Manga like Paradise Kiss

NANA

Also known as Nana.

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

Nana Komatsu is a young woman who's endured an unending string of boyfriend problems. Moving to Tokyo, she's hoping to take control of her life and put all those messy misadventures behind her. She's looking for love and she's hoping to find it in the big city.

Nana Osaki, on the other hand, is cool, confident and focused. She swaggers into town and proceeds to kick down the doors to Tokyo's underground punk scene. She's got a dream and won't give up until she becomes Japan's No. 1 rock'n'roll superstar.

This is the story of two 20-year-old women who share the same name. Even though they come from completely different backgrounds, they somehow meet and become best friends. The world of Nana is a world exploding with sex, music, fashion, gossip and all-night parties.



Note: Winner of the 48th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shoujo Category in 2002.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Band , Primarily Adult Cast , Shoujo , Tragedy , Time Skip , Philosophy , Pregnancy , Found Family , Netorare , Bisexual , LGBTQ+ Themes , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , Achronological Order , Urban , Rock Music , Age Gap , Nudity , Drugs , Bar

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: Chapter count includes 10 extra chapters

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

Boys Run The Riot

Also known as Boys Run The Riot.

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

High schooler Ryo knows he’s transgender, but he doesn’t have anyone to confide in about the confusion he feels. He can’t tell his best friend, who he’s secretly got a crush on, and he can’t tell his mom, who’s constantly asking why Ryo "dresses like a boy." He certainly can’t tell Jin, the new transfer student who looks like just another bully... The only time Ryo feels at ease is when he’s wearing his favorite clothes. Then, and only then, the world melts away, and he can be his true self. One day, while out shopping, Ryo sees an someone he didn't expect: Jin. The kid who looked so tough in class has the same taste in fashion as him! At least, Ryo has someone he can open up to - and the journey ahead might finally give him a way to express himself to the world.



Note: Includes the original one-shot.

Tags: LGBTQ+ Themes , Transgender , Fashion , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Work , Seinen , Primarily Teen Cast , Urban , School , Found Family , Photography , Drawing , Primarily Male Cast

MARS

Also known as Mars.

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

Kira, a shy high school student, lives only for her art. Rei, an arrogant, rebellious and violent playboy, wears his delinquency like a badge of honor. They are exact opposites in every way, but when Kira sees Rei kissing a statue of Mars, she overcomes her fears and asks him to model for her. And, to everyone's surprise, Rei agrees.



Tags: Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Shoujo , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Motorcycles , Drawing , Suicide , Delinquents , Twins , School , Primarily Teen Cast , Amnesia , Yandere , LGBTQ+ Themes

Bless

Also known as Bless.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Slice of Life

They said Aia was destined to be a model, and Jun was bullied for her freckles. Together, they will take back the power to define themselves in an inspirational fashion manga that asks cutting questions about what it really means to be beautiful—and what it takes to overcome an arbitrary system that seems to respect talent over hard work.



Tags: Makeup , Fashion , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Shounen , School , LGBTQ+ Themes , Female Protagonist

Runway de Waratte

Also known as Smile Down the Runway.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Chiyuki Fujito has a dream: to become a Paris Collection model. The problem is, she’s too short to be a model, and everyone around her tells her so! But no matter what they say, she won’t give up. Her classmate, a poor student named Ikuto Tsumura, also has a dream: to become a fashion designer. One day Chiyuki tells him that it’s “probably impossible” for him, causing him to consider giving it up … ?! This is the story of two individuals wholeheartedly chasing after their dreams in spite of all the negativity that comes after them!



Note: Nominated for the 11th Manga Taishou Awards in 2018.

Tags: Fashion , Work , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Shounen , School

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge♥

Also known as The Wallflower: Yamatonadeshiko Shichihenge.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance

It's a gorgeous, spacious mansion, and four handsome, fifteen-year-old friends are allowed to live in it for free! There's only one condition—that within three years the guys must transform the owner's wallflower niece into a lady befitting the palace in which they all live! How hard can it be?

Enter Sunako Nakahara, the agoraphobic, horror-movie-loving, pockmark-faced, frizzy-haired, fashion-illiterate recluse who tends to break into explosive nosebleeds whenever she sees anyone attractive. This project is going to take more than our four heroes ever expected: it needs a miracle!



Note: Includes the special chapter "Sunako no Otsukai" (スナコのお使い) contained within Volume 5 of the manga.

Tags: Shoujo , Episodic , Hikikomori , Surreal Comedy , Makeup , Parody , Primarily Teen Cast , Female Protagonist , Chibi , School , Heterosexual , Ojou-sama , Tsundere , Male Harem

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.
Chapter count 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

Skip Beat!

Also known as Skip Beat!.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Romance

Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he's casting her out now that he's famous! Kyoko won't suffer in silence--she's going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz!



Tags: Shoujo , Acting , Work , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Slapstick , POV , Revenge , Age Gap , Urban , Love Triangle , Ojou-sama , Tsundere , School , Tragedy , Super Power

Tenshi Nanka Janai

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

In a rainy spring day, first year high schooler Midori Saezima saw a tall, handsome fellow student took care of a stray kitten. Without knowing the boy's name, she fell in love with him at the first sight. Due to sickness, Midori returned to school three days after summer vacation -- only to find out that she was "volunteered" as a candidate for student council. After a series of embarrassing accidents, both she and the mysterious boy she had a crush on, Akira Sudo, were elected as members of the student council. Being the first student council of this newly established high school, they are about to create "new traditions" for their school and a bittersweet love story for themselves...



Tags: School , Shoujo , Heterosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Female Protagonist , School Club , Love Triangle , Coming of Age , Motorcycles