Manga like SOIL

Dragon Head

Also known as Dragon Head.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

In the horror of witnessing so many classmates perish before his eyes in a violent train wreck, Teru discovers two survivors in the tunnel: Ako and Nobuo. But salvation from this bloody carnage is far from their grasp. As they try to dig out from the wreck in order to come up with a plan to stay alive, the lack of light and food, combined with the stench of death and decay, will lead one member of the group down a dark and demented path. And with sudden, violent earthquakes shaking the tunnel, escaping to the outside world may lead them to an even greater danger...



Note: Won the 21st Kodansha Manga Award for general manga in 1997.

Tags: Survival , Tragedy , Seinen , Post-Apocalyptic , Trains , Drugs , Bullying , Natural Disaster , Guns , Eco-Horror , Female Protagonist , Conspiracy , Cosmic Horror , Cult

Uzumaki

Also known as Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Romance , Supernatural

Kurozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. It manifests itself in small ways: seashells, ferns, whirlpools in water, whirlwinds in air. And in large ways: the spiral marks on people's bodies, the insane obsessions of Shuichi's father, the voice from the cochlea in your inner ear. As the madness spreads, the inhabitants of Kurouzu-cho are pulled ever deeper, as if into a whirlpool from which there is no return...



Notes:
Includes the extra chapter "Uzumaki Tokubetsu-hen: Ginga", which was included in editions later released.
Chosen by the American Library Association (ALA) as one of the Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2009. (Vol. 1)

Tags: Tragedy , Body Horror , Cosmic Horror , Seinen , Survival , Female Protagonist , Gore , Episodic , Philosophy , Lost Civilization , Rural , Cannibalism , Urban Fantasy , Heterosexual , Suicide , Curses , Bullying , Demons , Unrequited Love , Cult , Yandere

MONSTER

Also known as Monster.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Thriller

Everyone faces uncertainty at some point in their lives. Even a brilliant surgeon like Kenzo Tenma is no exception. But there’s no way he could have known that his decision to stop chasing professional success and instead concentrate on his oath to save peoples’ lives would result in the birth of an abomination. The questions of good and evil now take on a terrifyingly real dimension.

Years later, in Germany during the tumultuous post-reunification period, middle-aged childless couples are being killed one after another. The serial killer’s identity is known. The reasons why he kills are not. Dr. Tenma sets out on a journey to find the killer’s twin sister, who may hold some clues to solving the enigma of the “Monster.”



Tags: Seinen , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Philosophy , Twins , Amnesia , Fugitive , Noir , Foreign , Male Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Primarily Adult Cast , Historical , Detective , Ensemble Cast , Police , Medicine , Time Skip , Crossdressing , Orphan , Adoption , Suicide , Torture , Gore , Achronological Order , Assassins

Ultra Heaven

Also known as Ultra Heaven.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Sci-Fi

In a world where all feelings are artificial and where everyone is a potential drug addict, nothing is really changed: the excess is near at hand and very few substances are considered dangerous and put under a strict control by a hygiene office which has full power on the drug addicts who are in extreme condition.

The main character is Kabu, a little peddler and heavily addicted. Used to any kind of hallucinogenic trip, he is able to feel
the happiness through the ecstasy of the drug, while at the same time hypocritically hating who gave birth to the society that forced him the excess. After an overdose caused by mixing two incompatible drugs, he spends his days looking for stimulants until the encounter with an enigmatic man who offers him a new kind of illegal substance: Ultra Heaven.
From that moment, his incredible journey begins, where dreams and reality are fused in an undivided world, causing him hysterical and joyful reactions and unrestrained pains.

But what really is Ultra Heaven and who's really behind it? Who is the guru who is promoting the meditation as a powerful way to influence the whole universe surrounding us exploiting the quantum theory?

With the help of a special amplifier helmet, Kabu starts a trip into the deep and hidden layers of his conscience, diving into a nightmare he would never discover...

Tags: Seinen , Drugs , Dystopian , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Alternate Universe , Philosophy , Nudity , Cyberpunk , Tokusatsu

Wet Moon

Status: Finished
Genres: Mystery , Romance , Thriller

The story takes place in the '60s, in a mysterious city where madness and lust seem to be the citizens' constant companions. A detective named Sada (with a "certain" wound) pursues a woman accused of murder.

Note: The French edition won the Prix Asie de l'ACBD in 2014.

Tags: Police , Amnesia , Seinen , Achronological Order , Noir

20 Seiki Shounen

Also known as 20th Century Boys.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Sci-Fi , Thriller

Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren't for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that symbol returns. This is the story of a group of boys who try to save the world.

For Kenji, a simple convenience store manager who once dreamed of becoming a rock 'n' roll musician, a host of memories from his past come rushing back when one of his childhood friends mysteriously commits suicide. Could this new death be related to the rise of a bizarre new cult that's been implicated in several other murders and disappearances? Determined to dig deeper, Kenji reunites with some of his old buddies in the hope of learning the truth behind it all.



Tags: Politics , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Seinen , Fugitive , Achronological Order , Dystopian , Conspiracy , Cult , Pandemic , Time Skip , Post-Apocalyptic , Terrorism , Found Family , Male Protagonist , Detective , Musical Theater , Philosophy , Cosmic Horror , Female Protagonist , Historical , Tragedy , Dissociative Identities , Augmented Reality , Police , Robots , Transgender , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Nudity , Foreign , Time Manipulation , Homeless , Twins , Crossdressing

Dorohedoro

Also known as Dorohedoro.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy , Horror , Mystery

In a city so dismal it's known only as "the Hole," a clan of Sorcerers have been plucking people off the streets to use as guinea pigs for atrocious "experiments" in the black arts. In a dark alley, Nikaido found Caiman, a man with a reptile head and a bad case of amnesia. To undo the spell, they're hunting and killing the Sorcerers in the Hole, hoping that eventually they'll kill the right one. But when En, the head Sorcerer, gets word of a lizard-man slaughtering his people, he sends a crew of "cleaners" into the Hole, igniting a war between two worlds.



Note: Includes 23 side stories titled "Extra Evil" and the side story "The Lizard Head and the Magic Whistle."

Tags: Dissociative Identities , Magic , Ensemble Cast , Anti-Hero , Amnesia , Revenge , Dystopian , Gore , Body Horror , Seinen , Monster Boy , Surreal Comedy , Urban Fantasy , Demons , Primarily Adult Cast , Time Manipulation , Super Power , Cosmic Horror , Gangs , Body Swapping , Curses , Animals , Nudity , Zombie , Cyberpunk , Gender Bending

Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu

Also known as The Drifting Classroom.

Status: Finished
Genres: Horror , Mystery , Sci-Fi

Out of nowhere, an entire school vanishes, leaving nothing but a hole in the ground. While parents mourn and authorities investigate, the students and teachers find themselves not dead but stranded in a terrifying wasteland where they must fight to survive.



Note: Contains a bonus short story "The Wish"

Tags: Survival , School , Post-Apocalyptic , Time Manipulation , Gore , Tragedy , Agriculture , Environmental , Lost Civilization , Cult , Primarily Child Cast , Male Protagonist , Shounen , Cannibalism , Isekai

Billy Bat

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Supernatural , Thriller

The story is set in 1949 and follows Japanese-American comic book artist Kevin Yamagata as he draws the popular detective series "Billy Bat" for "Marble Comics." When he learns he may have unconsciously copied the character from an image he saw while serving in occupied Japan, he returns to Japan to get permission to use Billy Bat from its original creator. Upon arriving there, however, he becomes embroiled in a web of murder, cover-ups, and prophecy that all leads back to Billy Bat.

It is soon evident, however, that the truth of Billy Bat's nature is far larger than Kevin could ever guess, spanning millennia and across the world.



Note: Won the Max und Moritz Prize for "Best international Comic" in 2014.

Tags: Drawing , Historical , Time Manipulation , Seinen , Philosophy , Conspiracy , Politics , Ensemble Cast , Urban Fantasy , Travel , Foreign , Achronological Order , War , Time Skip , Primarily Adult Cast , Police , Religion , Male Protagonist , Dystopian , Ninja , Guns , Swordplay , Anachronism , Espionage , Nudity , Terrorism

Kouishou Radio

Also known as PTSD Radio.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Horror

From giving a lock of hair as a token to a loved one to shaving one's head as an act of penitence, hair is a powerful symbol across the world. This is the thread that connects the chilling tales in this horror anthology that follows the victims of Ogushi-sama -- a sinister god that carries away the dead.

Tags: Achronological Order , Gods , Episodic , Seinen , Body Horror , Cosmic Horror , Biographical , Historical , Rural , Urban , Autobiographical , Bullying , Tragedy