Manga like Sakuran

Bikachou Shinshi Kaikoroku

Also known as Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

Perverts are people who know the shape of their desires. They have carefully traced those contours like a blind man using both hands to measure the shape of a vase. Colette works in a brothel in early 20th century Paris, an occupation she can't escape. She and the other girls support each other, satisfying the desires of their clients, day in, day out. The one source of hope in her difficult life was her trysts with Leon. But Colette could never be sure if Leon really loved her... The strength of women in their pleasurable confines; the naked desires of the 'amorous gentlemen.' Welcome to a beautiful, bewitching bordello of love and desire..



Tags: Josei , Work , Writing , Nudity , Female Protagonist , Prostitution , Historical , Foreign , Yuri , Tragedy , Heterosexual , Primarily Female Cast , Bisexual

Chiruhi

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance , Slice of Life

In the title piece, Chiruhi, Orin is a prostitute who works on a boat near the seashore. She falls in love with a young hairdresser, who is one of her customers, even though she knows it is an impossible love. This collection consists of six historical short stories which tragicomically depict people trying to do their best in the city of Edo throughout the seasons.

Tags: Historical , Prostitution , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Anthology , Seinen , Nudity , LGBTQ+ Themes , Primarily Female Cast , Rural , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Youkai , Oiran

Itezuru

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

O-Tsuru (the crane), named because she used to stand on one foot to warm the other, was sold by her parents to become a geisha. She will begin as a shikomikka (apprentice) in an okiya: the house where the geisha live. By doing the commissions of his elders, Tsuru will discover the life of these women. Finally, one day, her turn arrives. She goes to her benefactor's room. Who, by paying the ceremony fees, will bring it into the world of geisha. Tsuru will then take the name of Tsurugiku and become a famous geisha in the world of pleasures.

<i<>Note: It was first collected in a volume in 1992.

Tags: Seinen , Historical , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast

Oooku

Also known as Ôoku: The Inner Chambers.

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

In Edo period Japan, a strange new disease called the Redface Pox has begun to prey on the country's men. Within eighty years of the first outbreak, the male population has fallen by seventy-five percent. Women have taken on all the roles traditionally granted to men, even that of the shogun. The men, precious providers of life, are carefully protected. And the most beautiful of the men are sent to serve in the shogun's Inner Chamber...



Note: Won an Excellence Prize at the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival and a special prize at The Japanese Association of Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy's fifth annual Sense of Gender Awards in 2005. Won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural the Grand Prize in 2009 and the 56th Shogakukan Manga Award in Girls' Category in 2011. Was nominated for the first annual Manga Taishou in 2008.

Tags: Tragedy , Historical , Politics , Pandemic , Heterosexual , Shoujo , Matriarchy , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Harem , Suicide , Incest , Ensemble Cast , Samurai , LGBTQ+ Themes , Royal Affairs , Military , Bisexual , Religion , Espionage , Swordplay , Boys' Love

Hotaru no Yomeiri

Also known as Firefly Wedding.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Romance

It is the Meiji era. Satoko is born of a prestigious family and blessed with great beauty, but she is sickly and is said to have a limited life expectancy, so her only dream is… a convenient marriage to benefit her family. But suddenly, she is targeted by a mysterious assassin...!? Trying to survive, Satoko makes a desperate "proposal" to the killer...!? A high-class lady and an assassin... A suspenseful love story about a contract marriage between two people who never should've met!



Tags: Yandere , Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Ojou-sama , Historical , Marriage , Assassins , Tragedy , Josei , Disability , Zombie , Prostitution , Love Triangle , Gore , Bullying , Dissociative Identities , Nudity , Orphan , Survival , Unrequited Love

Yukari Zumu

Also known as Yukarism.

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

When Yukari meets classmate Mahoro Tachibana for the first time, the two of them can’t help but feel like they know each other. Yukari senses that they had a major connection in the past, but was their relationship friendly or deadly?



Tags: Shoujo , Historical , Gender Bending , Reincarnation , Oiran , Time Manipulation , Tragedy , Amnesia , Writing

Tengoku ni Musubu Koi

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

They are two and they are one. They were born on the same day and they shall die on the same day.



Note: This work was serialised in Garo throughout 14 issues, starting in June and ending in December. It was later compiled into one single story in tankobon format.

Tags: Historical , Twins , Tragedy , Nudity , Rural , Circus , Adoption , Time Skip , Suicide , Seinen , Ero Guro

Oiran Nee-san

Also known as Oiran Nee-san.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

A "kamuro" is a young girl who takes care of and runs various errands for a courtesan, and at the same time studies the art for herself. The way kamuro would refer to their respective courtesans as "big sister" gave rise to the word "oiran", the most elite courtesans in Edo-era Japan. This story takes place in a brothel called Shinkiro in notorious Yoshiwara red-light district, starring an oiran known to many as the "Courtesan from Hell", a super popular sadist specialist named Hashidate. Her personal kamuro, Namiji, narrates the story, and paints a picture of Hashidate that most would never expect. A variety of customers, including townsfolk, samurai, and high-rollers, are in full force as Namiji recounts these fantastic tales!


Tags: Oiran , Historical , Seinen , Female Protagonist

Chou no Michiyuki

Also known as Flight of the Butterflies.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

"Sorry—I know you must've been lonely. Don't worry. I won't keep you waiting long..."

Maruyama, Nagasaki's pleasure district—where the music of shamisens mingles with the language of foreign lands. From artist Kan Takahama comes a tale of love and death: a beautiful courtesan, a man on his deathbed, and their secret past...



Notes: Nominated to the 20th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Tags: Historical , Seinen , Oiran , Nudity

pink

Also known as Pink.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama

Pink is a manga about a Japanese girl named Yumi, a beautiful girl in her early 20s. During the day, Yumi works as a regular office lady, but by night, she works as a prostitute. Yumi needs her two jobs to make ends meet. She also needs the extra income to feed her unusual pet, a crocodile, which she keeps in her apartment. Working in an office is quite normal for young Japanese women, but keeping a pet crocodile, and being a prostitute makes Yumi stand out. In truth, few girls are like Yumi, however, many readers can empathize with her. Young women love their "something," symbolized by her pet crocodile, and they can also identify with Yumi's "wild at heart" nature.

Tags: Josei , Prostitution , Female Protagonist , Nudity , Tragedy , Heterosexual , Primarily Adult Cast , Animals , Office Lady , Work