Manga like Saturn Return

Oyasumi Punpun

Also known as Goodnight Punpun.

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

Meet Punpun Punyama. He’s an average kid in an average town.
He wants to win a Nobel Prize and save the world.
He wants the girl he has a crush on to like him back.
He wants to find some porn.
That’s what he wants, but what does he get…?



Tags: Coming of Age , Seinen , Tragedy , Philosophy , Denpa , Suicide , Psychosexual , Urban , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Anti-Hero , Time Skip , Surreal Comedy , School , Fugitive , Gods , Meta , Cult , Work , Nudity , Body Horror , Love Triangle , Religion

Sensei no Shiroi Uso

Also known as Sensei's Pious Lie.

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

Misuzu Hara is a quiet, reserved 24-year-old high school teacher whose world is turned upside down after her friend’s fiancé rapes her. Her attempt to connect with one of her students, himself a victim of sexual trauma, results in an unlikely romance, and the repercussions of these events affect everyone around them in often unpredictable ways.



Notes: Nominated to the 22nd Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Tags: Teacher , Female Protagonist , Blackmail , Fake Relationship , Love Triangle , Non-fiction , Seinen , School , Heterosexual , Age Gap , Nudity , Psychosexual , Work , Polyamorous , Suicide , Unrequited Love , Time Skip

Kemutai Ane to Zurui Imouto

Also known as Secondhand Sisters.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Ever since they were girls, charismatic and carefree Ran has had a habit of "borrowing" her sister Jun's favorite things and making them her own. It always annoyed Jun to lose her toys, clothing, and other belongings, but she just saw it as part of having a younger sibling—until the day Ran claimed her boyfriend, too.

The two haven't spoken in eight years when they're reunited at their mother’s funeral. Ran and her husband—Jun’s ex—want to move into the house their mother left behind, but Jun will be damned if she lets Ran take one more thing away from her. With neither side willing to budge, the three find themselves living under the same roof, and it’s not long before old resentments, secrets, and passions threaten to unravel their lives.



Tags: Cheating , Josei , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Love Triangle , Family Life , Estranged Family

Wagamama Chie-chan

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Supernatural

Just before Saho Hanawa was about to matriculate into Seiran Middle School (her mother's alma mater), she meets a ghost girl, Chie, who's wearing the Seiran school uniform and standing in the rain. Saho assents when Chie asks to go to Saho's house, and they spend time talking and arguing with each other. Saho parents hear her talking to Chie and assume she must be talking on a cell phone—until they catch her talking to empty space in her room. Saho is forced to confess that she can see a ghost girl named Chie, which shocks her parents. They then reveal that Chie is the name of the stillborn baby that they had before Saho—Saho's dead older sister.

Tags: Seinen , Achronological Order , Ghost , Female Protagonist , Twins , Primarily Female Cast , Yuri , Age Gap , LGBTQ+ Themes

Memento Mori

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

Meno Yuko just starting as a ceremony assistant in a funeral home. Every day, she tends to fall asleep during the funerals. Her boss, Meme always scolds her with an 'I'll kill you'. Holding on the the memories of her dead brother, Yuko tries to work as best as she can while constantly being reminded of his death.

Tags: Josei , Female Protagonist , Work , Primarily Adult Cast

You've Gotta Love Song: Torikai Akane Tanpenshuu

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

Collection of one-shots:

1) Ikitouto (いきとうと)
2) Iede Musume (家出娘)
3) Hakuchou Kouen (白鳥公園)
4) You've Gotta Love Song (You've Gotta ラブソング)

Tags: Anthology , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , Josei , Heterosexual , Rural , Family Life

Ano Ko no Kodomo

Also known as My Girlfriend's Child.

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

Sachi and her boyfriend Takara are a young couple in high school. They go to school together, hang out, and even engage in the more intimate side of dating. However, after a recent evening of sex, Sachi gets the feeling that something isn’t right and buys a pregnancy test. Later, in the bathroom of a family restaurant far from her home, she sees the two red lines that will change her life forever.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Educational , Shoujo , Pregnancy , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , Primarily Teen Cast , School , Snowscape , Estranged Family , Bullying , Family Life , Teacher

Shimanami Tasogare

Also known as Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare.

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

Not only is high schooler Tasuku Kaname the new kid in town, he’s also terrified that he’s been outed as gay. Just as he’s contemplating doing the unthinkable, Tasuku meets a mysterious woman who leads him to a group of people dealing with problems not so different from his own. In this realistic, heartfelt depiction of LGBT+ characters from different backgrounds finding their place in the world, a search for inner peace proves to be the most universal experience of all.



Tags: LGBTQ+ Themes , Coming of Age , Found Family , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Bullying , Ensemble Cast , Transgender , Crossdressing , Agender , Yuri , Asexual , Boys' Love , Rehabilitation , Suicide , Aromantic , Primarily Teen Cast , School

Shinde Shimatta Boku no Mita Yume

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Psychological

Told in the form of a picture book, this is the story of a young boy who decides to commit suicide, only to find himself in a strange world after his death.

Tags: Philosophy , Suicide , Afterlife , Full Color , Male Protagonist , Tragedy

Dandadan

Also known as Dandadan.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Romance , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

Momo Ayase strikes up an unusual friendship with her school’s UFO fanatic, whom she nicknames “Okarun” because he has a name that is not to be said aloud. While Momo believes in spirits, she thinks aliens are nothing but nonsense. Her new friend, meanwhile, thinks the exact opposite. To settle matters, the two set out to prove each other wrong—Momo to a UFO hotspot and Okarun to a haunted tunnel! What unfolds next is a beautiful story of young love…and oddly horny aliens and spirits?



Note: Nominated for the 15th Manga Taisho Award in 2022.

Tags: Youkai , Urban Fantasy , Ghost , Aliens , Super Power , Shounen , Female Protagonist , Surreal Comedy , Tokusatsu , Male Protagonist , Henshin , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Heterosexual , Gyaru , Shapeshifting , School , Body Horror , Love Triangle , Exorcism , Conspiracy , Kaiju , Curses , Gore , Tragedy , Terrorism , Super Robot , Chuunibyou , Amnesia , Circus , Nudity , Gods , Dissociative Identities , Tsundere , Cannibalism , Bullying , Acrobatics , Suicide