Manga like Nodame Cantabile

Hachimitsu to Clover

Also known as Honey and Clover.

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

Takemoto lives in a run down student apartment, where his greatest worry is when he'll next be able to afford to eat meat and whether he'll get to class on time. Although he's away from home and living on his own, Takemoto is far from finished growing up. Along with his crazy cast of friends, Morita, Mayama, Yamada, and Hagumi, Takemoto sets out to discover life and his true self.



Notes:
Won the the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for shoujo in 2003.
Includes 11 extra chapters.

Tags: Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Josei , Love Triangle , Age Gap , Heterosexual , College , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Unrequited Love , Rehabilitation , Philosophy , Teacher , Drawing , Work , Cycling , School , Male Harem , Tragedy , Bar

Kono Oto Tomare!

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Music , Romance

Since the graduation of the senior members of the club, Takezou ends up being the sole member of the "Koto" (traditional Japanese string instrument) club. Now that the new school year has begun, Takezou will have to seek out new members into the club, or the club will become terminated. Out of nowhere, a new member barges into the near-abandoned club room, demanding to join the club. How will Takezou be able to keep his club alive and deal with this rascal of a new member?

Tags: School Club , School , Band , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Shounen , Bullying , Male Protagonist , Heterosexual , Delinquents , Tragedy , Estranged Family , Found Family , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Female Protagonist , Teacher , Nudity , Maids

Sakamichi no Apollon

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

Nishimi Kaoru has moved from city to city and school to school because of his father’s job. So the first day at his new school was just routine for him. Being intellectual and the new transfer student, he has always been seen as an outcast and all Kaoru had to do was bear it until the next time he moved. But things were slightly different this time. First, he started to get close to the class president, Mukae Ritsuko, and, secondly, unlikely as it seemed, grew closer to Kawabuchi Sentaro. Sentaro was infamous for getting into fights, skipping class and was an overall bad boy. Strangely enough, the three of them find common ground in music, namely jazz, and Kaoru finds himself actually enjoying the new town.

Notes:
Includes 8 extra chapters.
Won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga.

Tags: Band , Josei , Historical , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , Love Triangle , Male Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Jazz Music , Rural , Age Gap , Time Skip , Religion , School , Tragedy

Piano no Mori

Also known as Forest of Piano.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Music

This is a story about a piano, pitifully abandoned in the woods, and a young boy, Kai, who grew up playing it as his favorite toy. While Kai cannot even read sheet music, one day, he meets Shuhei Amamiya, an aspiring child pianist who transfers schools from Tokyo, and their music teacher, Sosuke Ajino. Ajino was also once a gifted pianist, until a tragic accident stole his promising future from him forever. Each from a different background, the trio’s personalities gravitate to one another and rebound. All the while, the piano sits patiently, awaiting a hand to play it.



Tags: Musical Theater , Foreign , Seinen , Teacher , Male Protagonist , Classical Music , Crossdressing , Family Life , Band , Gangs , Gender Bending , Classic Literature

Blue Period

Also known as Blue Period.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

The studious Yatora leaves a dry life of study and good manners behind for a new passion: painting. But untethering yourself from all your past expectations is dangerous as well as thrilling…



Note: Nominated for Manga Taisho Awards in 2019, Kodansha Manga Awards in 2019 and the 24th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2020. Winner of the 13th Manga Taisho Awards. Winner of the General Manga category of the 44th annual Kodansha Manga Awards.

Tags: Drawing , Coming of Age , College , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Educational , Philosophy , Primarily Adult Cast , School , LGBTQ+ Themes , School Club , Tragedy , Transgender , Bisexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Crossdressing , Suicide , Gender Bending , Nudity , Tomboy

Ao no Orchestra

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Music

Hajime Aono was a prodigy violinist until he grew jaded with playing the violin due to personal reasons. Now in his third year of middle school, he struggles to decide his academic path. One day in school, he meets Ritsuko Akine, a hotheaded novice violinist who wants to enroll in a high school with a distinguished orchestra club. When he finds himself getting closer to Ritsuko and being brought back to the world of violinists, time starts moving again for him.

This is the beginning of a youthful drama where sounds and hearts alike resound in harmony.

Tags: School , Seinen , Musical Theater , Rehabilitation , School Club , Heterosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Classical Music

Kuragehime

Also known as Princess Jellyfish.

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

Tsukimi Kurashita has a strange fascination with jellyfish. She’s loved them from a young age and has carried that love with her to her new life in the big city of Tokyo. There, she resides in Amamizukan, a safe-haven for girl geeks who regularly gush over a range of things from trains to Japanese dolls. However, a chance meeting at a pet shop has Tsukimi crossing paths with one of the things that the residents of Amamizukan have been desperately trying to avoid—a beautiful and fashionable woman! But there’s much more to this woman than her trendy clothes! This odd encounter is only the beginning of a new and unexpected path for Tsukimi and her friends.



Note: Includes 10 extra chapters.

Tags: Josei , Female Protagonist , Crossdressing , Fashion , Heterosexual , Foreign , Primarily Adult Cast , Love Triangle , Otaku Culture , Language Barrier , LGBTQ+ Themes , Found Family , Urban , Makeup , Age Gap , Drawing , Male Harem , Gender Bending , Animals , Coming of Age

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Also known as Your Lie in April.

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

Kosei Arima was a piano prodigy until his cruel taskmaster of a mother died suddenly, changing his life forever. Driven by his pain to abandon piano, Kosei now lives in a monotonous, colorless world. Having resigned himself to a bland life, he is surprised when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist with an unorthodox style. Can she bring Kosei back to music, and back to life?



Note: Nominated for the 2012 Manga Taisho Awards.

Tags: Tragedy , Heterosexual , School , Coming of Age , Rehabilitation , Love Triangle , Primarily Teen Cast , Male Protagonist , Classical Music , Shounen

Nanatsuya: Shinobu no Housekibako

Also known as Nanatsu-ya: Shinobu and Her Jewelry Box.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

The new series from Tomoko Ninomiya, creator of Nodame Cantabile, turns its focus on the world of jewelry! Shinobu, a second-year in high school, is part of the family that runs Kurata-ya, a storied pawn shop based in a breezy central Tokyo neighborhood. She helps run the place when school isn’t calling, and she has a natural gift that aids her a great deal—the ability to see the “aura” released by gemstones! Shinobu doesn’t have a boyfriend, but she does have a fiancé handpicked for her by her grandfather—Akisada Kitagami, a man from a prestigious family who wound up being taken in by Kurata-ya at a young age. He now works as a salesman for a first-class jewelry brand, but he’s also got more than his fair share of secrets…



Tags: Josei , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Age Gap , Work

Ao no Hana: Utsuwa no Mori

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

Aoko is a young woman who works in a pottery workshop in the town of Hasami. Rather jovial by nature, she gets along very well with her colleagues, except for Tatsuki, the newcomer who doesn't seem to want to fit in.

Despite their differences, Aoko and Tatsuki will have to learn to work together. But even though Tatsuki's gradually opening up, Aoko feels there's something he wants to keep secret... Note: Chapter count includes two bonus chapters.

Tags: Josei , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , Rural , Female Protagonist , Work , Rehabilitation