Manga like Kaze Hikaru

Genres: Action Drama Romance

What is Kaze Hikaru about?

Status: Finished

In the year 1863, a time fraught with violent social upheaval, samurai of all walks of life flock to Kyoto in the hope of joining the Mibu-Roshi—a band of warriors united around their undying loyalty to the Shogunate system. In time, this group would become one of the greatest (and most famous) movements in Japanese history... the Shinsengumi!

Into this fierce milieu steps Kamiya Seizaburo, a young would-be warrior who, though lacking in combat experience, possesses a fiery enthusiasm to both aid the Mibu-Roshi in their mission and to avenge his wrongfully murdered family. One of the Mibu-Roshi's most gifted (and immature) swordsmen, the legendary Okita Soji, agrees to take Seizaburo under his wing. What no one suspects, least of all Soji, is that Seizaburo is actually a girl named Tominaga Sei in disguise!



Note: Volume 45 includes the one-shot "Oo-Edo Shinsengumi! Kaze Hikaru Another World".

Tags: Samurai , Swordplay , Shoujo , Historical , Coming of Age , Primarily Male Cast , Episodic , Gender Bending , Female Protagonist , Crime , Crossdressing , LGBTQ+ Themes , Primarily Adult Cast , Revenge , Assassins , Suicide
Where to read?

Here is a list of Manga similar to Kaze Hikaru

Rurouni Kenshin

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan

Also known as Rurouni Kenshin.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Romance

One hundred and forty years ago in Kyoto, with the coming of the American "Black Ships," there arose a warrior who, felling men with his bloodstained blade, gained the name Hitokiri, manslayer! His killer blade helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu era and slashed open the progressive age known as Meiji. Then he vanished, and with the flow of years, became legend.



Included one-shots:
Volume 1: Rurōni -Meiji Kenkaku Romantan- (second one-shot for the series, which Watsuki calls a "side-story")
Volume 3: Rurōni -Meiji Kenkaku Romantan- (first one-shot for the series, which Watsuki calls the "pilot")
Volume 6: Sengoku no Mikazuki (Nobuhiro Watsuki's debut one-shot)
Volume 28: Meteor Strike

Tags: Swordplay , Historical , Samurai , Shounen , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Martial Arts , Ninja , Assassins , Tragedy , Gore , Military , Urban Fantasy , Love Triangle , Cultivation
The Story of Saiunkoku

Saiunkoku Monogatari

Also known as The Story of Saiunkoku.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Shurei Hong, destitute but of noble birth, has always dreamed of working as a civil servant in the imperial court of Saiunkoku, but women are barred from holding office. The emperor Ryuki, however, refuses to take command, leaving everything to his advisors. Shurei is asked to become a consort to the emperor to persuade the ne’er-do-well ruler to govern.

Shurei enters the palace as Ryuki’s consort, but he has yet to seek her out. It is rumored that men, not women, share the emperor’s bedchamber. Shurei must think of a way to stop the emperor from shirking his responsibilities, but she has to find him first!



Tags: Josei , Historical , Foreign , Unrequited Love , Ancient China , Kingdom Management , Work , Female Protagonist , Politics , Male Harem , Royal Affairs
Where to read?
Basara

BASARA

Also known as Basara.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Basara is a post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure series and one of the most popular shoujo manga of the 90s in Japan. It is the story of how a young girl becomes "the child of destiny" and finds the strength to free her people and seek revenge for the death of her brother.



Note: Won the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shoujo category in 1992.

Tags: War , Twins , Shoujo , Politics , Post-Apocalyptic , Dystopian , Female Protagonist , Crossdressing , Coming of Age , Revenge , Fugitive , Slavery , Conspiracy , Heterosexual , Travel , Class Struggle , Disability , Pirates , Desert , Lost Civilization , Archery , Royal Affairs , LGBTQ+ Themes , Astronomy , Animals , Bisexual , Prison , Tomboy , Boys' Love ,
Where to read?
The King's Beast

Ou no Kemono: Enpei no Arcana

Also known as The King's Beast.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Mystery , Romance , Supernatural

In this kingdom, Ajin are considered no better than beasts. The men are sent to war, the women serve in brothels. Those who are lucky enough to live to old age spend their last years doing degrading, menial work. Boys who show signs of magical ability must serve the imperial family in the palace. Rangetsu's twin brother is sent to the palace to serve the Prince Tenyou, but he only lasts a short time before he is murdered. Rumors say his master was the one who aimed the blade, and Rangetsu decides to puts aside her femaleness in order seek revenge. After years of excelling on the battlefield, she has finally found her way to Prince Tenyou's side. But he isn't what she expected, and the webs of intrigue in the palace is more tangled and venomous than she imagined. Can Rangetsu find her vengeance before she too falls prey to palace plots, and will her inconvenient feelings for the Prince Tenyou be a hindrance or a help?



Tags: Shoujo , Crossdressing , Revenge , Female Protagonist , Kemonomimi , Politics , Heterosexual , Martial Arts , Twins , Foreign , LGBTQ+ Themes , Dissociative Identities , Slavery , Royal Affairs , Primarily Male Cast , Class Struggle
The Rose of Versailles

Versailles no Bara

Also known as The Rose of Versailles.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

Oscar François de Jarjeyes is a young noblewoman raised as a son by her father. As commander of Marie Antoinette's palace guard, Oscar is brought face-to-face with the luxury of King Louis XVI’s court at Versailles. Joined by her servant André, Oscar is privy to the intrigue and deceit of France's last great royal regime.



Tags: Shoujo , Class Struggle , Foreign , Historical , Politics , Tragedy , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Crossdressing , Heterosexual , Gender Bending , Love Triangle , Philosophy , Royal Affairs , Military , Swordplay , LGBTQ+ Themes , War , Bisexual , Suicide , Arranged Marriage , Kingdom Management , Unrequited Love
Where to read?
Seirou Opera

Seirou Opera

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

Set in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters during the Edo period of Japan. Akane, the daughter of a samurai family, has lost all of her living relatives and has to sell herself to a brothel. A courtesan of that brothel tells her to go attract a customer, and as a result she ends up getting involved with a strange man who asks the brothel to buy her freedom...

Tags: Historical , Shoujo , Oiran , Female Protagonist , Revenge , Politics , Tragedy
Where to read?
Ôoku: The Inner Chambers

Oooku

Also known as Ôoku: The Inner Chambers.

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

In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has begun to prey on the country's men. Within eighty years of the first outbreak, the male population has fallen by seventy-five percent. Women have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men, even that of the shogun. The men, precious providers of life, are carefully protected. And the most beautiful of the men are sent to serve in the shogun's Inner Chamber...



Note: Won an Excellence Prize at the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival and a special prize at The Japanese Association of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy's fifth annual Sense of Gender Awards in 2005. Won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural the Grand Prize in 2009 and the 56th Shogakukan Manga Award in Girls' Category in 2011. Was nominated for the first annual Manga Taishou in 2008.

Tags: Tragedy , Historical , Politics , Pandemic , Heterosexual , Shoujo , Matriarchy , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Harem , Suicide , Incest , Ensemble Cast , Samurai , LGBTQ+ Themes , Royal Affairs , Military , Bisexual , Religion , Espionage , Swordplay , Boys' Love
From Far Away

Kanata Kara

Also known as From Far Away.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy , Romance

On her way home from school one day, Noriko is unexpectedly plunged into a strange and extraordinary fantasy world. Her troubles compound exponentially when she is rescued and befriended by a handsome young man by the name of Izark. He may be brave and courageous, but inside Izark lurks the darkest evil imaginable. And according to an ancient prophecy, Noriko possesses the power to unleash that evil. Now, inexorably bound together, these two unlikely allies must navigate a world both wondrous and hostile.



Note:
Includes two side stories
Includes one epilogue
Includes one extra
Includes a sequel one-shot for "Onnanoko wa Yoyuu!" titled "Mata Ashita!" (また明日!)

Tags: Isekai , Shoujo , Language Barrier , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Demons , Politics , Magic
Where to read?
Chang Ge Xing

Chang Ge Xing

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama

Chang An in the Tang Dynasty of China (618-907): The demon star is passing through the sky, clamity is about to befall the Tang Dynasty - because of a woman.

The story is set in early Tang Dynasty, after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, in which Li Shimin the prince of Qin, killed the crown prince and usurped the throne soon after. It is under such background that our female protagonist set out to discard her former identities and seek revenge against the most powerful man in her world.

Note: This story was put on hiatus on March 2016. The author's contract with SUMMERZOO ended in Sept 2017 and she has since founded her own studio. Until she is able to get the rights back to Chang Ge Xing (and Zi Bu Yu), she won't continue publishing it, but she has promised and reassured that it lives on somehow.

Tags: Historical , Female Protagonist , War , Philosophy , Politics , Survival , Ancient China , Royal Affairs , Revenge , Conspiracy , Crossdressing , Foreign , Acting , Fugitive , Heterosexual , Swordplay , Age Gap , Classic Literature
Where to read?
Yona of the Dawn

Akatsuki no Yona

Also known as Yona of the Dawn.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Yona reels from the shock of witnessing a loved one’s murder and having to fight for her life. With Hak’s help, she flees the palace and struggles to survive while evading her enemy’s forces. But where will this displaced princess go when all the paths before her are uncertain?



Tags: Travel , Female Protagonist , Shoujo , Historical , Found Family , Dragons , Politics , Fugitive , Gods , Mythology , Reincarnation , War , Tragedy , Royal Affairs , Foreign , Primarily Male Cast , Coming of Age , Heterosexual , Archery , Super Power , Male Harem , Kuudere , Drugs , Orphan , Pirates , Survival

Comments

User Icon
User Icon