Manga like Ao no Hana: Utsuwa no Mori

Nodame Cantabile

Also known as Nodame Cantabile.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Music , Romance , Slice of Life

The son of a famous pianist, music student Shinichi Chiaki dreams of studying abroad and becoming a conductor like his mentor. Unfortunately, his fear of flying grounds his lofty plans! As he watches other classmates achieve what he has always wanted, Shinichi wonders if he should quit music altogether. Then one day he meets fellow student Megumi Noda, also known as Nodame. This oddball girl cannot cook, clean, or even read a music score, but she can play the piano in incomparable Cantabile style. And she teaches Chiaki something that he has forgotten: to enjoy his music, no matter where he is.



Note: Includes four bonus chapters and the side story "NodaCan BS".

Tags: College , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , Musical Theater , Language Barrier , Josei , Tsundere , Work , Ensemble Cast , Otaku Culture , Classical Music , Coming of Age , LGBTQ+ Themes , Transgender

Yubisaki to Renren

Also known as A Sign of Affection.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

Yuki is a typical college student, whose world revolves around her friends, social media, and the latest sales. But when a chance encounter on a train leads to her meeting friend-of-a-friend and fellow student Itsuomi-san, her world starts to widen. But even though Itsuomi-kun can speak three languages, sign language isn’t one of them. Can the two learn to communicate the budding feelings between them?



Notes:
Ranked 17th place for the Tsugimanga Award in the Print Manga Category in 2020.
Nominated for the 45th and 46th Kodansha Manga Award in the Shoujo Category in 2021 and 2022.
Nominated for the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shoujo Category

Tags: Shoujo , Language Barrier , Female Protagonist , Disability , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , College , Love Triangle , Bar , Cohabitation , Urban , Chibi , Tsundere

Sekine-kun no Koi

Also known as Sekine's Love.

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

Keiichiro Sekine, age 30, is an exceptionally "unfortunate" man. Though he's a hot, elite businessman who's popular with both women and men alike, he's cursed with a "triple handicap" of being insensitive, passive and a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none. Having lived a life that's been somewhat out-of-focus, Sekine resolves to make a change and heads for a small knitting and handicrafts store. While knitting and counting the stitches, Sekine finds himself recalling horrible memories in his past and the feel of his previous upperclassman, Kazune's, bone-thin body! But after meeting the store owner's granddaughter, Sara, Sekine's love life might finally begin... or not.



Tags: Seinen , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Rehabilitation , Work , Nudity , Age Gap , Table Tennis , Urban , Heterosexual

Hi ga Hashiru

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

Tags: Seinen

Kono Koi, Chaban ni Tsuki!?

Also known as Matcha Made in Heaven.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Romance

Chako Hananoki thought she'd found happiness in a handsome fiancé, but when she realized a marriage to him would mean a total erasure of herself, she broke it off and moved back into her childhood home in the country... only to find a strange man and young woman living there? She finds a way to coexist with them, but when her stalker fiancé follows her home, she declares to him (and accidentally to the whole village as well) that this new man in her life is her husband?!

Tags: Food , Josei , Female Protagonist , Rural , Found Family , Fake Relationship , Heterosexual

Tsukikage Baby

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

In a small provincial town filled with a spirit of preservation for a traditional performance art called, "Owara," arrives Hotaruko, a transfer student from Tokyo. When a local boy named Hikaru catches her in an awkward stance in - what was supposed to be - an empty classroom, they form a strange bond. What's more, their bond makes way for an unexpected development?



Tags: Josei , Dancing , Age Gap , Rural , Love Triangle , School , Fake Relationship , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist

Sakamichi no Apollon

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

Nishimi Kaoru has moved from city to city and school to school because of his father’s job. So the first day at his new school was just routine for him. Being intellectual and the new transfer student, he has always been seen as an outcast and all Kaoru had to do was bear it until the next time he moved. But things were slightly different this time. First, he started to get close to the class president, Mukae Ritsuko, and, secondly, unlikely as it seemed, grew closer to Kawabuchi Sentaro. Sentaro was infamous for getting into fights, skipping class and was an overall bad boy. Strangely enough, the three of them find common ground in music, namely jazz, and Kaoru finds himself actually enjoying the new town.

Notes:
Includes 8 extra chapters.
Won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga.

Tags: Band , Josei , Heterosexual , Historical , Coming of Age , Love Triangle , Male Protagonist , Jazz Music , Primarily Teen Cast , Rural , Age Gap , Time Skip , Religion , School , Tragedy

Hachimitsu to Clover

Also known as Honey and Clover.

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

Takemoto lives in a run down student apartment, where his greatest worry is when he'll next be able to afford to eat meat and whether he'll get to class on time. Although he's away from home and living on his own, Takemoto is far from finished growing up. Along with his crazy cast of friends, Morita, Mayama, Yamada, and Hagumi, Takemoto sets out to discover life and his true self.



Notes:
Won the the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for shoujo in 2003.
Includes 11 extra chapters.

Tags: Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Josei , Age Gap , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , College , Primarily Adult Cast , Unrequited Love , Male Protagonist , Rehabilitation , Teacher , Philosophy , Drawing , Cycling , Work , School , Male Harem , Tragedy , Bar

Real Clothes

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

Kinue is a saleswoman in the futon section of a department store. Despite her plain clothes and poor makeup, she ends up being transferred to the women's clothing department, where she has to be trained by her extraordinarily fashionable boss.

Tags: Fashion , Josei , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Work

Yakunara Mug Cup Mo

Also known as Yakunara Mug Cup Mo.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Slice of Life

The story begins when a high school girl moves to a shopping street in Tajimi. Many encounters await her, friends, town folk, ceramic art, etc. What will she discover in a town famous for ceramics?

Tags: Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , School Club , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Rural