Manga like 20th Century Boys

What is 20th Century Boys about?

Status: Finished

Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren't for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that symbol returns. This is the story of a group of boys who try to save the world.

For Kenji, a simple convenience store manager who once dreamed of becoming a rock 'n' roll musician, a host of memories from his past come rushing back when one of his childhood friends mysteriously commits suicide. Could this new death be related to the rise of a bizarre new cult that's been implicated in several other murders and disappearances? Determined to dig deeper, Kenji reunites with some of his old buddies in the hope of learning the truth behind it all.

Tags: Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Politics , Seinen , Achronological Order , Dystopian , Fugitive , Conspiracy , Cult , Found Family , Pandemic , Post-Apocalyptic , Time Skip , Terrorism , Male Protagonist , Detective , Philosophy , Cosmic Horror , Female Protagonist , Dissociative Identities , Musical Theater , Tragedy , Historical , Augmented Reality , Police , Robots , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Transgender , Foreign , Time Manipulation , Homeless , Nudity , Twins , Urban , Rock Music , Drugs , Crossdressing

Where to read?

No reading links available

MONSTER

Also known as Monster.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Thriller

Everyone faces uncertainty at some point in their lives. Even a brilliant surgeon like Kenzo Tenma is no exception. But there’s no way he could have known that his decision to stop chasing professional success and instead concentrate on his oath to save peoples’ lives would result in the birth of an abomination. The questions of good and evil now take on a terrifyingly real dimension.

Years later, in Germany during the tumultuous post-reunification period, middle-aged childless couples are being killed one after another. The serial killer’s identity is known. The reasons why he kills are not. Dr. Tenma sets out on a journey to find the killer’s twin sister, who may hold some clues to solving the enigma of the “Monster.”

Tags: Seinen , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Philosophy , Amnesia , Fugitive , Twins , Noir , Foreign , Memory Manipulation , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Detective , Historical , Ensemble Cast , Crime , Police , Medicine , Time Skip , Crossdressing , Orphan , Adoption , Suicide , Torture , Gore , Achronological Order , Assassins , Episodic

Where to read?

No reading links available

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PLUTO

Also known as Pluto.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mecha , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

In an ideal world where man and robots coexist, someone or something has destroyed the powerful Swiss robot Mont Blanc. Elsewhere a key figure in a robot rights group is murdered. The two incidents appear to be unrelated...except for one very conspicuous clue - the bodies of both victims have been fashioned into some sort of bizarre collage complete with makeshift horns placed by the victims' heads. Interpol assigns robot detective Gesicht to this most strange and complex case - and he eventually discovers that he too, as one of the seven great robots of the world, is one of the targets.

Tags: Seinen , Robots , Artificial Intelligence , Detective , Police , Tragedy , Politics , Memory Manipulation , Philosophy , Anti-Hero , Foreign , Post-Apocalyptic , Real Robot , Ensemble Cast , Conspiracy , Amnesia , War , Noir , Anachronism , Cyberpunk , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Cult , Suicide , Agender

Where to read?

No reading links available

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Billy Bat

Also known as Billy Bat.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Supernatural , Thriller

It’s 1949 Los Angeles, and Kevin Yamagata, a Japanese American comic book author, is drawing his bestselling character, Billy Bat: a quick-witted detective who is, unsurprisingly, a cartoon bat. Everything is going well for Kevin until he discovers an unfortunate truth: He may have unintentionally plagiarized his beloved character from a drawing he once saw in Japan. Devastated by the news, Kevin returns to war-torn Japan to find the drawing’s original artist . . . but the character’s origins turn out to be far older and more perplexing than he had ever imagined.

Note: Won the Max und Moritz Prize for "Best international Comic" in 2014.

Tags: Drawing , Historical , Time Manipulation , Seinen , Conspiracy , Philosophy , Politics , Ensemble Cast , Urban Fantasy , Travel , Foreign , Achronological Order , War , Time Skip , Primarily Adult Cast , Police , Religion , Male Protagonist , Dystopian , Ninja , Guns , Swordplay , Anachronism , Espionage , Nudity , Terrorism

Where to read?

Comic Days

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Asadora!

Also known as Asadora!.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Drama , Mystery

It's 2020 and Tokyo is on fire! A large, mysterious creature rampages through the city destroying everything in its path. Cut to 1959. We meet a spunky young girl, Asa. As one of 11 siblings, Asa is constantly forgotten. Most people can't even remember her name. So, when she is kidnapped for ransom (by a guy who mistakes her for a doctor's kid), no one bats an eye—not even when a typhoon hits! Now Asa and her kidnapper must work together to survive the brutal storm. But there's more to her kidnapper and this storm than meets the eye.

Tags: Kaiju , War , Time Skip , Aviation , Historical , Natural Disaster , Tragedy , Seinen , Female Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Drugs , Athletics , Male Protagonist

Where to read?

No reading links available

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AKIRA

Also known as Akira.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Horror , Psychological , Sci-Fi

Welcome to Neo-Tokyo, built on the ashes of a Tokyo annihilated by a blast of unknown origin that triggered World War III. The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, change forever when paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, making him a target for a shadowy agency that will stop at nothing to prevent another catastrophe like the one that leveled Tokyo. At the core of the agency's motivation is a raw, all-consuming fear of an unthinkable, monstrous power known only as Akira.

Tags: Dystopian , Cyberpunk , Post-Apocalyptic , Military , Seinen , Tragedy , Super Power , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Body Horror , Gore , Survival , Delinquents , Drugs , War , Anti-Hero , Gangs , Motorcycles , Cult , Coming of Age , Afterlife , Terrorism , Crime , Nudity , Reincarnation , Bullying , Basketball

Where to read?

No reading links available

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Happy!

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Sports

One day the Yakuza comes knocking on the door of the orphaned Umino siblings. The oldest brother has gone into hiding after acquiring a huge debt. Afraid for her brother, Miyuki agrees to take responsibility for the loan. The yakuza wants her to become a ho, Miyuki wants to be a tennis pro. Turns out she used to be a very promising player before her parents died. However, becoming a pro is difficult when friends are few and everybody else conspires to make Miyuki's life hell.

Tags: Bullying , Tennis , Ojou-sama , Seinen , Love Triangle , Fugitive , Gambling , Yakuza , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Nudity , Foreign , Language Barrier , LGBTQ+ Themes

Where to read?

No reading links available

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Old Boy

Also known as Old Boy.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Mystery , Psychological

Ten years ago, they took him in. He doesn't even know who. And for ten years, he has been confined in a private prison. He doesn't know why. For ten years, his only contact with the outside world has been a television set and the voices of his jail mates. In time, he lost himself. He changed...transformed himself into something else...something hard...something lethal. Suddenly, one day his incarceration ends, again without explanation. He is sedated, stuffed inside a trunk, and dumped in a park. When he awakes, he is free to reclaim what's left of his life...and what's left is revenge.

Includes an epilogue in the final volume.

Tags: Revenge , Noir , Crime , Suicide , Amnesia , Urban , Bar , Fugitive , Memory Manipulation , School , Seinen , Male Protagonist

Where to read?

Mangas.io

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Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction

Also known as Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life

The Japan Self-Defense Forces are still looking for a way to combat the alien threat, but so far conventional weapons have had no effect. Maybe it’s time to try something unconventional.

Meanwhile, Kadode Koyama and her best friend avidly track the aliens’ movements on social media and less enthusiastically study for college entrance exams. When the end of the world looms overhead, you learn to take things one step at a time.

Notes:
Winner of the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category.
Includes one extra chapter.

Tags: Seinen , Aliens , Female Protagonist , Alternate Universe , Politics , Primarily Female Cast , Military , Time Manipulation , Bisexual , Coming of Age , Dystopian , Denpa , Philosophy , Language Barrier , Tragedy , Suicide , School , Otaku Culture , Anti-Hero , Post-Apocalyptic , Gore , Satire , Video Games , Cosmic Horror , Yuri , Crossdressing , Love Triangle

Where to read?

Big Comics

Viz

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Vagabond

Also known as Vagabond.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama

At seventeen years of age, Miyamoto Musashi--still known by his childhood name, Shinmen Takezo--was a wild young brute just setting out along the way of the sword.

In the aftermath of the epic Battle of Sekigahara, Takezo finds himself a fugitive survivor on the losing side of the war. Takezo's vicious nature has made him an outcast even in his own village, and he is hunted down like an animal. At this crucial crossroads in Takezo's life, an eccentric monk and a childhood friend are the only ones who can help him find his way.

Tags: Swordplay , Seinen , Samurai , Historical , Philosophy , Travel , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Martial Arts , Tragedy , Survival , Cultivation , Biographical , Gore , Rural , Heterosexual , War , Outdoor Activities , Ghost , Agriculture , Classic Literature , Fugitive , Language Barrier , Nudity , Afterlife ,

Where to read?

Viz

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SOIL

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

Something strange is going on in "Soil New Town." The sudden disappearance of a seemingly normal family leads the two detectives Yokoi and Onoda to the idyllic town in the middle of nowhere. What looks like a routine case at first quickly turns into a complex and deadly riddle where nothing is what it seems to be. Will the two disparate investigators manage to solve the mystery before it's too late?

Tags: Seinen , Police , Philosophy , Cosmic Horror , Crime , Surreal Comedy , Aliens , Conspiracy , Gore , Lost Civilization , Memory Manipulation , Detective , Female Protagonist

Where to read?

No reading links available

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