Manga like Billy Bat

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

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

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 , Urban Fantasy , Philosophy , Politics , Foreign , Anti-Hero , Memory Manipulation , Real Robot , Ensemble Cast , Amnesia , Conspiracy , War , Noir , Anachronism , Post-Apocalyptic , Male Protagonist , Cult , Suicide , Cyberpunk , Agender

OPUS

Also known as Opus.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy

A manga artist planning a shocking surprise ending to his story gets literally pulled into his own work—to face for himself what he had planned for his characters!



Note: OPUS went on permanent hiatus after Satoshi Kon's directorial career took off and was not completed. A rough final chapter was found in Kon's files after his death and was published with his family's permission by Ryu Comics.

Tags: Meta , Seinen , Demons , Magic , Drawing , Male Protagonist , Alternate Universe , Primarily Adult Cast , Isekai , Reincarnation

Ore to Akuma no Blues

Also known as Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Horror , Music , Mystery , Psychological

Legend has it that if you take your guitar and stand at a crossroads at the witching hour, the devil will appear. He’ll grab your instrument, play a song, and hand it back to you. You’ll walk away an expert bluesman, but you’ll have to pay the price: your immortal soul.

The year is 1929. Deep in the Mississippi Delta, a young man named RJ dreams of becoming a bluesman. RJ is a simple farmer who can barely play guitar, but when he takes a midnight stroll, his life is forever changed. A phantasmagoric reimagining of the life of legendary blues great Robert Johnson, Me and the Devil Blues follows the journey of a man who really did sell his soul to the devil. Why not come along for the ride?



Note: Won the 2009 Glyph Comics Awards in the Best Reprint Publication category.

Tags: Seinen , Historical , Body Horror , Male Protagonist , Musical Theater , Foreign , Anachronism , Travel , Demons

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 , Female Protagonist , Seinen , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Drugs , Athletics

21 Seiki Shounen

Also known as 21st Century Boys.

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

War is over. The Friend is dead. Mankind no longer faces the threat of extinction. Peace has finally come to Tokyo... Or has it? The mystery still remains. Nobody knows who the Friend was and where he came from. The only clue is hidden deep within the memories—the memories of the hero Kenji. It is time to open Pandora’s Box to discover what is left at the bottom.



Tags: Conspiracy , Seinen , Cult , Ghost , Tragedy , Military , Virtual World , Augmented Reality , Robots , Male Protagonist , Nudity

Spirit Circle

Also known as Spirit Circle.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Romance , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

Fuuta Okeya’s dad said second-year middle school students are unstoppable, and he’s inclined to agree. Fuuta’s determined to make the most out of his ordinary student life, but everything changes when the mysterious Kouko Ishigami transfers into his class. Not just because Fuuta thinks she’s pretty and likes her – but because she thinks Fuuta is her rival from a past life!



Note: Includes one extra chapter.

Tags: Reincarnation , Philosophy , Revenge , Seinen , Alternate Universe , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Gods , Tsundere , Heterosexual , Artificial Intelligence , School , Terrorism , Politics , Samurai , Gender Bending , Nudity , Archery

Adolf ni Tsugu

Also known as Message to Adolf.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Romance

A graveyard in contemporary Israel has an unlikely visitor. The elderly gentleman from Japan, a former news correspondent, lays a bouquet of flowers at the tomb of one Adolf Kamil. For he remembers the tale of three Adolfs: Kamil, a Jew who grew up in Kobe, Japan, the son of a baker; Kaufmann, only child of a German consul stationed at that port city and his Japanese wife; and the Fuhrer with whom the Far Eastern nation made common cause.

Note: Won the 10th Kodansha Manga Award for general manga in 1986.

Tags: Historical , War , Military , Torture , Fugitive , Espionage , Tragedy , Seinen , Travel , Foreign , Time Skip , Politics , Language Barrier , Guns , Suicide , Disability

Chi. Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite

Also known as Orb: On the Movements of the Earth.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

In the fifteenth century, claiming that the Earth revolves around the sun was a heresy that could get believers burned at the stake. Child prodigy Rafal is introduced to the truth about the universe by his mentor, and then must flee when the Inquisition comes to mete out "God's justice." With only a peculiar pendant to guide him, will Rafal discover his master's research, and can he and other believers set the world alight?



Notes:
Winner of the 26th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2022.
Nominated for the 14th and 15th Manga Taisho Award, placing 2nd and 5th respectively.
Placed 10th in the 7th Annual Next Manga Award.
Nominated for the 67th Shogakukan Manga Award in 2021 in the General category.
Ranked 2nd in the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (Male Readers Division).

Tags: Historical , Seinen , Astronomy , Foreign , Conspiracy , Fugitive , Religion , Philosophy , Tragedy , Torture , Time Skip , Gore , Primarily Male Cast