manga of all time.
It’s a fascinating work, one that succeeds so well not despite, but because of its showcasing of raw violence. The characters in Ichi the Killer aren’t real people. Instead, they are the most depraved members of society, those who mingle in its dark underbelly. It shows them to us, shows us what they will do, how far they go and filters none of it. And all this violence is used to not only tell but also underline the story that’s told.
Ichi the Killer is a brutal, fucked up and often downright disgusting manga. At the same time, however, it’s one of the most well-written manga of all time.
Yasuhisa Hara’s Kingdom is my favorite historical and military manga and I regard it as one of the best and most well-written manga of all time.
Kingdom is set during the Warring States era of China and depicts its unification under the state of Qin. This makes it a work of tremendous scope and even with almost 700 chapters, the story is nowhere near done.
The story begins with a rebellion against the soon to be king of Qin, Ei Sei. During these events, our protagonist Shin, a young servant boy, becomes involved in the matters of state.
From this point onward, we follow Ei Sei on his path to unify China and Shin on his path to become a Great General under the Heaven.
Kingdom is a well-written manga for a variety of reasons. There are the large-scale battles that were common during the Warring States era. Those battles are presented in stunning detail. While they are bloody and full of action, the manga puts a lot of emphasis on outlying the strategies and tactics employed.
While Shin is out fighting large parts of the story, focus on Ei Sei, the power struggles at court and the politics between the Warring States.
A manga as long as Kingdom also features a vast cast of characters. While Shin, our protagonist, is rather clichéd, many others are complex and interesting. There’s Ei Sei, Ryu Fui, General Ou Ki and of course, Riboku.
While Kingdom’s a historical manga, it often takes liberties to dramatize events. The first arc of the manga is by far the weakest. Once we reach the first large-scale battle, however, the manga truly shines.
Overall, Kingdom is the best and most well-written historical and military manga I’ve read.
Manabe Shouhei’s Yamikin Ushijima is a dark manga, one that presents us with the world of illegal money lending. It’s among the best, most well-written crime manga there are.
Our protagonist, Kaoru Ushijima, is a yamikin, an illegal moneylender. He offers loans with an interest rate of fifty percent, which is to be paid back within ten days. One has to wonder who’d accept such outrageous conditions, but if you believe this manga, there are many people who do. It’s those who gave into their vices, are drowning in debt, or who are amongst the dregs of society.
In earlier parts, the manga centers on Ushijima as he makes sure people pay him back and often takes from them all they have, using any means possible.
Where the manga truly shines, however, is in its later parts. When the manga focuses less on Ushijima, but more on the people who come to his office. These stories are as well-written as they are depressing. There’s a sad sort of interest in seeing what ultimately drives people to his office.
Many of the characters in this manga aren’t sympathetic, and one’s hard pressed to feel sorry for them. Some tales, however, are heartbreaking, showing just how quickly can end up in a downward spiral.
Yamkin Ushijima-kun is great because it’s so realistic. Everyone makes mistakes, sometimes we have bad luck, and there are always people out there who are preying on the weak.
It’s a dark, fascinating manga that sheds light on the dark underbelly of society.
While there are a lot of manga centered on crime, few portray the dark side of society and Yamikin Ushijima-kun. It’s a dark, depressing but extremely well-written manga.
I enjoy mind game manga and Shinobu Kaitani’s Liar Game is amongst the best the medium offers.
The story centers on Kanzaki Nao. She’s an incredibly honest girl. One day, she finds herself a contestant in the Liar, a game of deceit with stakes in the hundreds of millions.
Before long, Nao is tricked, but soon finds help from the genius swindler Akiyama.
The reason I think Liar Game is such a well-written manga is because of the games. They start out simple, but as the manga progresses, they get more and more complex.
While the games themselves are interesting, it’s the many tricks, ploys and strategies characters use that make them so great. It’s a delight to watch them out-play each other repeatedly over their course.
This was most prevalent during the Contraband Game and the Musical Chairs game. These two were absolutely outstanding. This, of course, wasn’t merely because of the games, but also because of the characters.
Most characters in Liar Game are there to represent a certain character type and to be out-played by Akiyama. During the Contraband Game, however, we’re introduced to Yokoya and during Musical Chairs, Harimoto. Both of them were a match for Akiyama, and the games featuring them were interesting and reached new levels of suspense.
Overall, Liar Game is an absolutely brilliant and well-written manga. It features a variety of complex games, strategies and characters. It’s well worth reading and probably the best mind game manga out there.
Bokutachi ga Yarimashita is one of the darkest and most well-written manga I ever read.
It tells the story of Tobio Masubuchi and his three friends, Isami, Maru and Paisen. When Maru gets beaten up by the delinquents of a neighboring school, the friends hatch a plan for revenge.
What was planned to be nothing but a prank turns into deadly reality and their normal, average lives end.
It’s fantastically well-written manga that centers on a variety of psychological themes, but the most prevalent is that of guilt and redemption. The reliance on these themes makes Bokutachi ga Yamashita one of the darkest and most depressing manga I ever read.
It’s an entirely unique manga, unlike anything I ever read before. The plot is ripe with tension, but more than that, it makes you uncomfortable on a deeply psychological level.
The story-telling and plot are great, the pace is fantastic, but what makes this manga so good are the characters. Bokutachi ga Yamshita is a work that’s entirely character driven. And yet, the characters in Bokutachi ga Yamshita aren’t heroes. Instead, they are normal, everyday people. They are immature, weak, and never thought about the consequences of their actions.
It’s extremely interesting to witness how they handle the events taking place in that manga, but more so to see the psychological and emotional toll it takes on them.
It’s a realistic tale that shows that in real life there are no magical endings. No, life goes on and you’ll have to live with the consequences of your actions.
Bokutachi ga Yamashita is a fantastically dark, suspenseful and well-written manga. It presents us with a deep look into the human psyche.
Freesia by Jiro Matsumoto is a manga set in a dystopian Japan. In this society, a law has been passed which legalizes retaliatory killings. Should a loved one be murdered, you may take justice into your own hands or hire someone to do it for you.
Our protagonist, Kano, works at an agency that specializes in carrying out retaliatory killings.
Reading this, one might think Freesia a manga bout bloody retaliatory killings. Instead, however, the manga focuses much more on the targets of these retaliatory killings and their personal stories. These stories are often very well-written, make us sympathize with them and their end often tragic.
Freesia’s setting is dark, gloomy and depressing and the manga is populated by a cast of the broken, damaged and mentally ill.
Kano himself suffers from hallucination, memory failure and schizophrenia. What makes Freesia such a well-written manga is the way his mental illness is presented to us. We aren’t merely witnessing how Kano acts. No, we see the world through his eyes. It makes the entire manga incredibly surreal and weird. Often, you might wonder just what’s going on and what’s real and what isn’t.
And yet, Kano isn’t the only character who suffers from mental problems. Many others suffer from delusions or hallucinations in their own right. As with Kano, many of these distorted views of reality are presented to us at face value. It’s only when reality’s revealed to us we truly understand what’s going on.
Freesia is nothing short of brilliant. It’s a dark, depressing work, but also an extremely well-written manga. It showcases mental illness in a way I’ve not seen before.
You sometimes come upon certain works that contain glimpses of absolute brilliance. One such tale is Kenji Tsuruta’s adaptation of Shinji Kajio’s story, Omoide Emanon.
The story centers on a young man who’s returning home from his travels and a beautiful young woman he meets on a ferry. She introduces herself as Emanon and the two of them hit it off.
During dinner, she tells him her story, a story that’s unbelievable.
I don’t know what it is about this manga that makes it so great. There’s this warm, solemn atmosphere about it, the way our characters meet and how they talk that’s just so natural.
I don’t know what makes this manga so great. It might be the warm, solemn atmosphere, the way the characters meet, or the reason the young man returns home. It’s a mixture that’s strangely fitting and relatable.
And yet, Emanon stands out. She’s a realistic, yet beautiful character. She’s charismatic, yet ominous. Her portrayal is simply perfect.
The reason I consider Omoide Emanon such a well-written manga is the emotional impact it conveys in its few chapters. I’ve read many other manga, much longer than Omoide Emanon, but few impacted me similarly.
Omoide Emanon doesn’t tell much of a story. Instead, it merely gives us a glimpse into the life of two characters who met by chance.
And yet, at times, it’s the small things in life that stay with us the longest. Read Omoide Emanon, and it might just become one of them.
Onani Master Kurosawa by Katsura Ise and Takuma Yokota proved to be one of the biggest surprises in the entire manga medium.
Kakeru Kurosawa, our protagonist, is a fourteen-year-old student. Each day, once classes are over, however, he heads to a seldom-used school bathroom and masturbates.
When he notices how his mousy classmate Aya Kitahara is bullied by one of the popular girls, he takes revenge into his own hands by doing what he does best.
It isn’t long before Kitahara figures out he’s behind the incident and blackmails him to do the same to other girls who bullied her.
The earlier parts of Onani Master Kurosawa are more humorous and are often considered a parody of Death Note. In time, however, the manga changes, matures and becomes an inspiring coming-of-age tale.
What makes it such a well-written manga is not only the way the story’s told but also its characters. Kurosawa is one of the best-rounded, believable and eventually likeable characters I’ve ever come upon. While he starts out as an anti-social pervert, he develops tremendously over the course of the manga.
It’s this development that’s incredibly well done. He’s also an extremely relatable character, one we come to get to know intimately. We not only see what’s happening or how he feels, no, we come to understand him. It’s this intimacy and his character development that makes this such a well-written manga. The same is true for many of the side-characters who are as complex and realistic as Kurosawa.
Onani Master Kurosawa is without a doubt one of the best, most well-written manga out there, telling a sweet and complex coming-of-age story.
Shinichi Sakamoto’s The Climber is one of the most beautiful and well-written manga I ever read.
Buntarou Mori, our protagonist, is a lonesome and solitary teenager. When a classmate challenges him to climb the school building, Mori accepts without hesitation. It’s at this moment that his passion for climbing is awoken.
From here on out, Mori climbs more and more mountains.
The Climber is a work heavily focused on dedication and perseverance, showcasing that if you work hard enough, you can do anything.
It’s the story, the presentation that makes The Climber such a well-written manga. One might think it’s a manga about climbing, but it’s one about character. The Climber is hugely character-driven and focuses more on Mori’s development than anything else.
Mori has problems and can’t relate to other people. As he continues to climb and overcome mountains, however, he also overcomes his problems. This dualism is fantastically well done.
The art in The Climber is among the best in the medium. It’s breathtakingly beautiful, presenting us with stunning page-spreads of mountain ranges.
It’s full of glimpses of poetic beauty. Many panels are dedicated to nothing but Mori climbing. There’s no need for dialogue. No, the visuals speak for themselves. It’s a thing of beauty, one that makes The Climber such a fantastic and well-written manga.
And yet, it goes even further. Many pages contain metaphors, allusions and literary passages. It gives the entire work a feeling of profound joy and character. And yet, it never feels pretentious.
The Climber is an outstanding work of beauty. It’s not merely a manga about climbing, it’s a character-driven coming-of-age story. While the manga can be a heavier read, it’s never an unpleasant experience. No, it’s always beautiful.
Akira Hiramoto’s Me and the Devil Blues is a manga that retells the life of Robert Johnson and the American South.
Our protagonist, Robert, is a dabbling musician who wants to learn how to play the blues. He’s not good at it, but one day he hears an urban legend. Should you play at a crossroads at night, the devil will visit you. In exchange for your soul, he’ll make you genius blues player.
When Robert does what the legend says, his life changes forever.
Me and the Devil Blues is an outstanding a well-written manga. It comes with an art style that’s gritty, but very detailed, making it one of the most beautiful manga out there.
The setting of the manga, the American South, during the 1930s is extremely well done. One can see the deep division between white and black, giving the manga a unique, western feeling.
Another fantastic element of the manga is its characters. RJ’s a great protagonist, but he’s a character more thrown into events than choosing them. Clyde Brown is, in my opinion, the best character in the manga. Many of the side-characters are well developed in their own right, but the best among them is without a doubt Stanley McDonald.
The best part about Me and the Devil Blues, however, is the atmosphere. I’ve never read another manga so loaded with tension and as suspenseful as Me and the Devil Blues. There are entire chapters that don’t let you catch your breath. It’s this atmosphere, this tension that makes it such an incredibly well-written manga.
Me and the Devil Blues is a hidden gem and one of the most suspenseful, well written-manga of all time.
Vineland Saga by Makoto Yukimura tells the story of Thorfinn Karlsefni, son of Thors. He’s part of a mercenary group led by a man named Askeladd. It’s revealed that Askeladd is responsible for Thor’s death and Thorfinn only joined his group to get revenge.
After this introduction, we learn that the Danish prince Canute has been taken hostage. It’s here that the shrewd Askeladd hatches a plan, one that should change their lives forever.
Vinland Saga is without a doubt one of the best and most well-written manga of all time.
The manga’s set in the 11th century and focuses on Vikings. While the manga takes some liberties, it feels incredibly realistic and doesn’t shy away from portraying the atrocities of the times.
Vinland Saga is full of brutal battles, featuring gross and gratuitous violence. And yet, the manga isn’t merely a story of brutal wars and battle. It’s the story of Thorfinn. For long parts, the manga tells a calm and gloomy story as it focuses on Thorfinn feelings of guilt and his regrets. It’s these parts I came to enjoy the most.
The reason I consider Vinland Saga such a well-written manga, however, is because of its characters. Thorfinn starts out as a quiet and efficient killer who lives only for revenge. Over the course of the story, however, he grows tremendously and becomes one of the most complex manga characters of all time.
The greatest character in Vinland Saga is Askeladd. He’s amongst the greatest manga characters of all time and if you read Vinland Saga, you will find out why.
At times Vinland Saga is brutal and violent, at others calm and quiet, but it’s always a well-written manga and a fantastic read.
Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond is based on the novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. It tells a romanticized version of the life of Musashi Miyamoto.
The manga centers on Shinmen Takezou. After joining the battle of Sekigahara, Takezo is declared a wanted criminal. After a long hunt, he’s caught, strung up at a tree and left to die. Before long, he’s freed by the monk Takuan, who gives him a new name, that of Musashi Miyamoto.
From here on the manga focuses on his travels and his pursuit of the sword to become ‘Invincible under the Heavens.’
Vagabond is absolutely gorgeous to look at and features some of the best art in the entire medium.
Since Vagabond’s a samurai manga, it features a lot of stunning battles. While they are gory, blood and disturbing, the violence is never glamorized and rendered in stunning detail.
The reason I consider Vagabond such a well-written manga is because of its characters. Musashi starts out as a demon child, but develops tremendously over the course of the manga. He matures into a calm, philosophical man, one who questions what it truly means to be invincible.
As much as the manga’s the story of Musashi Miyamoto, it’s also the story of Sasaki Koichiro, another brilliant swordsman of the time. Long parts of the manga are dedicated to Koichiro and his life. These parts are as interesting and well-written as those featuring Musashi.
The story-telling in Vagabond is another thing I enjoyed. Over the course of the manga, we often switch from Musashi to Koichiro, or even Matahachi, showing us each character’s unique path.
Overall, nothing much needs to be said about Vagabond. It’s one of the greatest, most well-written manga of all time.
Rest in peace Kentaro Miura, thanks for sharing your gift with the world.
Berserk is one of the greatest, most well-written manga of all time.
It’s a dark fantasy manga telling the story of a man with a sword as tall as himself out on a quest for revenge. That man’s Guts, the Black Swordsman, who s hunting for demonic beings known as apostles.
Berserk might appear a simple story, nothing but the tale of a man fighting monsters. And yet, one couldn’t be more wrong. Berserk is an incredibly complex and well-written manga. This is especially prevalent during its second arc, the Golden Age, in which we learn much more about Guts’ past, but also get to know Griffith.
It’s during this arc, we learn just how complex these two characters and their relationship is. Kentaro Miura did an amazing job at showcasing it, testing and ultimately severing it.
It’s because of these two characters, their interactions, their goals and wishes that I consider Berserk such a well-written manga.
While Berserk is known for its amazing characters, it’s most popular for its art. Kentaro Miura was one of the greatest manga artists of all time. There are scarcely few manga who can compare to Berserk when Kentaro Miura was at its best. There are often more details on a single page of Berserk than in entire chapters of other manga.
What I came to enjoy the most was Berserk’s monster design. The apostles are absolutely gorgeous and terrifying to look at. They are nothing short of beautifully grotesque monstrosities.
Berserk is one of the greatest, most well-written manga of all time. It’s at the peak of the medium and anyone interested in manga should read it.
Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal is my favorite manga of all time.
The story centers on Manji, the infamous ‘Hundred Men Killer.’ As punishment for his deeds, an eight-hundred-year-old nun placed bloodworms in his body, rendering him immortal. As atonement for his crimes and to free himself from the curse of immortality, Manji resolves to kill one thousand evil man.
The manga’s story truly starts, however, when Manji meets Rin Asano, a sixteen-year-old girl. She begs him to help her in a quest for revenge against the man who murdered her parents. This man’s Kagehisa Anotsu, the leader of the Itto-Ryu.
From this point onwards, Manji travels with Rin to help her.
The manga’s premise is simple, but becomes more complex over time as various factions are introduced.
The reason I consider Blade of the Immortal such a well-written manga is because of its characters. Both Rin and Manji develop tremendously over the course of the manga, but many other characters are as excellent. Anotsu Kagehisa is one of the greatest, most complex characters in the entire manga, but so are Taito Magatsu, Makie Otono-Tachibana and, of course, Shira.
The biggest testament to the manga’s writing is that there’s no real distinction between good and evil. Every character has their own circumstances, goals and reasons. While Anotsu Kagehisa is the story’s chief antagonist, it’s only because Manji and Rin are our protagonists.
The high point of the manga is the outstanding fights. They are brutal, tense, full of suspense and amongst the best of the entire medium.
Overall, Blade of the Immortal is an amazing samurai manga and one of the most well-written manga of all time.
Tsutomu Nihei’s one of my favorite manga of all time and Biomega is one of my favorite works of his.
Unfortunately, Biomega is often overshadowed by its predecessor Blame! and its successor Knights of Sidonia who are both very popular. Yet, I think Biomega is a manga deserving of a lot more attention.
Following his cyberpunk masterpiece Blame!, Biomega is like it in many ways and features many similar elements.
One mega-corporations featured in the story is named Toha Heavy Industries, the manga features a dark-haired, superhuman protagonist, it features lots of high-tech and cybernetic horrors, and it comes with all of Nihei’s grand architectural world-building.
But Biomega isn’t just a carbon copy of Blame!, it’s also vastly different in many other ways.
It’s a fantastic and creative manga that pushes Nihei’s visual story-telling even further than Blame! It features Nihei’s usual dark and gritty style and the insane action so common in Blame! However, Biomega drives those things even further.
Biomega is an insanely fast-paced cyberpunk, zombie apocalypse manga full. It’s as weird and insane as it sounds, but the second half of the manga gets even weirder.
Biomega’s plot is hard to describe. The manga’s plot is as weird as it is surreal. At the outset of the story, most of the world population has turned into drones, who are basically zombies, because of the spreading N5S virus.
It’s soon revealed that the Data Recovery Foundation (DRF), a mega corporation, and its subsidiary, the Public Health Service (PHS), are trying to continue the spread of the virus to transform humanity.
Opposing them is Toha Heavy Industries, another mega-corporation who sends out synthetic human agents, one of them Zouichi Kanoe. He’s tasked with finding Ion Green, a young woman who’s adapted to the N5S virus.
Toha Heavy Industries searches for her and other people who have adapted to the N5S virus hoping to find a cure and to save the world.
And thus Zouichi, and Toha Heavy Industries find themselves in conflict with the DRF, the PHS and their many forces.
Similarly to Blame!, Biomega features an apocalyptic setting. Again, we don’t witness the world before the apocalypse. Instead, we’re thrown right into it and witness a derelict world devoid of normal humans and populated by twisted and disturbing drones.
Over the course of the manga, however, the setting changes radically.
While the first half of the manga is set on a dark, gritty and futuristic version of Earth, the second half of the manga is set on an entirely different world.
It’s a shift that makes sense in the story, but it’s strange, nonetheless. It’s such a radical shift that not only the setting, but even the nature of the plot changes. The entire manga becomes less dark, grim and gritty and much less fast-paced.
Like many of Nihei’s earlier works, Biomega is a highly unique manga that’s not for everyone. It’s a story told more via visuals than via dialogue, extremely fast paced and full of action.
An old saying goes, a picture says more than a thousand words, and it’s no more true than in the works of Tsutomu Nihei and especially Biomega.
Biomega is another example of a story being told via the setting and visuals. There’s no exposition, no explanations and instead we’re thrown right into a zombie-apocalypse.
Similarly to Blame! there are entire chapters with almost no dialogue. Yet, Biomega differs from Blame! in one major aspect, the pacing.
Biomega’s pacing is insanely fast, almost too fast and most of it is presented to us via visuals.
There’s always something happening, the story is always moving forward. There are no slow, somber chapters like in Blame!, at least in the first half of the manga, and this can make it hard to understand what’s going on.
Even dialogue is faced-paced, lines are omitted and only people’s reaction are shown to us. It’s an interesting choice, but it never confuses since we can always tell what was said before or what question was asked.
An example is when a certain character gets infected. We don’t see Fuyu telling her she’s infected or what happened to her, instead we only see her reaction and understanding of it.
This makes Biomega such a fast-moving manga. It feels almost like Nihei was reluctant to use dialogue, and wanted his visuals and his setting to speak for himself. While it might sound strange, it works in case of Biomega and makes it such a unique experience to read.
As in other works of Nihei’s, the world-building is done mostly via visuals.
What makes Biomega’s world-building so special is that the manga’s set in two vastly different worlds.
The first part of the manga is set in a futuristic version of the world. Yet, with the apocalypse setting in, it’s a derelict, bleak and ruined place.
It’s a world full of claustrophobic cities and complex urban sprawls.
The apocalypse is almost feasible, since the world is an empty place. As Zouichi and other characters travel through cities, they are almost completely empty, only populated by drones.
It’s a vast technological wasteland, devoid of anything in it but giant structures and military installations. This bleak atmosphere is even more feasible than in Blame!
After the first half, the manga’s setting changes radically and the second half of the manga stands in stark contrast to it.
What used to be the dark, futuristic cityscapes of a future earth are replaced by unique bio-mechanical environments that look more grown than built. It’s a world reminiscent of such works as Nausicaä teeming with strange bio-mechanical horrors.
It’s a world that appears almost like a fusion of nature and the artificial, one that looks more plantlike, almost organic. We see giant structures reminding us of bones, holes akin to pores and the many life forms Zouichi encounters appear like parasites.
This strange mixture of the biological and the technological also shows in the many inhabitants of the world, be it humans or other organisms.
And yet, this second half is more reminiscent of Blame!. The manga now takes place in a strange new world of immeasurable proportions, where humans have to survive against terrible odds.
Yet, what both worlds have in common is Nihei’s attention and focus on grand design. In the first part of the magna, it’s visible in the many gigantic cities, high-tech complexes and military structures.
This goes more out of hand in the second half. The new world has a width of only 100 kilometers, but a length of 4.8 billion kilometers, essentially stretching out from Earth to Neptun.
It’s this dual-setting that makes Biomega such a unique, but also strange manga. Both worlds, however, are rendered in beautiful detail and are given a lot of attention.
Biomega is weird, way weirder than Blame! and it shows in its assortment of characters. These include our main characters, Toha Heavy Industries synthetic humans, but also immortals, a woman who’s able to use ESP to understand and learn anything in an instant and a talking bear.
The synthetic humans, Zouichi and Nishu, are very similar to the cast of Blame!. Zouichi is pretty much a replica of Killy. He’s neigh immortal, has superhuman strength and abilities, can heal himself after receiving severe damage, and can go long periods without the need to drink or eat. The major difference, however, is Zouichi’s showcase of emotions. As opposed to Killy, Zouichi, at least in certain scenes, shows strong emotional responses and seems to care about other people.
Yet it’s not only the synthetic humans who are badass. Each one of them has an AI companion who is integrated into the motorcycles they drive. This allows them to use their own assortment of weapons, including a railgun and tentacle like chais that can help them attack, move and even shield them from serious impact.
Kozlov the talking bear while a weird character is a great addition to the cast. Against early assumptions, however, he’s not merely there for contrast and comical relief, no he’s much more important to the story than anyone would expect.
The antagonists, including the aforementioned woman with ESP, are also great, are interesting as well, but aren’t featured heavily. Yet, their clear, sociopathic ambition and grand plan makes them more interesting than those of Blame!
Nihei’s manga, especially his earlier works, don’t follow conventional story-telling tropes. His stories are often confusing and sometimes ambitious.
While Biomega starts of simple and straightforward, it soon becomes confusing and hard to follow. This can in part be attributed to the incredibly fast pacing in which large parts of the manga are told.
Similarly to Blame! much of the story and its backgrounds are only revealed as we read on. Important details are given to us sparely and we have to put them together on our own.
Yet, if you read carefully, and follow what little dialogue there is, you will understand the story almost completely. The motifs of the DRF, Niardi’s plan, her conflict with Narain and even what lead to it are all revealed.
However, Biomega might be a manga that needs to be read twice. It’s a weird piece of work and especially the second half can be very confusing.
While Biomega is a cyberpunk manga, it could very well be categorized as a horror manga as well.
There’s, of course, the plot. The N5S virus outbreak is akin to a zombie-apocalypse, and the many twisted and distorted drones are horrible to look at. This is also true for the many antagonists. The DRFs Patrol officers look as if they are straight out of a horror movie. The PHS task force is reminiscent of execution squads, and the many transformations are as horrible as they are fascinating.
Yet, that’s not all.
Nihei’s horror also manifests in its setting. While Zouichi and others visit vast cities, they are almost completely abandoned and empty. It gives the entire manga a moody feeling, one of isolation and claustrophobia.
In the second half, the world is a dangerous and alien place, and once more, a world in which normal humans are almost meaningless and unimportant. This world is so big that distances become meaningless and time is measured not in months or years, but in centuries. It’s a horrible wonderland of immeasurable proportions.
I want to take some time to talk about the many themes in Biomega. The first theme, of course, is a cornerstone of cyberpunk. We don’t have countries anymore, we merely have giant cityscapes and the world is controlled by giant megacorporations, fighting each other.
While Toha Heavy Industries is benevolent and wants to save humanity, the DRF is the polar opposite. At the outset of the story, they declare themselves the world government and plan on infecting all of humanity with the N5S virus.
The evolution and the ascension of humanity are another theme. Over the course of the story, we learn why Niardi, the DRF’s overlord, wants to infect humanity. She essentially wants to wipe out normal humans and build a new world with only those who are immune and have adapted to the virus.
Another important theme in Biomega is that of immortality. One of the major conflicts in the manga is one of pro-immortality against pro-mortality.
The Big Switch is how I’d like to refer to the change that occurs between the first and the second half of the manga.
While the first half of the story represents us with cyberpunk in all its glory, what comes after chapter 27 is entirely different.
It’s not only the setting that changes radically but also many other elements of the story. The general pacing slows down, the plot changes, but with it also the elements that are used to tell it.
The second half of Biomega almost feels like a different manga. As outlined before, it can almost be called a genre shift. What started out as an apocalyptic cyberpunk manga is now more akin to a fantastic travel set in a setting that’s a mixture of cyberpunk and biopunk.
This Big Switch is one of the weirdest occurrences of its kind I’ve ever witnessed in a manga. While many manga comprise different art styles and their settings evolve, I’ve never seen one as rapid and radical as the one in Biomega.
It doesn’t ruin the manga, and it even makes sense in terms of plot, but it’s still extremely weird and can be very frustrating to some readers.
Similarly to his masterpiece Blame!, Biomega’s art is full of vast expanses and gigantic structures. Yet, even though his style depicts this unfathomable scale, it’s always incredibly detailed. This makes Biomega a delight to experience.
As opposed to Blame!, however, Biomega is much darker in its depiction and feels dirtier and sketchier, especially in its first half. This adds a lot to the atmosphere and the apocalyptic setting of the manga.
Gigantic Proportions are a staple of Tsutomu Nihei’s work and Biomega doesn’t disappoint.
The Earth depicted in the first half of Biomega is a dark and surreal place. It seems to comprise nothing but towering cities connected by impossibly long highways.
What’s interesting about Biomega is that while it’s said in the future, many of the cities showcased have a distinct gothic look to them. They don’t look like the gigantic, pristine megastructures made of steel we’re used to from Blame! Instead, they look unorganized and wild.
Buildings are crowding together, almost pushing against one another. Every space between them is taken up by streets, pipes and cables. These pipes and cables are going everywhere and sneak around buildings in an almost chaotic fashion.
This strange futuristic, yet gothic architecture gives the cities of Biomega an almost organic style and makes them appear something that was grown rather than built.
And yet, these densely constructed cities are bleak and empty. Everything’s deserted, almost derelict, and we rarely see any people.
All of this gives Biomega a strangely eerie and claustrophobic feeling.
Biomega is a dark manga, one that seems much darker than Blame! It gives the entire work an almost oppressive, gloomy atmosphere. Yet, it’s more than fitting for a story such as Biomega.
Cities are broken down, dark and their specific gothic design and color choice make them reminiscent of giant haunted houses. What adds to this feeling is Tsutomu Nihei’s personal style. While his art is sharp, many of Biomega’s cities feel as if they have no hard outlines, adding to the general feeling of isolation and desolation.
Biomega is a dark manga. Tsutomu Nihei uses lots of heavy blacks to depict the desolate, apocalyptic Earth. In many of these pages, black is not only the dominant color but also the dominant feeling. There’s a murky darkness that lays over the entire manga and adds so much to the atmosphere and general feeling.
Similarly to Blame!, Tsutomu Nihei once more relies on strong contrasts between white and black. This is most prevalent in his use of negative spaces to convey light and huge explosions.
What’s most interesting about Biomega, however, is the switch that happens in the second half of the manga. While black is the most dominant color, the second half is dominated by white. This visual changes and change in color usages adds to the general change the manga goes through in its second half.
The character design in Biomega is reminiscent of that in Blame! What’s interesting about Biomega is that while the art, and especially the setting, is sketchy and dirty, character are often refined and detailed.
It’s most prevalent in the character of Zouichi. He might drive a futuristic motorcycle, but apart from that, he appears very similar to Killy, the main character of Blame! It’s not only his appearance but also his demeanor and weapons.
The DRF and especially their various cybernetic horrors are similar to the silicon life. However, their design and especially their transformations look more biological and organic than anything else.
The same can be said about the drones. While they are basically zombies, Tsutomu Nihei makes them truly disturbing and nightmarish to look at. They came with strange growths, elongated limbs, and are twisted and deformed. It gives them less the appearance of general zombies, but more of that of weird mutants. They are horrible delight to look at.
While Tsutomu Nihei’s earlier work Blame! had its fair share of horror, Biomega features much more.
The world of Biomega is ripe with body horror. We’ve got the horribly distorted drones, the cybernetically enhanced humans and even twisted and mutated biological monstrosities.
A great design choice is that of the DRF’s patrol officers. Their masks and aprons give them a distinct design, one reminiscent of butchers or even serial killers in slasher movies. And, of course, they are as deadly as they look creepy.
Biomega features a lot more horror though. Gore and violence are much more prevalent here than in Blame! People are being shot and torn apart, their heads are exploding, and we witness copious amounts of blood. It gives the manga a brutal feeling, one more reminiscent of a horror manga than a science-fiction or cyberpunk one.
Biomega is a manga that’s insanely fast paced and full of action. Its pace is much, much faster than almost any other manga I’ve ever read.
This pace adds a lot to the action. It’s often ramped up, fast, depicting only the most important details and over before you know it.
Instead of detailing fights or action-sequences, they are often shown in short, high-paced panels. At times, Biomega skips entire fights. We’re only shown the outset, and skip right to the end a few panels later.
However, this can be a tad bit confusing. There’s almost too much going on in some chapters. This is especially prevalent when Zouichi makes his way back to the Toha Heavy Industry’s headquarters. It is here that he takes on an entire battalion of fighter planes and even a carrier, and takes them down in only a handful of pages.
Yet, this doesn’t mean that the action in Biomega is bad. By now means, it’s kinetic, gory, and insanely fast paced. What we see, however, is absolutely fantastic.
I mentioned the Big Switch before in terms of story and setting, but it’s also prevalent in the art and visual style of the manga.
The first half of Biomega follows a more realistic style. It’s set on Earth, even if it’s a derelict and desolation version of Earth. Most of the human characters look like actual humans or humans who have been modified.
In the second half of the manga, all that changes. As the setting becomes more fantastic, so does the style. The world is now populated by strange mechanised humans and biotechnological creatures that look almost entirely organic.
This, however, is most prevalent in the visual style of the manga changing. While black dominates the first half of the manga, the second half is dominated by white spaces. It also feels less sketchy, dirty and claustrophobic. Instead, it feels almost clean, fantastical and similar to Blame! impossibly large.
What’s also interesting to see is that this change in style is not only one in terms of colors but also in character design and general style. Tsutomu Nihei’s style changes vastly between the beginning and end of Biomega.
It’s near the end of Biomega when certain areas and characters are depicted one can see the first outliers of his style in Knights of Sidonia. It’s an interesting transformation to behold, one that also adds to the change in setting and story. Yet, I have to admit that I’m more a fan of Tsutomu Nihei’s grim dark worlds and setting and less a fan of his more recent, lighter style.
While I consider Biomega a visual and action-packed masterpiece, there are still some problems with it I want to discuss.
The first is, of course, what I call The Big Switch. It’s such a strange choice, almost a complete switch in terms of setting, story and visual style. While it makes sense in terms of the story, it’s still something that while make you wonder what exactly is going on.
The biggest problem I have with it, however, is that many important characters from the first half of the manga aren’t coming up anymore. There’s Nishu, but also Kahdal Spindal, who unfortunately never appear again.
Another problem with Biomega is that, it just moves too fast at certain times. In some chapters, the manga throws so much at you it’s hard to keep up with what’s going on.
The last problem is once more Tsutomu Nihei’s way of story-telling. We’re thrown into an apocalyptic world, ravaged by a deadly virus without knowing what’s going on. There’s no backstory, no exposition, and no explanation. Once more, Tsutomu Nihei only reveals what’s going on by bits and pieces and the occasional, very short flashback. This can make Biomega hard to read and harder to understand. Similarly to Blame! I only could grasp the entire story on my second reread.
While Biomega has some problems as outlined here, it’s still one of my favorite manga of all time. It’s an insanely high-paced, action-packed cyberpunk-horror masterpiece that I’d recommend to anyone who likes the work of Tsutomu Nihei, visual story-telling or weird science-fiction manga.
If you want to read Biomega, I recommend ordering it on Amazon:
Blame! is the debut series of Tsutomu Nihei, a science-fiction cyberpunk manga artist. He’s among the best and most talented manga artists out there and his art can compare to the best in the entire medium.
Blame! is one of my favorite manga of all time. It’s unique, beautiful, awe-inspiring and at times brutal. The manga stands out for its amazing setting, the stunning action scenes, but also the many gorgeous and disturbing cybernetic horrors that populate it.
It tells a dark, futuristic story that depicts a world in which technology is running amok and has created one of the most unique settings ever created.
The world of Blame! is a typical cyberpunk setting, depicting a world of fascinating high-tech but at the same low-life for all its inhabitants. Many other cyberpunk tropes fit Blame! as well, but the manga also features many instances of biomechanics and bio-punk.
Tsutomu Nihei was an architecture student before he became a manga artist. This knowledge of architecture is one reason Blame! is so unique and impressive. We constantly see grand, awe-inspiring buildings and massive architectural wonders. Blame!’s world isn’t just huge, it’s immeasurable and mind-boggling gigantic.
The plot of Blame! is relatively simple. Killy, our main character, wanders the world of Blame! only known as the City in search of a human with Net Terminal Genes. A person like this could access the Netsphere, stop the chaotic growth of the City and stop the Safeguard from destroying what remains of humanity.
Over the course of the manga, we follow Killy on his journey through the world of Blame! and witness his interaction with the many other inhabitants of the City.
Blame’s world is dark and beautiful, chaotic and depressing and dangerous and brutal. It’s a wondrous, technological wasteland.
Blame! is a cyberpunk manga set in the far-future, but it’s also set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia.
The apocalyptic event was the loss of control over the City and thus over the builders and the Safeguard. There’s also the infection and devolution of humans and at the time of the story, no one with Net Terminal Genes remains.
The dystopian elements are clear at first sight. The surviving humans don’t amount to much when compared to the other cybernetic horrors inhabiting the City. They huddle together in small pockets of society and constantly have to fend for survival. Another aspect is the Netsphere, an advanced virtual reality which allows people to upload their consciousness. People with the Net Terminal Gene already did so, leaving the real world or base reality, as it’s called in Blame! behind.
Blame!’s setting is entirely unique. It’s a world devoid of any natural elements. There are no forests, no normal ground and no mountains within the megastructures. Instead, everything we see in Blame! are buildings and constructions, many of which are of mind-boggling size. The City is a chaotic amalgamation of titanic architecture whose dimensions are entirely unknown to any of its dwellers. It’s essentially labyrinthine, futuristic dungeon.
Over the course of the manga, we learn more about the insane size of the City. At one point, Killy stumbles upon a single room the size of Jupiter inside the City. In the prequel NOiSE, we learn the Moon was the first celestial body incorporated into the City. It’s stated by the writer Tsutomu Nihei that the City is the size of a Dyson Sphere, meaning it stretches as far as the orbit of Jupiter.
Even now, however, the City continues to grow and is endlessly constructed by so called builders, autonomous robots. Since no human is possible to access the Netsphere, no one can communicate with the builders and so they just keep on increasing the size of the City.
There are, however, some interesting details and concerns about the City. It’s so massive that its sheer size defies the law of physics. A construction the size of a Dyson Sphere would inevitably collapse into itself. Yet, this seems to be solved by certain gravitational controllers inside the megastructure which manipulate gravity itself and keep the City from destruction.
Another interesting tidbit is the sheer amount of materials. We learn, over the course of the story, that many celestial bodies have been harvested as raw materials. Even then, there wouldn’t be enough raw materials for a construction the size of the City. It’s implied, however, that builders can convert energy into matter, are using some sort of antimatter or can simply conjure matter into existence.
The City is one of the most unique and interesting settings I’ve ever come upon in manga.
As mentioned before, humans don’t have it easy in the City. Many of them have to fight for survival and do so in various outposts and pockets of civilization. Some are smaller, others, however, like the Capitol, are bigger.
Many of the humans our main characters encounter look different from one another. Some are taller, others are smaller. The reason for this is most likely because of the often mentioned infection, devolution, and mutation. What they all have in common, however, is that they look pale, emaciated, even sick. These changes are also the reason that people aren’t carrying the Net Terminal Genes anymore.
The Safeguard was originally a security system to protect the Netsphere from unauthorized access and protect humans with the Net Terminal Gene. The Safeguard still follows these instructions, but by now hunts down and kills anyone without Net Terminal Genes.
Other dwellers of the City are the Silicon Life, cyborgs who have their own goals, are independent from the Netsphere and want to keep the chaotic growth of the City going. If humanity would regain control over the City, and thus the Safeguard, they’d most likely use them to destroy the Silicon Life. And thus they want to keep the current status quo intact.
The last important fiction is the Governing Agency, which is basically the AI administration in charge of protecting the Netsphere. They are the ones who task Killy with finding a human with Terminal Net Genes to stop the chaotic growth of the City.
Blame! is a highly stylistic and unique manga, but that also means it’s not for everyone. The manga is mostly told via visuals and has very little dialogue.
With Blame! Nihei pushes the entire manga towards the visual side and his story is told not by dialogues or conventional narration, but almost entirely by visuals.
Blame! is a grand example of virtual story-telling and of a work in which a setting drives the narrative. In Blame!, the narration is told via the setting and not the other way around.
It’s this reason that makes Blame! so special and unique because it succeeds at telling a story primarily through the art.
Many parts of Blame! comprise nothing but silence. We watch as Killy travels on through futuristic wastelands, desolation and massive derelict buildings.
There’s scarcely any dialogue in Blame! but often it’s unnecessary. A great example is Killy’s gun, the Gravitational Beam Emitter. Instead of telling us how it works and how powerful it is, Nihei shows us multiple panels of how destructive a single shot is. Another one is the City itself. We know it’s chaotically and continuously growing, but we’re never told how huge it is. Instead, Nihei conveys this entirely through the visuals. There are countless panels in which we’re shown a bird’s-eye view of Killy as he wanders through buildings and past constructions of mind-boggling proportions.
Another great way about Blame!’s specific way of story-telling is that the manga’s never bogged down by needless explanations. We don’t get long-winded explanations about how the world of Blame! works. Instead, we merely witness the stunning, bizarre and nightmarish effects of the technological wonders Nihei conjures. Blame! is all visual.
This visual story-telling also influences the pacing of the manga, which lends itself especially well to the many action-sequences of the manga.
Nihei’s fantastic at world-building and Blame!’s a masterclass in world-building.
We know right from the very first chapter that Blame!’s a world that’s unfamiliar, dangerous and even alien when compared to our own. As we watch Killy’s travels, we soon realize that the City is entirely different from our world and it gives us a feeling of alienation.
All this is only possible by the insane, futuristic technology that exists within the City. This technology, however, is never explained, we just see it. Blame! happens so far in the future and everything can be explained by technology, but technology that not even the cast of characters truly understands anymore.
A lot of the technology we witness is the stuff of dreams or nightmares. This is most prevalent in the arc about Toha Heavy Industries. It’s here we learn that teleportation, time travel and even traveling to parallel realities is possible. All that, however, is hinted at to be caused by yet another of Nihei’s strange, futuristic technologies going haywire.
What’s true about technology is also true about the many factions and the mythology of the world. We only learn more about the City and its inhabitants in bits and pieces and have to put together the entire story on our own. All of it is vague, however, at times confusing, but it adds so much more to the mystery of the story and the atmosphere.
The main characters in Blame! are stoic, quiet badasses that almost never twitch when they get hurt.
This is truer for Killy than for everyone else. As he wanders the City he barely ever utters a word. That changes when he meets up and continues to travel with Cibo, but there’s still very little dialogue compared to other works.
When reading Blame! one soon learns that Killy isn’t a normal human being, and it’s later revealed or at least hinted at that Killy, similar to Dhomochevsky and Iko, is a provisional Safeguard. Even then, his past is hazy and we never learn much about him apart from what we witness of his mission.
Many of the human characters we encounter are badasses in their own right, and one can clearly see the toll survival has taken on them. We never encounter someone who’s truly happy or truly beautiful. No, this is a dark, depressing and dangerous world and it shows as much in its setting as in its characters.
While the manga comprises various arcs within their own specific parts of the megastructure, Killy’s overall quest ties it all together.
Because of the special way Blame! is told, the manga can be confusing. There’s little dialogue and no exposition.
This is especially the case at the beginning of the manga when we don’t know what’s going on. We merely follow Killy as he wanders the City through several almost unconnected chapters.
The story only gets more engaging when Killy reaches the Capitol and meets up with Cibo.
Even then, the reader has to always put things together on their own as information is revealed slowly and only bit by bit over the course of the manga. Once one gets used to Nihei’s style of story-telling, however, the story is almost straight-forward.
And yet, Blame! might still be a manga you have to read twice. When I read Blame! for the first time years ago, I was entirely lost when I reached the ending. On my second reread, however, all was much clearer and the plot now made sense.
The passage of time is something that matters little in the world of Blame! We don’t know how much time passes as Killy travels from location to location.
It’s only occasionally that we get a measure of time for an elevator ride or the time it takes for Killy to fully repair and those numbers, similar to the size of the City, are mind boggling.
An elevator ride through a megastructure takes about a month, his reconstruction after being heavily damaged takes years. The same is true for other characters and other parts of the story. Dhomochevsky, for example, has been fighting the Silicon Life under Davinelulinvega for approximately three-hundred years before Killy and Cibo arrive at the unofficial megastructure.
This treatment of time only helps to add to the mystery of the world and makes the City seem even more unfathomable and immeasurable.
The sheer size of the City makes the passing of time almost irrelevant, especially since Killy’s is almost always seen to be traveling on foot. We don’t know how long he’s been wandering the City, but estimations point not just at centuries or millennia, but at dozens of millennia.
What’s interesting about Blame! is also the question of who the antagonists are. The more we learn about the world of Blame!, however, the more we discover that there are merely different factions opposing one another.
At first the Safeguard is the primary antagonist. We discover, however, that the Safeguard is merely a security network out of control which was originally responsible for protecting the Netsphere from unauthorized access.
The Silicon Life fits the term antagonists the closest, but even they are merely fending for survival in the City. It’s their goal to keep the current status quo, afraid that should humanity regain control over the City and the Safeguard, they’d be wiped out.
It’s even revealed in Blame² a sequel that the Silicon Life as Killy as ‘the calamity,’ the one responsible for their race almost going extinct.
The Governing Agency wants to find a Net Terminal Gen simply to stop the growth of the City and to regain control of it.
While we watch the story from the eyes of Killy, it appears, of course, that the Safeguard and the Silicon Life are the prime antagonists of the story. If we take a step back, however, we learn that all that’s happening is caused by mismanagement and the chaotic stage of the ever-expanding City.
Blame! is one of the greatest manga’s I’ve ever read in terms of visuals. As mentioned before, I believe that Tsutomu Nihei is an artist who can rival the best in the genre. Be it his world or his various cybernetic horrors, Blame! is a marvel to look at.
The moment you start reading Blame! you realize that this manga’s different from others. Even in chapter 1, we already get to see the grand architecture of mind-boggling proportions so common to Blame!
You can clearly see that Tsutomu Nihei studied architecture and that he knows about the construction of buildings. It’s this knowledge that sets Blame! aside from other works.
There’s a sense of scale in many of Tsutomu Nihei’s panels that really showcases the insane proportions of the immeasurable City. Yet, all those constructions are as bleak as they are vast. Many times we can’t even make out the end of these constructions, as they seem to go on forever.
Many times, we see Killy in front of a backdrop of immeasurable proportions or we see him only as a small unimpressive dot as he walks vast metal plans, climbs giant buildings, or wanders a bridge that continues further than the eye can see.
And yet, as gigantic as Tsutomu Nihei’s creations are, they are still insanely detailed. This attention to detail is especially prevalent when we get a closer look at the locations Killy travels. Technological gadgets, machines and many other elements of the City are rendered in stunningly beautiful detail.
It’s this mixture of mind-boggling proportions and attention to detail that truly brings forth Nihei’s world and truly immerses you in the story.
An interesting detail to note is that Blame!’s world isn’t a unified one. In one chapter, we see Killy traversing an amalgamation of high-tech constructions or a futuristic cityscape. In others, he’s ascending winding corridors, unending staircases or what looks like gothic castles. At times, these constructions look almost organic, almost like something that grew instead of being built.
Tsutomu Nihei’s style is rough, almost dirty, especially in earlier chapters. His imagery comprises a lot of line work which lends itself fantastically to the more derelict and ruined areas of the City.
The many different details of the City are brought forth by a heavy reliance on shadows and shading.
Blame!’s entire visual style is one of the stark contrast between light and dark. Empty spaces are generally held in lighter colors while interiors, especially tunnels, caves and staircases, are conveyed via deep blacks.
What’s special about Tsutomu Nihei’s style is his usage of negative spaces to convey light or huge explosions during action sequences. This makes them a marvel to look at and helps to bring forth what’s happening.
Killy’s design is an interesting choice. He’s wearing all back, no special armor and seems to be almost understated in a world as strange as Blame!’s. The same can be said about the rest of the cast, however. Cibo, Sanakan and also Dhomochevsky are all dressed similarly.
This is a stark contrast from the other inhabitants of the City who all have a distinctly different look from one another. The Electrofisher’s armor, the Silicon Life in general, but also the exterminators of the Safeguard.
Blame’s world is a harsh and dangerous one and as mentioned before, you can truly see it in the design of the many humans. Almost all of them look pale, sick, malnourished and depressed. They look hardened, emotionless and you can see just how much they went through.
What’s interesting to note is the aforementioned contrast of light and dark also applies to many of the character designs. The interior structure of the exterminators seems to be black, while their faces and outer parts are white. The same is true for the many Silicon Life, who generally have white, human faces, but distorted, black, metallic bodies.
One could even say that the color palette of a character shows their alignment. The most dangerous beings, like Schiff, or the armored Silicon Knights, are held entirely in black. Mensab and Sue, two arguably lawful individuals are held in almost pure white.
Our main characters, especially Killy, are almost all morally gray and thus are a mixture of black and white.
While Blame!’s world is one of futuristic high-tech, many of its elements look strangely biological.
This is especially true for the many cybernetic monstrosities Killy encounters, the exterminators of the Safeguard and the Silicon Life. They clearly look mechanical or robotic, but at the same time, they all have a distinctly organic look to them. This is especially true when new Safeguard units are synthesized. The entire process has a sort of biological look and feel to it.
The many cybernetic horrors that populate the City are all fantastic, disturbing and outlandish to look at.
While the normal, level 1 exterminators look terrifying, they all look identical to one another and appear more like drones than anything else. Higher-level exterminators, however, look amazing. There’s the ‘siren’ Safeguard Killy encounters when climbing the tower, the high-level exterminator at the end of the story, but also Cibo after fusing with the level 9 Safeguard. They all have a distinct, almost angelic look to them with rings, haloes, and even wings. It’s an interesting design choice that only serves to make them creepier.
The Silicon Life has some of the most fantastic design I’ve ever seen in a science-fiction magna. They come in a variety of forms and design, employ a variety of weapons and wear a variety of armor. Some are even heavily distorted, sprouting additional limbs or parts.
Their design is throughout the book terrifying and disturbing, but they are a marvel to look at and are rendered in beautiful detail. Their design is reminiscent of the strange organic-inorganic art of H. R. Giger.
Blame! is full of frantic action which is always shown in stunning detail. Each of panel of it is fantastic to look at.
Many of the action sequences in Blame! are devastating, insane in scale and bright forth mass destruction. At other moments, however, they are more intimate and showcase fantastic close-range encounters.
There are also action scenes in Blame! that are clearly created for style alone. This is most prevalent in the Toha Heavy Industry arc, which features Seu, the protector of Mensab who appears as a knight in shining white armor wielding a sword. When he fights Ivy and when he fights the guards of the Central AI, it gives the action the air of a fantasy manga and not that of a science-fiction one. One thing has to be said, however, those fights look absolutely amazing!
I always loved science-fiction, but especially the more futuristic and outlandish scenarios. Blame! was everything I was looking for.
It combines fantastic and unique world building with breathtakingly beautiful visuals. The art is incredible and shines because of its technical drawings and Tsutomu Nihei’s knowledge of architecture.
While Blame!’s setting is a post-apocalyptic dystopia, it’s one so strange and fresh it’s unique. It’s a tale of technology run amok which manifests in the ever-growing, chaotic City and the out-of-control Safeguard. Things go even so far as to include time travel, mass-scale teleportation and even parallel realities.
What I came to love the most, however, were the many creatures, especially the higher-level exterminators and the Silicon Life, who spice the manga up with a fair bit of horror because of their design and simply look gorgeous.
An interesting little detail is that Blame! never becomes preachy, never a discussion of the topics it showcases. Instead, it simply conjures up a nightmarish vision of our future, one unlike any ever seen before.
While most of Blame! is full of weird imagery, crazy action, and Killy’s stoic demeanor, there are some human and tender scenes. At one point, Killy and Cibo discover a cloning machine which is forever creating clones and which Killy promptly destroys. At another point, Killy saves a Dry Man child and later destroys the cooperation’s docks after he realizes that the transporter he was on was transporting Dry Man ready for organ harvesting.
Those minor events never detract from the atmosphere, but are instead merely there, but they help to flesh out Killy a bit and give him at least some semblance of emotion.
There are, however some problems with Blame! While I love the action scenes in the manga, some of them can be hard to follow because of the abundance of gigantic explosions caused by Killy’s Gravitational Beam Emitter.
Another problem can be the style of story-telling and the story overall. It makes for a somewhat different, confusing reading and can be hard on first-time readers of the manga, making it almost necessary to read the manga more than once.
While I enjoyed the weird and outlandish technologies at play, I think Tsutomu Nihei went a bit too far during the Toha Heavy Industry arc and makes it one of the most confusing ones to follow and understand.
And yet, even with this criticism, I still think Blame! is an absolute visual masterpiece. It’s not something to be simply read, but it’s something to marvel at and to be immersed in.
Blame! is a manga with an intensely dark and brooding atmosphere, a unique setting which is portrayed by vast, colossal structures and frantic action sequences.
I’d recommend Blame! to anyone interested in visual story-telling, people who are fans of science-fiction and anyone who loves cyberpunk.
If you want to read Blame!, I recommend buying the complete set of the Master Edition released by Vertical Comics:
Manga was once seen as a primarily Japanese medium, but over the past few decades it has grown into a true global powerhouse. Today, hundreds, if not thousands, of new series are released every year. With so much choice, finding the best manga to read can feel overwhelming, time-consuming, and sometimes even frustrating.
That’s why I put together this definitive list of the best manga of all time. This is a curated selection of titles that, in my opinion, stand above the rest or, at the very least, are worth your attention. I also wanted this list to offer variety, so it covers a wide range of genres.
You’ll find essential seinen and shonen masterpieces, terrifying horror manga, emotional character studies, hidden gems, and bold experimental works that push the medium to its limits.
Every manga included here is worth reading, depending on what you’re in the mood for at the time.
Mild spoiler warning: while I focus on why each series matters, occasionally plot details might be necessary to explain their inclusion.
With that said, here’s my list of the best manga of all time (last updated: December 2025).
Some manga stand so far above the rest that they have become true masterpieces and defining works of the medium itself. The titles in this section have shaped entire genres, influenced generations of creators, and demonstrated their lasting value. Each is a must-read and represents the highest level of what manga can achieve, not only in terms of craft but also in cultural impact.
One cannot talk about manga without talking about Berserk, often cited as the definitive best manga ever created. Kentaro Miura’s epic about Guts, Griffith, and a world swallowed by war and demonic creatures is frequently cited as one of the best manga of all time, and its reputation is more than deserved. Few titles demonstrate the full potential of the medium with this level of ambition, artistry, and emotional power as clearly as Berserk does.
At its core, Berserk follows Guts, a lone mercenary whose life becomes intertwined with Griffith, the brilliant and charismatic leader of the Band of the Hawk. Their rise, fall, and ultimate annihilation form the emotional core of the story. What begins as a tale of revenge and survival gradually expands into a sweeping dark fantasy about trauma, ambition, and the human will to endure. The Golden Age arc, in particular, remains one of the most celebrated storylines in manga history and continues to attract new readers even decades after its initial release.
Miura’s worldbuilding is equally striking. Medieval warfare, kingdoms, cults, and monstrous apostles all shape a setting that feels bleak yet strangely beautiful and alive. The contrast between Guts clad in black, embodying rage and resilience, and Griffith in white, symbolizing ambition taken to the extreme gives the series a mythic and philosophical weight few works ever achieve.
Then there’s the art. Berserk is renowned for its staggering level of detail, from sweeping battlefields to grotesque creatures pulled straight from nightmares. Miura’s ability to merge brutality with beauty helped define the visual identity of modern dark fantasy. Entire genres, including the Soulsborne games, openly draw inspiration from the series’ imagery and tone.
Miura’s passing in 2021 was a tremendous loss, but the continuation under Kouji Mori and Miura’s trusted assistants aims to honor the direction he intended. Even unfinished, Berserk stands as one of the best manga ever written, a landmark title that reshaped what readers expect from fantasy, character writing, and sheer visual mastery.
Genres: Horror, Dark Fantasy, Action, Tragedy, Psychological
Status: Ongoing (Seinen; continued by Kouji Mori after Kentaro Miura’s death)
Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond stands not only at the top of the samurai manga genre but is also rightfully regarded as one of the best manga of all time. It adapts Eiji Yoshikawa’s classic novel Musashi and reimagines the life of Musashi Miyamoto with breathtaking artistry, grounded realism, and a sense of philosophical weight rarely matched in the medium. Even among the best manga, Vagabond remains a singular achievement.
The story follows Shinmen Takezo, a violent and reckless young man whose sole goal is to become the strongest warrior in Japan. After barely surviving the chaos of war, he returns home as a wanted criminal. A chance encounter with the monk Takuan offers him a new name, Musashi Miyamoto, along with the opportunity to rebuild his life. From this point onward, Vagabond traces Musashi’s long journey toward mastery, self-discipline, and a deeper understanding of what true strength means.
What immediately sets the series apart is its artwork. Inoue’s detailed brushwork brings feudal Japan to life with cinematic beauty. Mountain paths, small villages, dueling grounds, and quiet forests are all rendered with the kind of precision that makes every page a visual experience. The sword fights are especially striking. They feel tense and grounded, defined by small shifts in stance and psychology rather than pure spectacle.
Yet Vagabond is more than just a martial arts epic. It’s a story about people struggling to find meaning in a violent world. Musashi evolves from a wild brute into a thoughtful seeker, while characters like Sasaki Kojirō, Matahachi, and many others receive rich arcs of their own. Each figure is flawed, vulnerable, and shaped by personal trauma and ambition, which gives the narrative emotional depth.
Although Vagabond remains unfinished and later parts slow down, its strongest moments still place it firmly among the best manga ever created. For readers interested in powerful character studies, stunning artwork, and philosophical storytelling, Vagabond is a must-read.
Rightfully mentioned alongside Berserk and Vagabond, Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga is often regarded as a modern masterpiece and one of the best manga of all time. Blending brutal Viking warfare with quiet philosophical reflection, it delivers a historical epic that stands at the very top of the seinen genre.
The story follows Thorfinn Karlsefni, the son of the legendary warrior Thors. After witnessing his father’s death, Thorfinn grows up within the mercenary band led by Askeladd, the very man responsible for that loss. Thorfinn’s fixation on revenge gives the early chapters an intense emotional charge and immediately sets the series apart from more straightforward action narratives. What begins as a simple quest for vengeance soon expands into a multilayered tale about power, identity, and the cost of violence.
Set in 11th-century Europe, Vinland Saga brings the world of Vikings to life with remarkable detail. Raids, political schemes, and the harsh realities of survival are depicted with gritty authenticity. You can almost feel the cold Atlantic winds and the weight of wooden shields. Yukimura’s art is exceptional and becomes even more impressive as the series develops. Landscapes, ships, and battlefields are illustrated with care, while the quieter Farmland arc shows how strikingly atmospheric even a snow-covered farmstead can be.
Despite its violent setting, the manga’s emotional core lies in Thorfinn’s evolution. He begins as a traumatized child soldier, yet his later attempts to overcome guilt and find a peaceful path give Vinland Saga surprising emotional depth. The supporting cast is equally strong. Canute’s transformation into a calculating ruler is captivating, while figures like Einar and Hild add humanity and different perspectives. Askeladd remains the standout, a brilliant tactician who shifts effortlessly between mentor, antagonist, and tragic figure.
What makes Vinland Saga one of the best manga ever created is its balance between large-scale conflict and deeply personal storytelling. It’s a gripping saga about war, but even more so a moving exploration of redemption and the struggle to choose a life without violence.
Few titles are as synonymous with manga and anime as Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira. Often cited as one of the best manga of all time, it helped define Japanese cyberpunk, shaped the global perception of anime, and influenced everything from Hollywood blockbusters to modern dystopian fiction. The famous anime adaptation is widely considered one of the greatest animated movies ever created, yet even it could not capture the full scope of Otomo’s original masterpiece.
Set in the neon-drenched chaos of Neo-Tokyo, Akira follows two delinquent teenagers, Kaneda and Tetsuo, as they navigate a society on the verge of collapse. After a mysterious accident, Tetsuo awakens with overwhelming psychic powers, drawing the attention of the military and accelerating the inevitable awakening of Akira, a force responsible for the city’s destruction three decades ago. What begins as a street-level biker story quickly spirals into political conspiracy, urban warfare, and full-scale apocalyptic devastation.
The worldbuilding is breathtaking. Every street, skyscraper, alleyway, and ruined district is illustrated with obsessive detail. Otomo brings Neo-Tokyo to life with a cinematic flow that still feels modern decades later. Whether depicting underground laboratories, riot-torn city blocks, or massive psychic disasters, the artwork remains among the best visuals ever produced. The scale is enormous, and the destruction sequences remain unmatched.
Character depth varies, but the central dynamic between Kaneda and Tetsuo carries the narrative. Kaneda’s swaggering bravado clashes with Tetsuo’s unstable rise to godlike power, creating a tragic portrait of friendship fracturing under pressure. The supporting cast adds political and emotional weight, but it is the atmosphere of escalation that makes Akira so memorable.
Some aspects might feel dated, and the plot occasionally prioritizes spectacle over clarity, yet none of this diminishes its legacy. Akira remains a foundational work of science-fiction and one of the most influential manga ever created. Anyone interested in cyberpunk or in understanding the evolution of the medium owes it to themselves to read this landmark classic.
Anyone who has heard of anime or manga knows the name Dragon Ball. Akira Toriyama’s magnum opus is arguably the most influential battle shonen ever created and remains a foundational work that shaped how the medium evolved. While it may not be the most technically complex series on this list, its cultural impact and legacy make it impossible to ignore when discussing the best manga or even the best manga of all time.
The story follows Son Goku, an innocent but impossibly strong boy who embarks on a journey to find the seven Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs can summon the dragon Shenron and grant any wish. What begins as a comedic road trip with Bulma gradually expands into a worldwide martial arts adventure, introducing iconic characters such as Krillin, Yamcha, Master Roshi, Piccolo, and later Vegeta. Dragon Ball popularized many elements that would define modern shonen storytelling, including rivalries, intense training arcs, escalating power levels, and of course the now-legendary tournament format.
Readers familiar with Dragon Ball Z are often surprised when reading the original manga. The early chapters are filled with humor, oddball creatures, and pulp-inspired fantasy. Toriyama’s gag-manga roots shine brightly here, and the shift toward serious fighting is gradual. The World Martial Arts Tournaments remain some of the tightest and most exciting hand-to-hand battles ever drawn, displaying Toriyama’s gift for clear choreography and dynamic action.
As the manga grows, so do the stakes. The tone becomes more dramatic, the fights more explosive, and the cast larger. While the later arcs sometimes sideline supporting characters or rely heavily on power escalation, the energy and creativity never fade. Toriyama’s clean linework and iconic designs have aged incredibly well, which is why Dragon Ball still feels fun, fast, and adventurous decades after its release.
Dragon Ball is not perfect, but it is essential. It influenced nearly every shonen manga that came after it and remains a landmark of the medium. Anyone interested in the history of manga should definitely give this classic a try.
Naoki Urasawa’s Monster is widely regarded as one of the greatest thriller manga ever created, and a title that routinely appears on lists of the best manga of all time. It’s a slow-burn, intricately crafted suspense epic that shows just how far the medium can go when it blends grounded realism with impeccable storytelling. For many readers, it stands as Urasawa’s definitive work and the series that cemented him as one of manga’s most accomplished storytellers.
Set in post-Cold War Germany, Monster follows Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a talented neurosurgeon who makes a single choice that changes everything. When two patients arrive at the hospital in critical condition, Tenma decides to save a young boy named Johan Liebert instead of a high-ranking politician. This decision costs him his career, but the true price becomes clear years later, when Johan resurfaces as a calculating killer tied to a network of disappearances, conspiracies, and broken lives. Tenma sets out across Europe to right the mistake, beginning one of the most gripping manhunts in manga.
What makes Monster so essential is its extraordinary command of tension. Urasawa treats suspense almost like a science. Chapters build slowly, each conversation is layered with unease, and each reveal pulls the reader deeper into a web of political corruption, forgotten experiments, and personal tragedies. Every character feels alive, from detectives and ex-soldiers to ordinary citizens swept up in Johan’s schemes. The stakes grow not through spectacle but through moral weight, giving the story a gravitas few works achieve.
Monster also stands out for its realism. The European setting is meticulously researched, and Urasawa’s grounded art style enhances the sense of authenticity. Characters age, environments feel tangible, and the world moves with a quiet menace that mirrors classic noir.
Even decades after its release, Monster remains unmistakably influential. It helped redefine adult manga and continues to serve as a benchmark for long-form thriller storytelling. For readers exploring the best manga or seeking a masterclass in suspense, Monster is essential.
Widely regarded as the darkest psychological manga ever created, Inio Asano’s Oyasumi Punpun stands as one of the most daring and uncompromising works in the medium. It’s a bleak coming-of-age epic that explores adolescence, trauma, and the slow unraveling of identity with a level of honesty rarely seen in manga. For many readers and critics, it’s not only a modern classic but also a legitimate contender for one of the best manga of all time.
The story begins with Punpun Onodera, an awkward child whose life initially seems ordinary. He falls in love, goes to school, and watches his family crumble in ways he does not yet fully understand. What starts as a gentle slice-of-life narrative soon reveals itself as something far heavier. As Punpun grows older, his world steadily darkens. Innocence fades, relationships break, and the weight of family dysfunction, guilt, and longing slowly reshape him until he is no longer recognizable.
One of the most striking aspects of the manga is its visual approach. Asano draws Punpun as a simple bird-like doodle placed inside environments and crowds rendered with photographic realism. This contrast creates a feeling of emotional isolation and communicates Punpun’s inner life even when he says nothing at all. It’s a bold stylistic decision that has become one of the series’ defining features.
The themes of Oyasumi Punpun are raw and at times painful. Abuse, sexuality, mental illness, and self-destruction all play central roles. Yet none of this is used for shock value. Instead, Asano examines how small choices and quiet failures can accumulate and shape a person’s future. Even when the later arcs lean into melodrama, the emotional truth behind Punpun’s descent remains powerful.
Oyasumi Punpun is a difficult read, but also an unforgettable one. Its intensity, artistry, and unfiltered humanity make it one of the best manga ever written and an essential pick for anyone seeking a story that pushes the boundaries of what the medium can express.
Junji Ito is widely regarded as the greatest horror manga creator of all time, and if there’s one work of his that deserves a special place among the best manga ever, it’s his magnum opus, Uzumaki. Frequently cited as one of the best manga of all time, this three-volume nightmare showcases Ito at the peak of his imagination, combining cosmic dread with unforgettable visuals.
The premise is simple at first. Kurouzu-cho, a quiet coastal town, begins to fall under the influence of spirals. Kirie Goshima and Shuuichi Saitou witness disturbing incidents one after another as the pattern infects the minds and bodies of the townspeople. What starts as an odd obsession soon becomes a full descent into madness. Ito wastes no time in setting the tone. The iconic opening chapter, involving Shuuichi’s father and his spiral obsession, is one of the most chilling introductions in horror manga.
Uzumaki is elevated far beyond typical supernatural stories by its sheer creativity. Ito takes a single visual motif and reinvents it constantly. Spirals twist weather patterns, hair, and even pregnancy. Each new chapter presents a nightmare more bizarre and imaginative than the last, making the manga feel like an ever-expanding anthology of cosmic terror.
If you want to learn which chapters scared me the most, check out my article on the best Uzumaki chapters.
Ito’s art is one of the major reasons Uzumaki is considered one of the best manga in the horror genre. His detailed linework and masterful shading create a sense of unease that grows page by page. The grotesque transformations are horrifying, yet remain strangely mesmerizing because of Ito’s precision and commitment to atmosphere.
While the episodic structure can make side characters feel temporary, the manga’s escalating sense of dread more than compensates. By the final volume, the scope widens into a full cosmic tragedy that cements Uzumaki as a singular achievement.
For anyone interested in horror or in understanding why Junji Ito is so acclaimed, Uzumaki is essential reading. Its creativity, atmosphere, and influence earn it a permanent place among the best manga of all time.
Tsutomu Nihei’s Blame! is one of my favorite manga of all time, but its inclusion here goes far beyond personal preference. Standing at the pinnacle of modern cyberpunk manga, it’s a singular achievement that shows how powerful manga can be as a visual storytelling medium. For many readers, it ranks among the best manga ever drawn, and its influence continues to shape artists and science-fiction creators around the world. Any discussion about the best manga of all time feels incomplete without it.
The story centers on Killy, a quiet and seemingly unstoppable wanderer searching for a human with the elusive Net Terminal Gene. Someone like this could access the Netsphere and possibly regain control over The City, an endless megastructure where humanity is hunted by the lethal Safeguard. The premise sounds straightforward, yet Blame! immediately moves beyond conventional plotting and instead immerses the reader in pure atmosphere and visual worldbuilding.
Nihei’s art is extraordinary. The City is a cosmic labyrinth of steel and concrete that stretches in every direction. Rooms as large as continents, bridges that span impossible distances, and industrial machines that appear ancient yet alive. Killy is often depicted as a lone figure swallowed by architecture, giving the manga a sense of isolation and existential scale few works ever achieve.
The design of the Safeguard, cyborgs, and other biomechanical monstrosities is equally striking. Nihei fuses technology and horror in a way that feels alien yet believable. His action scenes are brutal and explosive, anchored by Killy’s Gravitational Beam Emitter, a weapon capable of carving holes through entire megastructures and enemies alike.
Dialogue is minimal and exposition is rare, which can make the narrative opaque. Yet, this sparse storytelling is one of the manga’s greatest strengths. It creates a sense of mystery and invites readers to interpret the world through mood, architecture, and motion rather than traditional explanation.
If you’re interested in learning more about this approach, I urge you to check out my long-form essay on Blame!.
For fans of science-fiction, cyberpunk, and visionary worldbuilding, Blame! is a must-read. It’s bold, haunting, and utterly unforgettable, a masterpiece that shows the full potential of what manga can achieve.
In recent years, few manga have shown the same staying power and cultural influence as JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, aided by its stylish anime adaptation. Hirohiko Araki’s long-running saga started publication in the late 1980s as a gothic battle manga about vampires, but its identity shifted dramatically with Part 3, Stardust Crusaders, which introduced Stands. This supernatural power system transformed the series and allowed Araki to reinvent JoJo with every new part. Now over thirty years later and still ongoing with Part 9, many readers and critics agree that Part 7: Steel Ball Run stands as Araki’s masterpiece, and a clear contender for the best manga of all time.
The manga centers on a massive cross-continental horse race from San Diego to New York, set in an alternate version of 19th-century America. The protagonist, Johnny Joestar, is a former prodigy turned paraplegic who joins the race after meeting Gyro Zeppeli, a rider who wields Steel Balls and a strange energy known as the Spin. The moment Johnny touches one of these balls and briefly regains control of his legs, he commits to the race and sets out on a journey that’s equal parts personal transformation and high-stakes competition.
What makes Steel Ball Run one of the best manga ever created is how confidently Araki blends genres. The race is always moving forward, providing constant momentum while the story introduces assassins, political conspiracies, supernatural threats, and some of the most inventive Stand battles in the entire series. The American frontier becomes the perfect backdrop for Araki’s creativity. From deserts and forests to surreal phenomena, the art is constantly stunning, with expressive characters, powerful motion, and cinematic double spreads.
Johnny and Gyro form one of JoJo’s strongest character duos, and their partnership gives the story an emotional depth that earlier parts often approached but never fully reached. Their development, along with standout characters such as Diego Brando, helps Steel Ball Run feel complete and thematically rich.
If you want to know more about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, you can check out my ranking of the best JoJo parts.
Steel Ball Run is not only the pinnacle of JoJo but a rare achievement in manga as a whole. It’s imaginative, stylish, and ambitious, securing its place among the best manga of all time.
Genres: Action, Adventure, Supernatural
Status: Completed (the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure series is still ongoing)
Seinen manga are aimed at young adult readers, which usually means more mature themes, complex characters, and more ambitious storytelling. I naturally gravitate toward seinen, so I expanded the section to include twenty of the strongest titles the demographic has ever produced. There’s no filler here. Every series below earns its place as one of the best manga through its depth, artistry, and long-lasting impact.
If you’re looking for even more seinen manga recommendations, check out my fully curated list of the best seinen manga.
Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal is one of the most gripping and atmospheric revenge series in manga, and a standout among the best manga for seinen fans. One of my favorite series of all time, it centers on Manji, a wandering swordsman cursed with immortality by mystical bloodworms. Hoping to free himself from this unwanted gift, he agrees to help Rin Asano, a young girl seeking vengeance against Kagehisa Anotsu and the Itto-ryu, the sword school responsible for the murder of her family. What begins as a simple escort mission grows into a sprawling journey filled with morally complex characters, shifting alliances, and brutally intimate confrontations.
The manga shines through its character writing. Manji and Rin are great protagonists, but it’s the broader cast that elevates the story to greatness. Figures like Maki Otono-Tachibana, Hyakurin, Magatsu, and especially the terrifying and unhinged Shira make every encounter unpredictable. Even Anotsu, the antagonist, receives depth, motivation, and a believable personal philosophy, creating a world in which almost no one is entirely good or evil.
Samura’s art is another defining strength of the series. His character design is stunning, making every fighter appear unique in their own way. His loose, expressive linework gives fights a visceral realism, while his attention to anatomy and motion makes every sword strike feel impactful. All of this makes his fights some of the best drawn in manga, full of fluid and exhilarating choreography. The violence is harsh but purposeful, reinforcing the story’s theme of consequences and survival.
With its gritty tone, sharp dialogue, and unforgettable characters, Blade of the Immortal stands as one of the best manga for readers who enjoy mature storytelling and intense, character-driven action.
Toshio Sako’s Usogui is one of the most intense psychological and gambling manga ever written, and a standout example of how thrilling mind-games can be when executed with precision. While it starts with a rough opening arc, the series quickly evolves into one of the best manga for fans of high-stakes strategy and cerebral battles.
Madarame Baku is a man known as the Usogui, or Lie Eater. He’s a mysterious gambler who enters deadly games overseen by the underground organization Kakerou. Every gamble follows strict rules enforced by their deadly referees, which creates a perfect environment for cheating, bluffing, trap-setting, and constant psychological warfare. Baku’s calm confidence and near-superhuman analytical abilities make every match feel razor sharp.
As the series progresses, the storytelling becomes more complex and the art evolves dramatically. By the time the readers reach arcs like Tower of Karma and Air Poker, Usogui hits a level of strategic brilliance few manga can match. The final Surpassing the Leader arc, in particular, is one of the most unforgettable, insane, and gripping mind battles in the medium.
What sets Usogui apart is the balance between mind-games and character writing. Rivals like Vincent Lalo and Soichi Kimura are not only dangerous but compelling in their own way, while the Kagerou referees add a unique presence to every confrontation.
If you enjoy psychological tension, intricate strategies, and unpredictable twists, Usogui is a must-read and easily one of the best manga of all time.
Shinichi Sakamoto’s The Climber is one of the most visually striking and emotionally immersive works in the seinen genre. Even if you’re not typically a fan of sports manga, this story stands out for its intense atmosphere, psychological depth, and breathtaking artwork. It’s easily one of the best manga for readers who want a character-driven drama defined by isolation and ambition.
The story follows Buntarou Mori, a quiet and withdrawn teenager who discovers an unexpected talent for climbing. What begins as a simple school challenge quickly becomes an all-consuming passion. Through each ascent, Mori evolves from an apathetic outsider into a determined, obsessive climber, and this transformation becomes the emotional core of the series.
Sakamoto’s art is what makes the series so unforgettable. Mountain ranges are rendered with meticulous detail, and the vast double spreads convey a sense of scale and danger few manga can match. Silent sequences of Mori clinging to a cliff or staring down a deadly drop often say more than pages of dialogue. The highlights are moments of triumph, rendered with an almost poetic beauty, often incorporating visual metaphors and literary quotes, giving the Climber a rare sense of depth and sophistication.
Originally starting as an ordinary sports narrative, the series changed dramatically when Sakamoto took over as the manga’s sole creator, turning it into an introspective character study. The Climber explores dedication, loneliness, and the personal cost of chasing greatness. It’s a somber yet exhilarating journey that rewards readers with stunning visuals and a deeply human story.
As one of the most ambitious historical war epics in manga, Kingdom by Yasuhira Hara remains a standout for readers who enjoy large-scale strategy and character-driven military drama. Set during China’s Warring States period, it follows Shin, a former servant boy determined to become a Great General under the Heavens, and Ei Sei, the young king who dreams of unifying all of China. Their partnership forms the emotional backbone of a story filled with war campaigns, political struggles, and relentless ambition.
What makes Kingdom one of the best manga for fans of historical warfare is its sheer scope. Battles unfold across massive landscapes, with armies in the hundreds of thousands clashing in detailed and carefully choreographed encounters. Hara excels at depicting military tactics, from clever formations to psychological feints, making each battle feel like a blend of high-stakes action and strategic mind-games.
Kingdom’s political side is equally compelling. Early on, Ei Sei must fight to secure his throne and outmaneuver ambitious rivals such as Ryo Fui, adding tension even to the series’ less action-filled moments. Later, the politics shift focus, showcasing how rival states plot their own moves and intrigues against Ei Sei’s ambition. All of this creates a world that feels alive, with a vast cast of generals, strategists, and warriors who bring personality to every conflict. The standouts here are General Ouki, Kanki, and Riboku, all of whom stand as larger-than-life figures.
Although the art begins modestly, Hara’s growth is remarkable. It truly begins to shine once the manga turns from an intimate, shonen-style narrative to one defined by vast battles. His spreads of ancient cities, battlefields, and fortresses are among the most impressive in manga.
For anyone interested in military storytelling, strategy, and sprawling historical drama, Kingdom is one of the best manga to dive into.
Freesia by Jiro Matsumoto is one of the most unsettling and atmospheric psychological dramas I’ve ever read, and easily one of the best manga for readers who enjoy dark, character-driven, introspective storytelling. In a dystopian Japan ravaged by war, the series follows Kano, a government-sanctioned executioner working under a law that permits legal retaliation killings. While the premise suggests a simple revenge thriller, Freesia is far more concerned with the fractured minds of its characters and the decay of the world around them.
The atmosphere is bleak from the very first chapter. Violence and paranoia hang over every scene, and Matsumoto’s gritty art style reinforces this mood perfectly. His sharp contrast between hyper-detailed backgrounds and stark facial expressions gives the story a raw, unstable quality that mirrors the characters’ mental state.
What makes Freesia exceptional is how deeply it leans into psychological disorientation. Kano is not a well man. He suffers from severe mental issues, including memory lapses and schizophrenia. Frequently, the narrative places us directly inside his head, blurring the line between reality and hallucination, as he struggles with trauma and delusion. Many of the supporting characters are equally damaged, each shaped by loss, guilt, or war, which gives the manga a haunting emotional weight.
Despite its bleakness, Freesia is surprisingly intimate. Each mission reveals human stories on both sides of the killings, creating a world where morality is ambiguous and no one is untouched by suffering.
With its surreal tone, fragmented storytelling, and emotional intensity, Freesia is a standout choice for anyone seeking a bold, uncompromising, and occasionally transgressive, seinen manga.
Gantz by Hiroya Oku is one of the most intense and unpredictable seinen series ever written, a violent blend of science-fiction, horror, and action that remains unforgettable. If you enjoy manga that pushes boundaries, Gantz easily ranks among the best manga you can pick up.
The story follows Kei Kurono, an apathetic teenager who dies in an accident only to wake up in a sealed apartment with a group of strangers. At the center of the room sits Gantz, a mysterious black sphere that forces them into savage missions where they must hunt aliens hidden among humans. These battles form the core of the series, delivering chaotic, high-stakes action where anyone can die at any time.
What makes Gantz shine most is its creativity. The alien designs are strange, nightmarish, and unlike anything else in the medium. Oku’s action choreography is fast, brutal, and cinematic, and the sense of dread never fades. At the same time, Kurono’s character grounds the story. He begins as selfish and unlikeable but gradually grows into a capable and determined leader, making his development and relationship with Tae a standout aspect of the manga.
Gantz has flaws, including some uneven subplots and a chaotic final stretch, but its strengths outweigh everything. Surreal monsters, explosive battles, and a relentlessly bleak tone turn Gantz into a thrilling, unforgettable ride that action and science-fiction fans should not miss.
Dorohedoro by Q Hayashida is one of the strangest and most creative works in modern seinen, a brutal blend of horror, dark fantasy, and absurd comedy that somehow works perfectly. Few series shift tone as effortlessly as this one, and its chaotic style is exactly why so many readers regard it as one of the best manga of all time.
The story begins in Hole, a filthy and violent city where sorcerers experiment on ordinary humans for fun. In the middle of this chaos is Kaiman, an amnesiac man with a lizard head who is immune to magic. Together with Nikaido, his partner, he hunts sorcerers hoping to figure out who transformed him and why. What begins as a revenge setup quickly evolves into a sprawling mystery involving rival factions, hidden ploys, and the connection between Hole and the Sorcerer’s World.
Dorohedoro’s greatest strength is in its atmosphere. Hayashida’s art is gritty, dense, and full of personality, capturing the urban decay of Hole and the gothic bizarreness of the Sorcerer’s World with equal flair. The cast is huge and unforgettable, from mushroom-obsessed villains to mutated citizens and eccentric devils who are as comedic as they are dangerous.
Despite the graphic violence, Dorohedoro maintains a surprisingly warm atmosphere. Characters form genuine bonds, and even the antagonists become endearing. It’s chaotic, gory, and often hilarious, but always imaginative.
For fans of dark fantasy, horror, and weird fiction, Dorohedoro is a must-read and easily one of the best manga in its field.
Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Supernatural, Mystery, Slice of Life
Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima is one of the essential classics of the medium and still stands as one of the best manga ever written within the samurai genre. Despite being decades old, it remains a gripping blend of revenge drama, historical atmosphere, and razor-sharp swordsmanship that few modern titles can match.
The series centers on Itto Ogami, once the Shogunate’s feared executioner, who is framed for treason by the rival Yagyu Clan. Stripped of his honor and position, Ogami takes his infant son Daigoro and walks the assassin’s path, offering his services across feudal Japan while quietly pursuing revenge. This simple setup allows the manga to shift between episodic assassination tales and a larger overarching feud, giving the series both variety and narrative weight.
What makes Lone Wolf and Cub so exceptional is its atmosphere and craftsmanship. Each chapter feels like a self-contained moral dilemma, blending philosophy, violence, and tragedy in a way few manga attempt. The art by Kojima is timeless, with cinematic paneling, beautifully rendered landscapes, and sword fights that remain some of the cleanest and most precise ever drawn. The pacing is deliberate but rewarding, slowly revealing Ogami not just as a warrior but as a father shaped by duty and quiet grief.
For anyone interested in historical manga, grounded action, or classic storytelling, Lone Wolf and Cub is a must-read and a reminder of why some older titles still stand among the best manga in the medium.
Shigurui stands as one of the most uncompromising samurai manga ever written, a work that strips away romanticism and exposes the harsh brutality of Japan’s warrior culture. What begins as a shocking duel between the one-armed Gennosuke Fujiki and his blind, crippled rival Seigen Irako unfolds into a devastating portrait of obsession, cruelty, and the cost of living by an unyielding code. It’s easily one of the best manga for readers who want historical seinen at its most intense and honest.
Rather than sensationalizing violence, Shigurui digs into the system that shapes its characters. The dojo hierarchy, political scheming, and ruthless expectations placed upon samurai give the story a suffocating atmosphere. Both Gennosuke and Seigen are compelling, but they are also tragic products of a world built on discipline, humiliation, and obedience.
Takayuki Yamaguchi’s art is extraordinary. Every panel is meticulously detailed, from sweeping architectural shots to shockingly realistic wounds. The duels are tense, precise, and unforgettable, blending beauty with horror in a way few manga manage. Nature scenes offer brief moments of serenity before the story plunges back into violence.
Shigurui isn’t without flaws. A later detour into a side arc disrupts the pacing, and the ending feels abrupt due to the manga only adapting the first chapter of the original novel. Even so, Shigurui remains a striking, brutal, and atmospheric masterpiece of historical storytelling. Fans of grounded samurai fiction and dark seinen drama shouldn’t miss it.
Genres: Action, Historical, Drama, Tragedy, Martial Arts
Buronson and Ryoichi Ikegami’s Sanctuary is one of the best manga to blend political ambition with yakuza power struggles. It’s a gripping crime thriller built on a simple but compelling premise: two men vow to reshape Japan, each choosing a different path to power.
Chiaki Asami pursues political power, climbing the ranks of government through strategy, manipulation, and calculated charisma. His childhood friend Akira Houjo takes the opposite path, rising through the yakuza and uniting fractured gangs under his leadership. The tension between these two narratives gives Sanctuary much of its appeal. Chapters alternate between backroom political maneuvering and explosive underworld conflict, making the manga feel both grand in scope and grounded in personal stakes.
Ikegami’s art is another highlight. His realistic character design, sharp facial expressions, and cinematic panel layout give the series a mature, stylish atmosphere. Boardroom meetings carry the same intensity as turf wars, and Tokyo’s nightlife and political chambers feel alive and imposing.
The cast is filled with ambitious, larger-than-life figures, but Isaoka stands out as a ruthless, intelligent rival who challenges the protagonists on an ideological and personal level. His presence alone elevates the drama.
The series has some flaws, particularly its dated portrayal of women and an increasing reliance on operatic plot developments in later volumes.
Even so, Sanctuary remains a gripping, fast-paced crime epic, perfect for readers who enjoy political intrigue, criminal empires, and morally complex protagonists.
Shinichi Sakamoto’s Innocent and its sequel Innocent Rouge form one of the most visually striking and emotionally intense historical manga ever made. The story is set in 18th-century France and follows the royal executioner of Paris, Charles-Henri Sanson, as well as his sister Marie-Joseph, as they are confronted with duty, cruelty, and the shifting social tensions leading toward the French Revolution.
What makes Innocent stand out as one of the best manga in historical seinen is its atmosphere. Sakamoto transforms real events into a dramatic, almost operatic narrative filled with symbolic imagery, theatrical character expressions, and a tone that shifts between intimate drama and grand spectacle. The series is less concerned with strict realism and more with capturing the emotional and psychological pressure placed on the Sanson family.
Sakamoto’s artwork here is breathtaking. Readers are treated to richly detailed clothing, baroque architecture, and striking character design. Even the manga’s most brutal scenes, including executions and public punishments, are rendered with a haunting elegance that makes them impossible to look away from. Sakamoto’s use of light and texture gives every chapter an almost mythic weight.
The story itself is unconventional. Time jumps, surreal imagery, visual metaphors, and flamboyant character interpretations give the series a dreamlike quality that may surprise readers expecting a straightforward biographical piece. Yet, this bold style is precisely what makes Innocent so memorable.
If you want a historical drama that blends emotional depth with some of the most beautiful artwork in manga, Innocent is an unforgettable reading experience.
Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro remains one of the standout titles in cyberpunk manga and a constant recommendation when discussing the best manga within the genre. It blends gritty action, emotional storytelling, and dense worldbuilding into a unique, stylish experience that still holds up today.
The series begins when cybernetics doctor Daisuke Ido discovers the remnants of a cyborg girl in the Scrapyard, a massive junk-city beneath the floating utopia of Zalem. After restoring her and naming her Alita, he watches her develop from an amnesiac girl into a fierce warrior determined to uncover her past. Alita’s journey is not only about survival but also about self-discovery, and this emotional core keeps the story grounded even as the action becomes increasingly intense.
The worldbuilding is one of the manga’s greatest strength. While Zalem stands as a symbol of unreachable perfection, the Scrapyard is a chaotic blend of crime, poverty, cybernetics, and danger. This contrast between the two worlds gives the series constant tension. The action scenes are equally impressive, especially during the iconic Motorball arc, where Kishiro delivers high-speed, kinetic battles with incredible clarity and energy.
Alita herself shines as a protagonist. Her growth, resilience, and fierce independence give the series its emotional weight. Combined with its imaginative cybernetic design and fast-paced storytelling, Battle Angel Alita stands as one of the best manga for readers seeking a classic, hard-edged cyberpunk experience.
Manabe Shōhei’s Yamikin Ushijima-kun is one of the most unrelenting and darkest crime manga ever written. Set deep within Japan’s illegal money-lending underworld, it delivers a bleak but gripping look at debt, exploitation, and the people who are crushed between them. For readers who enjoy grounded crime stories, it easily ranks among the best manga for exploring society’s harshest corners.
The series follows Kaoru Ushijima, a loan shark who offers short-term loans at outrageous rates. His clients range from gamblers to salarymen to young people drowning in bad decisions. Ushijima isn’t a hero. He’s methodical, intimidating, and willing to use any means necessary to reclaim his money. Yet as the story unfolds, it becomes clear he’s far from the worst predator in this world. Compared to gangsters, scammers, and corporate abusers, Ushijima often feels like the least monstrous figure in the story.
What makes this manga stand out is its realism. Each arc follows a different client and shows how quickly someone’s life can unravel. Most stories end in tragedy, but occasional glimmers of human resilience strike even harder because of the surrounding despair.
Manabe’s gritty art style reinforces the brutal tone. Characters look like real people, and the oppressive environment feels alive and unforgiving. Nothing here is glamorized.
Bleak, intense, and disturbingly authentic, Yamikin Ushijima-kun is a must-read for fans of psychological crime drama and one of the strongest seinen titles of its kind.
Onani Master Kurosawa is one of the most surprising and emotionally resonant coming-of-age manga I’ve read. Despite its provocative title, this is not a raunchy comedy but a grounded, character-driven drama that stands out as one of the best manga about guilt, adolescence, and redemption.
Kakeru Kurosawa is a withdrawn middle school student who spends most of his time avoiding others. When he witnesses a quiet classmate, Aya Kitahara, being bullied, he retaliates in his own twisted way by weaponizing a secret hobby he indulges in. Kitahara soon discovers what he’s done and blackmails him into continuing these acts, creating a spiral of shame, moral conflict, and emotional fallout.
What makes this manga exceptional is how naturally it evolves. The first chapters read like a dark parody of power fantasy, but the tone gradually shifts into something far more intimate. Kurosawa’s internal voice, his awkwardness, and his painfully honest self-reflection make him a compelling and believable protagonist. As the story progresses, it moves from shock value to genuine personal growth, capturing the messy and often painful reality of teenage insecurity.
The art is simple but expressive, with strong attention to emotion and body language. There is no fanservice here. Any sexual elements serve the narrative and reinforce Kurosawa’s uncomfortable self-awareness.
Unexpectedly sincere and emotionally rewarding, Onani Master Kurosawa is a powerful reminder of how far a seemingly edgy premise can go when handled with honesty and empathy.
The Fable by Katsuhisa Minami is one of the best manga for readers who enjoy crime stories with a unique twist. Rather than glorifying violence, it blends sharp black comedy with grounded slice-of-life moments to create a surprisingly heartfelt portrait of an assassin struggling to live a normal life.
The story follows Akira Satou, a legendary hitman known only as the Fable. After years of flawless kills, his boss orders him to take a mandatory year-long vacation. Along with his partner Youko, who pretends to be his sister, he moves to Osaka under a new identity. His mission is simple on paper: live quietly, get a regular job, and avoid killing. Watching this ultra-efficient killer navigate mundane tasks, odd coworkers, and awkward social interactions is both hilarious and strangely charming.
Minami’s artwork reinforces this mood. The realistic linework, expressive faces, and detailed cityscapes give everything a grounded feeling. When violence erupts, it feels sharp and sudden, contrasting the quieter, character-driven moments that dominate the story.
The cast is another highlight. Akira’s deadpan personality creates constant comedic friction, while Youko and the various yakuza and civilians around him give the world depth and texture.
Funny, tense, and unexpectedly human, The Fable stands out as one of the best seinen manga of recent years. It delivers a fresh spin on the assassin genre through humor, subtle character work, and grounded storytelling.
Genres: Crime, Slice of Life, Dark Comedy
Status: Completed (Seinen; followed by The Fable: The Second Contact)
20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa is one of the best manga for readers who enjoy layered mysteries, long-form conspiracies, and character-driven storytelling. It begins with Kenji Endo, a former musician now living a quiet life, until the death of an old friend and the rise of a strange cult pull him back into his past. The masked leader known only as Friend begins reenacting scenarios from a Book of Prophecy Kenji and his friends wrote as children, turning childhood imagination into a real-world threat.
What sets 20th Century Boys apart is its structure. The story jumps between multiple eras, from Kenji’s youth in the 60s and 70s to the late 90s and even into the future, but Urasawa handles these transitions with precision. Each timeline reveals new truths about the characters, deepens the mystery, and keeps the reader hooked with constant reveals.
The cast is one of the manga’s biggest strengths. Even minor characters feel fully realized, and watching Kenji’s old friends reconnect as adults gives the story weight and emotional grounding. Urasawa’s art style complements the slow-building tension, turning quiet scenes into moments filled with unease.
While later arcs become more chaotic and ambitious, the core mystery remains compelling throughout. For fans of intricate thrillers, conspiracies, and ensemble storytelling, 20th Century Boys is easily one of the best manga to get lost in.
Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Ishida blends action, tragedy, and urban horror into one of the best manga for readers who enjoy darker, more emotionally charged storytelling. Set in a modern world where flesh-eating ghouls hide among humans, the series follows Ken Kaneki, an introverted college student. His life changes drastically after an accident leaves him as a half-ghoul. Suddenly caught between two worlds, Kaneki struggles to understand his new identity while surviving in a society built on fear and violence.
One of the manga’s greatest strengths is how it humanizes both sides of the conflict. Through Anteiku Café and its residents, we see the quiet, tragic lives of ghouls trying to coexist, while the CCG investigators offer an opposing perspective. As the story scales up, faction wars, experiments, and high-stakes battles push Kaneki toward a darker and more determined version of himself.
Ishida’s artwork is striking. Heavy shadows, expressive character designs, and organic flow of the kagune abilities create a tense, oppressive atmosphere. Fight scenes feel chaotic yet stylish, and the urban landscape gives the series a gritty realism that makes every confrontation hit hard.
Tokyo Ghoul explores themes of identity, alienation, and the blurry line between human and monster. Not all characters are satisfying, and some backstories are exploited for tragic impact, but the dramatic intensity of the main story remains consistent throughout.
For fans of horror-tinged action and morally complex storytelling, Tokyo Ghoul stands out as one of the best manga in modern seinen.
Few manga combine high-end action and absurd comedy as effortlessly as One Punch Man by ONE and Yusuke Murata. Built on a deceptively simple premise, it delivers one of the best manga experiences for readers who want both explosive battles and sharp humor.
The manga follows Saitama, an ordinary man who trained himself to unimaginable strength. Now capable of defeating any opponent with a single punch, he joins the Hero Association but quickly realizes that overwhelming power brings one problem: life becomes boring. What could have been a repetitive, one-note gag becomes something far richer thanks to the manga’s ensemble cast. Much of the tension and worldbuilding comes from heroes like Genos, Tatsumaki, and the unforgettable King, as well as Garou, whose arc is one of the most compelling in modern action manga.
Murata’s artwork is world-class. His detailed monster designs, dynamic fight choreography, and massive spreads create some of the most breathtaking action sequences in contemporary manga. The Monster Association arc, in particular, showcases his ability to balance chaos, clarity, and cinematic impact.
While the series sometimes slows down due to Murata’s perfectionism and frequent redraws, the final product is consistently stunning. Every major battle feels larger than life, and every comedic beat lands thanks to Saitama’s deadpan brilliance.
For fans of action-comedy, creative fights, and stylish art, One Punch Man remains one of the best manga to dive into.
Blood on the Tracks by Shūzō Oshimi is among the most disturbing psychological manga of the past decade and easily one of the best manga for readers who enjoy dark, character-driven stories. Instead of relying on violence or shock value, the series builds its tension through raw emotion, claustrophobic atmosphere, and an unflinching look at toxic family dynamics.
Seiichi Osabe is an ordinary middle-school boy living under the watchful eye of his loving mother, Seiko. What begins as overprotectiveness slowly reveals itself as something far more unsettling. A single shocking moment early in the series changes the tone of the story entirely and traps Seiichi in a cycle of fear, guilt, and emotional dependency that only worsens as the manga progresses.
Blood on the Tracks is masterful in its pacing. Oshimi often dedicates entire chapters to subtle expressions or quiet interactions, forcing readers to sit with the same tension and confusion Seiichi feels. This slow-burn approach makes even mundane scenes feel dangerous. The horror comes not from monsters or violence, but from the psychological grip one person can have on another.
Oshimi heightens this discomfort through close-up panels that linger on expressions, while his stark backgrounds and precise linework create a chilling sense of isolation. Every panel feels intimate and invasive at the same time.
If you’re interested in unsettling character studies, emotionally intense storytelling, or psychological horror, Blood on the Tracks is a must-read and one of the best manga in the modern seinen landscape.
Genres: Horror, Psychological, Tragedy, Philosophical, Slice of Life
Liar Game by Shinobu Kaitani is one of the smartest and most addictive psychological thrillers in manga, and easily one of the best manga for fans of strategy-focused stories. It mixes high-stakes mind games, shifting alliances, and constant tension into a series that keeps you guessing from beginning to end.
The setup is simple but brutal. We meet the impossibly honest Kanzaki Nao, who’s tricked into participating in the Liar Game, a tournament centering on deception and manipulation. After losing her money almost immediately, she turns to Akiyama Shinichi, a brilliant ex-con and master strategist. Together they form an unlikely team, combining Akiyama’s genius with Nao’s integrity in an effort to take down the organization behind the game.
The heart of the manga lies in its competition. Each round introduces new rules and psychological traps, forcing both characters and readers to think several steps ahead. From high-pressure majority votes to complex multi-team challenges, every match is a battle of logic, bluffing, and human nature. Rivals like Yokoya and Harimoto add even more intensity, creating some of the series’ most thrilling arcs.
Kaitani’s art is clean and expressive, emphasizing sharp reactions, tense standoffs, and dramatic reveals. While some rule explanations can drag and the ending is somewhat abrupt, the series remains exceptional as a whole.
If you enjoy tactical battles, unpredictable twists, and psychological warfare, Liar Game is one of the best manga you can pick up.
Genres: Psychological, Thriller, Mystery
Status: Completed (Seinen)
Shonen Manga
Shonen manga are typically aimed at teenage readers, which means they often prioritize fast pacing, big emotions, and explosive action. These series lean into adventure, rivalry, and momentum, creating some of the most iconic moments in manga history. Still, every shonen title on this list goes beyond the basics, standing out through exceptional storytelling, memorable characters, or sheer cultural impact.
If you want more shonen recommendations, you can explore my list of the best shonen manga.
Death Note stands as one of the rare shonen titles that completely changed what the genre could achieve. Instead of relying on flashy battles or power systems, it delivers a tense, psychological duel built entirely on intellect, strategy, and moral ambiguity. For many readers, it remains one of the best manga for introducing newcomers to darker, more mature storytelling in shonen.
The story introduces Light Yagami, a brilliant but bored student who discovers the Death Note, a supernatural notebook that can kill anyone whose name is written in it. What begins as an experiment quickly escalates into an attempt to reshape the world, putting him in direct conflict with L, an eccentric detective whose mind matches Light’s at every turn. Their rivalry fuels the first half of the series, which is packed with mind games, clever reveals, and some of the strongest cat-and-mouse tension in manga.
Takeshi Obata’s art enhances every moment. Using sharp contrasts, cinematic framing, and expressive character work, he turns even dialogue-heavy scenes into gripping set pieces. Ryuk’s eerie design and the notebook’s gothic aesthetic also give the manga a distinct atmosphere.
The later arcs introduce new players and shift the dynamic, which some readers find less impactful, yet the overall tension and thematic weight remain strong. Even with its imperfections, Death Note is a gripping, stylish thriller that redefined shonen storytelling and remains essential reading for anyone interested in psychological battles.
Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa is often cited as one of the best shonen battle manga ever made, and it earns that praise through a rare mix of tight plotting, emotional depth, and imaginative worldbuilding.
The story follows brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, two young alchemists who search for the Philosopher’s Stone after a forbidden ritual leaves Ed missing limbs and Al trapped inside a suit of armor. What begins as a straightforward quest quickly becomes a layered adventure filled with political intrigue, military corruption, and hard moral questions.
One of the manga’s greatest strengths is its setting. Amestris feels grounded in a way few shonen worlds do, with industrial cities, a rigid military hierarchy, and a history of war casting a shadow over every arc. Characters like Scar and the Homunculi give the story weight by embodying themes of revenge, grief, and humanity’s darker impulses. Even the villains are complex, and the larger mystery surrounding Father keeps the tension building all the way to the end.
The brothers’ bond remains the emotional heart of the story. It drives the narrative forward and gives each conflict real stakes, while the supporting cast around them is equally memorable, especially characters like Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye. Arakawa’s artwork balances crisp action with expressive character work, making every battle easy to follow and the emotional moments hit harder.
Fast-paced, thoughtful, and consistently engaging, Fullmetal Alchemist is not only one of the best manga for new readers but a standout example of long-form shonen storytelling done right.
Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter looks like a standard adventure series at first, but it quietly grows into one of the smartest and most daring shonen manga out there. It absolutely earns its place among the best manga for readers who want strategy, tension, and character depth in every battle.
We follow Gon Freecs, a cheerful young boy who sets out to become a Hunter to find his missing father. The early Hunter Exam arc feels like classic shonen fun, full of trials, strange locations, and a colorful cast. The real turning point comes with the introduction of Nen, a meticulous power system that turns every fight into a tactical mind game instead of a simple clash of strength.
The cast is a huge part of the manga’s appeal. Gon’s bond with Killua gives the story emotional weight, while antagonists like the unhinged Hisoka, the Phantom Troupe, and later the Chimera Ant King bring a constant sense of danger. Hunter x Hunter also becomes far darker and more ruthless than most shonen, especially in the Chimera Ant arc, where the body count and moral ambiguity skyrocket.
Togashi’s art can be inconsistent, but when it lands, the layout and fights are fantastic. More importantly, the storytelling constantly reinvents itself, shifting tone and format in ways few long-running series dare.
If you want a long, intricate shonen that breaks its own rules and keeps surprising you, Hunter x Hunter is easily one of the best manga you can pick up.
Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man might be the most exhilarating and strange modern shonen series, and a strong contender for anyone building a list of the best manga to read today. What begins as a chaotic premise quickly becomes a cleverly layered story filled with over-the-top violence, dark humor, and escalating depth.
The manga introduces Denji, a broke teenager drowning in debt. After a brutal betrayal, he’s forced to merge with his pet devil Pochita, allowing him to transform into Chainsaw Man. From there, he’s recruited by the Public Safety Bureau to hunt devils, setting the stage for a wild mix of horror, action, and offbeat comedy. While the concept sounds absurd, Fujimoto uses it to explore trauma, identity, and the need for connection in a world that constantly dehumanizes its characters.
Denji is a refreshingly honest protagonist. His goals are simple and crude, but his search for affection and stability gives the story a surprising heart. The supporting cast is equally memorable, from Power’s chaotic energy to Aki’s quiet tragedy and Makima’s chilling presence. Every character feels distinct and unpredictable.
Fujimoto’s raw, scratchy artwork fits the tone perfectly. The fights are frantic, messy, and creative, with devil designs that range from grotesque to sublime. The manga constantly shifts moods, moving from absurd comedy to bleak nihilism to sudden bursts of emotion, creating a rhythm that feels unlike anything else in shonen.
Unpredictable, violent, and strangely heartfelt, Chainsaw Man stands out for its originality and fearless storytelling. If you want a high-energy shonen series that breaks tradition at every turn, this is one of the best manga you can pick up.
Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama is one of the most influential dark fantasy shonen series of the past two decades and still earns a place among the best manga for fans who enjoy high-stakes survival and grand-scale mystery. What begins as a desperate fight against monstrous creatures evolves into a sprawling political thriller with some of the most surprising twists in modern shonen.
The premise is immediately gripping. Humanity survives within three massive walls that protect them from Titans, eerie humanoids that devour humans without reason. When the outer wall is breached, Eren Yeager loses everything and vows revenge. His journey with Mikasa and Armin takes him from terrified military recruit to member of the Survey Corps, a unit that ventures past the walls to uncover the truth behind the Titans and humanity’s forgotten past.
One of the strongest and most divisive elements of Attack on Titan is how dramatically the story shifts. Early chapters deliver claustrophobic horror and frantic action using the iconic maneuvering gear, but later arcs expand the world, revealing conspiracies, warring nations, and questions of freedom and oppression. The narrative twists keep the series unpredictable and emotionally charged.
Isayama’s evolution as an artist is striking. While the early volumes look rough, the art quickly becomes more confident, atmospheric, and cinematic. The design of the Titans is as memorable as it is unsettling, blending blank expressions with sudden, violent motion.
While the ending remains divisive to this day, the journey there is unforgettable. For anyone seeking a tense, lore-heavy story packed with action and moral complexity, Attack on Titan remains one of the best manga to dive into.
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Action, Mystery, Post-Apocalyptic
Blue Lock by Muneyuki Kaneshiro is one of the most explosive and addictive sports manga of recent years, and easily one of the best manga to read if you enjoy high-stakes, character-driven competition. I usually don’t read sports manga, and soccer has never been a personal interest of mine, yet Blue Lock has still become one of the few series I keep up with weekly. It proves you don’t need to love the sport to get hooked purely by hype.
The premise alone sets it apart. Japan wants to create a world-class striker, so the eccentric coach Jinpachi Ego builds Blue Lock, a ruthless training program where 300 talented young strikers compete. Only one will make the national team. Everyone else loses their future in Japanese football. This transforms soccer into a psychological survival game, where individuality, ego, and ambition matter more than teamwork.
Yoichi Isagi begins as an average player, but his spatial awareness and adaptability give him an edge. The thrill comes from watching him evolve while facing a cast of unforgettable rivals like Bachira, Nagi, Chigiri, Barou, and later Kaiser, who serves as Isagi’s perfect mirror and antagonist.
The art is the series’ major highlight. Yusuke Nomura’s dynamic spreads turn every play into a dramatic showdown, visualizing each character’s weapons with monstrous auras, sharp expressions, and intense motions. Even a single pass can feel like a tactical maneuver in a battle manga.
From brutal elimination rounds to the escalating U-20 arc, Blue Lock keeps raising the stakes without losing its identity. It’s ridiculous and over-the-top, but absolutely gripping. Even if you don’t care about soccer, like me, it’s almost impossible not to get swept up in its energy.
Sakamoto Days begins with a simple gag premise, yet it quickly reveals itself as one of the most stylish and sharply choreographed series in modern shonen. Yuto Suzuki’s modern-day masterpiece follows Taro Sakamoto, once the deadliest hitman alive, who retired and now runs a convenience store after falling in love. His peaceful life does not last. Assassins, rogue agents, and old enemies constantly resurface, forcing Sakamoto to defend himself while honoring his vow not to kill again.
What makes this series one of the best manga for pure action fans is its humor, inventiveness, and exceptional fight choreography. Suzuki’s art is fast, fluid, and crystal clear, turning every encounter into a visual spectacle.
The comedy is top-notch, with Sakamoto’s deadpan reactions, retired-dad energy, and the absurd contrast between his gentle personality and terrifying skills. Even in later chapters, the humor still hits, and combined with stylish dialogue and reactions, it creates a unique tone that’s both funny and high-stakes.
As the story expands, Sakamoto Days reveals its true nature. We’re introduced to conspiracies, elite assassins and such standout characters like Nagumo, Shishiba, or Mr. Takamura. From here on out, the series changes from a lighthearted comedy into a full-blown battle shonen with some of the best fights not only in modern shonen but in the genre as a whole.
Sakamoto Days is currently my favorite ongoing shonen series. It’s fun, stylish, and consistently hype, perfect for readers who want explosive action paired with sharp humor and unforgettable characters.
Haro Aso’s Alice in Borderland is one of the sharpest and most engaging death-game series of the past decades, and easily one of the best manga to check out if you enjoy high-stakes survival stories. It blends clever game design with psychological tension and teamwork into a fast, addictive read.
The story follows Ryohei Arisu, a listless teenager who suddenly finds himself transported to a deserted Tokyo known as the Borderland. To stay alive, he and the other trapped players must clear deadly games that follow a suit-based difficulty system. Spades test physical ability, clubs demand teamwork, diamonds challenge strategic thinking, and hearts push emotional and psychological limits. This structure keeps every arc fresh, with games that range from brutally straightforward to intricately clever.
Haro Aso’s art heightens the tension. The abandoned cityscapes, elaborate game arenas, and bursts of violence are all rendered with crisp detail, and the paneling makes even complex scenarios easy to follow. Arisu is also a refreshing protagonist for the genre. He’s intelligent but not superhuman, emotional yet never melodramatic, which makes his growth feel authentic. Characters like Usagi and the enigmatic Chishiya further enrich the story with their own motivations and memorable moments.
Some later arcs shift focus to side characters, which can feel uneven, and the ending has divided readers. Still, the series remains consistently gripping. With its inventive challenges, tight pacing, and strong emotional core, Alice in Borderland is a must-read for fans of death game and survival thrillers.
Fist of the North Star is a pillar of classic action storytelling and remains one of the best manga to come out of the 1980s. Buronson and Tetsuro Hara created a post-apocalyptic epic that blends martial arts spectacle, grit, and tragic heroism into a world where every fight feels operatic. Even decades later, there’s nothing quite like it.
The story follows Kenshiro, the stoic heir to the deadly martial art Hokuto Shinken. Wandering a post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by gangs and tyrants, he protects the weak with pinpoint strikes that cause enemies to explode from within. The premise is simple, but the execution is unforgettable. Every confrontation carries weight, every villain feels larger than life, and every chapter reinforces an atmosphere of raw power and masculinity.
Hara’s artwork is a perfect match for the tone. Massive physiques, devastated landscapes, and bone-crushing battles fill the page with intensity. His evolving style gives the series a dramatic, almost mythic quality, turning Kenshiro into an archetype for the wandering savior. Side characters like Rei and Mamiya, as well as antagonists like Raoh, enrich the narrative with honor and emotional depth that goes far beyond its reputation for violence.
Fist of the North Star is not flawless and can feel episodic, but its influence is undeniable. For fans of shonen action, larger-than-life battles, and pure martial arts spectacle, it remains a must-read that showcases the roots of many modern favorites.
An outlier on this list, yet one of the most emotionally powerful shonen series of the past decade, A Silent Voice trades high-energy battles for a somber, intimate story about guilt, empathy, and the long road toward redemption. It’s also one of the best manga for readers who want a character-driven coming-of-age narrative with real emotional weight.
The story begins with Shouya Ishida, a wild elementary schooler who bullies Shouko Nishimiya, a deaf girl who joins his class. What begins as childish teasing quickly becomes real cruelty, culminating in Shouko transferring schools. When the class turns on Shouya and brands him the sole culprit, he becomes isolated and consumed by self-loathing.
In high school, Shouya attempts to make amends. His reunion with Shouko becomes the heart of the manga. Their interactions are fragile, awkward, painful, and quietly hopeful. Shouya is not magically redeemed, and Shouko is not obligated to forgive him, which gives the story a grounded emotional maturity rarely seen in shonen.
Oima’s detailed art enhances the story, helping simple expressions, small gestures, and moments of silence carry as much weight as dialogue. The clean linework and careful paneling make every emotional beat land with precision.
A Silent Voice succeeds not through spectacle but through honesty. It’s a deeply human manga about taking responsibility, learning to communicate, and facing the part of yourself you’d rather ignore. For readers seeking a thoughtful, emotional experience, it’s easily one of the best manga to pick.
Genres: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, Psychological
Horror manga has grown into one of the most beloved genres among readers worldwide. Some horror titles are rightfully considered among the best manga of all time, thanks to their unforgettable atmosphere and disturbing creativity. Whether you enjoy supernatural chills, twisted psychological stories, or full-blown cosmic terror, every manga in this section is absolutely worth your time.
I decided to focus this section on titles not created by Junji Ito, but if you’re looking for more information about his works, I urge you to check out my list of the best Junji Ito stories.
If you want to dive even deeper, you can also explore my complete list of the best horror manga.
Among modern horror series, Gannibal stands out as one of the most gripping and underrated titles. It’s a rural paranoia thriller that mixes family drama, suspense, and cannibal terror into a tightly wound narrative. For readers seeking the best manga in the grounded horror category, this is an immediate standout.
Daigo Agawa is a police officer who’s transferred with his family to a remote mountain village. The locals appear friendly, but there’s something deeply wrong beneath the surface. The villagers avoid direct questions, his predecessor vanished without explanation, and he soon clashes with the powerful Goto family, which holds eerie influence over everyone. The discovery of a mutilated corpse leads Daigo to suspect that some of the rumors surrounding the village may be horrifyingly true.
Gannibal succeeds largely because of its atmosphere. Every chapter feels suffocating, filled with tense conversations, half-truths, and the sense that danger is only a few steps away. Masaaki Ninomiya’s art amplifies this mood through expressive faces, grim rural landscapes, and sudden bursts of violence that are disturbing without feeling sensationalized.
Daigo himself is a strong lead, driven yet flawed, and his family adds emotional weight to the story’s escalating dread. The Goto family is equally compelling, with many of their members written with a mix of intimidation and mystery, keeping the reader constantly unsure about their motives.
Grounded, slow-burning, and genuinely unnerving, Gannibal is a must-read for anyone interested in realistic psychological horror. It’s one of the best manga to pick up if you enjoy tense, atmospheric thrillers rooted in human darkness rather than the supernatural.
Hellsing remains one of the most unapologetically stylish horror action series ever published. Kouta Hirano’s cult classic blends vampires, gore, and heavy gunfire into a chaotic spectacle that feels closer to a graphic grindhouse film than traditional manga. If you enjoy intense supernatural battles and theatrical villains, this is easily one of the best manga to pick up in the horror-action space.
The story follows Alucard, an ancient vampire employed by the Hellsing Organization, a secret group tasked with eliminating supernatural threats across Britain. Alucard is a force of nature who delights in combat, toys with his enemies, and serves as both weapon and monster. Alongside him are Seras Victoria, a rookie vampire trying to hold on to her humanity, and Integra Hellsing, the stoic leader who holds the reins of the entire operation.
Hellsing thrives on spectacle. Each encounter escalates into explosive, high-energy brutality, whether the heroes are facing ghouls, fanatical crusaders, or the infamous Millennium organization and its army of engineered vampires. The cast is packed with memorable personalities, particularly Alexander Anderson and the Major, whose larger-than-life presence amplifies the manga’s manic tone.
Hirano’s artwork evolves quickly. What begins as rough becomes sharp, bold, and striking, driven by heavy blacks and aggressive layouts that make every battle feel cinematic.
Hellsing is not subtle, and it doesn’t want to be. It’s bloody, loud, and wildly entertaining, perfect for readers who want horror delivered with maximum style and attitude.
Nokuto Koike’s 6000 is one of the most suffocating and atmospheric deep-sea horror manga ever written, and a standout pick for anyone looking for the best manga that leans into psychological dread and cosmic unease. Set inside an undersea research station located 6,000 meters below the surface, the story follows a small crew sent to restart the facility and investigate what happened to the previous team. From the moment they arrive, the pressure of the ocean seems to warp both their surroundings and their sanity.
What makes 6000 so effective is its atmosphere. The artwork is dense with shadows, rough textures, and tight framing that amplifies the sense of confinement. As the crew explores, they are plagued by strange visions and soon realize that something is very wrong. When the horror strikes, it’s abrupt, grotesque, and deeply unsettling.
This is a manga that prioritizes mood over clarity. Scenes often unfold with minimal dialogue, relying on eerie visuals and disorienting panel transitions to pull the reader into the same paranoia the characters experience. The story can be cryptic and the cast isn’t deep, but these elements work in service of the creeping, dreamlike fear that defines the series.
If you enjoy cosmic horror, claustrophobic settings, or stories that blur the line between hallucination and reality, 6000 is an unforgettable experience. It’s grim, haunting, and easily one of the most underrated horror titles you can read.
Fuan no Tane is among the most unique and effective horror manga ever made. Instead of relying on a traditional narrative, it delivers rapid-fire scares through tiny, self-contained vignettes. Each chapter is only a few pages long and usually features nothing more than an everyday setting, an unsuspecting bystander, and an encounter with something deeply wrong. There’s no exposition, no character development, and almost no dialogue. The manga strips horror down to its barest essentials, which is exactly why it works so well. It understands that the unknown is often more frightening than any explanation.
The atmosphere is relentless. Masaaki Nakayama’s grounded art style makes the everyday environment feel familiar, then twists it with sudden intrusions of the uncanny. Faces warp into impossible shapes, limbs bend where they shouldn’t, and ghostly silhouettes emerge from hallways, windows, or doorframes. The timing of each reveal is immaculate, leading to scares that land with precision and clarity. Even the shortest chapters leave a lasting impact.
Fans who enjoy Fuan no Tane will find a natural continuation in PTSD Radio, Nakayama’s spiritual successor. It retains the short-form structure but expands the concept with interconnected stories tied to a single horrifying presence known as the God of Hair. The result is a more cohesive and escalating experience that builds on everything Fuan no Tane established.
For readers who want pure atmospheric horror distilled into quick, unforgettable shocks, Fuan no Tane remains one of the best manga in the genre.
Nikubami Honegishimi is the most recent entry on this list, yet already stands out as one of the best manga for readers who love atmospheric and folkloric horror. Created by Paregoric, it blends urban legend, investigative mystery, and grotesque supernatural encounters through a dual timeline structure that keeps you constantly on edge.
The story opens in 1999, following the eccentric Inubosaki, who works as an editor for an occult magazine, and her friend Asama, a photographer, as they document strange phenomena across rural Japan. Each of those encounters functions like a short horror vignette, featuring everything from haunted objects to eldritch monsters. In the present day, set in 2023, Inubosaki’s nephew searches for answers about her mysterious death, reconnecting with Asama, now a seasoned psychic. The narrative alternates between these eras, gradually revealing a larger, sinister pattern beneath the standalone scares.
Nikubami Honegishimi’s art can feel unconventional at first, with loose linework and exaggerated expressions, especially from the hyper-animated Inubosaki. But when the horror arrives, the style transforms beautifully. The creature design is nightmarish, surreal, and intensely memorable, delivering some of the strongest visuals in modern horror manga. The series excels at quiet tension rather than shock value, letting each scene breathe before dread spikes.
Still early in its run, Nikubami Honegishimi is already shaping up to be a standout among modern horror titles. If you’re drawn to eerie mysteries, urban folklore, and unique visual direction, this is an absolute must-read.
Mieruko-chan, created by Izumi Tomoki, is one of the most unusual horror manga in recent years, but its originality is exactly what makes it stand out as one of the best manga for fans of eerie, offbeat supernatural stories.
The series follows Miko, an ordinary high school girl able to see ghosts. These spirits are not the usual silhouettes found in most supernatural manga. They are grotesque, towering, and dripping creatures that invade every corner of her daily life. The twist is simple. Acknowledging them would put her in danger, so Miko simply pretends she cannot see them.
This setup creates a constant tension that defines the series. Every walk to school, every hangout with friends, and even every shower can become a battle of endurance. The manga thrives on this balance between suffocating fear and everyday mundanity, which also opens the door for moments of surprisingly well-timed comedy. The tonal shift never feels forced. Instead, it creates a rhythm that keeps the series engaging chapter after chapter.
The art is where Mieruko-chan truly shines. The contrast between the cute character design and hyper-detailed, nightmarish spirits is striking. The ghosts are some of the most visually memorable monsters in modern horror manga, featuring uncanny textures, warped anatomy, and an oppressive presence that lingers long after the page is turned.
As the story expands, new characters and bits of lore appear, but the core idea remains the same: a girl having to pretend everything is normal while surrounded by nightmare fuel. With its blend of unsettling atmosphere, humor, and phenomenal monster design, Mieruko-chan earns its place among the best modern horror manga.
Genres: Horror, Comedy, Supernatural, Mystery, Slice of Life
Momukoren’s The Summer Hikaru Died is one of the most haunting and emotionally resonant horror series of recent years, and easily one of the best manga to blend cosmic dread with intimate character drama. What begins as a quiet rural story quickly unfolds into something far stranger.
Yoshiki lives in a small mountain village where nothing ever changes, except for one unbearable truth: his best friend Hikaru died over the summer. The person walking around now only looks like him. This imitation speaks like Hikaru and carries the same memories, yet something about him is profoundly wrong. The manga does not hide this revelation. Instead, it leans into it, establishing a chilling atmosphere from the very first chapter.
What sets the series apart is the balance between horror and emotion. The creature wearing Hikaru’s face occasionally reveals its true form, an otherworldly mass of shifting patterns and alien textures. These scenes are pure cosmic horror rendered in breathtaking detail. But the emotional core belongs to Yoshiki, who is torn between fear and longing. His grief, his inability to let go, and his quiet resolve to stay by the new Hikaru’s side give the manga a heartbreaking depth.
The BL-coded bond between the two boys is handled with subtlety, turning the story into an exploration of identity, desire, and the blurry line between love and obsession. The rural folklore surrounding Nounuki-sama adds another layer of tension, hinting that the truth behind Hikaru’s return is tied to something ancient and deeply unsettling.
Beautiful, eerie, and emotionally charged, The Summer Hikaru Died is a must-read for fans of atmospheric horror, cosmic mystery, and character-driven storytelling.
Even decades after it was originally published, Parasyte remains one of the most gripping and influential horror series of all time. It stands out as one of the best horror manga for fans of body horror and science-fiction terror. Hitoshi Iwaaki’s storytelling is simple on the surface yet layered with tension, philosophy, and real unease.
The premise is instantly memorable. Shinichi Izumi is an ordinary teenager until a parasite attempts to take over his body. The creature fails to reach his brain and instead merges with his right arm. The two are forced into an uneasy coexistence, with the parasite Migi acting as both protector and constant reminder that Shinichi’s body no longer belongs entirely to him.
What follows is a slow, unsettling escalation as more parasites appear. These beings have successfully taken over their human brains, disguised themselves within society, and kill without hesitation. The manga excels at creating fear through uncertainty. At any moment, a seemingly normal person might transform into a bladed monster, and Iwaaki’s stark, fleshy artwork makes every attack feel dangerous and visceral.
Parasyte is not only about survival. It also questions what defines humanity and how empathy, instinct, and morality shift under extreme pressure. Shinichi’s gradual change, both physical and emotional, gives the story real dramatic weight.
With its blend of horror, action, and thoughtful themes, Parasyte remains a tight, unforgettable classic that earns its place among the best manga in the genre.
Kengo Hanazawa’s I Am a Hero is one of the most distinctive zombie manga ever published, offering a fresh and unsettling approach to the genre. Instead of following a confident survivor or a typical action lead, the story centers on Hideo Suzuki, a struggling manga assistant in his mid-thirties who deals with severe anxiety, hallucinations, and a fractured sense of reality. This flawed, unreliable perspective gives the opening chapters an eerie tension long before the outbreak even begins.
When the infection finally spreads, the series reveals its true strength. Hanazawa’s zombies aren’t mindless biters but twisted reflections of their final moments. Their contorted bodies, repeated last words, and grotesque mutations later in the series create some of the most disturbing creature designs in horror manga. As the world collapses, Hideo’s unstable mindset becomes both a weakness and a surprising source of clarity, grounding the story in raw, human fear rarely seen in the genre.
The manga does shift perspectives later, introducing new characters and expanding the scope, which some readers find less compelling. The ending is also divisive, feeling abrupt and unresolved. However, none of this diminishes the impact of its stronger arcs.
For readers seeking horror with psychological weight, striking artwork, and unforgettable monsters, I Am a Hero remains one of the best manga in the zombie genre. It’s bleak, imaginative, and genuinely haunting.
Gou Tanabe’s At the Mountains of Madness is one of the most faithful and visually striking Lovecraft adaptations in manga. It transforms H. P. Lovecraft’s iconic Antarctic novella into a slow-burn nightmare of cosmic dread and easily ranks among the best manga for fans of cosmic horror.
The story follows Dr. William Dyer and his scientific team on a research expedition to Antarctica. What begins as a routine geological survey becomes a descent into madness when the group uncovers ancient ruins buried within the ice. Fossils, strange markings, and impossible architecture hint at a forgotten civilization that predates humanity. As the team pushes deeper into this frozen labyrinth, the truth they uncover challenges not only scientific understanding but their own sanity.
Tanabe’s artwork is the manga’s defining strength. His hyper-detailed linework and stark black-and-white contrasts capture both the grandeur and hostility of the Antarctic landscape. Every environment feels colossal and empty, emphasizing the characters’ insignificance. When the monsters hidden in the depths finally appear, they are rendered with surreal beauty and overwhelming scale, creating a sense of awe that few horror manga can achieve.
Despite being a direct adaptation, Tanabe brings his own voice through masterful pacing and layouts that heighten tension without relying on jump scares. The result is a chilling, immersive reading experience that understands Lovecraft’s core theme: the terror of confronting something larger and far older than humanity.
If you enjoy slow-burn cosmic horror with exceptional artwork, At the Mountains of Madness is a must-read and one of the best manga adaptations Lovecraft fans can pick up.
Fantasy is one of the most beloved genres worldwide, so it’s no surprise that fantasy manga and dark fantasy manga rank among the most popular titles in the medium. In this section, you will find everything from classic shonen adventures to modern dark fantasy standouts that explore worlds filled with monsters, magic, and strange new cultures. Each manga here delivers a unique vision of the fantastic and stands out as one of the best manga of all time.
If you want an even deeper dive into the genre, be sure to check out my full list of the best fantasy manga and the best dark fantasy manga.
Claymore by Norihiro Yagi is one of the most remarkable dark fantasy manga of the 2000s. It delivers a bleak, monster-infested world, a tragic revenge narrative, and some of the most striking creature designs in the genre. If you enjoy atmospheric fantasy with strong horror elements, this is easily among the best manga you can pick up.
The setting is a medieval land terrorized by Yoma, shapeshifting demons that feast on humans. To fight them, a mysterious organization creates half-Yoma, half-human warriors called Claymores, silver-eyed women who constantly walk the line between duty and monstrous transformation. At the center of the story is Clare, a quiet and determined Claymore whose personal missions drive the early arc and anchor the manga’s emotional weight.
Claymore begins with episodic demon-hunting chapters, but the world expands quickly. As Clare meets other warriors, clashes with Awakened Beings, uncovers the organization’s secrets, and confronts her own limitations, the narrative shifts into a larger saga about identity, autonomy, and the cost of power.
Visually, the manga stands out, blending elegance and brutality. On one side are the Claymores, who have an almost ethereal presence; on the other, the Yoma, rendered in disturbingly organic forms. Battles are fast, intense, and filled with dramatic transformations that push both the characters and the stakes to their limits.
The final stretch has imperfections, but the journey there is gripping from start to finish. With its mix of dark fantasy, horror, and emotional storytelling, Claymore remains a must-read for fans seeking a stylish and haunting action series.
The Witch and the Beast by Kousuke Satake is one of the most stylish and atmospheric dark fantasy titles in recent years, and a personal pick for anyone searching for the best manga that blend gothic aesthetics with cinematic action. This is a world shaped by curses, witches, and ancient magic, brought to life through some of the most striking art in modern fantasy manga.
The story follows Guideau, a fierce and impulsive young woman cursed by a witch, and Ashaf, a calm and mysterious mage who travels with a coffin on his back. Together they work for the Order of Magical Resonance, investigating supernatural incidents in cities plagued by strange rituals and magical disasters. While the structure is mostly episodic, each arc introduces memorable characters and unsettling magical concepts. Phanora Kristoffel, a necromancer who appears early on, remains a standout example of the series’ worldbuilding depth and character design.
Satake’s artwork is among the best in manga. His jagged linework, dramatic shadows, and elaborate cityscapes create a dark fantasy world that feels alive. The creature and spell designs are visually stunning, and the action sequences flow with raw, chaotic movement. Few series manage to combine elegance and brutality this flawlessly.
The Witch and the Beast can be dense at times, especially during more lore-heavy arcs, but its atmosphere and visual craft are unmatched. Despite its current hiatus, it remains one of the most compelling dark fantasy manga out there, and a must-read for fans of gothic worlds and supernatural mysteries.
Made in Abyss is one of the best manga for readers who love dark fantasy built around atmosphere, mystery, and slow-rising dread. Akahito Tsukushi crafts a world that feels both wondrous and hostile, anchored by one of the most memorable settings in modern manga: the Abyss. This massive vertical chasm is filled with ancient relics, unusual wildlife, and layers of environmental hazards that grow more nightmarish the further you descend.
Riko, a young apprentice Cave Raider, dreams of following in her mother’s footsteps as an explorer. Her life changes when she meets Reg, a mechanical boy with extraordinary abilities and no memories of his origin. Convinced that Reg is tied to the Abyss and her mother’s disappearance, Riko begins her descent, unaware of how cruel and unforgiving the journey will become.
What makes Made in Abyss so exceptional is how it transforms its tone. The early chapters feel light, almost adventurous, helped by soft character design and whimsical humor. But as the pair move deeper, the story sheds that innocence and embraces body horror, psychological trauma, and high-stakes survival. Each layer introduces new risks, creatures, and the terrifying Curse of the Abyss, which punishes anyone who tries to climb back up.
The artwork by Tsukushi is nothing short of stunning, full of elaborate backgrounds, alien landscapes, and beautifully bizarre monsters. It gives the world a sense of depth and danger, while the contrast between cute protagonists and grotesque imagery adds an unsettling edge.
Made in Abyss is a must-read for anyone who wants a dark fantasy manga that is visually breathtaking, emotionally devastating, and unlike anything else in the genre.
Black Butler begins as a quirky supernatural comedy, but beneath the polished Victorian charm lies one of the most atmospheric and sinister dark fantasy series in shonen manga. What looks like a lighthearted story about a perfect butler and his young master gradually shifts into a gothic thriller filled with corruption, trauma, and supernatural intrigue.
The manga centers on Ciel Phantomhive, a twelve-year-old boy who serves as the Queen’s Watchdog, tackling crime that plagues London’s underworld. Supporting him is Sebastian Michaelis, an impossibly skilled butler bound to Ciel by a demonic contract. Their investigations range from gruesome murder cases to conspiracies hidden beneath England’s refined society. As the story progresses, the comedic tone of the early chapters gives way to richer, darker storytelling.
The Circus arc, in particular, marks the turning point, showcasing just how grim and emotionally charged the series can be. Ciel’s harsh pragmatism and Sebastian’s playful yet predatory nature create a dynamic bond that’s both compelling and unsettling. The cast around them evolves as well, with side characters gaining depth and moral ambiguity that enhances the story’s themes.
While Yan Toboso’s art can be uneven, it excels at gothic detail. Victorian cityscapes, lavish costumes, and expressive character art build a strong sense of mood, especially during the more macabre arcs.
Black Butler requires some patience, and while it never truly sheds its shonen roots, it’s well worth reading. For fans of stylish gothic mystery and supernatural drama, it stands as one of the best manga to explore in the dark fantasy genre.
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Mystery, Gothic, Supernatural
Bastard!! is one of the wildest and most unapologetically chaotic dark fantasy series ever published. Long before many modern titles defined the genre, Kazushi Hagiwara delivered a world built on heavy metal aesthetics, sorcery, and unrestrained spectacle. It’s messy, over-the-top, and often ridiculous, but also unforgettable, which is why many fans still consider it one of the best manga in classic dark fantasy.
The premise centers on Dark Schneider, an egotistical, womanizing, and absurdly powerful wizard resurrected to save humanity from an army of monsters and former allies. He’s not a noble hero, but a force of nature. His arrogance, swagger, and unstoppable magic give the series its intense energy and constant sense of unpredictability. One moment he’s annihilating demons with elaborate spells, the next he’s taunting everyone around him.
The tone begins as heavy metal infused dungeon fantasy, filled with demons, sorcerers, and larger-than-life battles. Halfway through, however, Bastard!! transforms entirely. The story shifts into divine warfare, featuring gods, angels, and apocalyptic stakes. The plot becomes wilder, the pacing erratic, but the ambition skyrockets.
Hagiwara’s art grows alongside the story, and what begins with 1980s shonen aesthetics turns into intricate, hyper-detailed spreads filled with gothic architecture, elaborate armor, and breathtaking celestial designs. It’s visually spectacular and unmistakably influenced by Western metal culture.
Bastard!! is not subtle. It’s indulgent, chaotic, and full of adult content, but for readers who enjoy stylish excess and high-powered fantasy battles, it remains an iconic, must-seek dark fantasy manga.
Genres: Action, Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Heavy Metal, Erotica
Delicious in Dungeon is one of the most creative fantasy comedy manga in recent years, and a strong contender for any list of the best manga thanks to its blend of cooking, worldbuilding, and dungeon-crawling adventure. What begins as a simple gag premise soon evolves into a surprisingly rich and emotionally grounded story.
The early chapters focus almost entirely on the party’s desperate decision to survive inside a dungeon by cooking and eating monsters. It’s intentionally absurd and often disgusting, which makes it especially fun for fans of tabletop RPGs. Watching the group debate how to prepare slimes, basilisks, or living armor gives the chapters a quirky charm, even if the characters initially feel like familiar RPG archetypes.
About a third of the way into the series, the tone shifts in a meaningful way. The main plot surrounding the rescue of Falin finally takes center stage, and the comedy becomes a unifying thread rather than the core focus. The food theme remains deeply woven into the narrative, but the story expands with new lore, emotional stakes, and a stronger sense of direction.
Ryoko Kui’s art is a major highlight. Her creature designs are imaginative and grounded in believable physiology, which makes the cooking aspect far more engaging. The characters also grow over time, and while they begin as clichés, their interactions and personal history gradually reveal surprising depth.
The final stretch of the manga pushes the story into dramatic territory, sometimes sidelining the culinary angle, but the writing stays strong and the payoff is satisfying. For readers who enjoy fantasy, worldbuilding, and unique twists on adventure tropes, Delicious in Dungeon is a memorable and genuinely inventive series.
Witch Hat Atelier is one of the most enchanting fantasy manga of the last decade, a story that combines coming-of-age warmth with some of the most breathtaking artwork in modern seinen. If you’re searching for one of the best manga that demonstrates how magical worldbuilding should be done, this series is an easy recommendation.
At its heart is Coco, a curious girl whose life changes when she stumbles upon the truth of how magic works. Her mistake unleashes a dangerous spell, but it also reveals her potential, drawing the attention of the enigmatic witch Oifrey. From here, the story unfolds as a classic apprentice tale, following Coco as she learns spells, bonds with fellow students, and becomes entangled in a larger mystery surrounding the Brimmed Caps, a group experimenting with forbidden magic. The narrative remains focused on character growth, yet each chapter hints at deeper lore waiting below the surface.
What makes Witch Hat Atelier truly shine is the fantastic art. Shirahama’s illustrations are intricately detailed and full of life, turning every page into a rich tapestry of medieval fantasy design. The spellcasting system is clever and visually intuitive, making magic feel both whimsical and structured in a way few series manage.
The characters are equally strong. Coco is endearing, Tetia brings energy, and Agott’s sharper personality slowly gives way to meaningful development. Their dynamic makes the magical academy setting feel alive and emotionally grounded.
Witch Hat Atelier blends beauty, mystery, and heartfelt storytelling into a cohesive and unforgettable fantasy experience.
Yoshitoki Oima’s To Your Eternity is one of the best manga for readers who want emotional storytelling wrapped inside a supernatural journey. Although technically a shonen title, it feels far more contemplative, exploring life, loss, and the slow formation of identity through one of the most unusual protagonists in the genre.
The manga follows an immortal entity that begins as a featureless sphere before gradually evolving into new forms. After taking on the body of a boy, the being later named Fushi begins to travel the world, learning through the people he meets and the memories he inherits. Every single one of them introduces a new lesson, a new sense of purpose, and inevitably, a new heartbreak. Characters like Gugu, Pioran, and March carry the emotional weight of the manga, grounding its supernatural premise with very human warmth.
Oima’s artwork elevates every moment. The stark environments, expressive faces, and quiet emotional beats create a mood that is gentle, sad, and beautiful. The early arcs, in particular, deliver some of the most affecting storytelling in modern shonen.
The series is not without issues. As the narrative expands, the structure feels repetitive, and later arcs draw mixed reactions due to tonal shifts and pacing problems. Still, the core of To Your Eternity remains powerful. It’s a story about connection, growth, and the fragile beauty of being alive.
For readers who enjoy thought-provoking adventures with genuine emotional impact, To Your Eternity is an unforgettable experience.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End offers one of the most thoughtful twists on fantasy storytelling in recent years. Instead of following a hero’s party on their grand quest against a Demon King, the manga begins after he’s been defeated. This quiet, reflective premise sets the tone for a deeply emotional journey that stands out even among the best manga in the genre.
Frieren, an elf mage who experiences time on a different scale than humans, returns from the triumphant adventure only to watch her companions age and die. Realizing too late how little she understood them, she sets out on a new journey alongside her young apprentice Fern. Much of the series’ power comes from these understated moments, where the pair retraces the steps of the old party and uncovers the memories Frieren overlooked.
Tsukasa Abe’s artwork reinforces the manga’s gentle atmosphere. Soft linework, expressive character acting, and serene landscapes create a sense of nostalgia that fits perfectly with the story’s theme of memory and regret. Even when the world expands or magic battles occur, the emotional tone remains grounded and sincere.
Later arcs introduce more conventional shonen elements like exams and competitive duels, which some readers enjoy and others find a step away from the manga’s initial intimacy. Yet the heart of the story never disappears. Frieren’s slow emotional awakening, Fern’s growth, and the quiet echo of Himmel’s kindness give the manga lasting warmth.
For readers who want a fantasy series that values introspection as much as adventure, Frieren is a standout and easily earns its place among the best manga to pick up today.
Shinobu Ohtaka’s Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic is one of the most vibrant series of the 2010s and a strong contender for readers looking for the best manga that blend classic shonen energy with large-scale fantasy worldbuilding. Inspired by the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, the manga takes you to a universe full of ancient dungeons, magical artifacts, and kingdoms on the brink of upheaval.
The story introduces the curious young Magi Aladdin, but soon expands to include Alibaba and Morgiana, forming one of the most charming main trios in modern adventure manga. Their early journeys capture everything fans love about shonen: inventive traps, frantic battles, and plenty of heart. These opening arcs are full of warmth and excitement, and the humor helps ground the cast before the narrative grows more ambitious.
As the world expands, Magi shifts from lighthearted treasure hunting to political intrigue. The series delves into empires, revolutions, and the consequences of power, giving its fantasy setting a sense of depth. Characters evolve alongside these conflicts. Alibaba’s insecurities, Morgiana’s liberation, and Hakuryuu’s darker transformation give the series real emotional weight, while Sindbad remains one of the most compelling wildcards in shonen.
The later arcs lean more heavily into high-power battles and dense lore, which some readers find overwhelming, but the strength of the early and mid-series more than makes up for it. With dynamic art, imaginative locations, and an ever-growing sense of scale, Magi remains a standout fantasy adventure worth experiencing.
Science-fiction has always been one of the foundational genres that helped shape manga into the global medium it is today. In this section, you’ll find everything from legendary cyberpunk classics to modern interpretations that push the genre in new directions. These titles stand out for their futuristic worlds, mechanical nightmares, and stark visions of technology and society.
If you want to dive even deeper into the genre, check out my dedicated lists of the best science-fiction manga and the best cyberpunk manga.
Tsutomu Nihei’s Biomega is a blistering fusion of cyberpunk, body horror, and apocalyptic science-fiction. It’s a high-speed chase through a dying world and delivers some of the most striking visuals in the genre. For fans of stylish action and bleak futurism, this is easily one of the best manga Nihei has created.
The manga follows synthetic human Zouichi Kanoe and his onboard AI partner Fuju Kano as they race across a ruined Earth in search of someone immune to the N5S virus, which twists its hosts into ghastly biomechanical drones. What begins as a revival mission quickly spirals into a chaotic clash between corporations, mutants, and mysterious factions with their own agendas. The narrative moves fast, prioritizing atmosphere, visuals, and momentum over long exposition.
Biomega’s true strength lies in its presentation. Nihei’s signature megastructures tower across panels, environments dwarf characters, and the mix of cybernetics and decaying flesh creates an unforgettable aesthetic. Entire sequences unfold without dialogue, relying on sweeping backgrounds and sharp, cinematic action to convey tension and worldbuilding. The drones, the weapons, and even the motorcycles feel like characters in their own right.
The pacing is relentless, especially in the first half, before shifting later into a somber, more experimental cyber-fantasy tone. Some plot threads disappear as quickly as they appear, but the visual spectacle and creative ambition more than make up for the rough edges.
For readers who love Blame!, dystopian science-fiction, or manga driven by atmosphere and visuals, Biomega is a wild, stylish, and unforgettable ride.
Land of the Lustrous is one of the most unique science-fiction manga of the last decade, a series that blends mythology, futurism, and existential tension into something unlike anything else in the medium. What immediately sets it apart is its visual identity. Haruko Ichikawa’s art is both minimalistic and striking, using negative space, symmetry, and sharp panel composition to create a world that feels fragile, ethereal, and alien. This style enhances the story’s uncanny atmosphere and helps it stand out among the best manga in the science-fiction genre.
The series follows Phosphophyllite, a brittle young gem who wishes to contribute to their society’s defense against the Lunarians, mysterious moon-dwellers who descend to harvest the Lustrous for their crystalline bodies. While the premise has fantasy elements, the manga’s core leans deeply into science-fiction. Ichikawa builds a world shaped by geological biology, strange physics, and millennia-long evolution after meteor impacts reshaped the planet. The Lunarians themselves feel almost cosmic, adding to the manga’s surreal tone.
Phosphophyllite’s arc is at the heart of the story. Their transformation is one of the most dramatic and haunting character journeys in modern manga, shifting from comedic clumsiness to a psychologically complex exploration of identity, purpose, and loss.
Land of the Lustrous is beautifully atmospheric, thematically rich, and visually unforgettable. Its blend of science-fiction worldbuilding and emotional storytelling makes it an essential pick for readers seeking something bold, unusual, and truly one of the best manga in modern science-fiction.
Inio Asano is known for his dark psychological storytelling, and while Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction marks his step into the realm of science-fiction, it carries the same complexity and emotional sharpness that made his earlier work famous. It begins as a disarmingly normal slice-of-life manga, following high school friends Kadode and Ouran as they drift through school, friendship, and the uncertainty of growing up. Yet above Tokyo floats an enormous alien mothership, a constant reminder that the world has already changed.
The brilliance of the manga lies in how Asano blends the mundane with the catastrophic. Government cover-ups, military conflicts, and alien technology unfold in the background, but most citizens simply continue with their daily routine. This grounded perspective makes the science-fiction elements feel disturbingly believable, showing how quickly society can normalize the extraordinary. As the story nears its midpoint, the tone shifts dramatically, and the manga leans deeper into high-concept science-fiction, exploring time, memory, and consequences.
Asano’s art is once again outstanding. His hyper-detailed backgrounds contrast with exaggerated, almost cartoonish character expressions, creating a visual style that feels both comedic and unsettling. The alien ship, advanced technology, and large-scale destruction scenes are striking, grounding the manga firmly as one of the best manga for readers who enjoy character-driven, high-concept science-fiction.
The ending is intentionally ambiguous, leaving room for interpretation and discussion, but the emotional core and the conceptual journey there are unforgettable. Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is a bold, genre-bending work that stands out as one of Asano’s most unique creations.
One of the most influential, groundbreaking cyberpunk titles ever created, Ghost in the Shell stands as a titan of the science-fiction genre. While its iconic anime adaptation helped introduce countless viewers to Japanese animation, Masamune Shirow’s original manga remains a foundational work that shaped how technology, identity, and artificial intelligence are portrayed in fiction. It’s dense, imaginative, and still one of the best manga to explore the boundaries between human and machine.
Set in 2029, the series follows Section 9, an elite counter-cyberterrorism unit operating in a world where cybernetic bodies, digitized minds, and fully networked infrastructure are everyday realities. Leading the team is Major Motoko Kusanagi, a full-body cyborg with exceptional combat abilities and an increasingly complex relationship with her own consciousness. Shirow treats cybernetics not as window dressing but as a fully realized ecosystem, with hacking, mental interference, and biomechanical upgrades shaping every aspect of society.
The manga is more episodic than the film, presenting a mix of small-scale missions and philosophical reflections. Shirow’s heavy technical details, schematics, and handwritten notes create an incredibly rich science-fiction backdrop, even if it can feel overwhelming. The action is fast, the worldbuilding meticulous, and the thematic core always returns to one question: what defines humanity when the body is no longer essential?
Despite its vintage art and dense style, Ghost in the Shell remains an essential science-fiction work. For readers who want a manga that blends cutting-edge tech concepts with action, noir atmosphere, and philosophical depth, this is one of the best manga you can pick up.
Planetes by Makoto Yukimura is one of the rare science-fiction manga that feels truly grounded in real-world philosophy. Rather than relying on spectacle or galaxy-spanning conflict, it focuses on the day-to-day lives of orbital debris collectors in the year 2075. This small-scale premise becomes increasingly rich, revealing how even ordinary work can carry immense emotional weight when it takes place in the unforgiving environment of space.
The series follows Hachimaki, a young astronaut with ambitions of owning a spacecraft, along with the rest of the Toy Box crew. Fee, Yuri, and Pops bring their own histories and vulnerabilities, building a cast that feels honest and mature. Their missions are rooted in realistic science, from the physics of maneuvering in vacuum to the bureaucratic challenges of space development. These details make Planetes one of the best manga for readers who love hard science-fiction.
Yukimura’s art stands out for depicting both the mechanical precision of spacecraft and the overwhelming quiet of the cosmos. Wide panels of drifting debris or the curve of the Earth give the story a sense of scale, while close character-focused scenes remind you how small humans are in comparison.
Planetes offers a satisfying, reflective story that ties together its themes of ambition, loss, and the search for purpose. Thoughtful and beautifully crafted, it’s a must-read for fans of realistic science-fiction storytelling.
Eden: It’s an Endless World by Hiroki Endo is one of the most ambitious science-fiction manga ever written. What begins as a post-pandemic survival tale quickly evolves into a vast story about geopolitics, technology, and the individual caught between collapsing systems. Its blend of hard science-fiction concepts, grounded worldbuilding, and deeply human drama makes it an essential pick for anyone exploring the best manga the genre offers.
The story follows the aftermath of a devastating global virus that reshaped society. As governments fall, the powerful Propater organization rises, manipulating nations and controlling advanced technology. Endo uses this fractured world to tell a sprawling narrative that moves between continents and characters, shifting focus from mercenaries and scientists to drug lords, hackers, and refugees. These perspectives build a world that feels frighteningly real, full of political tension, societal decay, and complex technological change.
Eden excels in emotional storytelling. Characters are flawed, vulnerable, and shaped by trauma, yet remain compelling throughout. Violence and intimacy are portrayed with raw honesty, supporting the themes rather than sensationalizing them. Endo’s artwork reinforces the tone with precise anatomy, expressive faces, and stark, grounded environments.
While Eden contains clear cyberpunk DNA, its appeal goes far beyond that subgenre. It’s a thoughtful, mature science-fiction epic about survival, ideology, and the search for meaning in a world rebuilt from catastrophe. If you enjoy intelligent, character-driven science-fiction, Eden is a must-read.
Pluto by Naoki Urasawa is one of the most compelling science-fiction mystery manga of the last two decades. Inspired by Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, Urasawa reimagines the story as a tense, atmospheric thriller about identity, artificial intelligence, and the fragile boundary between humans and machines. Even if you’ve never read Astro Boy, Pluto stands entirely on its own as one of the best manga in the science-fiction genre.
The story follows Gesicht, an advanced robot detective working for Europol, who is assigned to investigate the shocking destruction of one of the world’s strongest robots. The attack patterns suggest the culprit cannot be human, pulling Gesicht into a global conspiracy involving robotics laws, old wars, and a mysterious entity known only as Pluto. As the investigation widens, the series explores themes of prejudice, trauma, and what it means for robots to possess emotions, memory, and even feel guilt.
Pluto’s futuristic world is richly realized. Cities blend sleek architecture with grounded detail, while cutting-edge robotics technology forms the backbone of the narrative. Urasawa’s ability to mix noir storytelling with high-concept science-fiction gives the series a distinctive tone that sets it apart from other robot-themed manga.
The mystery peaks brilliantly in the middle volumes, though the ending is slightly less intense. Even so, the emotional depth, careful pacing, and thematic sophistication make Pluto a must-read. For anyone interested in character-driven science-fiction with thoughtful worldbuilding, this remains one of the standout seinen titles on the market.
Knights of Sidonia is one of the most distinctive science-fiction manga of the 2010s, and a strong contender for any list of the best manga in the genre. Tsutomu Nihei takes his signature architectural imagination and applies it to a grand space opera setting, creating a story that balances military drama, high-concept biology, and tense mecha combat.
Set nearly a thousand years after Earth’s destruction, humanity survives aboard colossal seed ships drifting through space. The Sidonia itself is a marvel of worldbuilding. It’s a fully realized megastructure, complete with artificial gravity systems, rigid class divisions, and dense corridors that give the ship a gritty feeling. Against this backdrop, humanity wages an ongoing war against the Gauna, shapeshifting alien organisms protected by layers of living placenta. They cannot be reasoned with, only fought.
The manga shines in its depiction of military science-fiction. The Gardes, Sidonia’s combat units, combine hard mechanical angles with Nihei’s trademark biomechanical elegance. Space battles are brutal and disorienting, emphasizing velocity, vacuum, and the terrifying fragility of human bodies in zero-G combat. Nagate Tanikaze, the protagonist, anchors the story with quiet determination and a believable growth arc as he adapts to life on Sidonia.
What makes Knights of Sidonia stand out is its merging of Nihei’s atmospheric style with accessible, shonen-inspired storytelling. The action is thrilling, the technology imaginative, and the scale immense. For fans of mecha, space warfare, or high-concept science-fiction, this is a must-read.
One of the wildest and most entertaining series in modern shonen, Dandadan is a hyperactive blend of science-fiction, horror, folklore, and comedy that somehow holds together through sheer creative momentum. Yukinobu Tatsu, a former assistant of Tatsuki Fujimoto, brings an off-the-rails imagination to every chapter, making this a standout pick for anyone looking for the best manga that refuses to fit a single genre.
The story follows Momo Ayase and Okarun, two teenagers who challenge each other to prove whether aliens or ghosts are real. Their bet immediately spirals into chaos when both the supernatural and extraterrestrial reveal themselves at once, pulling the duo into battles with yokai, cosmic invaders, and everything in between.
While Dandadan thrives on genre fusion, its science-fiction elements deserve special praise. The alien designs are some of the most inventive in recent manga, ranging from unnerving humanoids to biomechanical monstrosities armed with bizarre, physics-defying technology. Their appearance brings explosive action, slick choreography, and large-scale destruction that contrast beautifully with the more traditional yokai encounters.
What elevates the series beyond pure spectacle is its emotional core. Tatsu balances the insanity with grounded character moments, giving Momo, Okarun, and the growing cast real heart and vulnerability beneath the humor and chaos.
In terms of art, Dandadan is a powerhouse. The linework is sharp and expressive; action scenes are kinetic yet readable; and the double spreads deliver some of the most striking science-fiction imagery in current shonen.
If you want a series that blends aliens, spirits, romance, and high-energy action into something uniquely its own, Dandadan is one of the best manga to dive into.
Fire Punch is one of the bleakest and most boundary-pushing shonen series of the last decade. Before Chainsaw Man made Tatsuki Fujimoto a household name, he created this icy science-fiction nightmare of revenge, nihilism, and meta-storytelling. It’s a brutal, bizarre experience that feels unlike anything else in the medium, a must-read for anyone who enjoys the best manga experimenting with form and tone.
The story takes place in a frozen world, where survival has driven humanity into cruelty. Agni, a young man with regenerative abilities, lives with his sister Luna until a soldier named Doma incinerates their village with flames that never extinguish. Luna dies, but Agni continues to burn and regenerate. His endless agony becomes fuel for a single-purpose: revenge.
Fujimoto builds the horror slowly, layering cannibalism, warfare, and desperation into a post-apocalyptic setting where morality has collapsed. The world feels sick and tired, and Agni’s journey reflects that. Yet the manga shifts sharply once Togata appears, a chaotic film fan obsessed with turning Agni into the protagonist of the greatest movie ever made. Their presence transforms Fire Punch into a strange blend of satire, action, science-fiction, and commentary on storytelling itself.
The art matches the tone perfectly. Sparse landscapes, distorted bodies, and explosive motion create a harsh visual rhythm that carries the story forward even in its quietest moments.
Fire Punch is violent, confrontational, and sometimes absurd, but also fiercely original. Readers who appreciate dark, experimental science-fiction will find an unforgettable experience here.
Psychological, thriller, and mystery manga have become a major pillar of the medium due to their focus on complex characters, intense suspense, and clever plotting. These stories explore the darker corners of the human mind and the shadowy spaces where tension builds with every page. The manga in this section are perfect for readers who enjoy twisted narratives, dark crime tales, or mysteries that reward close attention.
If you’re looking for even more recommendations, check out my main list of the best psychological manga, the best thriller manga, or the best mystery manga.
Homunculus by Hideo Yamamoto is one of the most ambitious psychological manga ever created, a disturbing character study that dives straight into the subconscious. While Yamamoto is known for extreme titles like Ichi the Killer, Homunculus stands out for its slow, unnerving atmosphere rather than shock value. It’s easily among the best manga for readers who want psychological depth over conventional thrills.
Between a luxury hotel and a homeless encampment, a man named Susumu Nakoshi lives in his car. His life changes when medical student Manabe Ito persuades him to undergo trepanation, a procedure said to unlock hidden mental perception. Afterward, Nakoshi sees warped, symbolic versions of the people around him. These homunculi are not monsters but manifestations of their inner wounds and buried trauma, turning every encounter into a window into another person’s psyche.
What makes Homunculus exceptional is its commitment to psychological realism. Rather than treating these visions as supernatural, Yamamoto uses them to explore repression, identity, and the fractures within Nakoshi himself. The deeper he peers into others, the more unstable his own sense of self becomes. The atmosphere grows increasingly tense as reality and hallucination blend together.
Yamamoto’s artwork is once again fantastic. His realistic expressions contrast with the grotesque, often unsettling designs of the homunculi, creating a visual language that is both symbolic and deeply emotional.
Haunting, introspective, and bold, Homunculus is a must-read for anyone seeking a psychological thriller that pushes the boundaries of the genre.
Genres: Psychological, Horror, Philosophical, Drama
Kasane is a gripping psychological manga, blending showbiz drama and supernatural horror into a raw exploration of identity, beauty, and ambition. Created by Daruma Matsuura, it follows Kasane Fuchi, a girl with extraordinary acting talent trapped in a disfigured body that isolates her from everyone around her. Bullied and ignored, she grows up believing talent alone is never enough when the world refuses to see past her appearance.
Everything changes when she discovers her late mother’s secret: a mystical lipstick that allows Kasane to steal another person’s face with a kiss. At first, this ability feels like salvation. Kasane steps into borrowed beauty, taking opportunities she was denied her entire life. What begins as escape soon spirals into obsession as she becomes dependent on wearing other identities. Each borrowed face pushes her further from her own sense of self.
Kasane stands out as one of the best manga for readers who enjoy character-driven psychological drama. Its intensity comes not from action, but from the emotional collapse of its characters. The story digs deep into themes of vanity, longing, and the destructive nature of envy, all while offering a haunting look at the entertainment industry and the pressure it places on women.
Matsuura’s artwork elevates the story with elegant yet unsettling character expressions that reveal more than dialogue ever could. Kasane’s fractured identity unfolds in a theatrical, almost cinematic atmosphere that lingers long after the final chapters.
Before Blue Lock, Kaneshiro Muneyuki wrote one of the darkest, most uncompromising psychological dramas in seinen manga. At first, Bokutachi ga Yarimashita appears to be a simple story of ordinary youth before collapsing into a harrowing exploration of guilt, denial, and the limits of human weakness. It’s not a comforting read, but easily one of the best manga to capture the slow corrosion of conscience.
The premise centers on four bored high schoolers drifting through their daily lives until a petty act of revenge spirals into a tragedy they never intended. What follows is not a thriller about escaping the law, but a character study about the crushing weight of responsibility. Each boy unravels in a different way as the consequences escalate, and the story focuses less on what happened and more on how they cannot live with it.
Kaneshiro’s writing is sharp, precise, and emotional. The tension builds through quiet moments, awkward silences, and the uneasy way characters avoid confronting the truth. The art reinforces this atmosphere with expressive faces and subtle body language that reveals far more than dialogue. Watching these teenagers crumble under pressure is brutal, believable, and impossible to look away from.
Bokutachi ga Yarimashita stands out because it never searches for redemption. It presents guilt as something that stains and lingers, a psychological burden that reshapes every choice the characters make. For readers who want a bleak, gripping, and intensely human psychological manga, this is an unforgettable experience.
Hajime Inoryuu and Shota Ito’s My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought is one of the most gripping psychological thrillers in modern manga, a tightly crafted mystery that hooks you from the first chapter and never lets go. It blends identity horror, crime drama, and tense psychological suspense into an incredibly addictive package. If you enjoy stories that constantly shift, this is easily among the best manga to pick up.
Eiji Urashima is an ordinary college student whose life unravels the moment he wakes up next to a woman claiming to be his girlfriend. Eiji has no memory of her, or of the last few days of his life. When evidence suggests that someone identical to him may have committed a violent crime during his blackout, the manga shifts into a sharp, escalating mystery where every answer leads to new doubts.
What makes this series so effective is how it bridges twist-heavy plotting with genuine psychological tension. The first half is a rapid-fire barrage of reveals, each re-contextualizing the story without feeling cheap. Even when the narrative edges into unbelievable territory, the thrills remain gripping. The second half turns more reflective, giving space to explore the story’s deeper themes and slowly unravel its central mystery.
Ito’s art strengthens the tension. Clean, realistic faces highlight subtle expressions, and the cinematic paneling adds weight to every confrontation. Shadows, close-ups, and quiet panels amplify the unease as Eiji questions what version of himself he can trust.
Fast-paced, unsettling, and surprisingly human, My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought earns its place as one of the best manga for fans of psychological thriller storytelling.
Inside Mari is one of Shūzō Oshimi’s most unsettling and emotionally intricate works, a psychological drama that begins with a simple body-swap premise before spiraling into something far deeper. What begins as a mystery quickly becomes a raw examination of identity, repression, and the painful disconnect between who we are and who we pretend to be. It’s easily one of the best manga to explore the inner mind with such honesty.
We’re introduced to Isao Komori, a withdrawn college dropout who wakes up one morning in the body of Mari Yoshizaki, a girl he has quietly admired from afar. Instead of playing this setup for comedy or fantasy, Oshimi pushes the narrative inward. Every chapter adds tension as Isao tries to understand Mari’s life, her relationships, and her hidden emotional wounds. The mystery of why this happened becomes almost secondary as we learn what these experiences reveal about both characters.
Oshimi’s expressive art enhances the psychological weight of the story. Subtle gestures, strained smiles, and silent panels carry immense emotional impact, making the unraveling of Mari’s psyche feel intimate and uncomfortable in the best way.
Inside Mari stands out for its controlled pacing, thematic depth, and the haunting truth behind its final revelation. It’s a gripping psychological manga that lingers long after the final page.
Hideo Yamamoto’s Ichi the Killer is infamous for its brutality, but reducing it to shock value alone misses what makes it one of the best manga in the psychological crime genre. Beneath its graphic surface lies a disturbingly intimate examination of trauma, manipulation, and the extremes of human desire. It’s a thriller that forces readers to confront discomfort rather than look away.
The story centers on two damaged men whose paths collide in a violent, unforgettable way. Kakihara is a sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer who seeks meaning through pain, while Ichi is a fragile young man conditioned into becoming a killer. Their cat-and-mouse dynamic forms the heart of the narrative, revealing how cruelty can be both inflicted and internalized.
What sets the manga apart is its psychological depth. Yamamoto exposes the vulnerabilities behind each character’s behavior, showing how trauma shapes identity and how easily people are controlled by fear, desire, and loneliness. The criminal underworld they inhabit feels oppressive and raw, a place where emotional weakness is weaponized.
The artwork enhances the intensity. Yamamoto’s realistic linework captures manic expressions, tense stares, and moments of agony with chilling clarity. The violence is graphic, but its purpose is to unsettle rather than excite, pushing the reader deeper into the character’s unraveling minds.
Ichi the Killer is not an easy manga to read, but that difficulty is exactly what makes it so memorable. It’s a grim, powerful psychological thriller that lingers long after its final page.
Helter Skelter is one of the most unsettling and psychologically rich manga ever published, a brutal dissection of fame, identity, and the price of perfection. Kyoko Okazaki crafts a razor-sharp character study through Haruko “Liliko” Hirukoma, Japan’s top model whose beauty is entirely manufactured through experimental surgery. On the surface she’s adored, envied, and beloved. Beneath it, her body is deteriorating, and her sense of self is collapsing under the weight of her own fame.
What makes Helter Skelter stand out as one of the best manga in the psychological genre is its unflinching commitment to character. Liliko is magnetic and monstrous at the same time, a woman shaped by an industry that treats her as a disposable product. Her paranoia, cruelty, and desperation feel painfully real, turning her downward spiral into a gripping and uncomfortable experience. The manga never leans into shock tactics. Instead, the horror comes from watching a person unravel as everything that once defined her slips away.
This descent is amplified by Okazaki’s art style, which uses sketchy, imperfect linework that gives every page a frantic energy, mirroring Liliko’s fractured state of mind. Scenes feel messy, raw, and jagged, reinforcing the theme that beauty itself is a manufactured lie.
Bold, stylish, and deeply honest, Helter Skelter remains a landmark psychological drama. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in manga that explore identity through a darker, more human lens.
MPD Psycho is one of the most ambitious psychological crime manga ever published, a series that uses mystery and horror to dissect the human mind with surgical precision. Created by Eiji Otsuka and Shou Tajima, it begins as a detective story but quickly evolves into a labyrinth of identity and conspiracy. It’s intense, disturbing, and impossible to put down, earning its reputation as one of the best manga in the psychological thriller genre.
The protagonist, Kazuhiko Amamiya, lives with multiple personality disorder, and his fractured identity becomes the core of the narrative. Each personality reveals a different perspective on the gruesome cases he investigates, and the tension between them mirrors the story’s theme of control and corruption. What seems like a series of isolated killings expands into a chilling plot involving cults, brainwashing, and a shadowy organization that seems to be pulling the strings behind every murder.
Shou Tajima renders every crime scene in stark detail, giving the violence a cold and clinical feel rather than cheap shock value. The characters are disturbingly realistic, grounding the surreal elements of the story in gritty realism.
Dense, intelligent, and unapologetically dark, MPD Psycho is a psychological thriller that rewards readers who enjoy complex mysteries and unsettling explorations of self. It’s a standout choice for readers seeking a mature, uncompromising crime manga.
Aku no Hana is one of Shūzō Oshimi’s most unsettling achievements, a psychological manga that transforms an ordinary school setting into a claustrophobic portrait of obsession and emotional breakdown. What begins as a small, shameful mistake spirals into a tense character drama that feels raw, unpredictable, and painfully authentic.
The story follows Takao Kasuga, a quiet boy who escapes into literature, idolizing Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal. After he steals his crush’s gym clothes, he gets confronted by Sawa Nakamura, a classmate who witnessed the deed, and forces him into a twisted pact. Their relationship becomes a pressure cooker of guilt, rebellion, and self-discovery, pushing Kasuga deep into territory he never imagined.
Oshimi excels at capturing the psychological turmoil of adolescence. Kasuga’s fear, confusion, and loneliness bleed through every scene, while Nakamura’s volatile presence injects constant tension. Their dynamic is uncomfortable but riveting, revealing how easily a fragile identity can fracture under shame and desire.
The art amplifies the mood through expressive faces, heavy silence, and a small-town backdrop that feels isolating and suffocating. As the manga progresses, surreal imagery seeps into the panels, blurring the line between emotional perception and reality.
Aku no Hana stands as one of the best manga for readers seeking a psychological story rooted in human weakness, youthful confusion, and moral collapse. It’s disturbing, intimate, and unforgettable.
A Suffocatingly Lonely Death is one of the most promising psychological thrillers currently running, and a contender for the best manga in today’s crime and mystery landscape. Created by the duo behind My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought, it delivers the same sharp tension and emotional unease, but with a colder, more deliberate tone.
The story begins with a horrifying case involving the mass murder of children, pulling Jin Saeki into an investigation marked by psychological scars and conflicting testimonies. Quickly, a man named Juuzou Haikawa is revealed as the prime suspect. When his connection to the enigmatic Kanon Hazumi, and their shared past, is unearthed, a complicated narrative about childhood trauma and twisted identity begins.
Rather than relying on shock, the manga excels through atmosphere. Each chapter builds a suffocating sense of dread, carried by detailed character expressions and precise visual storytelling. The art captures the emotional instability with striking clarity, whether through tense body language or the heavy stillness before a confession.
What makes the series stand out is its commitment to psychological realism. The focus stays on how trauma shapes behavior, how guilt can warp a person, and how investigators are sometimes challenged not with obvious villains but rather the depths of the human mind. The mystery unfolds carefully, adding more and more details to a story that’s still far from finished.
A Suffocatingly Lonely Death is an exceptional choice for fans of grounded psychological fiction, delivering a dark, intelligent thriller that only grows more gripping with each chapter.
Genres: Psychological, Mystery, Thriller
Status: Ongoing (Seinen)
Emotional and Depressing Manga
Sometimes you want a story that hits a little harder or simply makes you feel something real. This section highlights a handful of emotional manga that explore the more difficult sides of life, love, loss, and personal growth. These titles resonate deeply and linger long after you finish them.
If you want more recommendations, you can explore my lists of the best depressing manga and the best drama manga.
Solanin is one of Inio Asano’s most intimate and emotionally grounded works, a short but deeply affecting slice-of-life story about drifting through adulthood and learning how to carry quiet heartbreak. It’s often recommended among the best manga for readers who want a realistic, tender exploration of ennui, grief, and the fragile hopes that keep people moving forward.
The story follows Meiko and Taneda, a young couple stuck in the limbo of post-college life. They share small dreams, low-paying jobs, and the nagging fear that their lives are slipping into monotony. When Meiko impulsively quits her job, the pair try to reconnect with their love of music and the ambition they once had. What begins as a gentle slice-of-life narrative gradually becomes a meditation on loss and the way ordinary people cope with tragedy.
What makes Solanin so effective is how quiet it is. The characters are not extraordinary, yet their everyday frustrations and fleeting joys feel painfully authentic. Asano captures this mood with beautiful artwork: clean cityscapes, expressive faces, and panels that linger on silence, routine, and the small details of daily life. The atmosphere reflects the emotional core of the story, where music, friendship, and grief are woven into a portrait of young adulthood.
Despite its sadness, Solanin remains hopeful. Life does not transform for its characters, but it keeps going, and so do they. It’s a short emotional manga that understands how dreams shape us, even when they fade.
For many readers, myself included, Nana is unforgettable partly because of its fantastic anime adaptation, which I watched almost two decades ago. While the anime captures the heart of the story beautifully, it only covers the early portion of what becomes one of the most emotionally devastating and emotionally honest manga ever written. Ai Yazawa’s Nana is a raw, painful, and deeply human exploration of love, loneliness, and the fragile bonds we form while trying to survive adulthood.
The series follows two young women who share the same name but lead completely different lives. Nana Osaki is a driven punk vocalist chasing her dream, while Nana Komatsu, or Hachi, is a hopeless romantic drifting from one relationship to the next. When fate brings them together as roommates in Tokyo, their relationship becomes the emotional core of the story.
What makes Nana one of the best manga in emotional storytelling is how grounded it feels. Yazawa treats her characters with painful honesty. Their mistakes hurt, their dreams falter, and their relationships crumble under real-world pressure. The manga tracks heartbreak, codependency, betrayal, and grief with a level of maturity that few series come close to.
The art is elegant and stylish, enhancing both the glamor of the music scenes and the quiet devastation that follows the characters wherever they go. Even with its long hiatus, Nana remains a powerful, emotionally draining experience and a must-read for anyone who appreciates character-driven drama.
Himizu is, without exaggeration, one of the bleakest and most emotionally punishing psychological manga ever written. If there’s one manga on this entire list that feels truly depressing, it’s Himizu. Minoru Furuya crafts a raw and unforgiving portrait of a boy crushed by circumstances, and the result is an ugly, unsettling, and unforgettable reading experience that stands among the best manga for readers seeking a dark, character-driven tragedy.
The story centers on a middle school boy named Sumida. He has no grand ambitions and only wants to live a quiet, ordinary life, avoiding disaster. Abused by his alcoholic father after his mother abandoned him, Sumida is left alone in a world that seems determined to break him. What begins as slice-of-life soon spirals into a suffocating study of depression, self-loathing, and modern alienation.
The manga’s general discomfort is amplified by Furuya’s art. His distorted faces, grimy backgrounds, and exaggerated emotional expressions make Himizu one of the ugliest manga on this list in the most intentional way. The visual style reflects the characters’ damaged psyche, capturing despair with brutal honesty rather than beauty.
Himizu offers no easy answers, no redemption, and no comforting resolution. It’s a bleak psychological drama that forces readers to confront the darkest corners of human suffering. Difficult, and painfully real, it remains one of the most powerful works of its kind.
Genres: Psychological, Drama, Tragedy, Slice of Life
Blue Period is one of the most emotionally resonant art-themed ongoing manga today, and an easy contender for anyone’s list of the best manga about personal growth. Rather than framing art as a magical talent, Tsubasa Yamaguchi presents it as a difficult, frustrating, and ultimately transformative craft. The result is a sincere and often painful look at what it means to chase a dream with everything you have.
The story follows Yatora Yaguchi, a high school student who seems successful on the surface but feels empty inside. His life shifts the moment he encounters a painting that stirs something in him, and from then on he dives headfirst into the world of fine art. Blue Period excels at depicting the process of learning: studies, mistakes, failures, breakthroughs, and the quiet moment where Yatora realizes how little he truly understands. His mindset, especially the iconic line about not being a genius and needing to work until no one can tell the difference, captures the heart of the series. This was something that hit especially close to home, since I share a similar perspective regarding my own writing.
Yamaguchi also surrounds Yatora with a memorable cast whose struggles reflect different problems artists face. Their anxieties, ambitions, and self-doubt feel raw and believable. The art leans into expressive character work and detailed discussions about technique, making the pages feel dense but rewarding.
At its core, Blue Period is about effort, identity, and the courage to commit to something uncertain. It’s a heartfelt, inspiring, and beautifully human story about art-making and the people shaped by it.
Before Kengo Hanazawa became known worldwide for I Am a Hero, he created Boys on the Run, one of the most brutally honest and quietly frustrating character studies in manga. On the surface, it’s a loser story about a 26-year-old man stuck in a dead-end job, living with his parents, and failing at love, work, and basic self-respect. Underneath it becomes a painfully real portrait of a person who will probably never make it in any conventional sense.
Tanishi might be one of the most infuriating protagonists in any of the best manga on this list. He is weak, insecure, indecisive, and somehow ruins every opportunity that appears in front of him. He’s not evil or malicious. He simply keeps failing because of who he is, and watching him sabotage himself over and over can almost be unbearable. Yet that is exactly what makes Boys on the Run so compelling. The frustration is grounded in recognition. Most people are not heroes or geniuses. They are ordinary, scared, and often stuck, just like Tanishi.
Hanazawa’s rough, expressive art fits the tone perfectly. Faces twist with embarrassment, shame, and fleeting joy. The boxing, the romance, and the humiliation all feel raw and real rather than stylized. It’s a depressing manga, often ugly in both visuals and emotions, but also incredibly sincere. If you can endure the secondhand embarrassment, Boys on the Run offers a harsh, unforgettable look at failure, longing, and the stubborn will to keep going.
Genres: Psychological, Drama, Slice of Life
Status: Completed (Seinen)
Underrated Gems
There are incredible manga that rarely get the attention they deserve, even though they can stand alongside the medium’s most celebrated works. This section highlights some of these underrated gems that should not be overlooked. Each of these titles brings something special but has often been overshadowed by more popular or mainstream releases.
Franken Fran is one of the most underrated gems in manga, a bizarre and unforgettable fusion of horror, comedy, and speculative science that deserves far more recognition. While many readers look to more famous titles for their dose of horror and dark comedies, Katsuhisa Kigitsu’s creation stands shoulder to shoulder with the best manga in the genre thanks to its originality, bold imagination, and twisted sense of playfulness.
The series follows Fran Madaraki, an artificial girl stitched together by a legendary surgeon. With her creator missing, Fran takes over his job and offers surgeries to clients seeking cures, beauty, or impossible enhancements. Every chapter is a self-contained descent into medical chaos. Fran’s genius is unmatched, but her ethics are loose at best, leading to transformations that range from absurdly funny to deeply disturbing.
What makes Franken Fran such a standout is the strange harmony between cheerful optimism and grotesque body horror. Fran performs surgeries with the enthusiasm of a child doing arts and crafts, even when the results are horrifying. This contrast gives the manga a surreal charm few series achieve. Kigitsu’s crisp, clinical art style amplifies every incision and mutation while still keeping the tone surprisingly light and fast-paced.
Despite its brilliance, Franken Fran often flies under the radar, overshadowed by more mainstream horror titles. Yet for readers craving a weird, creative, and darkly humorous experience, it’s easily one of the best manga to discover.
Kamisama no Iutoori is easily one of the most underrated gems in the survival-game genre. Written by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Akeji Fujimura, this series delivers some of the most creative and chaotic death games in manga, yet it remains strangely overlooked despite being one of the best manga of its kind. Both the original series and its sequel, Kamisama no Iutoori Ni, combine brutality, tension, and surreal imagination with a level of unpredictability that other survival titles rarely match.
Shun Takahata is an ordinary student whose life is shattered when his class is forced to play a lethal Daruma game. What follows is a relentless escalation of deadly challenges and horrifying spectacle. The sequel expands the premise with a new cast and even more elaborate scenarios before tying everything together.
What truly elevates the manga is its cast of unhinged, memorable characters. Amaya shines due to his chaotic, unhinged brilliance, while Ushimitsu turns from a crazed wildcard into one of the series’ most compelling characters. The art also evolves dramatically between parts, with Part 2 showcasing sharp, dynamic action sequences and stylish paneling that heighten the madness.
While some of the sequel’s games drag on a bit too long, and the ending remains divisive, Kamisama no Iutoori stands out as a bold, imaginative, and fiercely entertaining survival thriller. For readers seeking underrated gems that are as thrilling as they are absurd, this is a must-read.
Smuggler is one of the most underrated gems that proves a manga doesn’t need dozens of volumes to leave a lasting impact. Before Manabe Shōhei became known for Yamikin Ushijima-kun, he delivered this tight, stylish crime thriller that blends gritty realism with the sharp, chaotic energy of a Tarantino film. At a single volume, it’s easily one of the best manga for readers who wants a fast, brutal, and unforgettable story.
Yosuke Kinuta is a failed actor drowning in debt forced to work for a corpse-disposal crew. What starts as a desperate attempt to survive quickly evolves into a violent spiral involving the yakuza, eccentric criminals, and two terrifying Chinese assassins who dominate every scene they appear in. Yosuke is an ordinary man trapped in extraordinary danger, and his perspective grounds the story even as things get increasingly unhinged.
What makes Smuggler a standout is its tone. The manga is grimy, tense, and filled with dark humor, but never loses its sense of momentum. Manabe’s art leans into realistic proportions and slightly grotesque facial expressions, giving the characters a distinct presence that fits the brutal underworld setting perfectly.
Despite its short, single-volume run, the action is kinetic, the pacing relentless, and the final hits hard. Smuggler is proof that a short seinen can still deliver enormous impact. If you enjoy raw crime stories and overlooked cult classics, this is one of the most underrated manga you shouldn’t miss.
Utsubora is one of those rare underrated gems that quietly surpass many of the best manga in psychological fiction. Despite its brilliance, it remains surprisingly overlooked. Asumiko Nakamura crafts a haunting, slow-burn mystery about identity, creativity, and the fragile line between inspiration and obsession.
Shun Mizorogi is a once-lauded novelist who now struggles with his fading talent. His life collapses when a young woman named Aki Fujimoto commits suicide, and her identical twin sister appears soon after. At the same time, Mizorogi’s new manuscript becomes suspected of resulting from plagiarism. These events intertwine with unsettling precision, turning his life into a maze of guilt, desire, and decaying artistic purpose.
What makes Utsubora exceptional is how quietly it delivers its psychological weight. Rather than indulging in dramatic twists, it relies on atmosphere, restrained dialogue, and emotional ambiguity. Nakamura’s delicate linework enhances the mood. Characters are drawn with soft, elegant expressions that hide more than they reveal, giving every scene a subtle tension. Even its erotic elements feel melancholic, emphasizing longing rather than shock.
As a psychological drama, Utsubora stands out for its maturity. It’s introspective, patient, and deeply reflective about the pressure of creation and the fear of mediocrity. For readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries with artistic themes, this underrated manga is a must-read. It’s beautifully crafted, emotionally layered, and lingers in the mind long after the final page.
Wakusei Closet is one of the most overlooked gems in modern cosmic horror manga. It starts with the softness of a dream, but soon twists into something eerie and unforgettable. At first glance, it feels almost gentle, but then the nightmare begins.
The story centers on Ami, an ordinary student who slips into another world whenever she falls asleep. This dream world is strange but not immediately threatening, especially once she meets Flare, a mysterious girl who seems to be trapped there as well. Their growing friendship gives the early chapters an almost tender tone. But Wakusei Closet reveals its true nature quickly. Creatures built from nightmare logic stalk the shifting landscape. People who die in the real world reappear in distorted, monstrous forms, and the boundary between dream and reality begins to break.
What makes this one of the best manga hidden beneath the mainstream radar is the balance between terror and innocence. The round, soft art style lures the reader into a false sense of comfort before unleashing some of the most bizarre and haunting imagery in recent manga. Body transformations, parasitic beings, and cosmic entities appear without warning, all rendered with a quiet surrealism that leaves a lasting impression.
The final twist is astonishing and reframes everything that came before it, showing just how good at writing its creator Tsubana truly is.
If you enjoy weird, emotionally charged horror and want an underrated manga that stands apart from genre conventions, Wakusei Closet is absolutely worth your time.
Masasumi Kakizaki’s Green Blood is one of the most underrated gems that almost no one talks about, yet it delivers a level of style, grit, and tension that easily competes with the best manga in the seinen crime genre. We are transported to 19th-century New York’s infamous Five Points, a lawless slum ruled by gangs, poverty, and corruption. It’s a setting rarely explored in manga, and Kakizaki uses it to craft a bleak, cinematic crime saga that feels fresh even years after its release.
The story follows the Burns brothers, two young men who couldn’t be more different. Luke longs for a peaceful life far from the slums, while Brad hides a violent secret as the Grim Reaper, an assassin working for the Grave Digger gang. Soon, the two are plunged into an escalating story of gang warfare, betrayal, and the harsh reality that survival sometimes demands bloodshed. And yet, the brothers’ bond never wavers, forming the manga’s emotional core, and making it far deeper than its revenge-driven surface suggests.
What truly makes this one of the best manga you’ve probably never heard of is its artwork. Kakizaki’s heavy shading, detailed cityscapes, and explosive action sequences create a world that feels harsh, dirty, and alive. Gunfights crackle with energy, and the period setting is brought to life with impressive accuracy.
Though short and sometimes reliant on familiar tropes, Green Blood remains an unforgettable, stylish thriller that deserves far more recognition. Fans of dark historical dramas and gritty action should not skip this hidden gem.
Most readers know Akira Hiramoto for Prison School, but long before that breakout hit, he created one of the most underrated gems in seinen manga: Me and the Devil Blues. It’s a dark, hypnotic reimagining of blues musician Robert Johnson’s life, blending historical drama with supernatural dread in a way no other series has matched. For readers looking for the best manga that slipped under the radar, this one deserves immediate attention.
The story centers on Robert “RJ” Johnson, a struggling blues musician in the 1930s American South. Desperate for talent, he makes a deal at the crossroads and suddenly gains impossible musical ability. What should be a blessing quickly becomes a curse. RJ is drawn into a violent, paranoid nightmare that mixes racism, crime, and eerie myth in a relentless spiral of tension.
What makes this manga so unforgettable is its suffocating atmosphere. Hiramoto captures the Jim Crow South in striking detail. Crowded juke joints, dusty roads, and hostile towns feel alive on the page. His dense linework and cinematic pacing turn even quiet moments into scenes charged with dread.
The characters deepen this intensity. RJ is passive yet emotionally gripping, a man swept along by forces he cannot control. Clyde Barrow is a fascinating yet chaotic companion, while Stanley McDonald injects quiet menace into every scene he appears in.
Though early chapters can be disorienting, once the story locks in, it becomes one of the most suspenseful works in seinen storytelling. Me and the Devil Blues is a haunting, beautifully crafted manga that deserves far more recognition.
Dai Dark is one of the most underrated manga currently running, which is surprising given that it comes from Q Hayashida, the creator of the wildly influential Dorohedoro. While her earlier series became a cult phenomenon, Dai Dark often slips past mainstream attention despite offering the same blend of chaotic energy, grimy art, and bizarre humor that made her one of the best manga creators working today.
The manga centers on Zaha Sanko, a mysterious young man whose bones can grant any wish. This makes him the galaxy’s most valuable target, but instead of leaning into bleak survival horror, Dai Dark embraces cosmic absurdity. Sanko travels through space with an unforgettable crew, casually cracking jokes while fighting off assassins, bone thieves, and eldritch cults. The tone shifts effortlessly between horror and slapstick, creating a unique anarchic atmosphere.
Hayashida’s art is as dense and textured as ever. Every page feels alive with surreal locations, rotting starships, and grotesque monsters rendered in gritty detail. It’s a universe that feels disgusting and beautiful at the same time. The character design is equally strong, especially with Avakian and Shimada Death, who bring both menace and comedic charm to the cast.
What makes Dai Dark such an overlooked gem is its perfect blend of chaos, comedy, and cosmic horror. It’s a space opera filtered through Hayashida’s uniquely twisted imagination, full of energy and originality. For readers seeking one of the best manga that blends science-fiction, gore, and absurd humor, Dai Dark is an essential pick.
Godchild is one of the most overlooked gems in gothic manga. Although it is technically a shojo series, its atmosphere, violence, and psychological depth place it much closer to the best manga for fans of dark mystery and elegant horror. Set in a stylized version of 19th-century London, the story follows Cain Hargreaves, a young nobleman whose tragic past pulls him into a labyrinth of murder, conspiracies, and family secrets.
What makes Godchild so compelling is the contrast between its ornate, beautiful artwork and the disturbing content lurking beneath its surface. Kaori Yuki fills the series with Victorian-era crimes, cults, taboo relationships, and carefully constructed psychological cruelty. Each case Cain investigates blends macabre imagination with sharp emotional tension, giving the manga a chilling theatrical quality that sets it apart from typical gothic fiction.
The cast is equally memorable. Cain is a charismatic but fragile protagonist, and his bond with his loyal servant Riff adds emotional weight that builds throughout the series. Subtle elements of BL enhance the tragic undertones rather than functioning as fanservice, reinforcing the sense of doomed intimacy that defines the story’s core relationships.
Godchild is also the continuation of The Cain Saga, though it stands as a stronger and more refined work. Its polished storytelling, haunting atmosphere, and beautifully detailed art make it an underrated treasure for readers who want a gothic mystery with emotional depth and unsettling elegance.
Holyland is one of the most underrated gems that quietly proves why so many of the best manga never become mainstream hits. Kouji Mori’s grounded, emotionally raw martial arts drama delivers a level of realism and character depth that’s rarely seen in the genre.
Yuu Kamishiro is a withdrawn high school student who’s been pushed to the margins of society. After years of bullying, Yuu teaches himself a single boxing technique and begins wandering the streets at night in search of a place to belong. His unexpected talent earns him a reputation as the thug hunter, drawing him deeper into the world of street fighters, who, like him, are searching for meaning.
What makes Holyland exceptional is how authentic it feels. Fights are depicted using real martial arts principles, with every stance, punch, and counter explained in a way that enhances tension. Yuu’s growth is not just physical but deeply emotional. His loneliness, desperation, and slow climb toward confidence give the manga surprising weight. Supporting characters like Masaki and Shougo add layers to the story, each representing a different way of how outsiders cope with a world that rejects them.
The art may be dated, but the fight choreography is sharp, dynamic, and meticulously constructed. Despite occasional pacing issues or overly technical exposition, Holyland remains a gripping and heartfelt coming-of-age drama.
Genres: Martial Arts, Coming-of-Age
Status: Completed (Seinen)
Experimental and Weird Manga
Manga has always been a medium that embraces artistic risk and creative freedom. This section is dedicated to works that push boundaries through surreal storytelling, unconventional structure, or bold stylistic choices. These titles may not appeal to everyone, but they showcase some of the most innovative ideas the medium has ever produced.
If you want to read even more genre-bending works, check out my list of the best weird manga.
If there’s one manga that could serve as the poster child for this category, it would be Soil, Atsushi Kaneko’s surreal and reality-breaking masterpiece. What begins as a missing-person investigation quickly mutates into one of the strangest, most disorienting narratives in manga. It’s the kind of work that defies explanation, yet remains impossible to put down.
The story opens in Soil New Town, an unnervingly perfect suburban community where a model family mysteriously vanishes. The abrasive, short-tempered Yokoi and the more grounded Onoda are sent to investigate. Soon enough, the case dissolves into a chaotic blend of bizarre clues, shifting environments, and increasingly unhinged townspeople. Every chapter drifts further from logic until the town itself feels like it’s unraveling under cosmic pressure.
Kaneko’s visual style amplifies the strangeness. The clean, minimalistic art initially evokes Western comic art, only to twist into warped architecture, distorted anatomy, and hypnotic, dreamlike imagery as the mystery deepens. Soil constantly blurs horror and absurdism, delivering ridiculous dialogue one moment and forcing readers to question reality the next.
What makes Soil one of the best manga for fans of experimental storytelling is how confidently it embraces the nonsensical. It offers no clear answers and no tidy resolution, only the thrill of watching normality unravel piece by piece. For readers who love surreal crime fiction, cosmic absurdism, or manga that challenge narrative conventions, Soil is an unforgettable and wildly underrated gem.
While Ultra Heaven’s story is unconventional and completely unrestrained, it’s the manga’s visual ambition that earns it a place among the best manga in the weird and experimental category. Few works push the boundaries of the medium as boldly as Keiichi Koike’s psychedelic masterwork, a hallucinatory descent into altered consciousness and existential collapse.
We’re introduced to Kabu, a burnout junkie living in a bleak, dystopian future in which emotions can be synthesized like drugs. To numb his dissatisfaction with life, he relies on artificial sensations. His world shifts irreversibly when he samples a new drug called Ultra Heaven. From that moment on, the narrative abandons any conventional structure and plunges headfirst into one of the most surreal and mind-bending trips ever depicted in manga.
Koike’s artwork is the true start of the series. Panels melt into one another. Cityscapes fracture into abstract patterns. Human bodies distort into abstract kaleidoscopes. The visual flow mirrors the instability of Kabu’s perception, creating a reading experience that feels immersive, overwhelming, and intentionally disorienting, as if we’re suffering through a trip gone bad with him. Ultra Heaven’s visuals are so experimental and fluid that they practically redefine what sequential art can convey.
What elevates the manga beyond a simple drug-trip narrative is its philosophical core. As hallucinations and reality blur, the story questions consciousness, ego, and the possibility of genuine enlightenment. Its final act shifts toward introspection and meditation, suggesting that transcendence may exist beyond chemical escape.
Strange, hypnotic, and visually unmatched, Ultra Heaven stands as one of the best manga for readers seeking experimental storytelling at its peak.
Anyone familiar with Jiro Matsumoto knows he has no fear of pushing boundaries, but Joshikouhei might be his most bizarre creation yet. This underrated gem takes the mecha genre and mutates it into something intensely surreal, disturbing, and philosophically unnerving. It’s easily among the best manga for readers looking for surreal narratives that defy convention.
The premise captures Matsumoto’s trademark strangeness perfectly. In an interdimensional war, soldiers pilot Assault Girls, humanoid battle machines fashioned after teenage schoolgirls. They are terrifying weapons capable of slaughtering entire armies, but every moment a pilot spends inside one erodes their sense of self. Their thoughts begin to mimic those of the machine until identity, gender, and humanity blur into one grotesque fusion.
The Hyena Platoon under Lieutenant Takigawa is tasked with hunting down pilots who have lost themselves completely. The story starts as a bleak war story about the cost of battle, but soon spirals into psychedelic horror. As the story progresses, Joshikouhei grows increasingly weirder, with its final act pushing its science-fiction premise into a surreal, philosophical meditation on the nature of self.
Matsumoto’s scratchy, frantic art style amplifies the chaos. Battles erupt into splintered, violent panels, while quieter scenes carry a haunting stillness. The manga is explicit in places, but seldom for shock value. Instead, it uses erotic horror as a metaphor for the disintegration of identity.
Unapologetically strange and thematically fearless, Joshikouhei stands as one of the most unique and unsettling weird manga ever created. For readers seeking an underrated gem far outside the norm, this is an unforgettable experience.
Shintaro Kago is known as one of manga’s most transgressive and extreme creators, and Fraction is no exception. Yet even within his catalog of horror, shock, and surreal absurdism, this underrated gem stands out as a uniquely ambitious and experimental work. For readers seeking one of the best manga that pushes the medium into meta-territory, Fraction is an unforgettable experience.
The story begins deceptively straightforward. A brutal serial killer known as the Slicing Devil stalks the city, leaving victims cleaved clean in half. This first chapter reads like a grim seinen thriller with tense pacing and unsettling murder scenes. Suddenly, in the second chapter, the narrative shifts, and Kago inserts himself as a character, directly commenting on genre conventions, and dismantling the story from the inside out. What was once a murder mystery becomes a meta-narrative that questions authorial intent, structure, and the illusion of storytelling itself.
That shift makes Fraction so distinct. It’s bizarre and self-aware in a way only Kago could execute, culminating in one of the cleverest reveals in manga history, cementing Fraction’s place as a showcase of experimental horror.
The volume also includes several bonus stories, many of which push the graphical content to extremes. Voracious Itches, in particular, is infamous for a good reason and remains among the most disturbing short pieces in Kago’s career. Reader discretion is advised if you decide to dive into these stories.
Fraction is not an easy manga to stomach, but for readers fascinated by surrealism, meta-fiction, and boundary-breaking horror, it’s a remarkable and underrated standout.
Inio Asano is known for pushing the boundaries of psychological storytelling, but none of his works is as enigmatic or structurally daring as Nijigahara Holograph. This is a weird manga that presents readers with a narrative that feels fragmented, circular, and constantly slipping through your fingers. It reads less like a traditional story and more like a puzzle built from memories, symbols, and emotional chaos.
Essentially a kaleidoscope of trauma, Nijigahara Holograph follows a group of children and adults whose lives are permanently altered by a violent incident involving a girl named Arie. Rather than exploring the event directly, Asano scatters its consequences across shifting timelines. Scenes from the past and present intersect without warning, creating a dreamlike disorientation that mirrors the lingering psychological damage of everyone involved.
What makes this one of the best manga for fans of experimental storytelling is how its imagery and pacing amplify the scenes of unease. Asano’s quiet suburban landscape feels oppressive, while small gestures and silent panels carry an almost unbearable emotional weight. Recurring motifs, especially butterflies, hint at cycles of suffering and transformation without ever offering clear answers.
The result is a haunting, nonlinear experience where meaning emerges slowly, almost subconsciously on rereads. Nijigahara Holograph is confusing, devastating and mesmerizing all at once, a surreal psychological mosaic that lingers long after the final page.
