Top Body Image Manga Recommendations

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 , Tragedy , Primarily Female Cast , Acting , Body Horror , Drugs , Philosophy , Nudity , Revenge , Idol , Urban , Body Image , Police , 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 , Villainess , Parenthood , Full Color , Fashion , Historical , Magic , Heterosexual , Fairy Tale , Politics , Primarily Adult Cast , Slapstick , Yuri , Royal Affairs , Mermaid , Love Triangle , Body Image

Cinderella Gopge Kiwotseumnida

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

Status: Releasing
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

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 , Bullying , Work , Office , Urban , Body Image , Primarily Adult Cast , Office Lady , Nudity , Time Skip , LGBTQ+ Themes , Yuri

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

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

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.
- Chapter count includes 3 extra chapters.

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

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

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

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

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 , Denpa , Cheating , Cohabitation , Body Image , Primarily Female Cast , Nudity , Bisexual , Masturbation

Tenseisaki ga Shoujomanga no Shirobuta Reijou datta

Status: Cancelled
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Supernatural

I recalled memories of my past life after Grandfather told me my engagement was annulled. At the same time, I realized this world was the same world as in my favorite shoujo manga. The villainess who exhausted every method possible to bully the heroine… I reincarnated as that villainess’ chubby follower. I shook upon remembering the future lined up for her. When the villainess’ evil deeds came to light, she pinned all her crimes on Britney. I was a character that gets executed.

Note: Includes chapter 3.5.

Tags: Isekai , Ojou-sama , Reincarnation , Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Villainess , Fitness , Body Image

Cousin

Also known as Cousin.

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

18-year-old Tsubomi has a bit of a weight complex. After graduation from high school, she takes up a part-time job at a video rental store where she is introduced to another male employee, 19-year-old Shiro, whose shifts always seem to coincide with hers. Shiro casually mentions that she reminds him of someone familiar. A few days later, while on duty, she bumps into a customer in one of the aisles. He leaves, but not without dropping his membership card, and Tsubomi finds out that his name is Nasukawa, and that he is an acquaintance of Shiro's. Meanwhile, after a song for a commercial comes on, Shiro realizes that Tsubomi reminds him of a famous model in a commercial (her "eyes", at least), who turns out to be none other than Tsubomi's cousin...?!

Tags: Female Protagonist , Josei , Age Gap , Coming of Age , Love Triangle , Primarily Adult Cast , Nudity , Unrequited Love , Heterosexual , Body Image

Yeounori

Also known as The Fox Club.

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

Meet Sangmok High’s Fox Club, home to the prettiest, wealthiest, and most popular girls in school. To ordinary Onyu Park, whose most extraordinary trait is being best friends with the gorgeous Chaeri Shin, the Foxes exist in a whole other world – or so she thinks – until she and Chaeri are suddenly thrown into the Fox Club headfirst! As if adjusting to high school wasn’t hard enough, the girls find themselves surrounded by prying eyes, rumors, catty schemes, and budding romance. Will Onyu and Chaeri’s friendship survive all of the drama and secrets? Who are the Foxes, really? And does Onyu have what it takes to become one of them?



Tags: Primarily Teen Cast , Heterosexual , POV , Estranged Family , School Club , Long Strip , Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Love Triangle , Unrequited Love , Body Image , Blackmail , Full Color , School , Bullying , Idol , Urban , Age Gap

Yawao to Katako

Also known as A Queen and an Old Maid.

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

Campy queen vs. Miss forever-alone: this defeat-your-insecurities (romantic?) comedy goes out to all you folks full of self-loathing!! Unpopular with men, unattractive, and unsure of herself...... At a mixer one night, insecure and forever-alone Fujiko found her soulmate- No, wait, it was a femme guy playing mother hen?! Fujiko has never been confident in herself as a woman, but with help from prettyboy queen Koyanagi, now she's going to give femininity another shot...!

Tags: Josei , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , LGBTQ+ Themes , Heterosexual , Bisexual , Fashion , Body Image , Love Triangle

Raou-kun wa Watashi ni Kamau

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance

Hino Harukaze is not confident about her appearance. Her classmates call her "ugly" and make fun of her. Then, a delinquent boy in her class, Kurobane Rao, told Hino that she is "cute"⁉



Note: Includes 2 extra chapters.

Tags: Female Protagonist , School , Shoujo , Heterosexual , Bullying , Delinquents , Primarily Teen Cast , Urban , Body Image

Iguana no Musume

Also known as Iguana Girl.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

A girl who appears to her mother and herself to be a hideous anthropoid iguana struggles to overcome her mother’s rejection and find happiness ... but her mother has a secret.



Tags: Josei , Body Image , Female Protagonist , Family Life , Coming of Age , Time Skip , Tragedy

Jibun Size de Ikou: Watashi nari no Body Positive

Also known as Embrace Your Size: My Own Body Positivity.

Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

A love letter to those who dream of being fashionable but consider their weight as an obstacle, this uplifting comic essay by a plus-sized author chronicles her own journey with body positivity and learning to love herself as she is.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Non-fiction , Anthology , Educational , Autobiographical , Fashion , Drawing , Body Image

Pocha Musume wa Koakuma Move ga Yamerarenai

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

Tsukiyono Mayoi, 16: A second year at Oujibaru High School, and a part of the school's Library Committee. Whenever she's in front of the kohai she likes, Amagi Haru, she acts like a clingy 'little devil' character. It's not something she does by choice, but rather, by necessity. Her unappealing figure and low confidence makes her insecure, and forces her to put on an act in order to talk with the guy she likes. And so begins the story of a chubby girl that just can't seem to stop acting like a little devil character.

Tags: Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , School , Primarily Teen Cast , Seinen , Body Image , Gyaru