Top Body Image Manga Recommendations

Fukakai na Boku no Subete wo

Also known as Love Me for Who I Am.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance

Mogumo is a cute but lonely high school student who just wants a few loving friends. Fellow student Iwaoka Tetsu invites Mogumo to work at his family’s café for “cross-dressing boys,” but he makes an incorrect assumption: Mogumo is non-binary and doesn’t identify as a boy or a girl. However, Mogumo soon finds out that the café is run by LGBT+ folks of all stripes, all with their own reasons for congregating there.



Tags: LGBTQ+ Themes , Transgender , Agender , Coming of Age , Estranged Family , Crossdressing , Seinen , Found Family , Work , Restaurant , Femboy , Maids , Cosplay , Love Triangle , Body Image , Yuri , Boys' Love , School , Suicide

Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi

Also known as This Monster Wants to Eat Me.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Horror , Psychological , Romance , Supernatural

“I’ve come to eat you.”

So softly utters the mermaid Shiori as she emerges from the sea and takes high school girl Hinako by the hand. Hinako lives alone in a town by the sea and possesses an unusually delicious body that is irresistible to nearby monsters. To ensure that she matures to the best condition, Shiori seeks to protect Hinako—all so that someday, she can devour every piece of her. What will become of Hinako’s feelings as this looming unjust death closes in on her…?

Tags: Tragedy , Mermaid , Monster Girl , Female Protagonist , Youkai , Yuri , Denpa , Coastal , Primarily Female Cast , Orphan , Primarily Teen Cast , LGBTQ+ Themes , Seinen , Body Image , Mythology , Gods , Body Horror , Disability , Rural , Suicide

Helter Skelter

Also known as Helter Skelter: Fashion Unfriendly.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Psychological

If you are aware of fashion in Japan, you must have seen Liliko's face. For the last few years, she has been at the top of the modeling world, with her face and body promoting the biggest brands. But as everyone who is in this world admits, staying on top is a constant and never ending battle. There are always new faces introduced to the public. Younger models and new looks are brought into the fold every season. And keeping that position means learning to adapt and learning to cope with change.

To maintain her position Liliko has decided to go under the knife. This is not her first go with this service. It is yet another round of plastic surgery, all done to keep herself looking young and vibrant. However, in this case just a little nip and tuck was not enough. Liliko is bent on undergoing a full body makeover. From head-to-toe, every inch of her will undergo cosmetic surgery, and thus begins her madness.



Tags: Josei , Female Protagonist , Fashion , Primarily Adult Cast , Philosophy , Tragedy , Primarily Female Cast , Body Horror , Acting , Drugs , Nudity , Revenge , Idol , Urban , Body Image , Police , Modeling , Detective , Bisexual , Suicide , Yuri , Time Skip , Unrequited Love , Work

Gyemoinde, Ttari Neomu Gwiyeowo

Also known as Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy , Romance

Fairytale stepmothers are notoriously wicked. But after a children’s clothing designer is reborn as young Princess Blanche’s stepmom, she’s determined to break the mold and shower her daughter with love. Now she just has to convince the girl’s cold-hearted father to do the same. In her quest to make a happier home for Blanche, Abigail begins to uncover secrets and schemes within the palace. Will devious forces tear the Freidkins apart, or can Abigail stitch them back into a family?



Tags: Family Life , Female Protagonist , Isekai , Reincarnation , Parenthood , Villainess , Full Color , Fairy Tale , Fashion , Heterosexual , Magic , Politics , Primarily Adult Cast , Mermaid , Slapstick , Royal Affairs , Body Image , Yuri , Love Triangle

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna

Also known as She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Slice of Life

Cooking is how Nomoto de-stresses, but one day, she makes way more than she can eat by herself. And so she invites her neighbor Kasuga, who also lives alone. What will come out of this dinner invitation?



Tags: Food , Yuri , LGBTQ+ Themes , Female Protagonist , Josei , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Female Cast , Estranged Family , Asexual , Cohabitation , Urban , Body Image , Agender , Transgender

Cinderella Gopge Kiwotseumnida

Also known as A Wicked Tale of Cinderella's Stepmom.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

We all know the fairytale: the glass slipper, the not-so-pretty stepsisters, and a night with the prince until the clock strikes midnight. I have been reincarnated into that classic story, not as Cinderella, but as her “wicked” stepmother! Widowed twice by age 37 and with three daughters, my goal is to make sure all will have suitable partners and their own happily ever afters... and maybe a nice future for me as well! But who is this handsome young baron that keeps approaching me?



Tags: Family Life , Full Color , Fairy Tale , Parenthood , Villainess , Isekai , Female Protagonist , Heterosexual , Royal Affairs , Long Strip , Fairy , Food , Magic , Body Image , Chibi

Asahina Wakaba to ○○ na Kareshi

Also known as Asahina Wakaba & Her Chubby-Chubby Boyfriend.

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

Asahina Wakaba, a girl who is a bit clumsy and not good at socializing, gets bullied into asking out the school's biggest, most despised, otaku, Haruto Iruma. However, this experience changes her pitch-black high school years into the ultimate young-love experience.



Tags: Bullying , Heterosexual , Denpa , Seinen , Female Protagonist , Rehabilitation , School , Otaku Culture , Pregnancy , Urban , Blackmail , Body Image

River's Edge

Also known as River's Edge.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Haruna Wakakusa and Yamada become friends after she saves him several times from her boyfriend's constant bullying. Through him she gets to know Kozue Yoshikawa, a fellow student who also models professionally. The three emotionally stunted teens' lives briefly yet intensely intertwine for one semester before splintering from the aftereffects of one disastrous night. For both Wakakusa and Yamada, their emotional awakening fosters an unlikely friendship between the two battered souls.

Tags: Coming of Age , Tragedy , Josei , LGBTQ+ Themes , School , Female Protagonist , Bullying , Primarily Teen Cast , Nudity , Bisexual , Cheating , Drugs , Gore , Heterosexual , Yuri , Body Image

Resetting Lady

Also known as The Crimson Lady.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Psychological , Romance

Karen Heyer thought that a happy ending with the male lead, Raymond Sayerteth, would help her escape the romance novel she had entered. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Karen soon discovers that regardless of how the story ends, she always dies tragically and returns to when she was 17. After being forced to relive the story for 117 years, Karen's sanity finally reaches a breaking point... as she decides to change her destiny by killing everyone who has wronged her.



Tags: Time Loop , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Anti-Hero , Full Color , Time Manipulation , Villainess , Gore , Revenge , Suicide , Age Regression , Amnesia , Isekai , Memory Manipulation , Drugs , Chibi , Reincarnation , Adoption , Body Image , Long Strip , Heterosexual

Shibou to Iu Na no Fuku wo Kite

Also known as In Clothes Called Fat.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

From the pen of Moyoco Anno comes a stunning tale of self-image and self-loathing. In Clothes Called Fat details the lives of young women earnestly revealing the struggles women may have with their bodies and sexuality.

Noko appears to be living a great life, she's got a good job and a loving boyfriend, but beneath a thin veneer is a young woman who is struggling with her self-image and self-confidence as she fights to keep her weight down. To Noko, being 5 pounds overweight means being miles away from happiness in her lovelife and in her work-place.



Tags: Josei , Denpa , Female Protagonist , Body Image , Bullying , Work , Office , Urban , Primarily Adult Cast , Office Lady , Heterosexual , Nudity , Time Skip , LGBTQ+ Themes

Kimi wa Kawaii Onnanoko

Also known as My Sweet Girl.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

“Love isn’t for me.” That is what Tsugumi Koeda, a first-year high school student always told herself. Her small-framed, flat body has given Koeda a serious complex, making it totally impossible for her to ever imagine falling in love. That is, until one day when Masamune Sena, a boy from the next class sees her thin, boyish body by accident ... Since then, whenever Tsugumi's with the natural and frank Masamune, the feelings she’s held back, feelings that she wants to be “a girl” like everybody else start to grow more and more ... This is a pure and slow-step love story dedicated to all the girls who find things awkward when it comes to love!



Tags: Female Protagonist , School , Primarily Teen Cast , Shoujo , Heterosexual , Body Image , Love Triangle

Natsume Arata no Kekkon

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

Arata Natsume works at a child guidance center, is in his thirties and single with no plans for marriage. But one day, he receives a request from the child he was in charge of, Takuto, to "meet the criminal who killed his father". That serial killer is Shinagawa Shinju, also known as the "Shinagawa Pierrot".

Nominated for the Tsugimanga 2020 Award in the Manga Category.

Tags: Revenge , Tragedy , Philosophy , Adoption , Body Image , Fugitive , Suicide , Parenthood , Heterosexual , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Crime , Marriage , Prison , Primarily Adult Cast , Nudity

Kore wa Yuganda Shokurepo Desu

Also known as My Twisted Eating Disorder.

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

This diary comic details the complexities of Nagata Kabi’s fraught relationship with food, from eating disorders and habits to food preparation, with unflinching and detailed honesty. This short manga (originally 50 pages long) was written after My Wandering Warrior Existence and was only released on digital platforms in Japan. Seven Seas initially published the manga in English as an ebook exclusive before the release of the book written after it – My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better– in order to preserve the chronological timeline of new entries in Nagata Kabi’s powerful autobiographical series. Now, the anticipated release of the printed edition is here!

Notes:
- The series went on hiatus on April 16th, 2021 and resumed on October 4th, 2024 with a brand new name.
- Includes three extra chapters.

Tags: Autobiographical , Body Image , Food , Full Color , Female Protagonist , Disability

Ore ga Watashi ni Naru made

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

Serialization of the original doujinshi with the same title

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

Tags: Gender Bending , Transgender , Coming of Age , LGBTQ+ Themes , School , Primarily Female Cast , Rehabilitation , Body Image , Seinen , Yuri , Time Skip , Primarily Child Cast

Nae ID neun Gangnam Miin!

Also known as My ID is Gangnam Beauty!.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance

A new school, new friends, new romance, and a new face?! After going through major plastic surgery, freshman Mirae is ready for a fresh start. At her university, she becomes recognized as a pretty yet somewhat unnatural “Gangnam beauty.” However, all Mirae wants is to have a normal campus life without being judged by her looks. Will she be able to adjust well to the new environment and find the courage to live the life of her dreams?



Tags: College , Primarily Adult Cast , Bullying , Love Triangle , Full Color , Long Strip , Body Image

Pochama ni

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance

"Pochama" is someone who likes soft and squishy things or someone who likes chubby people (A LOT). [...] In the story, the issue of being fat in high school is not dealt with in the expected fashion -- girl is EXTREMELY shy and cruelly bullied by skinny girls. This is about Tsugumi's and Tagami's progress as a couple.

Tags: School , Shoujo , Bullying , Female Protagonist , Archery , Heterosexual , Body Image

Jibun no Karada wo Yurusu made

Also known as Until I Love Myself: The Journey of a Nonbinary Manga Artist.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

A bravely blunt autobiography about confronting the tangled traumas of gender dysphoria and workplace sexual harassment.

Nonbinary manga artist Poppy Pesuyama is excited when forms offer the option to choose "neither" for gender and thrilled about their new job working as an assistant for mangaka X! But then he sexually harasses them, treating them first like a girl and then like something less than human. It only lasts a few months, but in some ways it never ends.

Born into a body they hate and still reeling from the abuse they faced seven years ago, Pesuyama begins to rail at their past, their friends, and even their mother as they try to come to terms with who they are and what happened to them.



Tags: LGBTQ+ Themes , Autobiographical , Agender , Transgender , Rehabilitation , Bisexual , Primarily Adult Cast , Bullying , Non-fiction , Seinen , School , Disability , Drawing , Body Image , Work

Hanshin

Also known as Hanshin: Half-God.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

Conjoined twins Yudy and Yucy are as different as possible. Older Yudy is intelligent but ugly, as her nutrients are used up by her beautiful but simpleminded sister Yucy. Loving and hating so deeply, where does one girl begin and the other end?

Note: Published in English as a part of the "A Drunken Dream and Other Stories" manga anthology by Fantagraphics.

Tags: Tragedy , Twins , Family Life , Josei , Female Protagonist , Body Image , Disability

Aishita Bundake Aishite Hoshii!

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Ecchi , Romance

Mutsurugi Nana, who leads a self-indulgent, unemployed life, is still waiting for her ideal prince to come one day while satisfying her need for approval by uploading doctored selfies on the Internet. Then, Tsukasa, a candidate for the "ideal prince" appears, praising Nana as "cute" and escorting her home gently. Nana is so impressed by Tsukasa's words and acts that she couldn't help herself from falling for Tsukasa.

Tags: Yuri , Unrequited Love , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Cheating , Denpa , Cohabitation , Body Image , Primarily Female Cast , Nudity , Bisexual , Masturbation

Complex Age

Also known as Complex Age.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Twenty-six year old Nagisa Kataura has a secret. By all appearances, she’s an average temp-worker, but beneath her business-casual exterior she’s a devoted cosplayer. Transforming into her favorite anime and manga characters is her passion in life, and her hard work and creativity has earned Nagisa respect amongst her cosplay cohorts. But to the rest of society, her hobby is a silly fantasy, so she has to keep her two worlds separate. However, as demands from both sides of her life begin to increase, she may one day have to make a tough choice – what’s more important to her, cosplay or being “normal”?



Note: Includes the Complex Age pilot.

Tags: Cosplay , Primarily Adult Cast , Seinen , Female Protagonist , Otaku Culture , Body Image , Primarily Female Cast , Urban , Heterosexual , Time Skip , Bullying