Manga like Itezuru

Sakuran

Also known as Sakuran.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Ecchi , Romance

The story follows Kiyoha, sold into a brothel as a child and forced to work as a maid and her rise to prominence as one of the top-ranking courtesans in Yoshiwara. The allure of the "flower and willow world" as it was called by artists in the day is underscored by the very real tragedy, heartbreak and difficult lives led by those seemingly glamorous courtesans. Will Kiyoha's fox-like wiles give her a chance to break free of her gilded cage? Or will her fighting spirit ruin her chances of ever escaping the brothel?



Tags: Oiran , Historical , Seinen , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Prostitution , Time Skip , Orphan , Nudity

Maiko-san Chi no Makanai-san

Status: Releasing
Genres: Slice of Life

Within the winding streets of Kyoto's geisha district, there lives a 16 year old girl named Kiyo. After failing to become a Maiko, an apprentice traditional Japanese performer, Kiyo works as the caterer for her troupe. This is the story of her daily life.

Tags: Food , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Iyashikei , Work , Shounen , Yuri , Episodic , Educational

Rikon Kurabu

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Yuko, known as "Mama", is only 25 years old. She ties her hair to look older and more credible in her role as a hostess bar owner in Ginza, a suburb of Tokyo. Despite her youth, she has been divorced for two years and has a baby girl, Asako, whom she has placed with her mother in the countryside. Regularly harassed by her ex-husband, she must also manage the excesses of her employees, the indelicacy of the customers, her attraction to Ken-Chan, her bartender, and financial problems at the dawn of a major economic crisis.

Tags: Seinen , Female Protagonist

Shinanogawa

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Japan, Showa era… times are tough, especially in the region which has been surrounded by the river Shinano for hundreds of years. Ice-cold winter, failed harvest and hungry wolves give its residents a hard time. Young girls are amongst the first victims of this crisis-ridden time - their fate is often already decided: it’s either the brothel or the factory. Under these hard circumstances, the young and beautiful Takano Yukie tries to find her own way in life; and while doing so, she will challenge the moral conventions of the time.

Shinanogawa, written by the novelist Okazaki Hideo, tells the wild and enthralling tale of a young woman searching for herself through dramatic and beguilingly sensual images illustrated by Kamimura Kazuo (of Lady Snowblood fame).

(source: German publisher, translated)

Note: The original tankoubon volume released in 1973 by Shonengahosha only included the first 13 chapters. The full series was collected into three volumes by K&B Publishers in 2005.

Tags: Historical , Seinen , Female Protagonist

Kantou Heiya

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

August 15 1945, a plane from the US Air Forces crashes in a field in the Chiba region. Thus begins, the day of Japan's capitulation, that great bildungsroman about Kinta, a young boy raised by his grandfather after his mother's death.

Tags: Historical , Seinen , Transgender

Dousei Jidai

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

Kyouko (21) and Jiro (23) live together in Tokyo as an unmarried couple. She was a graphic artist in an advertisement agency, and he was just starting out as an illustrator. In a world on the verge of a sexual revolution, this is the story of their daily life with friends and family, and the struggles of their relationship.

Tags: Seinen , Nudity , Philosophy , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , Office Lady , Sadism , Tragedy , Episodic , Incest , Suicide , Drawing , Urban ,

Akai Hana

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Akai Hana (紅い花, Red Flowers), Monthly Manga Garo 1967-10
Ri-san Ikka (李さん一家, The Lee Family), Monthly Manga Garo 1967-06
Tsuya (通夜, The Wake), Monthly Manga Garo 1967-03
Umibe no Jokei (海辺の叙景, Scenes from the Seaside), Monthly Manga Garo 1967-09
Nishibeta Mura Jiken (西部田村事件, The Incident at Nishibeta Village), Monthly Manga Garo 1967-12
Futamata Keikoku (二岐溪谷, Futamata Gorge), Monthly Manga Garo 1968-02
Honyara Hora no Ben-san (ほんやら洞のべんさん, Mister Ben of the Honyara Cave), Monthly Manga Garo 1968-06
Jonin (女忍, The Ninjess), Ryuuko 1961-02, redrawn and -published in Monthly Manga Garo 1966-12
Furuhon to Shoujo (古本と少女, The Secondhand Book), Meiro2 1960-02, redrawn and -published in Monthly Manga Garo 1966-09
Mokkiriya no Shoujo (もっきり屋の少女), Monthly Manga Garo 1968-08
Yanagiya Shujin (やなぎ屋主人), Monthly Manga Garo 1970-02 & 1970-03
Shomin Onyado (庶民御宿), Manga Sunday 1975-04
Kinjo no Keshiki (近所の景色), Custom Comics 1981-10

Note: Chapter 11 was originally published in two parts, the chapter count reflects that.

Tags: Anthology

Akai Hana

Also known as Red Flowers.

Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

A nameless traveler comes across a young girl running an inn. While showing the traveler where the best fishing hole is, a bratty schoolmate reveals the girl must run the business because her alcoholic father is incapable. At the story’s end, the traveler witnesses an unusual act of kindness from the boy...



Note: Published in Monthly Manga Garo No. 38 (October 1967).

Tags: Rural , Seinen , Female Protagonist

Shura Yukihime

Also known as Lady Snowblood.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Ecchi

A story of pure vengeance, Lady Snowblood tells the tale of a daughter born of a singular purpose, to avenge the death of her family at the hands of a gang of thugs, a purpose woven into her soul from the time of her gestation.



Tags: Revenge , Female Protagonist , Historical , Seinen , Nudity , Assassins , Bisexual , Gore , Swordplay , Yakuza , LGBTQ+ Themes