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 , Found Family , Crossdressing , Seinen , 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 , Youkai , Yuri , Female Protagonist , Denpa , Coastal , Primarily Female Cast , Orphan , Primarily Teen Cast , LGBTQ+ Themes , Suicide , Body Image , Seinen , School , Mythology , Gods , Body Horror , Disability , Rural

Hourou Musuko

Also known as Wandering Son.

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

Fifth grade friends Shuichi Nitori and Yoshino Takatsuki have happy homes, loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates. But they share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward for anyone: Shuichi is a transgender girl, and Yoshino is transgender boy.



Tags: LGBTQ+ Themes , Female Protagonist , Coming of Age , Transgender , School , Gender Bending , Primarily Teen Cast , Body Image , Fashion , Primarily Female Cast , Crossdressing , Bullying , Acting , Seinen , Writing , Yuri , Modeling , Body Horror

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

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

Oboreru Knife

Also known as Drowning Love.

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

"I don't know what this feeling is … I don't know what I should do now … all I know is, I want him." They fight one another, they chase after one another, they capture one another—a turbulent tale of preteens on the brink of self-destruction, masterfully brought to life by George Asakura!

Tags: Shoujo , Gods , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , Psychosexual , Rural , Love Triangle , Tragedy , Mythology , Fashion , School , Photography , Crime , Delinquents , Acting , Gangs , Coastal , Modeling , Religion , Estranged Family , Time Skip , Suicide , Blackmail , Body Image , Band

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

Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance

Kiki Haruma always dreamed of doing ballroom dance as the feminine "partner" role, but as she aged she grew taller and taller, eventually causing her to give up ever looking good in a dress or anything girly. Now in the second-year of high school, she specializes in the masculine "leader" role—until one day, her partner suddenly leaves her. When Michiru Toribami, a petite and pretty first-year student, comes to join the ballroom dance club, Kiki asks her to be her new partner, but Michiru told her that she only dances the leading role—and she wants none other than Kiki to be her partner.

Tags: Dancing , Yuri , Primarily Female Cast , Female Protagonist , LGBTQ+ Themes , Body Image , School Club , School , Love Triangle , Primarily Teen Cast , Unrequited Love

Evergreen

Also known as Evergreen.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance

Yoshimatsu Hotaka is the president of the manga club and is always diligent with his school life and club activities, but even though he looks like a regular honor student in reality we have that there is something really odd with him; he has this bitter ~ heavy ~ melancholic look and is almost always looking at Awaya Nika, the beautiful, bright, radiant, super cheerful swimming club's female ace.

Why does Hotaka acts all bitter like that? And what will become of him as the sports teacher orders him to have at least "one secret swimming class lesson" where no one is supposed to be looking, whereas he normally skips class activities due to personal matters?

Tags: School , Incest , Shounen , Male Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Heterosexual , Estranged Family , School Club , Tragedy , Swimming , Body Image

Itai Onee-san wa Suki desu ka?

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

Shiori Itai is a 26 year old woman who works as an office lady. Single, but aspiring to find love one day, she suffers from a big flaw: she constantly looks exhausted, jaded... in short: at the end of her life! Every time she undertakes something new in her daily life, this aspect of her personality as well as her extreme awkwardness are missing...

Tags: Office Lady , Slapstick , Nudity , Episodic , Heterosexual , Seinen , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Work , Love Triangle , Denpa , Body Image , Male Protagonist , Surreal Comedy , Fitness

Zekkyou Gakkyuu

Status: Finished
Genres: Horror , Supernatural

The girl Yomi - a creature without legs - leads through a world of horror, which slumbers in the midst of everyday life and only lies in wait to pounce on the unsuspecting. Anyone who is foolish enough to engage in it terrible things will happening!

Tags: Shoujo , Episodic , Ghost , Bullying , Female Protagonist , Body Horror , Urban , Philosophy , School , Tragedy , Body Swapping , Curses , Primarily Child Cast , Body Image , Brainwashing , Cannibalism , Primarily Teen Cast

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 , Seinen , Prison , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Crime , Marriage , 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 , Yuri , Seinen , Time Skip , Primarily Child Cast