Manga like Otoyomegatari

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Also known as The Apothecary Diaries.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Mystery

Maomao, a young woman trained in the art of herbal medicine, is forced to work as a lowly servant in the inner palace. Though she yearns for life outside its perfumed halls, she isn’t long for a life of drudgery! Using her wits to break a “curse” afflicting the imperial heirs, Maomao attracts the attentions of the handsome eunuch Jinshi and is promoted to attendant food taster. But Jinshi has other plans for the erstwhile apothecary, and soon Maomao is back to brewing potions and…solving mysteries?!



Note: Won the Grand Prize in the Printed Manga category at the Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Award 2019.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Medicine , Detective , Historical , Ancient China , Foreign , Primarily Female Cast , Seinen , Royal Affairs , Drugs , Tragedy , Work , Politics , Crime , Episodic , Maids , Asexual , Adoption , Heterosexual , Conspiracy , Chibi , Ojou-sama , Aromantic , Suicide , Religion , Desert , War

Tenju no Kuni

Also known as Blissful Land.

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

Khang Zhipa is a 13-year-old doctor’s apprentice living in a mountain village in 18th-century Tibet. One day, when he gets back from collecting medicinal herbs, he finds a bride-to-be and her wedding party will be resting at his home for the night. The bride’s name is Moshi Rati and it turns out she’s actually Khang Zhipa’s fiancee from another land, here to stay! Enjoy this heartwarming slice-of-life tale woven by a kind-hearted boy and his mysterious bride.



Tags: Medicine , Rural , Iyashikei , Arranged Marriage , Foreign , Historical , Family Life , Marriage , Primarily Child Cast , Male Protagonist , Heterosexual , Educational , Animals , Indigenous Cultures , Shounen , Food , Nudity

Emma

Also known as Emma.

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

Calling upon his former governess, William Jones, gentleman, is startled when his knock is answered by an uncommonly beautiful servant, the soft-spoken Emma. Throughout his visit, William's eyes drift to the maid whenever she enters the room, and he contrives to meet Emma socially as she goes about her errands. But London society is a web of strict codes and divisions. For the son of a wealthy merchant, seeking out a working-class girl is simply not done! William's father plans for his son to marry into the peerage and elevate the Jones family to greater heights, but although William says and does what is expected of him, he longs only for Emma's company...



Tags: Foreign , Historical , Maids , Work , Educational , Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Adoption , Seinen , Primarily Adult Cast , Ojou-sama , Orphan , Travel , Time Skip , Butler , Teacher , Nudity , Cars , Trains , Ships

Hokuou Kizoku to Moukinzuma no Yukiguni Karigurashi

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

This story tells the life of two people, a noble only in name and an older wife from the army, married on a tentative agreement. In the bone-chilling cold, they spend their time hunting, gutting, and cooking by the fireplace. Their daily life passes peacefully. This is the warm love story recounting it.

The story that was 3-time award-winner of the Narou-Con competition has been adapted to manga!

Tags: Iyashikei , Marriage , Food , Primarily Adult Cast , Rural , Foreign , Family Life , Royal Affairs , Josei , Environmental , Heterosexual , Agriculture , Educational , Ensemble Cast , Tomboy , Gender Bending , Travel , Snowscape , Language Barrier , Guns , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Animals

Golden Kamuy

Also known as Golden Kamuy.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Drama

In the early twentieth century, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto scratches out a meager existence during the postwar gold rush in the wilderness of Hokkaido. When he stumbles across a map to a fortune in hidden Ainu gold, he sets off on a treacherous quest to find it. But Sugimoto is not the only interested party, and everyone who knows about the gold will kill to possess it! Faced with the harsh conditions of the northern wilderness, ruthless criminals and rogue Japanese soldiers, Sugimoto will need all his skills and luck—and the help of an Ainu girl named Asirpa—to survive.



Note: Won the 9th Manga Taisho Award in 2016 and the 22nd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2018. Nominated for the 20th and 21st Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and the 40th Kodansha Manga Awards in 2016.

Tags: Historical , Conspiracy , Military , Outdoor Activities , Seinen , Politics , Ensemble Cast , Educational , Surreal Comedy , Food , Travel , Found Family , Gore , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Survival , Guns , Revenge , LGBTQ+ Themes , Language Barrier , Anti-Hero , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Slapstick , Crime , Male Harem , Snowscape , Trains , Prison , Animals , Indigenous Cultures , Male Protagonist , Nudity , Swordplay , Disability , Archery , Suicide , Tanned Skin , Transgender , Twins , Cannibalism , Zoophilia , Heterosexual , Yakuza , Time Skip , Dissociative Identities , Crossdressing , Wilderness , Gender Bending

Fushigi no Kuni no Bird

Also known as Isabella Bird in Wonderland: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Slice of Life

British adventuress Isabella Bird journeys to Japan in 1878 and becomes the first Westerner to travel to many remote locations, heading northward towards Hokkaido to study the aboriginal Ainu people.

A true story based on the book "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan".

Tags: Historical , Educational , Travel , Foreign , Language Barrier , Episodic , Indigenous Cultures , Female Protagonist , Seinen , Primarily Adult Cast , Rural , Inn , Ships , Coastal , Biographical , Disability , Horticulture , Nudity

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

Also known as Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou.

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

Set hundreds of years in the future after an environmental catastrophe, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (also known as Yokohama Shopping Log) centers on the simple life of Alpha, an android who runs a small coffee shop in coastal Japan. Alpha stands witness to chronicle the end of humanity’s days with coffee, a slice of watermelon, and the sound of her moon guitar backed by distant seagulls. Quiet and bittersweet, this tale is about the melancholy beauty that can be found even as the end approaches.



Tags: Iyashikei , Coastal , Female Protagonist , Post-Apocalyptic , Coming of Age , Philosophy , Rural , Robots , Time Skip , Lost Civilization , Seinen , Artificial Intelligence , Episodic , Travel , Work , Mopeds , Yuri , Family Life , Restaurant , Motorcycles , LGBTQ+ Themes , Nudity

Arte

Also known as Arte.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

The story takes place in 16th century Florence during a time when women were relegated to the role of wives and caretakers, a young noble girl named Arte dreams of being an artist’s apprentice. One day she stumbles on the workshop of the eccentric Maestro Leo who decides to accept her as his student. Follow Arte on her journey as she discovers the joy and struggles on the path to becoming a maestro.



Tags: Historical , Female Protagonist , Foreign , Seinen , Drawing , Primarily Adult Cast , Work , Coming of Age , Time Skip , Estranged Family , Unrequited Love , Fugitive , Orphan , War , Medieval , Prison , Royal Affairs , Arranged Marriage , Pirates

Tongari Boushi no Atelier

Also known as Witch Hat Atelier.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy

In a world where everyone takes wonders like magic spells and dragons for granted, Coco is a girl with a simple dream: she wants to be a witch. But everybody knows magicians are born, not made, and Coco was not born with a gift for magic. Resigned to her un-magical life, Coco is about to give up on her dream to become a witch … until the day she meets Qifrey, a mysterious, traveling magician. After secretly seeing Qifrey perform magic in a way she’s never seen before, Coco soon learns what everybody “knows” might not be the truth, and discovers that her magical dream may not be as far away as it may seem...



Notes:
Nominated for the 11th Manga Taishou Award in 2018.
Won the Daruma d'Or at Japan Expo in 2019.
Won Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia at the Eisner Awards in 2020.
Won the Best Manga Award at the Harvey Awards in 2020.

Tags: Witch , Magic , Found Family , Memory Manipulation , Female Protagonist , Teacher , Drawing , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Revenge , School , Primarily Female Cast , Medieval , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Primarily Child Cast , Politics , Disability , Seinen , Philosophy , Rehabilitation , Foreign , Travel , Spearplay , Amnesia , LGBTQ+ Themes , Iyashikei , Dragons , Body Horror , Twins

Tenmaku no Jaadugar

Also known as A Witch's Life in Mongol.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama

In the harem of the Khan, wisdom is beauty. The time: the thirteenth century. The place: Yeke Mongol Ulus, the greatest empire the world has ever known. The woman: Fatima, hailing from Persia, where medical technique and scientific knowledge have been perfected beyond all precedent. Fatima's desire for a stage where she can put all her knowledge to work has brought her to the palace of the Mongols, where she falls under the wing of Töregene, the sixth wife of Ögedei, the second Great Khan—a mighty woman with complicated feelings about the direction of the empire. These two women are the axle upon which the politics of the palace, and soon the very world, will turn... Note: Nominated for the Manga Taishou Award in 2023 and 2024.

Tags: Historical , Female Protagonist , Foreign , Josei , Revenge , Espionage , Biographical , Kingdom Management , Slavery , War , Desert , Educational , Royal Affairs , Military , Politics , Tragedy , Arranged Marriage , Orphan , Time Skip , Travel , Religion , Conspiracy