Top Bar Manga Recommendations

ONE PIECE

Also known as One Piece.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer "Red-Haired" Shanks. But his life changed when Luffy accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit and gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure...one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary "One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the world...



Tags: Pirates , Travel , Found Family , Shounen , Ensemble Cast , Super Power , Tragedy , Ships , Male Protagonist , Fugitive , Conspiracy , Crime , Military , Politics , Terrorism , War , Slapstick , Time Skip , Gods , Primarily Adult Cast , Post-Apocalyptic , Lost Civilization , Slavery , Anachronism , Cultivation , Large Breasts , Dystopian , Religion , Swordplay , Mythology , Environmental , Gangs , Animals , Prison , Espionage , Meta , Anti-Hero , Skeleton , Cyborg , Anthropomorphism , Primarily Male Cast , Samurai , Henshin , Adoption , Assassins , Robots , Food , Guns , Medicine , Mermaid , Drugs , Amnesia , Revenge , Desert , Dragons , Battle Royale , Kemonomimi , Monster Girl , Oiran , Time Manipulation , LGBTQ+ Themes , Centaur , Ninja , Transgender , Zombie , Memory Manipulation , Trains , Angels , Female Protagonist , Aliens , Dinosaurs , Clone , Gender Bending , Bar , Body Swapping , Shapeshifting , Primarily Child Cast , Curses

Grand Blue

Also known as Grand Blue Dreaming.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life , Sports

After moving out on his own to a seaside town, Iori Kitahara makes a college debut he never anticipated. A new chapter of his life unfolds, full of diving with beautiful girls and shenanigans with a gaggle of lovable bastards! Idiot-expert Kenji Inoue and au naturel authority Kimitake Yoshioka bring you a glorious college tale filled with booze-fueled antics!



Tags: Slapstick , Surreal Comedy , Male Protagonist , College , Seinen , Primarily Adult Cast , Nudity , Coastal , Bar , Scuba Diving , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , Otaku Culture , Kuudere , Meta , Female Harem , Tsundere , Bisexual , Gore , Yandere , Gyaru , LGBTQ+ Themes

Nanatsu no Taizai

Also known as The Seven Deadly Sins.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

When they were accused of trying to overthrow the monarchy, the feared warriors the Seven Deadly Sins were sent into exile. Princess Elizabeth discovers the truth the Sins were framed by the king's guard, the Holy Knights too late to prevent them from assassinating her father and seizing the throne! Now the princess is on the run, seeking the Sins to help her reclaim the kingdom. But the first Sin she meets, Meliodas, is a little innkeeper with a talking pig. He doesn't even have a real sword! Have the legends of the Sins' strength been exaggerated...?



Note: Chapter count includes 346 regular chapters, 18 extra chapters, and 3 gaiden chapters.

Tags: Shounen , Ensemble Cast , Demons , Super Power , Magic , Reincarnation , Tragedy , Gods , Memory Manipulation , Fairy , Spearplay , Medieval , Fairy Tale , War , Male Protagonist , Amnesia , Primarily Adult Cast , Swordplay , Dissociative Identities , Martial Arts , Anti-Hero , Revenge , Bar , Heterosexual , Animals , Nudity , Time Manipulation , Lost Civilization , Found Family

NANA

Also known as Nana.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Drama , Music , Romance , Slice of Life

Nana Komatsu is a young woman who's endured an unending string of boyfriend problems. Moving to Tokyo, she's hoping to take control of her life and put all those messy misadventures behind her. She's looking for love and she's hoping to find it in the big city.

Nana Osaki, on the other hand, is cool, confident and focused. She swaggers into town and proceeds to kick down the doors to Tokyo's underground punk scene. She's got a dream and won't give up until she becomes Japan's No. 1 rock'n'roll superstar.

This is the story of two 20-year-old women who share the same name. Even though they come from completely different backgrounds, they somehow meet and become best friends. The world of Nana is a world exploding with sex, music, fashion, gossip and all-night parties.



Note: Winner of the 48th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shoujo Category in 2002.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Band , Primarily Adult Cast , Shoujo , Tragedy , Time Skip , Philosophy , Pregnancy , Found Family , Netorare , Bisexual , LGBTQ+ Themes , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , Achronological Order , Urban , Rock Music , Age Gap , Nudity , Drugs , Bar

Kaichou wa Maid-sama!

Also known as Maid-sama!.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance

The class president has a little secret she's keeping from everyone in her high school... As President of the Student Council, the overachieving feminist Misaki really socks it to the guys in an attempt to make the former all-boys' school attract a more female student body. But what will she do when the most awesome boy in class finds out Misaki's part-time job is in a maid café?! It's love at first fight in this shojo romantic comedy—with a whole new look at the battle between the genres!



Included one-shots:
Volume 1: Toumei na Sekai (A Transparent World)
Volume 4: Tsuide ni 3 Baka mo Maid-sama! (And While We're at It, the Idiot Trio as Maids!)
Volume 4: Soshite Momotaro mo Maid-sama (Peach Boy Is a Maid Too!)
Volume 6: Aoi Haru (Blue Spring)
Volume 6: Fukukaichou wa Ouji-sama!? (The Vice-President Is a Prince?!)
Volume 7: Aoi to to Yukai na Nakama-tachi (Aoi with Fun Friends)
Volume 8: Baka to Furyou to Hero to (An Idiot, a Delinquent and a Hero)
Volume 8: Toaru Asa no Seitokaishitsu (A Particular Morning in the Student Council Office)
Volume 11: Kaichou wa Shisuji-sama! (The President Is a Butler!)
Volume 11: Konnichiwa Imouto desu (Hello, I'm the Little Sister)
Volume 12: Sentimental Ikkun (Sentimental Ikkun)
Volume 13: Maid Latte Hikaeshitsu (Maid Latte Back Room)
Volume 15: Baka to Furyou to Madonna to (An Idiot, a Delinquent and a Madonna)
Volume 17: Comics Kakioroshi Short Story (Exclusive Short Comic)


Tags: Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Tsundere , School , Primarily Teen Cast , Tomboy , Work , Maids , Restaurant , Time Skip , Male Harem , Crossdressing , Bar , Love Triangle , Butler , Cosplay , Chibi

Yubisaki to Renren

Also known as A Sign of Affection.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

Yuki is a typical college student, whose world revolves around her friends, social media, and the latest sales. But when a chance encounter on a train leads to her meeting friend-of-a-friend and fellow student Itsuomi-san, her world starts to widen. But even though Itsuomi-kun can speak three languages, sign language isn’t one of them. Can the two learn to communicate the budding feelings between them?



Notes:
- Ranked 17th place for the Tsugimanga Award in the Print Manga Category in 2020.
- Nominated for the 45th and 46th Kodansha Manga Award in the Shoujo Category in 2021 and 2022.
- Nominated for the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shoujo Category

Tags: Shoujo , Language Barrier , Female Protagonist , Disability , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , College , Love Triangle , Bar , Chibi , Urban , Cohabitation , Tsundere

The Fable

Also known as The Fable.

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

When you're the infamous prodigy hitman known only as “Fable,” many things come easy. Being a normal person, however, isn't one of them. In fact, being told that he can't kill anyone for a while may just be the hardest job Fable’s ever taken...



Note: Won the 41st Kodansha Manga Awards in the general manga category in 2017.

Tags: Yakuza , Seinen , Urban , Assassins , Guns , Primarily Adult Cast , Surreal Comedy , Crime , Nudity , Survival , Disability , Revenge , Bar , Heterosexual , Gore , Tragedy

Hinamatsuri

Also known as Hinamatsuri.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Nitta is an ambitious, young member of the Ashikawa-gumi yakuza syndicate. One day, a mysterious, oval-shaped object falls out of thin air into his apartment, and suddenly changes everything! Inside of the object is an expressionless young girl named Hina. The girl has formidable telekinetic powers that she uses to threaten Nitta, forcing him to allow her to live in his apartment. Dangers abound as the yakuza member and young psychic begin their life together as roommates!



Includes 32 extra chapters.

Tags: Surreal Comedy , Found Family , Adoption , Slapstick , Family Life , Super Power , Yakuza , Female Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Parenthood , Coming of Age , Work , Ensemble Cast , Seinen , Time Skip , Male Protagonist , Homeless , Primarily Female Cast , Urban , Bar , School , Time Manipulation

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!

Also known as Konosuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Ecchi , Fantasy , Romance

Game loving shut-in Kazuma Sato's life as a young schoolboy in Japan abruptly comes to an early end...or at least it was supposed to. When he opens his eyes, though, he sees a beautiful goddess that offers him a once in an after-lifetime chance to be reborn in a parallel world. The catch is that the world is violent and threatened by a growing evil! Fortunately, he can choose any one thing to bring with him. So he chooses the goddess, Aqua! And so his adventure with his gorgeous companion begins--if he could just get enough money and food to survive, keep his goddess out of trouble, and avoid grabbing the attention of the Demon King's army!



Note: Includes 15 prologues, 6 interludes, and 21 epilogues.

Tags: Ensemble Cast , Isekai , Male Protagonist , Magic , Reincarnation , Parody , Satire , Slapstick , Medieval , Chuunibyou , Gods , Alternate Universe , Demons , Work , Afterlife , Shounen , Female Harem , Swordplay , Travel , Bar

BLUE GIANT

Also known as Blue Giant.

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

Dai lived a normal high school life in Sendai: a city of hot summer days and rainy nights. Between basketball, part time jobs, and an uncertain future, something was missing. And that thing was music. With his days in senior year running out, Dai swears a heartfelt vow: “I’m gonna be the best jazz player in the world.”

But what do you need to be the best? Talent? Effort? A lucky break? Or maybe just a deep, pure love for music, and too much stubbornness to know when to quit.



Note: Nominated for the 22nd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Tags: Seinen , Band , Jazz Music , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Bar , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Tragedy , Ensemble Cast

Saikyou Densetsu Kurosawa

Also known as The Legend of the Strongest, Kurosawa!.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Psychological

Kurosawa is sick and tired of his boring, ordinary life growing old as the less popular site foreman in Anahira Construction. The turning point comes when his 44th birthday comes along, and no one remembers or celebrates with him. Realizing he lived a life without drive or purpose, Kurosawa tries to go past his comfort zone to turn his life around. Will his newfound shenanigans help him or hurt him when he gets caught up in fights with delinquents?



Tags: Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Delinquents , Bullying , Seinen , Work , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Homeless , Urban , Satire , Nudity , Samurai , Bar , Age Gap

Hachimitsu to Clover

Also known as Honey and Clover.

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

Takemoto lives in a run down student apartment, where his greatest worry is when he'll next be able to afford to eat meat and whether he'll get to class on time. Although he's away from home and living on his own, Takemoto is far from finished growing up. Along with his crazy cast of friends, Morita, Mayama, Yamada, and Hagumi, Takemoto sets out to discover life and his true self.



Notes:
- Won the the 27th Kodansha Manga Award for shoujo in 2003.
- Chapter count includes 11 extra chapters.

Tags: Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Josei , Love Triangle , Age Gap , Heterosexual , College , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Unrequited Love , Rehabilitation , Philosophy , Teacher , Drawing , Work , Cycling , School , Male Harem , Tragedy , Bar

Netsuzou Trap: NTR

Also known as NTR: Netsuzou Trap.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Ecchi , Romance

Yuma and Hotaru have been friends since childhood. It is only natural that when Yuma is nervous about her new boyfriend, she asks Hotaru and her boyfriend along for a double date. But when Hotaru offers herself to Yuma as “practice”, both girls realize that they’re more interested in each other than they are in their own boyfriends. With boyfriends in the foreground but a secret, passionate tryst in the background, will Yuma and Hotaru try to forget what happened between them or have they fallen into a trap of true love and betrayal?



Note: The chapter count includes 5 bonus chapters.

Tags: Yuri , LGBTQ+ Themes , Netorare , Female Protagonist , Love Triangle , School , Tragedy , Bisexual , Nudity , Heterosexual , Bar

Uchi no Ko no Tame Naraba, Ore wa Moshikashitara Maou mo Taoseru Kamo Shirenai.

Also known as If It's for My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat a Demon Lord.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy , Slice of Life

While on a job, Dale -- a young but accomplished adventurer -- comes across a little demon girl all alone in the forest. Dale can't bear to leave her there to die, so instead, he takes her home! Demon or not, Latina is beyond adorable and it is not long before he finds himself head over heels with being her guardian. Can Dale handle the trials and tribulations of childcare and being an adventurer?



Tags: Shounen , Family Life , Demons , Found Family , Work , Parenthood , Bar , Kemonomimi

Heads

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological

This manga is a story based on a thriller by Keigo Higashino. The main protagonist, the shy Jun Naruse, is a rather average guy who works for an electronics company and loves to paint. He falls in love with Megumi whom he met at an art supplies shop and an intimate relationship develops. Whilst looking for his dream apartment to move into with Megumi the real estate office he is at gets attacked, and when the criminal tries to shoot a little girl, he saves her by jumping in front of her.

A month passes until he wakes up again and is told that half his brain got destroyed and he only survived because someone donated half a brain. Everything seems to be fine, he quickly recovers and is happy, however, he begins to change… Is the donated brain the reason for that? Or is it just a side effect of the medicine?

Tags: Dissociative Identities , Denpa , Drawing , Revenge , Suicide , Primarily Adult Cast , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Heterosexual , Conspiracy , Amnesia , Philosophy , Anti-Hero , Crime , Work , Twins , Bar , Nudity

Old Boy

Also known as Old Boy.

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

Ten years ago, they took him in. He doesn't even know who. And for ten years, he has been confined in a private prison. He doesn't know why. For ten years, his only contact with the outside world has been a television set and the voices of his jail mates. In time, he lost himself. He changed...transformed himself into something else...something hard...something lethal. Suddenly, one day his incarceration ends, again without explanation. He is sedated, stuffed inside a trunk, and dumped in a park. When he awakes, he is free to reclaim what's left of his life...and what's left is revenge.



Includes an epilogue in the final volume.

Tags: Revenge , Noir , Crime , Suicide , Amnesia , Urban , Bar , Fugitive , Memory Manipulation , School , Seinen , Male Protagonist

Yuki no Shita no Qualia

Also known as Qualia Under the Snow.

Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

University student Akio prefers the company of plants over people, but everything changes when he befriends his outgoing, promiscuous dorm neighbor.

Kobayashi Akio and Oohashi Umi live in the same dorm and attend the same university. Akio prefers the company of plants and isn't particularly fond of people, while Umi's relationships with men never seem to progress past one-night stands. Umi quickly warms up to Akio, and despite their differences, Akio slowly opens up to Umi. But one day, Umi says to Akio, "You're a nice guy, Senpai. I didn't even have to let you sleep with me for you to stick around." Akio couldn't even begin to understand what Umi was going through... "All I want is the one I love to love me back." You may be surprised by which of them feels that way.



Tags: Boys' Love , Iyashikei , LGBTQ+ Themes , Bar , Animals , Primarily Adult Cast , Age Gap , Male Protagonist , Nudity

Bartender

Also known as Bartender.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

The story of the Sasakura Ryu and Eden Hall, a small cocktail bar in the Chiba area of Tokyo, where troubled customers come for the "glass of the gods," which with Ryu's assistance helps them to resolve their often highly emotional problems.

Tags: Bar , Seinen , Primarily Adult Cast , Episodic , Iyashikei , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Historical

Hitorijime My Hero

Also known as Hitorijime My Hero.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life

Masahiro Setagawa doesn't believe in heroes, but wishes he could: he's found himself trapped in a gang of small-time street bullies, and with no prospects for a real future. But when high school teacher (and scourge of the streets) Kousuke Ohshiba comes to his rescue, he finds he may start believing after all...in heroes, and in his budding feelings, too.



Tags: Boys' Love , School , Age Gap , LGBTQ+ Themes , Teacher , Family Life , Found Family , Delinquents , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Love Triangle , Yandere , Unrequited Love , Bar , Food

Fuzoroi no Renri

Also known as Assorted Entanglements.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

Tanaka Iori is a worker for a company that sets unreasonable demands, on top of that she has a penchant for dating married men. What a recipe for disaster! One day she gets drunk with an acquaintance and wakes up the next morning by her side naked! What's Iori to do?

Note: Nominated for the Tsugimanga 2020 Award in the Web Manga Category.

Note: Originally self-published on the author's Twitter and Pixiv, all the aforementioned and future episodes have been collected and published as commercial volumes by Kadokawa.

Tags: Yuri , Office Lady , Delinquents , Age Gap , Cohabitation , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , School , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Shounen , Tomboy , Bar , Video Games