Manga like Metaphor: ReFantazio

Persona 3

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Horror , Supernatural

A teenager who was orphaned as a young boy returns to the city of his childhood. Shortly after transferring to Gekkoukan High School, he is attacked by Shadows — creatures that feed on the minds of their victims. The assault awakens his Persona, Orpheus, his only chance at defeating these creatures of the night. He soon discovers that he shares this special ability with other students at his new school. From them he learns of the "Dark Hour," a hidden time that exists between one day and the next, swarming with Shadows. He joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), and with his new friends, confronts the threat of the Shadows.

After signing a contract in which he "accepts his fate of his own free will," the main character battles with the other members of SEES against the Greater Shadows, incarnations with traits and appearances similar to those of the first 12 Major Arcana of the Tarot. While this is occurring, he continues to encounter and eventually befriends the child who gave him the contract to sign at the very beginning of the game, an entity who refers to himself as Pharos, and is really the incarnation of Death, the 13th Arcana.

Tags: Seinen , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , School , Coming of Age , Demons , Philosophy , Super Power , Gods , Robots

Persona 4

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Supernatural

Following a string of mysterious murders, transfer student Souji Seta and his new friends have followed the legend of the Midnight Channel and found themselves pulled into another dimension! In this twisted TV world, a person’s innermost secrets materialize as a Shadow — an entity that may become a powerful ally, or something much worse...

Based on the popular Persona 4 video game!

Source: UDON Entertainment

Tags: Super Power , Crime , Tragedy , Mythology , Primarily Teen Cast , Gods , Detective , Rural , Tomboy , Urban Fantasy , Seinen

Persona 5

Also known as Persona 5.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Drama , Mystery , Supernatural

After being arrested and having to transfer to a new high school in Tokyo, Akira Kurusu is given the goal of rehabilitation and awakened to a new power—the power of one’s true self, a Persona. Using his Persona and the mysterious navigation app Momentos, Akira and his friends take on the role of phantom thieves, saving people from the twisted desires of those around them.

Akira Kurusu thought he was doing the right thing when he rescued a woman who was being attacked. Expelled from his school and sent away from home, he is reenrolled in Shujin Academy on probation. Trouble finds him again on his first day when he comes across delinquent Ryuji Sakamoto and the two somehow stumble into a castle in an alternate reality. Caught by the castle’s king, the schoolteacher Kamoshida, Akira discovers his will to rebel and awakens the power of his Persona!



Tags: Crime , School , Male Protagonist , Anti-Hero

Ninkyou Tensei: Isekai no Yakuza-hime

Also known as Yakuza Reincarnation.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

Ryu may be getting on in years, but this aging yakuza boss is still tough enough to take on the punks trying to edge in on his turf. However, when the young toughs ambush him, it looks like it’s lights out for old Ryu. But instead of dying, Ryu wakes up in a fantasy world in the body of a beautiful princess! Is he the one that the ancient prophecy spoke of? Ryu might be out of place in this fantasy realm, but he may be the only one who can save it!



Tags: Reincarnation , Isekai , Super Power , Martial Arts , Yakuza , Gender Bending , Female Protagonist , Crime , Magic , Drugs , Elf , Dragons , Body Horror , Demons , Nekomimi , Seinen , Gore , Religion , Slavery

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau

Also known as Children of the Whales.

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

Chakuro is the archivist for the Mud Whale, diligently chronicling the lives and deaths of his people. As one of the short-lived thymia wielders, he knows his time is limited and is determined to leave a better record than his predecessors. But the steady pace of their isolated existence on the Mud Whale is abruptly shattered when a scouting party discovers a mysterious young girl who seems to know more about their home than they do…



Notes: Nominated to the 21st Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Tags: Lost Civilization , Dystopian , War , Philosophy , Ships , Shoujo , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Magic , Reincarnation , Conspiracy , Desert , Kuudere , Heterosexual