20 Great Manga Recommendations to Read Right Away

Great Manga Recommendations to Read Right Away

Many readers understand the term “manga” to simply mean “Japanese comic books”  but in fact, manga has a rich history that stretches all the way back to the 12th century. Japanese storytellers developed the power of combining pictures and words for centuries.

With all that history to pull from, it’s no wonder the world of manga is such a varied world. From fantasy adventures to historical fiction, superheroes and monsters, manga has stories for readers of every genre and age. But if you are new to manga, the huge number of books available can feel overwhelming. That’s where we come in; we’ve taken this massive field and broken it down to 20 manga recommendations. 

There’s still an incredible amount of choice within our list, but with these recommendations, you’ll find the stories that suit your tastes, and get started with this incredible form of storytelling. Let’s get reading!

20. Dragon Ball

Journey to the West, a well-known Chinese tale, served as the basis for Toriyama’s now-iconic manga. Son Goku, an extraterrestrial raised as a human, practices martial arts and hunts for the dragon balls, which can call out a dragon that can fulfill any wish.

19. Inuyasha

Perhaps one of the most well-known female manga artists currently active is Rumiko Takahashi. The gender-bending martial arts love comedy Ranma 1/2 is one of several notable works on her list of manga. Kagome, a Japanese schoolgirl who accidentally falls into a well at her family’s shrine and is thrust into the Sengoku era, is the main character of Inuyasha. She encounters Inuyasha, a half-dog demon, there, and mischief follows.

18. Naruto

What else is there to say? This manga series follows an orphaned youngster who aspires to be the best ninja in his community. It served as the foundation for an entire generation of manga lovers. This series is for you if you enjoy awesome ninja abilities and stylish battles. It’s also one of the easiest series for fans new to manga to follow.

17. My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia is a sincere Japanese interpretation of the superhero genre. Izuku Midoriya is a typical young man born in a universe where everyone possesses superpowers, shattering his aspirations to become a superhero. But as a result of an unanticipated turn of circumstances, he acquires his own set of superpowers. It appears that his dream might well be within his grasp after all.

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16. Attack on Titan

With his post-apocalyptic depiction of a faltering human society under attack from huge man-eating creatures, Isayama rocked the manga industry. The story has changed since the original idea; it now involves conspiracies, a dubious analysis of tyranny, and even more dubious comparisons to actual historical events; yet, those early volumes continue to be among the best manga representations of action-packed survival and adventure.

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15. Kokou No Hito

The story is based on real-life mountain climber Buntarō Katō. Mori Buntarō is an introverted solo mountain climber whose biggest goal is to climb K2’s East Face, one of the most difficult mountains in the world to summit.

From Mori Buntarō’s first time climbing a school building to the tallest mountains in the world, the manga takes you up on a fascinating journey into the sport of mountain climbing. The manga touches on serious issues too such as depression, isolation, and the ever-constant fear of the unknown.

14. Rave Master

Rave Master was the first serialized manga by Mashima Hiro, now acclaimed for his popular manga Fairy Tail, one of the best fantasy manga these recent years. Also known as The Groove Adventure Rave, the manga follows a teenager named Haru Glory in his quest to become a Rave Master and find all fragments of the dark and powerful Rave stone in order to defeat a criminal group known as Demon Card.

But being a Rave Master means a lot of changes in Haru’s life, as he will have to leave his native island to travel the world to find all the Rave fragments scattered after the war that took place 50 years ago.

13. Love Hina

Love Hina is a Japanese manga written, drawn and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu, compiled in 14 volumes. The manga tells the story of Keitaro Urashima and his attempts to find the girl with whom he had promised himself, still a child, to integrate into the University of Tokyo. However, being already 19 years old, he failed twice to access this prestigious school and saw his dream fly away.

Kicked out by his parents, Keitaro tries to take refuge in a traditional inn, the Hinata Hotel, owned by his grandmother. His life changes suddenly when he becomes manager of the inn because the hotel has become a boarding house for young girls!

The manga is an incredibly popular shōnen comedy, sold over 6 million copies, it deserves its place among our manga recommendations.

12. Ace of the Diamond

The next of the manga recommendations is for sports lovers, more precisely baseball lovers, which is one of the biggest sports in Japan. This manga is a work of Yuji Terajima and centers around Eijun Sawamura, a boy who dreams of making it in the big leagues as a baseball pitcher.

Even though that opportunity still seems far away, everything changes when he’s scouted by Seidou High School to join their prestigious and very competitive baseball team. The scout offers him a scholarship and a chance to make it to the nationals. What future awaits the protagonist in this school?

11. I Am a Hero

I Am a Hero is a realistic and terrifying survival horror story designed by Kengo Hanazawa. It shows Suzuki Hideo, a paranoid former mangaka. The money that his manga gives him, enables him to buy a house to live in with his girlfriend.

However, he does not notice the beginnings of an epidemic which spreads through Osaka, turning people into zombies. As the infection spreads across Japan, Hideo will try to survive the outbreak armed with only a shotgun

10. Natsume’s Book of Friends

Natsume Takashi is a boy like no other at just 15 years old. This little guy has the ability to see spirits that constantly torment him. His life is intimately linked to a book, “Book of Friends’ ‘ that his grandmother left him and in which she used to lock up spirits that she defeated under her control.

Globally, the manga follows Natsume as he attempts to release the spirits bound by his grandmother’s contract with the aid of another spirit called Madara who knew his grandmother when she was still alive. 

Of the manga recommendations list, Natsume’s Book of Friends is the most underrated but it is a real gem and was a finalist for the first Manga Taishō Awards in 2008.

 9. Akatsuki no Yona

Princess Yona of Kouka is on the run from her own castle after an uprising led by her cousin Su-Won, who murdered her pacifist father in cold blood. To seek help, she must venture across the land in search of the Crimson Dragon King and four Dragon warriors who supposedly brought Kouka back from ruin the first time.

The legend goes that the nation of Kouka was once founded by the Crimson Dragon God, who successfully saved the land from the brink of extinction alongside four other Dragon warriors. The Crimson Dragon King died soon afterwards, and the remaining four Dragon warriors split out to walk separate paths thereafter. Can she really pin all of her hopes on a fictitious legend?

 8. The Prince of Tennis

Ryôma Echizen is already an outstanding tennis player, especially for his young age. He has just joined the prestigious Seigaku school which has a very competent tennis team. His only goal: was to progress to one day exceed the level of his father, a great internationally recognized tennis champion.

Ryôma will quickly be noticed for his excellent playing by the students of the school. He does not hesitate to provoke players older than him. They will quickly realize that he may be the new prince of tennis. Published in 1999, Prince of Tennis is one of the original sports manga recommendations that started the sports manga craze in Japan.

You will not find a better manga which highlights tennis.

7. The Promised Neverland

In August 2022, The Promised Neverland, a great Halloween-like anime had over 41 million copies in circulation, including digital versions, ranking the work among the best-selling manga series. We owe this masterpiece to Posuka Demizu, who tells us the story of Emma and her brothers and sisters placed in a special institution when they were very young named Grace Field House.

Although their freedom is limited and the rules are sometimes a little strict, they live a happy life at Grace Field House and the woman they call “Mom” takes care of them and offers them all the love a mother could give to her children.

But one evening, after the departure from one of theirs, Emma and Norman discover that the children of this orphanage are delivered to demons, with the consent of “Mom”. Refusing to suffer the same fate, they will have to show ingenuity to escape the tragic end that awaits them.

6. Kuroko’s Basketball

Kuroko’s Basket is a shōnen manga written and drawn by Tadatoshi Fujimaki and is compiled into a total of thirty volumes. Having a real success, in April 2014, the circulation of the series amounted to 27 million copies. It is a great anime we recommend to anyone.

The manga shows us five sports geniuses, known as “The Generation of Miracles” within an establishment, the Teiko College. At the end of their scholarship, the five prodigies dispersed to renowned high schools, each wanting to lead their team to the top.However, all five members considered a sixth player to be just as prodigious as they were.

A young boy with a puny appearance, having the ability to direct the attention of others elsewhere to make himself invisible. He is named Kuroko, the phantom player. He joins the Seirin High School basketball team and meets Kagami, a talented player who comes straight from the United States and wants to become the best player in Japan.

When Kagami discovers that the mysterious Kuroko is the “Phantom Sixth Member” of the unbeatable junior-high team dubbed the “Generation of Miracles”, they team up to take Seirin High to the top, which means taking on Kuroko’s old teammates, one by one. Get ready for a wonderful adventure.

 5. Claymore

We enter the top five of the manga recommendations with a manga taking us into a sinister and medieval world where terrible creatures feed on human flesh and humanity’s only line of defense is a new breed of female warriors known as Claymores. They are half-human, half-demon warriors recognizable by their silver eyes and the gigantic sword they carry on their backs,

Clare is one of them. Called to a village to eliminate the demons that attack and devour the population, she saves Raki, the last survivor of an already decimated family. Raki, finding himself alone, decides to follow her in her bloodthirsty adventures, as a cook. He will gradually discover the secrets and the tragic destiny of these singular women.

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4. Slam Dunk

Slam Dunk is universally acclaimed and is generally elevated out of the “great sports manga” category. The manga written by Takehiko Inoue is about basketball and is focused on Sakuragi Hanamichi, a teenage delinquent who constantly strikes out with girls.

He enters Shohoku High School and meets Haruko Akagi with whom he falls in love. To please her, he decides to play basketball and join the high school club. Hanamichi discovers a love for the game that runs far deeper than a desire to impress Haruko. Together with the other players, he will help make Shohoku one of the best high school teams in Japan.

3. Black Butler

Black Butler is that perfect blend of supernatural, action, mystery, and comedy, making it a well-rounded and multifaceted manga. It transports us to London in the 19th century where Count Ciel Phantomhive is an English aristocrat with a troubled past.

He loses his parents in an inexplicable fire and sees himself becoming the heir to the toy and candy company Phantom.Ciel is the Queen’s Victoria ‘watchdog’ too, a private agent tasked with unraveling the occult conspiracies brewing in the kingdom with his weird and demoniac butler named Sebastian. He is also very insightful when it comes to conducting an investigation.

Ciel enlists the help of Sebastian in taking revenge on those who brought down the House of Phantomhive but making a deal with a demon comes at a price. 

2. YuYu Hakusho

This hugely popular manga series has earned itself many devoted fans for its tales of Yûsuke Urameshi, fourteen years old, the perfect delinquent: brawler and rebel. One day, he dies saving a little boy from an accident.

Unexpected by the authorities of the kingdom of the dead, his sacrifice poses a problem. He is therefore offered to come back to life if he proves himself worthy. To regain his life, he must work as a Spirit Detective to thwart evil presences on Earth and is endowed with powers that will help him in his various tasks, both in the world of humans and in that of the spirits.

If you like Hunter x Hunter, you’ll probably like Yu Yu Hakusho, since they were written by the same person, Yoshihiro Togashi. In 1993, the manga was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shōnen category. The circulation of the series amounts to more than 50 million copies, which makes the work one of the best-selling manga series. 

1. Bleach

If you’ve ever wondered about the afterlife, the greatest of our manga recommendations will probably catch your attention as it centers around questions of death and souls. In the world of Bleach, supernatural beings known as Soul Reapers transfer human souls from the world of the living to the Soul Society.

The Soul Reapers, protect the human species and the dead souls from the hollows, the bestial form of lost souls. Ichigo Kurosaki, a young high school student has the amazing ability to see and communicate with souls. He will cross the path of a Shinigami, Rukia Kuchiki, chasing a wandering soul.

During the fight that ensued, Rukia, following injuries, was forced to entrust some of her powers to Ichigo so that the mission could be carried out. But against all odds, Ichigo absorbs all of Rukia’s powers and in turn becomes a kind of shinigami. Rukia then stays in our world for time to regenerate and teaches him the basics of shinigami life.

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