Manga like Real

SLAM DUNK

Also known as Slam Dunk.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Sports

Hanamichi Sakuragi's got no game with girls--none at all! It doesn't help that he's known for throwing down at a moment's notice and always coming out on top. A hopeless bruiser, he's been rejected by 50 girls in a row! All that changes when he meets the girl of his dreams, Haruko, and she's actually not afraid of him! When she introduces him to the game of basketball, his life is changed forever...



Tags: Basketball , Male Protagonist , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Shounen , School , Primarily Teen Cast , Delinquents , Philosophy , Rehabilitation , Tragedy

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 , Fugitive , Heterosexual , War , Outdoor , Ghost , Agriculture , Language Barrier , Nudity , Afterlife , Classic Literature

Kokou no Hito

Also known as The Climber.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Psychological , Sports

On his first day of transferring to a new high school, a loner named Mori Buntarou, is cajoled by a classmate into climbing the school building. Despite knowing that one misstep could send him spiraling to his death, he moves forward, and upon finally reaching the top, Mori experiences a sense of fulfillment. That feeling, which seems to be telling him, "You're alive!" gives birth to an adrenaline for rock-climbing.

Tags: Outdoor , Coming of Age , Seinen , Tragedy , Travel , Mountaineering , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Survival , Hikikomori , Time Skip , Fitness , Suicide , Anti-Hero , Dissociative Identities , Foreign , Delinquents , School , Nudity , School Club

Ping Pong

Also known as Ping Pong.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Sports

Makoto “Smile” Tsukimoto and his friend Yutaka “Peco” Hoshino have been playing table tennis since they were kids, but as they enter high school, they find that the game has changed. Seeing potential in them that they themselves don’t fully realize, the coach recruits them for the school team. Bringing out their best will mean challenging the top players from rival schools in the summer tournament, including an ace Chinese exchange student who almost made the Olympic team. With the pressure on, can Smile and Peco take the heat and make it into the finals?



Tags: Table Tennis , Coming of Age , Seinen , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , School Club , Teacher , Primarily Male Cast , School , Tragedy , Primarily Teen Cast , Bullying , Time Skip

Vagabond: Saigo no Manga-ten

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological

Telling the later life of Vagabond's Musashi Miyamoto, it was depicted through 140 hand-drawn drawings with ink and brush. It was released at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo in May 2008, and since then it has been displayed at three other venues, Kumamoto City Museum, Suntory Museum in Osaka, and Sendai Mediatheque, with new paintings and productions.

Note: The comic was compiled in two books: "Inoueno: Mikazuki-hen" (いのうえの 三日月篇) and "Inoueno: Mangetsu-hen" (いのうえの 満月篇).

Tags: Philosophy , Samurai , Seinen , Historical , Male Protagonist , Time Skip , Swordplay , Tragedy , Afterlife

3-gatsu no Lion

Also known as March Comes in Like a Lion.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Rei Kiriyama is a child prodigy. Rei Kiriyama is also an orphan who lives alone in an empty apartment. Rei Kiriyama is a teen working in an adult's world. Life is complicated for Rei. He's an up-and-coming shogi player on the verge of turning pro, but he has no homelife, or much of a life period,outside his board game, but thankfully with the help of some life-long friends he has an opportunity start all over again.



Notes:
Winner of the Grand Prize at the 4th Manga Taishou Award in 2011.
Winner of the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in 2011.
Winner of the Grand Prize at the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2014.
Winner of the Grand Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2021.

Tags: Coming of Age , Family Life , Philosophy , Rehabilitation , Seinen , Shogi , Found Family , Male Protagonist , Bullying , Iyashikei , Food , Tragedy , Heterosexual , Age Gap , Adoption , School Club , Love Triangle , Board Game

DOGSRED

Also known as Dogsred.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Sports

The stage is the proud land of the north--Hokkaido. The year is 2010. Rou Shirakawa has just received the highest score in history at the All-Japan Junior Figure Skating Championships! But suddenly, he loses control and starts destroying the stage. He is quickly disqualified and banned from the skating world for life. Now nicknamed "the Rabid Prince," Rou ends up in Tamakomai, an ice hockey town in northern Japan. And on a hockey rink on a frozen lake, he meets the ruthless Genma brothers! Rou will soon learn of the famous Oino-kami high school and their quest to win an unprecedented 20th straight national hockey championship. And also the strong, yet beautiful battle sport--ice hockey! Change, grow, evolve! Turn defeat into victory in this red-hot redemption story!

Tags: School Club , Ice Skating , Seinen , Primarily Teen Cast , Slapstick , Snowscape , Twins , Male Protagonist , Ensemble Cast , Natural Disaster

Ashita no Joe

Also known as Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow.

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

Joe Yabuki is a troubled young man who runs away from an orphanage. Wandering through the Tokyo slums, he meets former boxing trainer Danpei. Joe is later arrested and goes to a temporary jail where he fights Nishi, his future best friend, ​and leader of a group of hooligans. He and Nishi then go to a juvenile prison miles away from Tokyo. There Joe meets Rikiishi, a former boxing prodigy, and a rivalry develops between them. They face each other in a match in which Rikiishi dominates Joe until the latter hits him with a cross-counter, resulting in both being knocked out. This inspires the other prison inmates to take up boxing. Joe and Rikiishi vow to fight again.



Tags: Boxing , Tragedy , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Rehabilitation , Orphan , Urban , Athletics , Shounen , Primarily Male Cast , Delinquents , Class Struggle , Prison , Foreign , Yakuza , War

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 , LGBTQ+ Themes , School , School Club , Tragedy , Transgender , Bisexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Crossdressing , Gender Bending , Suicide , Nudity , Tomboy

BUZZER BEATER

Also known as BUZZER BEATER.

Status: Finished
Genres: Sci-Fi , Sports

Hideyoshi is a homeless boy living in New York in the near future, who survives by hustling other kids in basketball games. But now he's been drafted into a pro team-a pro team with a very unique goal. There once was a time when humans dominated the game of basketball. But times have changed, and now the physically superior alien players have taken over the game, and there are barely any human players next. But Hideyoshi's team—the first all-human team to compete in the Space League—intends to change all that, and bring the championship back home to Earth.



Tags: Shounen , Basketball , Full Color , Aliens