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 According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the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 , Philosophy , Crime , Tragedy , Amnesia , Twins , Noir , Fugitive , Foreign , Historical , Memory Manipulation , Male Protagonist , Detective , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Police , Medicine , Time Skip , Crossdressing , Suicide , Orphan , Adoption , Torture , Assassins , Achronological Order , Episodic , Gore

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

Ultra Heaven

Also known as Ultra Heaven.

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

In the future, any mood you want is just a pump away. People flock to legal “pump bars,” where licensed medical professionals, known as bar doctors, prescribe their customers the perfect pharmaceutical blend. But when the standard dosage isn’t enough, our protagonist, Cub, turns to an unauthorized source. The results have to be seen to be believed. Rendered in a richly-detailed, clear-line style, this psychedelic sci-fi manga tears apart the basic fabric of reality. What is the truth and what is a dream?

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

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 , Seinen , Revenge , Dystopian , Body Horror , Gore , Monster Boy , Surreal Comedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Demons , Urban Fantasy , Curses , Time Manipulation , Super Power , Henshin , Gangs , Cosmic Horror , Body Swapping , Female Protagonist , Nudity , Animals , Anthropomorphism , Zombie , Male Protagonist , Cyberpunk , Gender Bending

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

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: Includes 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

Also known as Billy Bat.

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

It’s 1949 Los Angeles, and Kevin Yamagata, a Japanese American comic book author, is drawing his bestselling character, Billy Bat: a quick-witted detective who is, unsurprisingly, a cartoon bat. Everything is going well for Kevin until he discovers an unfortunate truth: He may have unintentionally plagiarized his beloved character from a drawing he once saw in Japan. Devastated by the news, Kevin returns to war-torn Japan to find the drawing’s original artist . . . but the character’s origins turn out to be far older and more perplexing than he had ever imagined.



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

Tags: Drawing , Historical , Time Manipulation , Seinen , Conspiracy , Philosophy , 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 , Body Horror , Seinen , Urban , Cosmic Horror , Biographical , Historical , Rural , Autobiographical , Bullying , Tragedy