Manga like Ikoku Nikki

Skip to Loafer

Also known as Skip and Loafer.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life

Excellent student Iwakura Mitsumi has always dreamt about leaving her small town, going to a prestigious university, and making positive change in the world. But she’s so focused on reaching her goals that she’s not prepared for the very different (and overwhelming) city life that awaits her in a Tokyo high school. Luckily, she makes fast friends with Shima Sousuke, a handsome classmate who’s as laid-back as she is over-prepared. Can this naive country girl make it big in Tokyo with Sousuke by her side?



Notes:
Nominated for the 2020 Manga Taisho Award.
Winner of the 47th Kodansha Manga Award in the Best General Manga category in 2023.

Tags: Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , School , Primarily Teen Cast , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Iyashikei , Urban , Acting , Love Triangle , Transgender , Rural , LGBTQ+ Themes

Shimanami Tasogare

Also known as Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare.

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

Not only is high schooler Tasuku Kaname the new kid in town, he’s also terrified that he’s been outed as gay. Just as he’s contemplating doing the unthinkable, Tasuku meets a mysterious woman who leads him to a group of people dealing with problems not so different from his own. In this realistic, heartfelt depiction of LGBT+ characters from different backgrounds finding their place in the world, a search for inner peace proves to be the most universal experience of all.



Tags: LGBTQ+ Themes , Coming of Age , Found Family , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Bullying , Ensemble Cast , Transgender , Crossdressing , Agender , Boys' Love , Asexual , Yuri , Rehabilitation , Suicide , Aromantic , Primarily Teen Cast , School

Hirayasumi

Also known as Hirayasumi.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Slice of Life

With a carefree outlook on life, Hiroto knows better than anyone that slowing down is sometimes the best way to move forward.

At 29 years old, carefree Hiroto Ikuta doesn’t have a girlfriend, a full-time job, or a plan for the future—and he couldn’t be happier. Hiroto’s breezy attitude isn’t easy for everyone to understand, though. In a world filled with anxiety, confusion, and grief, Hiroto and the people who surround him are all just doing their best to figure out this thing called life.

After developing an unlikely friendship with the grouchy old granny who lives in his neighborhood, Hiroto suddenly finds himself inheriting not just her house, but some rather difficult emotions as well. His 18-year-old cousin Natsumi moves in with him, but as a struggling art student, she has her own troubles to deal with and may just put Hiroto’s easygoing lifestyle to the test.



Tags: Seinen , Iyashikei , Family Life , Urban , Primarily Adult Cast , Work , College , Drawing , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Female Protagonist , Filmmaking

Metamorphose no Engawa

Also known as BL Metamorphosis.

Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

Ichinoi, a 75-year-old woman living a peaceful life, unwittingly buys a Boy's Love manga one day…and is fascinated by what she finds inside. When she returns to the bookstore to buy the next volume, the high school girl working there–Urara, a seasoned BL fan–notices a budding fangirl when she sees one. When Urara offers to help Ichinoi explore this whole new world of fiction, the two dive into BL fandom together, and form an unlikely friendship along the way.



Notes:
Winner of the New Face Award from the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2019.
Nominated for the 12th and 14th Manga Taisho Award in 2019 and 2021.

Tags: Otaku Culture , Female Protagonist , Josei , Primarily Female Cast , Boys' Love , Iyashikei , Coming of Age , Drawing , Elderly Protagonist , Urban , Heterosexual

Ohana Holoholo

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Maya, who works as a translator, lives with her bisexual former girlfriend, Michiru, and Michiru's son, Yuuta. Residing in the same apartment building is an actor called Nico, who drops by for a visit almost everyday, and knows about Michiru's past. Somewhat like family, and somewhat not, their lives interweave full of warm days.

Note: Includes five side stories and an extra.

Tags: Josei , LGBTQ+ Themes , Family Life , Found Family , Bisexual , Yuri , Parenthood , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Unrequited Love , Cohabitation , Acting , Suicide , Transgender

Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu.

Also known as Living With My Brother's Wife.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Kishibe Shino, a high school student. 17 years old. Her parents died, and then six months ago, so did her older brother, her only remaining blood relative. Now she lives with her “brother’s wife,” Nozomi-san. “We might not be blood related, but we’re family.” The story they write is a bit clumsy but full of something inexplicable. Slowly but surely, they happily grow together through their sensitive daily life.



Tags: Family Life , Tragedy , Primarily Female Cast , Seinen , Coming of Age , LGBTQ+ Themes , School , Age Gap

Akanesasu Zakuro no Miyako

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Let's live in Spain! A story of a boy who lost his parents, and his new life in Southern Europe.

In the lobby of the Granada airport in southern Europe, 14-year-old Natsuki Tachibana was anxious. He had no other family left in this world. So now he is going to live with his aunt Alba, who is Spanish and seemed unfriendly at first. A new life begins in a strange country, with family he has never met before!

The beautiful cityscape, with its white stone walls casting deep shadows. The brightly colored tables, serving up gazpacho and tortillas. The cheerful people who gather at the Spanish-style shared-house "pisos" and bars.

Tags: Family Life , Episodic , Iyashikei , Foreign , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Adoption

Otona ni Nattemo

Also known as Even Though We’re Adults.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

Ayano, an elementary school teacher in her thirties, stops by a bar one day and meets another woman named Akari. Sparks fly as the two chat, and before the night is over, Ayano even goes in for a kiss. Akari is intrigued but confused...especially when she discovers that Ayano has a husband! Both Ayano and Akari are about to find out that love doesn’t get any easier, even as you grow older.



Tags: Primarily Adult Cast , Yuri , LGBTQ+ Themes , Female Protagonist , Family Life , Cheating , Josei , Teacher , Love Triangle , Work , Bisexual , Unrequited Love , School

No, You na.

Also known as Or Something Like It.

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

Suddenly, her life was turned upside-down.... Kinaho lived alone until one day, her boyfriend Akito brought with him two young relatives: a pair of brothers who had just lost their parents. All at once, Kinaho finds herself living under one roof with not just Akito, but serious-to-a-fault eighth grader Toma and innocent five-year-old Haruhi. As the days pass in confusion, this group starts to forge a new relationship: a family... or something like it.



Tags: Family Life , Found Family , Josei , Writing , Parenthood

3-gatsu no Lion

Also known as March Comes in Like a Lion.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Rei Kiriyama is a child prodigy. Rei Kiriyama is also an orphan who lives alone in an empty apartment. Rei Kiriyama is a teen working in an adult's world. Life is complicated for Rei. He's an up-and-coming shogi player on the verge of turning pro, but he has no homelife, or much of a life period,outside his board game, but thankfully with the help of some life-long friends he has an opportunity start all over again.



Notes:
Winner of the Grand Prize at the 4th Manga Taishou Award in 2011.
Winner of the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in 2011.
Winner of the Grand Prize at the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2014.
Winner of the Grand Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2021.

Tags: Coming of Age , Family Life , Philosophy , Rehabilitation , Seinen , Shogi , Found Family , Male Protagonist , Bullying , Iyashikei , Board Game , Food , Heterosexual , Tragedy , Age Gap , Adoption , School Club , Love Triangle