Manga like Hi no Tori

Buddha

Also known as Buddha.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Psychological , Supernatural

Osamu Tezuka’s vaunted storytelling genius, consummate skill at visual expression, and warm humanity blossom fully in his epic volumes on Siddhartha’s life and times. Tezuka evidences his profound grasp of the subject by contextualizing the Buddha’s ideas; the emphasis is on movement, action, emotion, and conflict as the prince Siddhartha runs away from home, travels across India, and questions Hindu practices such as ascetic self-mutilation and caste oppression. Rather than recommend resignation and impassivity, Tezuka’s Buddha predicates enlightenment upon recognizing the interconnectedness of life, having compassion for the suffering, and ordering one’s life sensibly. Philosophical segments are threaded into interpersonal situations with ground-breaking visual dynamism by an artist who makes sure never to lose his readers’ attention.



Note: Won the Bungei Shunju Manga Award in 1975 and the Best U.S. Edition of International Material for the Eisner Award in 2004 and 2005.

Tags: Philosophy , Historical , Foreign , Religion , War , Biographical , Rehabilitation , Revenge , Gods , Male Protagonist , Slavery , Shounen , Tragedy , Anachronism , Crime , Environmental , Nudity

Spirit Circle

Also known as Spirit Circle.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Romance , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

Fuuta Okeya’s dad said second-year middle school students are unstoppable, and he’s inclined to agree. Fuuta’s determined to make the most out of his ordinary student life, but everything changes when the mysterious Kouko Ishigami transfers into his class. Not just because Fuuta thinks she’s pretty and likes her – but because she thinks Fuuta is her rival from a past life!



Note: Includes one extra chapter.

Tags: Reincarnation , Philosophy , Revenge , Seinen , Alternate Universe , Urban Fantasy , Male Protagonist , Gods , Tsundere , Heterosexual , Artificial Intelligence , School , Terrorism , Politics , Samurai , Gender Bending , Nudity , Archery

Houseki no Kuni

Also known as Land of the Lustrous.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi

In a world inhabited by crystalline lifeforms called The Lustrous, every unique gem must fight for their way of life against the threat of lunarians who would turn them into decorations. Phosphophyllite, the most fragile and brittle of gems, longs to join the battle. When Phos is instead assigned to complete a natural history of their world, it sounds like a dull and pointless task. But this new job brings Phos into contact with Cinnabar, a gem forced to live in isolation. Can Phos’s seemingly mundane assignment lead both Phos and Cinnabar to the fulfillment they desire?



Note: Nominated for the 8th Manga Taisho in 2015.

Tags: Tragedy , Philosophy , Seinen , Anthropomorphism , Religion , Coming of Age , Anti-Hero , Cosmic Horror , Body Horror , Shapeshifting , Post-Apocalyptic , Time Skip , Revenge , Agender , Reincarnation , Dissociative Identities , Memory Manipulation , Ensemble Cast , Space , Aliens , Amnesia , Asexual , Politics , Swordplay , Suicide , Heterosexual , School , LGBTQ+ Themes , Robots , Gods , Foreign , Gender Bending , Work , Nudity

Fumetsu no Anata e

Also known as To Your Eternity.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Psychological , Supernatural

A lonely boy wandering the Arctic regions of North America meets a wolf, and the two become fast friends, depending on each other to survive the harsh environment. But the boy has a history, and the wolf is more than meets the eye as well …



Tags: Tragedy , Shapeshifting , Coming of Age , Philosophy , Time Skip , Outdoor Activities , Ensemble Cast , Dissociative Identities , Survival , Urban Fantasy , Ghost , Cosmic Horror , Denpa , Shounen , Agender , Travel , Gore , Yandere , Bullying , Suicide , Urban , Age Regression , Male Protagonist , Language Barrier , Animals , LGBTQ+ Themes , Nudity , Dystopian , Female Protagonist , Boys' Love

Black Jack

Also known as Black Jack.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Among adult readers in Japan Black Jack is Osamu Tezuka’s most popular achievement, and perhaps the most close to the creator’s heart, as Tezuka considered entering the medical field—majoring in medicine in college—before devoting his life to comics. Black Jack is a genius surgeon who never acquired his license due to his clashes with the medical establishment. He is hired out by anyone willing to pay his exorbitant rates and is perceived as a heartless rogue because of his enigmatic nature and antisocial manner. But as readers will soon discover, that is not the whole story.



Note: Won the 1st Kodansha Manga Award in the Shounen category in 1977.

Tags: Work , Male Protagonist , Medicine , Episodic , Ghost , Shounen , Philosophy , Tragedy , Drugs , Suicide , Disability , War , Meta

Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä

Also known as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Sci-Fi

Humanity, in its hubris, has precipitated a devastating environmental disaster. Flourishing industrial civilizations have been swallowed up by the Sea of Corruption, an enormous forest of fungi releases a miasma of poisonous spores into the air. Nausicaa, a compassionate young princess, and her allies battle to heal a wounded world and its inhabitants...



Note: Won the 26th Seiun Award for Best Comic (1995).

Tags: Environmental , Post-Apocalyptic , Lost Civilization , War , Philosophy , Survival , Female Protagonist , Military , Aviation , Eco-Horror , Cult , Dystopian , Anachronism , Religion , Politics , Kaiju , Tanks , Ghost , Magic , Slavery , Travel , Tragedy

Ryuu no Michi

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

A young man called Ryu wakes up in a space ship and discovers that the hostile planet inhabited by monsters he has landed upon is actually Earth. This manga is about him traveling in order to find civilization.

Tags: Dystopian , Cosmic Horror , Post-Apocalyptic , Aliens , Language Barrier , Male Protagonist , Cyborg , Shounen , Space , Memory Manipulation , Time Manipulation , Robots , Philosophy , Alternate Universe

Itihasa

Also known as Itihasa.

Status: Finished
Genres: Fantasy , Sci-Fi

Why do people seek the presence of a god? About twelve thousand years ago, there was a world in ancient Japan where people was able to make contact with the divine. One day, a boy named Takaya picked up an abandoned baby. The baby was named Toko and was raised to become the sister of Takaya. When Toko turned seven years old, the village that they were living at was raided by a cabal of demon gods. Takano, Toko and Aohiko survive the raid and they encounter the followers of Demigod which were against the Demon gods...A Mind-blowing Science Fiction Saga unveils!!



Tags: Gods , Mythology , Philosophy , Shoujo , War , Lost Civilization , Ensemble Cast , Magic , Historical

Vagabond

Also known as Vagabond.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama

At seventeen years of age, Miyamoto Musashi--still known by his childhood name, Shinmen Takezo--was a wild young brute just setting out along the way of the sword.

In the aftermath of the epic Battle of Sekigahara, Takezo finds himself a fugitive survivor on the losing side of the war. Takezo's vicious nature has made him an outcast even in his own village, and he is hunted down like an animal. At this crucial crossroads in Takezo's life, an eccentric monk and a childhood friend are the only ones who can help him find his way.



Tags: Swordplay , Seinen , Samurai , Historical , Philosophy , Travel , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Martial Arts , Tragedy , Survival , Cultivation , Biographical , Gore , Rural , Heterosexual , War , Outdoor Activities , Ghost , Agriculture , Classic Literature , Fugitive , Language Barrier , Nudity , Afterlife ,

Mushishi

Also known as Mushishi.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Mystery , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Some live in the deep darkness behind your eyelids. Some eat silence. Some thoughtlessly kill. Some simply drive men mad. They are known as mushi—creatures that came into being shortly after life emerged from the primordial ooze. They still exist parallel to our own lives and can only be seen by a select few. As a mushishi, Ginko is one of the few who are aware of their existense, and this young man with a sardonic smile roams from place to place with the knowledge and skill to aid those unwittingly affected by mushi.



Note: Won the Excellence Prize for Manga at the 7th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2003 and the Kodansha Manga Award for General Manga in 2006.

Tags: Travel , Episodic , Environmental , Youkai , Seinen , Mythology , Rural , Iyashikei , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Urban Fantasy , Historical , Work , Demons