Manga like Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori

Kanata Kara

Also known as From Far Away.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy , Romance

On her way home from school one day, Noriko is unexpectedly plunged into a strange and extraordinary fantasy world. Her troubles compound exponentially when she is rescued and befriended by a handsome young man by the name of Izark. He may be brave and courageous, but inside Izark lurks the darkest evil imaginable. And according to an ancient prophecy, Noriko possesses the power to unleash that evil. Now, inexorably bound together, these two unlikely allies must navigate a world both wondrous and hostile.



Note:
Includes four extra chapters.
Includes a sequel one-shot for "Onnanoko wa Yoyuu!" titled "Mata Ashita!" (また明日!)

Tags: Female Protagonist , Shoujo , Heterosexual , Isekai , Language Barrier , Demons , Fugitive , Politics , Magic , Swordplay , Travel , Martial Arts , Male Protagonist , Monster Boy , Henshin , Body Horror , Gore

Akatsuki no Yona

Also known as Yona of the Dawn.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Romance

A red-haired princess loses her family and her kingdom—now she must rise and fight for her throne!

Princess Yona lives an ideal life as the only princess of her kingdom. Doted on by her father, the king, and protected by her faithful guard Hak, she cherishes the time spent with the man she loves, Su-won. But everything changes on her 16th birthday when tragedy strikes her family!

Yona reels from the shock of witnessing a loved one's murder and having to fight for her life. With Hak's help, she flees the palace and struggles to survive while evading her enemy's forces. But where will this displaced princess go when all the paths before her are uncertain?



Note: Includes 19 extra chapters.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Found Family , Travel , Shoujo , Historical , Dragons , Kingdom Management , Politics , Fugitive , Gods , Mythology , Reincarnation , Royal Affairs , War , Tragedy , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , Foreign , Primarily Male Cast , Super Power , Archery , Survival , Male Harem , Animals , Medicine , Orphan , Pirates , Kuudere , Drugs

Fushigi Yuugi

Also known as Fushigi Yûgi.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Miaka Yuuki is an ordinary junior-high student who is suddenly spirited into the world of a book, The Universe of the Four Gods. There she becomes the priestess of the god Suzaku, and is charged with finding all seven of her Celestial-Warrior protectors.



Tags: Historical , Isekai , Male Harem , Shoujo , Heterosexual , Mythology , Female Protagonist , Love Triangle , Ghost , Magic , Foreign , Bisexual , Crossdressing , Unrequited Love , LGBTQ+ Themes

BASARA

Also known as Basara.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Basara is a post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure series and one of the most popular shoujo manga of the 90s in Japan. It is the story of how a young girl becomes "the child of destiny" and finds the strength to free her people and seek revenge for the death of her brother.



Note: Won the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shoujo category in 1992.

Tags: War , Twins , Shoujo , Politics , Post-Apocalyptic , Dystopian , Female Protagonist , Crossdressing , Coming of Age , Revenge , Fugitive , Slavery , Class Struggle , Royal Affairs , Conspiracy , Heterosexual , Travel , Tragedy , Swordplay , Military , Philosophy , Kingdom Management , Lost Civilization , Archery , Pirates , Disability , Desert , Tomboy , Animals , Espionage , Ships , Prison , LGBTQ+ Themes , Astronomy , Bisexual , Suicide , Martial Arts , Nudity , Prophecy

Yume no Shizuku, Kin no Torikago

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

Beginning of 16th century, Alexandra was captured by slave traders in Ukraine during one of their many raids. When the traders arrived in Greece to sell the female slaves, a young handsome man named Mateus bought her and promised to give her true freedom. He hired countless teachers, scholars, and palace ladies to train her into the one perfect woman of her time. Mateus's kindness has caused Alexandra to deeply fall in love with him, and she secretly wishes to be his concubine. But cruel fate! Mateus has already promised her to his best friend, who is Suleiman the Great, Emperor of the Ottoman Empire! Mateus promised Alexandra of true freedom, but where is freedom when she is in another man's harem and can only look at the one she loves from afar?

Not willing to endure this agony, Alexandra promises herself that one day, she will free both of them from their bird cages. But Mateus is the Grand Vizier, a power only second to the Emperor himself. So Alexandra must become the most influential concubine in order to have any hope—which also means bearing Suleiman's son. However, Suleiman already has a son by another concubine, and this woman is determined to keep her son as the only prince and only heir.

Thus begins the story of a slave that becomes the story of one of the greatest empresses of all time, Alexandra, the woman who would one day be known as Roxelana, Empress of the Ottoman Empire.

Tags: Historical , Josei , Politics , War , Kingdom Management , Biographical , Coming of Age , Parenthood , Female Protagonist , Foreign , Slavery , Love Triangle , Royal Affairs , Unrequited Love , Arranged Marriage , Assassins , Class Struggle , Crime , Espionage , Maids , Marriage , Time Skip , Revenge , Indigenous Cultures , Nudity , Female Harem , Heterosexual , Tragedy , Middle East

Tenmaku no Jaadugar

Also known as A Witch's Life in Mongol.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Drama

In the harem of the Khan, wisdom is beauty.

The time: the thirteenth century. The place: Yeke Mongol Ulus, the greatest empire the world has ever known. The woman: Fatima, hailing from Persia, where medical technique and scientific knowledge have been perfected beyond all precedent.

Fatima's desire for a stage where she can put all her knowledge to work has brought her to the palace of the Mongols, where she falls under the wing of Töregene, the sixth wife of Ögedei, the second Great Khan—a mighty woman with complicated feelings about the direction of the empire. These two women are the axle upon which the politics of the palace, and soon the very world, will turn...



Notes:
Ranked 1st in the Women's Division of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2023 guidebook.
Ranked 5th in the 16th Manga Taisho Awards in 2023.
Ranked 5th in the 17th Manga Taisho Awards in 2024.
Winner of the Overseas Work Award at the 2024 Bucheon International Comics Festival.
Nominated for the Best New Manga category at the 2025 American Manga Awards.
Winner of the Grand Prize in the Comic Division at the 55th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards in 2026.

Tags: Historical , Female Protagonist , Foreign , Revenge , Espionage , Biographical , Kingdom Management , Indigenous Cultures , Josei , Slavery , War , Educational , Royal Affairs , Military , Politics , Tragedy , Religion , Desert , Time Skip , Orphan , Conspiracy , Arranged Marriage , Travel , Class Struggle , Middle East , Ensemble Cast

Ouke no Monshou

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

Carol's family discovered an ancient Egyptian tomb that has been untouched for three thousand years. The discovery of the tomb comes with a thousand years curse. Because of that curse, Carol happy family shattered and she is brought back in time to 3000 years ago.

There, Carol meet Memphis, the handsome but cruel pharaoh. Because of her vast knowledge in Egyptian history, she was able to help Egypt through many difficulties and she becomes intertwined with the history of that time, shaping the way conflicts are played out and hailed by the Egyptian people as the Nile Goddess.

Tags: Shoujo , Historical , Foreign , Time Manipulation , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Royal Affairs , Marriage , Incest

Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden

Also known as Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Romance

Travel back to the mystical Universe of the Four Gods in this prequel to the hit series Fushigi Yûgi!

When schoolgirl Takiko Okuda attempts to destroy her father's translation of The Universe of the Four Gods, she is instead sucked into the story, becoming the Priestess of Genbu in an epic journey to find the seven Celestial Warriors!

In her first encounter, she meets the mysterious outlaw Limdo, a Celestial Warrior with a tattoo of the Chinese character for "woman" on his chest. Limdo can not only summon the wind as one of his special powers, but he can also transform into a woman!

Takiko meets up with the bowman Chamka, who is hunting Limdo. It seems Chamka is one of the seven Celestial Warriors as well...



Note: Volume 6 includes the one-shot "Ayashi no Ceres Gaiden" (Ceres: Celestial Legend Another Story).

Tags: Shoujo , Isekai , Tragedy , War , Magic , Female Protagonist , Gender Bending , Politics , Travel , Love Triangle , Time Manipulation , Twins , Mythology , Assassins , Snowscape

Inuyasha

Also known as InuYasha.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Fantasy

Kagome is a modern Japanese high school girl. Never the type to believe in myths and legends, her world view dramatically changes when, one day, she's pulled out of her own time and into another! There, in Japan's ancient past, Kagome discovers more than a few of those dusty old legends are true, and that her destiny is linked to one legendary creature in particular--the dog-like half-demon called Inuyasha! That same trick of fate also ties them both to the Shikon Jewel, or "Jewel of Four Souls." But demons beware...the smallest shard of the Shikon Jewel can give the user unimaginable power.



Tags: Demons , Youkai , Shounen , Historical , Kemonomimi , Found Family , Reincarnation , Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Time Manipulation , Revenge , Isekai , Shrine Maiden , Love Triangle , Male Protagonist , Body Horror , Nudity , Curses

Aoi Horus no Hitomi: Dansou no Joou no Monogatari

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

This manga tells the story of Hatshepsut, a woman who reigned successfully over Egypt for many years. The story begins when she is a young woman, marrying her half-brother Thutmose II and thus ensuring his rise to Pharaoh. Hatshepsut is a woman with a strong will, who is not going to accept the restrictions others might try to place on her as a woman.

Tags: Historical , Seinen , Female Protagonist , Politics , Royal Affairs , Tomboy , Biographical , Religion , Arranged Marriage , Crossdressing , Heterosexual , Swordplay , Nudity , Slavery , Desert , Gore , Gods , Incest ,