Manga like Old Boy

20 Seiki Shounen

Also known as 20th Century Boys.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren't for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that symbol returns. This is the story of a group of boys who try to save the world.

For Kenji, a simple convenience store manager who once dreamed of becoming a rock 'n' roll musician, a host of memories from his past come rushing back when one of his childhood friends mysteriously commits suicide. Could this new death be related to the rise of a bizarre new cult that's been implicated in several other murders and disappearances? Determined to dig deeper, Kenji reunites with some of his old buddies in the hope of learning the truth behind it all.



Tags: Politics , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Seinen , Fugitive , Achronological Order , Dystopian , Conspiracy , Cult , Pandemic , Time Skip , Post-Apocalyptic , Terrorism , Found Family , Male Protagonist , Detective , Musical Theater , Philosophy , Cosmic Horror , Female Protagonist , Historical , Tragedy , Dissociative Identities , Augmented Reality , Police , Robots , Transgender , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Nudity , Foreign , Time Manipulation , Homeless , Twins , Crossdressing

Seizon: LifE

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Thriller

Takeda is diagnosed with cancer and feels that he has nothing to live for. Hopeless, he decides to end his life. But when he is about to hang himself, the phone rings: the police have just found the corpse of his daughter, Sawako, who disappeared more than 14 years ago. Under Japanese law, the statute of limitations for murder only lasts 15 years. Takeda has only six months left: six months to live, six months to find his daughter's killer and deliver him to the authorities. After 14 years of silence and obscurity, the family ties are reborn...



Tags: Male Protagonist , Revenge , Police , Seinen , Detective , Primarily Adult Cast , Crime , Fugitive , Primarily Male Cast , Cars

MONSTER

Also known as Monster.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Thriller

Everyone faces uncertainty at some point in their lives. Even a brilliant surgeon like Kenzo Tenma is no exception. But there’s no way he could have known that his decision to stop chasing professional success and instead concentrate on his oath to save peoples’ lives would result in the birth of an abomination. The questions of good and evil now take on a terrifyingly real dimension.

Years later, in Germany during the tumultuous post-reunification period, middle-aged childless couples are being killed one after another. The serial killer’s identity is known. The reasons why he kills are not. Dr. Tenma sets out on a journey to find the killer’s twin sister, who may hold some clues to solving the enigma of the “Monster.”



Tags: Seinen , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Philosophy , Twins , Amnesia , Fugitive , Noir , Foreign , Male Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Primarily Adult Cast , Historical , Detective , Ensemble Cast , Police , Medicine , Time Skip , Crossdressing , Orphan , Adoption , Suicide , Torture , Gore , Achronological Order , Assassins

Montage

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological

One day, 10-year-old Yamato and his friend Miku discover a man in a back alley who's suffering from vicious stab wounds. The man recognizes Yamato, and uses his last breath to share a secret with the children: Yamato's father was the perpetrator of a bank robbery that is known throughout the country as the most puzzling unsolved crime of the 20th century. He warns them to "never trust anyone."

Miku makes Yamato swear to keep the man's final words a secret. A few days later, Yamato's father is found dead, and the boy is taken in by Miku's family. The death is ruled as an accident, but Yamato has his doubts. Six years later, Yamato still can't stop wondering about the incidents, and resolves to take action.

Tags: Seinen , Crime , Fugitive , Incest , Conspiracy , Nudity , Gore

Sousakusha

Also known as The Quest for the Missing Girl.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery

Shiga, a mountaineer, leaves his isolated lodge and returns to Tokyo in order to track down Megumi - the missing daughter of Tatsuko (Shiga's deceased best friend) and Yoriko (whom Shiga has secretly been in love with since before Tatsuko died). Shiga's investigation takes him into the world of "compensated dating" and disaffected teens and what he discovers there suggests that Megumi may have been abducted by a paedophile with a great deal of power and influence. In order to save the girl and regain the self-respect he lost when his best friend died, Shiga must break through the wall of silence and do what the police dare not.

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Tags: Seinen , Outdoor Activities , Detective , Mountaineering , Crime , Urban

Arigatou

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Ecchi , Psychological , Slice of Life

A depressing story about how a Japanese family's life goes wrong: an immoral protagonist, her sister who was gang raped before, her alcoholic mother who later devoted her life to a cult, and her father who lost favor with his company... full of sexual content and highly violent.

Tags: Family Life , Nudity , Bullying , Seinen , School , Gore , Delinquents , Cult , Crime , Tragedy

Homunculus

Also known as Homunculus.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural

Nakoshi Susumu, age 34, is living out of his car. Between spending his days with the homeless and his nights in his vehicle, he has little to his name–but not so little that he’ll agree to be the subject of a scientific experiment. An unnerving medical student is stalking him and offering to pay Nakoshi a significant sum to test trepanation: the ability to draw out a sixth sense by drilling into the skull. Nakoshi refuses. When Nakoshi’s beloved car is towed, though, he finally agrees to cash and the operating table. At first, the experiment seems to bear no fruit, and Nakoshi’s life is unchanged. That is, until Nakoshi realizes his vision has warped in his left eye…showing him the twisted homunculus inside every human.



Tags: Philosophy , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Psychosexual , Primarily Adult Cast , Tragedy , Denpa , Amnesia , Anti-Hero , Gore , Body Horror , Homeless , Transgender , Masturbation , LGBTQ+ Themes , Crossdressing , Heterosexual , Economics , Class Struggle , Boys' Love

The Fable

Also known as The Fable.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Romance

When you're the infamous prodigy hitman known only as “Fable,” many things come easy. Being a normal person, however, isn't one of them. In fact, being told that he can't kill anyone for a while may just be the hardest job Fable’s ever taken...



Note: Won the 41st Kodansha Manga Awards in the general manga category in 2017.

Tags: Yakuza , Seinen , Urban , Assassins , Guns , Primarily Adult Cast , Surreal Comedy , Crime , Nudity , Survival , Disability , Revenge , Bar , Heterosexual , Gore , Tragedy

Billy Bat

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Supernatural , Thriller

The story is set in 1949 and follows Japanese-American comic book artist Kevin Yamagata as he draws the popular detective series "Billy Bat" for "Marble Comics." When he learns he may have unconsciously copied the character from an image he saw while serving in occupied Japan, he returns to Japan to get permission to use Billy Bat from its original creator. Upon arriving there, however, he becomes embroiled in a web of murder, cover-ups, and prophecy that all leads back to Billy Bat.

It is soon evident, however, that the truth of Billy Bat's nature is far larger than Kevin could ever guess, spanning millennia and across the world.



Note: Won the Max und Moritz Prize for "Best international Comic" in 2014.

Tags: Drawing , Historical , Time Manipulation , Seinen , Philosophy , Conspiracy , Politics , Ensemble Cast , Urban Fantasy , Travel , Foreign , Achronological Order , War , Time Skip , Primarily Adult Cast , Police , Religion , Male Protagonist , Dystopian , Ninja , Guns , Swordplay , Anachronism , Espionage , Nudity , Terrorism

Otona Taisen

Also known as War of the Adults.

Status: Releasing
Genres:

What makes a 'proper adult'? Inspired by the words of his late father, Yutaro Urashima sought to become an upstanding member of society by developing and strictly adhering to his own "Articles of Adulthood." Little did he know, however, that those same articles would go on to dramatically change the world... A new series from the author of Hidarikiki no Eren! Witness the dramatic battle for survival in a surveillance society where reputation is everything!



Tags: Dystopian , Politics , Shounen , Male Protagonist