Manga like Asadora!

20 Seiki Shounen

Also known as 20th Century Boys.

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

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

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

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

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 , Yuri , Transgender

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

Yawara!

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Sports

Yawara Inokuma is a talented judoka raised and trained by her grandfather Jigoro. Her grandfather says she's supposed to become the hope of Japan's judo team in Seoul in 1988, but she has different plans: to finish high school and find a boyfriend... like all her friends. But being a normal girl and an Olympic champion are two different things. Which path will she choose to follow?

Note: Won the 35th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga in 1990.

Tags: Judo , Martial Arts , Coming of Age , Athletics , Female Protagonist , Seinen , Ojou-sama , Primarily Adult Cast

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 , Coming of Age , Dystopian , Denpa , Philosophy , Language Barrier , Tragedy , Suicide , School , Otaku Culture , Post-Apocalyptic , Bisexual , Crossdressing , Anti-Hero , Gore , Satire , Video Games , Cosmic Horror , Yuri , CGI , Love Triangle

Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä

Also known as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Sci-Fi

Humanity, in its hubris, has precipitated a devastating environmental disaster. Flourishing industrial civilizations have been swallowed up by the Sea of Corruption, an enormous forest of fungi releases a miasma of poisonous spores into the air. Nausicaa, a compassionate young princess, and her allies battle to heal a wounded world and its inhabitants...



Note: Won the 26th Seiun Award for Best Comic (1995).

Tags: Environmental , Post-Apocalyptic , Lost Civilization , War , Philosophy , Female Protagonist , Survival , Aviation , Military , Cult , Dystopian , Eco-Horror , Politics , Religion , Kaiju , Anachronism , Ghost , Magic , Slavery , Tragedy , Tanks , Travel , Calligraphy

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.



Note: Includes four extra chapters.

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

MUJIRUSHI

Also known as Mujirushi.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery

Kamoda will do anything to earn a quick buck, even if it means skipping out on his taxes to take his wife on a luxury cruise. But when a random tax audit bankrupts his family, Kamoda soon discovers his wife has taken that cruise after all—only without Kamoda or their daughter Kasumi.

Desperate to provide, Kamoda invests in a scheme to mass-produce masks of controversial American presidential candidate Beverly Duncan. But a lackluster election kills their sales potential, burying Kamoda under a mountain of masks and debt. On the verge of despair, Kamoda discovers a sign that leads him to the Director, an art fanatic who vows he can make all of Kamoda and Kasumi’s dreams come true.



Tags: Foreign , Crime , Seinen , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Language Barrier