Please click here to see every manga I’ve ever talked about!
Thank you to everyone who submitted your manga, manhwa, and even web comic recommendations on my Kagurabachi video. This video is for you as I’ve gathered all 30 of your suggestions (as of May 13th) from that video & will be reading each of their first volumes or 10 chapters if they do not have a volume-equivalent.
People have recommended these manga, manhwa, and web comics for one reason or another. I want to respect people’s kindness by finding what I enjoyed most about their suggestions.
Kill Six Billion Demons
By Abaddon
For unknown reasons, a girl is forced to kill 6 billion demons to save her boyfriend. The design of the world & characters are dense with detail. So often was I zooming into pages just to see everything the artist drew.
The world itself is populated with many uniquely designed beings and that even includes random background characters. It was clear to me how much the artist thought & cared about this world. Every chapter feature a full page showing off how expansiveness this world is. These were some of my favorite moments because they were always used to add so much more impact to the story.
Centuria
By Tohru Kuramori
I don’t know what Kuramori-san is cooking with this manga, but volume 1 had me hooked. The focus on the main character, Julian, learning kindness through people & how he may return that kindness. This is wonderful to read during a time when people on the internet are overly negative.
Of course, this is Shonen Jump so I cannot forget to mention that a Kraken god grants Julian the power of a hundred people BUT that is the most I will spoil from this manga. I have really enjoyed everything I read.
The characters look great, the faces are very expressive which adds a lot to the emotional scenes. I love the side characters. Mira being such a pivotal character to helping Julius grow into a main character. Angvall for being a hot muscle mommy, but also another person who helps Julius grow.
The mangaka plays a lot of with darkness. There are some really awesome panels that utilize this so well. One of my favorite non-spoilery panels is Julius carrying a rock on his back. It visually capture the immense weight of the rock. The bright sky turns into fades into darkness. The greys & blacks on his pants to emphasis the wrinkles & stress his body is under so good.
Mad
By Yusuke Otori
I felt so uneasy reading MAD. It is about earth being taking over by Alien looking Aliens. What MAD does such a great job at is capturing moments of uneasiness in the quieter moments.
Although, I know what these aliens look like, I don’t know what they do. Characters will give the main character, John, weird…quiet… stares that get my mind thinking that “what if the aliens can disguise themselves” or “is it really safe”
These are the same feelings the main character has as well so it allows me to feel a closer connection to John as a character, which just further enhanced my reading experience.
Sometimes it is hard to determine if what I am reading has happened or not. The end of volume 1 left on such a crazy reveal that my body physically ached when I had to stop reading.
Usogui
By Toshio Sako
Baku loves the lie. Baku gets the thrill of gambling his life away. Baku has max out Charisma stats & is able to lie himself out of any situation. That is Baku the lie eater.
This manga has been so funny because it is always interesting to see how Baku is able to talk himself out of insane situations. One chapter were seeing him trick a dealer at an illegal gambling hall to rig a roulette wheel so his friend can bet on the rigged number.
Another chapter, he lies his way out of paying for late fees on a video rental called Operation Titty Drop, which might have been my chapter so far because it really presented this manga as being more than just casino game gambling. He just tries to win over everything.
The volume ends in the middle of a group of killers hunting Baku in a death game & already the way he is able to talk his way out of situations to get the upper in this death game is just next level.
This is the kind of goofy humor I really love in manga and the art looks so great especially when it comes to expressing the insanity of Baku & many of the other characters!
Land of the Lustrous
By Haruko Ichikawa
Starting your manga with a fight against a god is certainly a way to pull me in. The conflict between these group of crystals known as the Lustrous protecting themselves against god-like beings is a great premise to really lay the foundation of what “worth” means to many of these characters.
I particularly engaged with Cinnabar’s story because she is a tragic lonely character. Someone who has been isolated from the crystals whose very existence threatens the crystals around her. One panel describes the night being her cage to keep her from the other crystals as she has been assigned as the only night guard.
Her relationship with Phos is a wonderful one as Phos is someone who is trying to find value in themselves. Same with Diamond. This manga does a really great job at creating compelling characters that you want to learn more about.
The art style is beautiful. A lot of striking imagery especially when the crystals are fighting against the Lunarians. This is a manga that I wanted to watch the first episode of the anime because I think the colors would add so much to the different kind of crystals. And the first episode was great, it captures a lot of what I enjoyed about this manga. It was also animated by Studio Orange before Beastars & Trigun Stampede, but it still looks good. The way they rendered the crystal hair for all the characters look incredible.
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You
By Rikito Nakamura & Yukiko Nozawa
I started watching harem anime around the end of my time in high school. Some of my early favorites were Ranma, Clannad, Love Hina, My Bride is a Mermaid. However, as I grew older, I was less interested in harems & the typical high school romance story, but what I love about 100 Girlfriends is that the author is fully aware of the thousands of harems that came before it.
Due to a god being distracted by a Castle in the Sky rerun, the main character, Rentaro has been blessed by having 100 soulmates; however, if the soulmates are rejected by Rentaro, they will die.
This goofy premise presents some pretty incredible moments that make this such a compelling harem manga. For example, Rentaro designs an elaborate plan to have a first kiss between his first two girlfriends so that none of them know who was his first kiss. It involves standing in specific spots, blindfolds, dice rolls, text messaging, and loudly playing My First Kiss, which is an ending from Doremon.
This manga truly had me cackling at how goofy it is, but did I mention I nearly cried reading this because this manga has so my heart. Rentaro is such a caring person, who goes through so much to make sure that each girl feels loved & respected.
And when they introduced Yoshimoto, my heart melted. She is Rentaro’s third girlfriend and her shyness is so extreme that she is only able to speak by pointing out sentences from her favorite romance novel.
I deeply empathize with her. As a lifelong shy person who is only able to do Youtube because I do not see my viewers & as someone who has faced loneliness many many times in my adult life. I immediately was rooting for Yoshimoto, but what me tear up was the length at which Rentaro went to make sure Yoshimoto felt comfortable. He turned her favorite novel into a clickable audio book with text-to-speech so they could talk face to face and she doesn’t have to feel pressure to talk. There is just this level of how much Rentaro cares about each of his girlfriends that is just really endearing and makes me so fascinating to learn how & when he’ll have all 100.
Skip and Loafer
By Misaki Takamatsu
What an adorably wonderful manga! Yes, this is a high-school romantic comedy, but I love the characters so much in this! Mitsumi is this straight-A top performer student who overthinks & over plans how she wants her life to go.
It presents these incredible moments of comedy using Mitsumi’s expectations versus her reality. For example, she imagined the speech she had to do in front of the entire school to help her make friends & have everyone celebrate her, but instead she told it in this straight face robotic tone & she puked on one of the teachers.
However, the manga keeps things light-hearted so Mitsumi is usually not depressed. Instead she learns to think more on the fly instead of having everything planned out.
In just volume 1, it doesn’t feel much like romance is happening. The main male lead Sosuke likes spending time with Mitsumi & Mitsumi likes spending time to Sosuke, but they also enjoy spending time with new friends. So there isn’t a moment where I’m like oh they should get together or kiss. It is just cute to see all of these characters spend time together.
Worm
By John C. McCrae
This is a web novel, now I’ll be honest…wasn’t thrill to read a novel & I will be clear that I do not accept novel recommendations because I need them pictures, but I wanted to give Worm an honest shot
I read the first 6 chapters which was the Gestation arc. Where we’re introduced to Taylor who has the powers of controlling bugs. It is a bit of a horrifying power because most of this arc is Taylor trying to kill a gang leader using bee stings, venomous spiders, and fire ants. She is also being bullied at school so it add an additional layer of tension because Taylor is constantly suppressing her want to kill her bullies. It certainly establishes a really interesting character who wants to be a superhero, but is also a high school girl with real issues who can pretty easily end those issues with her powers.
Akumetsu
By Yoshiaki Tabata & Yuki Yugo
Akumetsu is a difficult manga to talk about in this relatively optimistic video because this manga deals with a character named Akumetsu who has felt like the world is becoming increasingly more unfair & the only way to stop against all the corruption & unfairness is through violence.
The art looks super sick & the manga does a great job at depicting a lot of frustration, I’m sure many people reading this manga have seen this corruption or felt that they wish they could do something about it.
Although, I greatly disagree with Akumetsu’s methods. I think it does highlight an interesting conversation around the feeling of helpless a lot of people feel when they see blatant corruption. However, I can only speak from an American perspective, but change is possible. There are so many groups out there willing to stick their necks out & protest to fight for a better future. Even small changes at the local level & make your life & the people around you just a bit better.
Ruri Dragon
By Masaoki Shindo
It’s a girl who is half human & half dragon. That’s really it. It is a slice-of-life where we following Ruri through her experience in puberty, but instead of human puberty she is slowly growing into the dragon traits her her dragon dad passed onto her. However, we don’t know what traits he passed onto her so each of the new traits are always a surprise!
The art is adorable, I really love the way the mangaka draws all the characters. I love how causal the mom is about this entire ordeal to Ruri, but behind the scenes, she wasn’t expecting her to show Dragon traits & she even apologies to the entire school when Ruri accidently breathes fires! It is certainly a cute manga!
The Greatest Estate Developer
By BK_MOON, Lee Hyun-min, Kim Hyun-soo
This is such a fun isekai manga. For some undetermined reason, the main character is swept into a fantasy book where it takes over the body of hooligan from a noble family.
I was surprised at how much I enjoy this, I don’t read or watch a lot of isekai manga and this is my first manwha because I already have so much manga I have to read adding manwha just makes my backlog even bigger.
I found the premise quite novel where the main character exploiting his knowledge of characters & plot in his fantasy book to quickly turns events towards his own purposes & goals. It also mixes in RPG elements to motivate the main character to his relationship with key characters from the book so he can earn points to level up.
I enjoyed that they found a way to incorporate South Korea’s conscription law as a benefit to the main character’s abilities, which was really cool. I don’t read manwha so I’m not sure if this is a common trope.
Even though the plot does introduce a goal of getting his fantasy family out of debt, it really just feels like a slice-of-life isekai where the main character just wants to build & make money!
Undead Unluck
By Yoshifumi Tozuka
Undead Unluck has such a goofy premise as it involves a character named unluck who gives people unluck if the come into contact with her bare skin. Undead is a character who cannot die.
It is a very goofy manga because immediately the manga sets up the premise that if they had sex the world would probably end because the amount of unluck on someone is based on unluck’s affection towards the person touches her.
This is a shounen manga so there is also just constant action so there isn’t really a moment where these characters get some time to rest because we’re already introduced to so many unique villains that are all hunting these two characters!
Ichi the Witch
By Osamui Nishi & Shiro Usazaki
I love Ichi the Witch. First, all the characters are so pretty! The details in everyone’s eyes are wonderful! Desscaras is just absolutely gorgeous! I love how vain she is. She knows she’s hot, she is the most popular witch, and she soaks it all in. It also never gets annoying because she has a perfect counter, Ichi.
Ichi is an incredible main character, he’s excitement for hunting has lead him to hunt creatures known as majiks. These are magical creatures that once defeat through a variety of different conditions like stealing the crystal ball without getting hit by the majik’s lightning strikes, will then grant you the ability to utilize those magic skills.
What I love about this manga is Ichi’s skills as a hunter, growing up in the forest among predators & preys alike. Gave him this ability to conceal himself, sense hostile presences, and study his prey. With all of that hunting skills & now being tasked to hunt more magical creatures with all these different conditions for victory. It is a brew of wonderful action & storytelling.
Also there is a real cool moment when all the master witches were watching over Ichi & he detected one of them to have a hostile presence or at least that is how I interpreted that moment because there has got to be some cool drama behind the actual witch society too!
Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity
By Saka Mikami
This one tugged at my heartstrings. What an adorable romance manga. I love how this manga introduces each of the characters. Rintaro who is this very tall “scary” looking dude is asked by his mom to work a shift at her bakery & he meets this small adorable girl named Kaoruko who has just finished her 7th plate of baked goods.
It is a romance trope, I’ve seen before, but I was still pretty endeared by the characters. The way the mangaka draws Kaoruko every time is absolutely incredible. It really gives me this impression of seeing Kaoruko through Rintaro’s eyes of everytime he sees her, his world just stops for just a second. The way she felt, the emotion she shows on her face is recorded into his mind.
Sometimes he begins to overthink & overinterpret how Kaoruko is feeling, but I love how much they enjoy seeing each other. This manga had me thinking a lot about my own relationship.
When I use to read manga like this when I was single. I would have my enjoyment on one hand, but a desire to have the kind of relationship I was reading. It was a empty melancholy feeling of reading a relationship I wish I had.
However, reading a romance manga like this for the first time since my 8 year relationship. My experience with this manga shifted because instead of having a feeling of emptiness, it was replaced by joy seeing these character connect & relate. I was enjoying this manga more than I thought I would.
Ordeal
By Brent Bristol
The art is incredibly detailed. The way the artist is able to draw these detailed muscles is incredible! The way characters are poses are so well realized! It is clear this author put a lot of care into study the way MMA fighters fight.
Mixing those fights with characters known as Kimyos who have special talents & powers that enhance their fighting is a recipe for some good ass action. I only read 10 chapters, but even in just those 10 chapters I was introduced to so many different characters fighting using their unique abilities & it was a great introduction to Che who is just a badass character that was built up as an extremely powerful human character with no abilities.
Marriagetoxin
By Joumyaku & Mizuki Yoda
What I originally thought was gonna be a manga similar to Spy Family, I was proven way wrong. Sure, there is our male lead who is a highly skilled assassin, but that’s where the similarities end because Gero needs to produce an heir to pass on his family lineage of producing & essentially being powered up by poisons.
However, he doesn’t know how to date so this entire premise is him working alongside a marriage swindler named Mei who is basically teaching Gero how to date & woo women. It is very goofy, I had a smile on my face for most of reading this & the action is very good too!
Kaiji
By Nobyyuki Fukumoto
A bunch of people in debt are forced to gamble for their lives playing a variety of different games in an isolated location. Is Squid Games just Kaiji…yes it is because the director & writer mentioned Kaiji as an influence, which I didn’t know until writing this.
The premise of this manga is Kaiji is in debt & he is forced onto a gambling ship where he plays against other people in debt to hopefully get out of debt, but unlike Squid Games, the gambling ship itself is meant to get people more into debt with the false hope that you can succeed, but no one ever succeeds.
What I love about this manga is the ways the initial game is setup. The guests will be playing Rock Paper Scissors; however, the guests have a limited number of times they can play each move & they start with 3 stars which are basically lives, and they have a starting balance of money the players choose that accrues 40% interest every 10 minutes before the game began.
This presents the story in a unique way where the manga isn’t about playing rock paper scissors, but how to outsmart the mechanics & the options available to achieve the victory condition for this round, which is to have 0 cards & 3 stars.
The Bugle Call: Song of War
By Mozuku Sora & Higoro Toumori
A fascinating manga about utilizing the power of military calls using a trumpet to provide guidance to your troops. It is like the main character is playing a real-time strategy game with musical instruments! Very cool premise & it sets up a very cool world about these ancient advanced civilizations that erected 9 pillars across the world & our goal is to defeat one of the most powerful ones call Garland.
Strangely enough, there are no good or bad guys. The main character although forced, it apart of a group of soldiers that commit heinous acts & when we’re teaming up with flute head, he also has been very vague. We’re killing to defend one of the pillars. So I’m curious how much that idea is played with in future volumes,
Also the background art is also incredible too! The care that goes into every interior is so cool!
Catenaccio
By Daisuke Morimoto
There is no I in team, but certainly there is for Catenaccio. This was such a wild story because the focus was on someone who is so determined to go professional that he studies, watches soccer matches, and even learned spanish & italian to prepare himself to going professional
But he failed, he is an awful player, no matter how hard he practiced. He never got better. So when the twist of this story is because he can foul like other pro players, it did make me chuckle, but it certainly piqued my interest because this character although plays poorly is able to analyze players very well to exploit weakpoints…if he was good enough.
It is really cool to see a sports story that is less about I want to go professional & more of a story about what it is like to train with professionals. The beginning of the story ends with the high school journey & the focus on the an Italian football club is very cool!
Choujin X
By Sui Ishida
From the creator of Tokyo Ghoul comes another body horror manga as people known as Choujin have abilities that alternate their very bodies. This is a strange manga because for the entirety of the first volume, the main character is incapable of doing anything, but it does present an interesting, but risky opportunity to have the character utilize that fear to fight.
The world is setup in an interesting way with Choujin being these threats against humanity with the recent discovery that you can also grant people Choujin powers via some sort of drug. There is some really incredible panels when the Choujin use their powers! And the scale of human, human-choujin hybrid, and full Choujin forms are so cool to see!
Make the Exorcist Fall in Love
By Aruma Arima & Masuku Fukayama
I am just blown away by the art in this manga. The thick outline for the characters & they way the artist illustrates the godly & demonic powers are just eyewatering!! I want to just keep reading to see how all the other demons powers look!
The story is about priest so devoted to God that he plucked his own eye out because he lusted after a succubus. He was tasked by the Church to kill Satan.
Although, the story starts pretty gruesome with abuse & overwhelming guilty that leads the main character to wish for death so he can go to heaven quicker. The story utilizes that in such a good way to develop a reason for the character to find love because at least then, they would want to continue living.
It is a very great manga with a twist that shook me to my core! Very excited to see how all of this unfolds!
Vinland Saga
By Makoto Yukimura
Reading all these manga, manwha, and web toons, often times I am reading these in bulk taking little breaks in between, but when reading my 6th manga today, Vinland Saga, I was transported to another place.
I was so sucked into its story. The way the mangaka establishes who the vikings are. Sets up this promise land where there are green pastures, ripe fruit, & no wars known as Vinland. Is such an fascinating setup.
Each character introduce has weight & a story to be told, Thorfinn wishing to have an honorable duel against Askeladd who murdered his father unfairly. Askeladd who seeks to enrich himself & his fellow viking. Thors a warrior who is full of so much kindness & care for every person.
I know this manga is often celebrated for incredible storytelling & it’s reflection on war & revenge. So I’m excited to see what else this manga is cooking. This is also a manga that I had planned to make one of my “I Read All Of” manga review videos about & this makes me excited to return to this some day!
The Case Study of Vanitas
By Jun Mochizuki
I am so happy I enjoyed volume 1! This is the manga that was randomly selected to be read in it’s entirety in my Kagurabachi video. Luckily, my review for this manga is already available!
But for this video, let’s focus on volume 1 because I have greatly enjoyed the way this manga opens up. From chapter 1, we are told by the Narrator & one of the main characters, Noe, that this story is about how he killed Vanitas the other main character.
But throughout my time reading this wonderful manga, these two are very friendly! There is a lot of great characters & mysterious behind Vanitas & the book he wields which is known as the book of vanitas.
This book although it can be used to free vampires from being cursed & going feral, it is more commonly known to other vampire as a threat though because it is a book created by a vampire that brings great misfortune. It is this kind of mystery that has me excited to read more!
Shimeji Simulation
By Tsukumizu
It has been a while since I read a manga like this. There isn’t quite a story, but instead a journey with a character.
The story mostly follows Shimeji’s experience in life as a high school student, but through the lens of someone who is apathic & lives an abnormal life.
In just the first volume alone, it is difficult to piece together what is occurring. Some moments feel like jokes. Other times, it is just Shimeji trying to return to her shut-in lifestyle. Every character has some bizarre quirk with my favorite being the teacher in-charge of the Hole Digging Club where she doesn’t know why she is digging holes, but she has done it for a year & has also cut a hole in the school fence so she could drink alcohol outside the school grounds.
It is truly a bizarre manga that right at the end of volume one came a huge wave of character development for Shimeji that was greatly appreciated!
Akane-Banashi
By Yuki Suenaga & Takamasa Moue
I am blown away by how much this manga speaks to me so deeply. I love a story that follows someone’s passion. For Akane, it is her passion for the art of Rakugo, a one-man acting show where through facial expressions, voice, and hand movements must deliver a compelling retelling of a classic story.
It is an artform I was unfamiliar with, but after just the first chapter, was something I wanted to learn more about & would have been something child me would have dreamed of doing because I love performing.
The way this story lays the foundation for Akane’s journey is wonderful because it helps us understand who inspired her to perform Rakugo, why this is a revenge story, and what Rakugo really is.
And the way Rakugo is drawn in this manga is so incredible. The artist uses large brushstrokes to illustrate the story being told in the performance while still cleverly drawing the performer acting out these roles is just amazing. A beautiful blend of art styles & a depiction of an art form I have never seen before!
Witch Hat Atelier
By Kamome Shirahama
I have already seen the anime so I was excited to dive into how the manga presents some of the moments from the anime.
I cannot tell you how beautiful of a manga this is, truly some of these pages are just beautiful works of art that I want to frame & put on my wall. This is such a captivating story about someone learning how to cast magic because it made them happy.
And the way magic is casted is so awesome. It is through the art of drawing. From perfect circles to confident straight lines, your artistic skills are one aspect to the strength of the spells you cast. And the way the witches in the story require this knowledge to be hidden from the public because of how dangerously simple casting spells are just makes all of this even more wonderful!
Then to wrap it all up by having this ominous threat of the Brimmed Caps looking to cause chaos in the world and our mysterious pretty boy Qifrey having some unknown obsession with the Brimmed Caps makes this a story so juicy that I cannot stop reading!
Chainsaw Man
By Tatsuki Fujimoto
I have already seen a lot of Chainsaw Man & have read some of the manga so there isn’t much new I can add here beside saying that I really enjoyed a lot of what I read from Chainsaw Man. The action is absolutely incredible & characters like Denji are fascinating to watch because we’re seeing a flawed character who is so desperate to be loved that he is willing to to be used for just a chance at feeling something.
Shangri-La Frontier
By Ryosuke Fuji & Katarina
This another manga, I have watched the anime for. I absolutely love this anime, having the story about a guy who exclusively loves playing & exploiting shitty games to then have him play a well-made popular game like Shangri-La Frontier is PERFECT.
He is such a troll that he is running through the world naked soloing boss enemies. It is just a tremendous joy reading this manga. I love how much the game mechanics matter to this series & actually make sense.
The drop rates, skill mechanics, the way certain bosses trigger is so freakin’ cool!! The game sets up the premise of 7 unique boss spawns that no one has defeated before. Not because they are abnormally strong, which they are, but because the conditions in which they spawn are unknown & extremely unique.
He also like myself, love raising the luck stat, which in this game presents him with such a unique scenario that no one else has ever seen before.
This made me so giddy because this game captures what I love to see in more MMOs or RPGs so perfectly. Unique encounters & events that less than 1% of the player base will ever experience. That stuff is so fascinating!
And for this manga to tease something called the World Story Progression, which is such a mystery, but every time you see that percentage meter move is so awesome!!
After God
By Sumi Eno
What if gods descended onto earth & took over half of Japan, but what makes this so special is how fascinated people are that the gods have descended to earth.
Death cults begin to form around the allure that gods are presence. People are constantly debating whether they truly are gods or not as these gods cannot be captures by cameras. There is even this grotesque scene where someone livestreamed themselves being killed by a god. This world After God is truly horrifying.
When it comes to the motivation of this story, it is through the lens of the anti-god institute, which is not exactly the morale good faction as they repeatedly explain that human rights do not matter; however, they seemingly are the only faction large enough to kill a god as they have been performing experiments to gain the power of the gods!
This is a very fascinating manga that has some absolutely incredible panels!
Versus
By One & Kyotaro Azuma
From the creator of Mob Psycho & One Punch Man comes Versus. 47 heroes vs 47 demons WHO WILL COME OUT ON TOP! If you have watched any of One’s previous stories you know he will go absolutely hard on action & story! I love the design of all the characters while still keeping to One’s classic character expressions
(PLEASE LOOK AWAY IF YOU DO NOT WANT VOLUME 1 SPOILERS)
The way volume 1 ends is incredible, the fake out of having 47 heroes vs 47 demons to seeing all the heroes fail was a shocker by why is this called Versus.
The Sorcerion, the world the story starts in, summons people from The Mecha Ordinance to help defeat the demons, but The Mecha Ordinance are in the same issue where humanity is being overrunned by robots.
This premise had me so excited because it was building to robots fighting the demons, but no, One said, I have to go more insane & so 13 worlds have all merged together each with humanity on the brink of destruction from a variety of different threats & it is up to all heroes of the 13 worlds.
Not to fight them, but to have them fight each other.
