Top Cult Manga Recommendations

Chainsaw Man

Also known as Chainsaw Man.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Horror , Supernatural

The name says it all! Denji's life of poverty is changed forever when he merges with his pet chainsaw dog, Pochita! Now he's living in the big city and an official Devil Hunter. But he's got a lot to learn about his new job and chainsaw powers!



Notes:
- Nominated for the 2020 Manga Taisho Award.
- Winner of the 2021 Kono Manga ga Sugoi Award.
- Winner of the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shounen category.
- Winner of the 2021 and 2022 Harvey Award for Best Manga.
- Chapters 1-97 were released in Weekly Shounen Jump from Dec 3, 2018 to Dec 13, 2020. The series resumed from Ch. 98 in Shounen Jump+ on July 12, 2022

Tags: Demons , Tragedy , Urban Fantasy , Dissociative Identities , Gore , Male Protagonist , Body Horror , Cosmic Horror , Urban , Henshin , Female Protagonist , Survival , Psychosexual , Work , Monster Boy , Found Family , Cult , Heterosexual , Memory Manipulation , Shounen , Ensemble Cast , Guns , Assassins , Human Pet , Monster Girl , Revenge , Yandere , Terrorism , Shapeshifting , Philosophy , Meta , Slapstick , Afterlife , Primarily Teen Cast , Nudity , Necromancy , School , Delinquents , Cannibalism , Angels , Time Skip , Amnesia , Yakuza , Mafia , Tsundere , LGBTQ+ Themes , Zombie , Chimera , Motorcycles , Yuri

Jujutsu Kaisen

Also known as Jujutsu Kaisen.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Supernatural

Although Yuji Itadori looks like your average teenager, his immense physical strength is something to behold! Every sports club wants him to join, but Itadori would rather hang out with the school outcasts in the Occult Research Club. One day, the club manages to get their hands on a sealed cursed object. Little do they know the terror they’ll unleash when they break the seal…



Notes:
- Ranked 1st in Japan's Bookstore Employees Top Manga of 2018.
- Nominated for the 25th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2021.
- Nominated for the 65th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shounen Category in 2019.

Tags: Urban Fantasy , Super Power , Demons , Shounen , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Monster Boy , Youkai , Martial Arts , Magic , Body Horror , Dissociative Identities , Gore , Death Game , Primarily Teen Cast , Cosmic Horror , Battle Royale , Ensemble Cast , Urban , Body Swapping , Sadism , Philosophy , School , Cult , Surreal Comedy , Anthropomorphism , Assassins , Slapstick , Time Manipulation , Swordplay , Time Skip , Nudity , Femboy , Transgender

Shingeki no Kyojin

Also known as Attack on Titan.

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

In this post-apocalyptic sci-fi story, humanity has been devastated by the bizarre, giant humanoids known as the Titans. Little is known about where they came from or why they are bent on consuming mankind. Seemingly unintelligent, they have roamed the world for years, killing everyone they see. For the past century, what's left of man has hidden in a giant, three-walled city. People believe their 50-meter-high walls will protect them from the Titans, but the sudden appearance of an immense Titan is about to change everything.



Note: Includes 2 extra chapters.

Tags: Dystopian , Anti-Hero , War , Tragedy , Military , Conspiracy , Survival , Philosophy , Kaiju , Shapeshifting , Memory Manipulation , Politics , Revenge , Henshin , Male Protagonist , Monster Boy , Terrorism , Post-Apocalyptic , Super Power , Gore , Time Manipulation , Body Horror , Ensemble Cast , Cosmic Horror , Time Skip , Cannibalism , Coming of Age , Slavery , Swordplay , Torture , Alternate Universe , Shounen , Espionage , Mythology , Tsundere , Amnesia , Kuudere , Class Struggle , Disability , Historical , Baseball , Dissociative Identities , Drugs , Achronological Order , Heterosexual , Reincarnation , LGBTQ+ Themes , Suicide , Primarily Adult Cast , Religion , Acrobatics , Cult , Transgender

Berserk

Also known as Berserk.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Horror , Psychological

His name is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a feared warrior spoken of only in whispers. Bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand, and the scars of countless battles and tortures, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an unholy symbol that draws the forces of darkness to him and dooms him as their sacrifice. But Guts won't take his fate lying down; he'll cut a crimson swath of carnage through the ranks of the damned—and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more an annoyance than a companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloodstained path that leads only to death...or vengeance.



Notes:
- Volumes 1-5 contain the 16 prequel chapters 0A - 0P.
- Chapter 83 was omitted from Volume 13 due to the author’s request.
- Volume 14 includes “Berserk: The Prototype”.
- Due to the author's passing, starting from Chapter 365, the manga is illustrated by Studio Gaga (Miura's assistants) and supervised by Kouji Mori (a close friend of Miura's).

Tags: Tragedy , Seinen , Revenge , Male Protagonist , Demons , Cosmic Horror , Gore , Philosophy , Found Family , Anti-Hero , Swordplay , Rehabilitation , Magic , War , Travel , Foreign , Body Horror , Mythology , Survival , Gods , Religion , Primarily Adult Cast , Nudity , Military , Politics , Fairy , Disability , Witch , Coming of Age , Amnesia , Sadism , Torture , Ensemble Cast , Elf , Dystopian , Heterosexual , Time Skip , Achronological Order , Age Regression , Kaiju , Tomboy , Group Sex , Cult , Pregnant , Prostitution , Skeleton , Adoption , Slavery , Super Power , Cannibalism , Incest , Dungeon , Kingdom Management , Vore , Dragons , Ships , Masturbation , Mermaid , Fellatio , LGBTQ+ Themes , Monster Girl , Monster Boy

Oyasumi Punpun

Also known as Goodnight Punpun.

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

Meet Punpun Punyama. He’s an average kid in an average town.
He wants to win a Nobel Prize and save the world.
He wants the girl he has a crush on to like him back.
He wants to find some porn.
That’s what he wants, but what does he get…?



Tags: Coming of Age , Seinen , Tragedy , Philosophy , Denpa , Suicide , Psychosexual , Urban , Male Protagonist , Heterosexual , Time Skip , Anti-Hero , Fugitive , School , Surreal Comedy , Cult , Meta , Work , Nudity , Gods , Body Horror , Love Triangle , Ghost

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

Fire Punch

Also known as Fire Punch.

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

Orphaned siblings Agni and Luna, like the Ice Witch who cursed their world, are two of the “blessed,” humans who hold special abilities. However, not all who are blessed are friendly, and after another of their kind attacks Agni and decimates the orphans' village, Agni fights to survive, vowing revenge.



Tags: Post-Apocalyptic , Suicide , Tragedy , Dystopian , Revenge , Philosophy , Cult , Anti-Hero , Super Power , Survival , Religion , Body Horror , Meta , Cosmic Horror , Gore , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Torture , Acting , Snowscape , Time Skip , Cannibalism , Incest , Urban Fantasy , Filmmaking , Transgender , Slavery , Denpa , LGBTQ+ Themes , Gods , Memory Manipulation , Surreal Comedy , Politics , Heterosexual , Nudity , Shounen

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 , Gore , Female Protagonist , Philosophy , Lost Civilization , Episodic , Cannibalism , Heterosexual , Rural , Suicide , Bullying , Cult , Unrequited Love , Demons

Enen no Shouboutai

Also known as Fire Force.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

Terror has paralyzed the clockwork metropolis of Tokyo! Possessed by demons, people have begun to burst into flame, leading to the establishment of a special firefighting team: the Fire Force, ready to roll on a moment's notice to fight spontaneous combustion anywhere it might break out. The team is about to get a very unique addition: Shinra, a boy who possesses the unique power to run at the speed of a rocket, leaving behind the famous "devil's footprints" (and destroying his shoes in the process). Can the Fire Force discover the source of this strange phenomenon and put a stop to it? Or will the city burn to ashes first?



Note: Includes the prologue and two epilogue chapters.

Tags: Cosmic Horror , Super Power , Shounen , Religion , Gods , Post-Apocalyptic , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Firefighters , Meta , Cult , Demons , Alternate Universe , Urban Fantasy , Military , Dragons , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Nun , Swordplay , Female Harem , Crossover

FAIRY TAIL

Also known as Fairy Tail.

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

Cute girl wizard Lucy wants to join the Fairy Tail, a club for the most powerful wizards. But instead her ambitions land her in the clutches of a gang of unsavory pirates led by a devious magician. Her only hope is Natsu, a strange boy she happens to meet on her travels. Natsu’s not your typical hero—he gets motion sickness, eats like a pig, and his best friend is a talking cat. With friends like this, is Lucy better off with her enemies?



Note: Includes 4 extra chapters.

Tags: Ensemble Cast , Magic , Shounen , Dragons , Large Breasts , Animals , Super Power , Time Skip , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Nekomimi , War , Demons , Travel , Fairy Tale , Found Family , Time Manipulation , Lost Civilization , Gods , Cult

God of High School

Also known as The God of High School.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Supernatural

Mori Jin is a high school student and Taekwondo specialist who enters "The God of High School," a fighting tournament that promises the winner anything they want. What began as a competition to seek out the best high school fighter soon reveals itself to be part of a much greater plot that goes beyond Mori's wildest imagination. What will he give to become a true god?



Tags: Martial Arts , Super Power , Gods , Full Color , Mythology , War , Ensemble Cast , Amnesia , Revenge , Urban Fantasy , Conspiracy , Cult , Time Skip , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Demons , Swordplay , Post-Apocalyptic , Cultivation , Politics , Dragons , Isekai , Age Regression , Terrorism , Athletics , School , Kemonomimi , Espionage , Religion , Foreign , Space , Heterosexual , Centaur

PLUTO

Also known as Pluto.

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

In an ideal world where man and robots coexist, someone or something has destroyed the powerful Swiss robot Mont Blanc. Elsewhere a key figure in a robot rights group is murdered. The two incidents appear to be unrelated...except for one very conspicuous clue - the bodies of both victims have been fashioned into some sort of bizarre collage complete with makeshift horns placed by the victims' heads. Interpol assigns robot detective Gesicht to this most strange and complex case - and he eventually discovers that he too, as one of the seven great robots of the world, is one of the targets.



Tags: Seinen , Robots , Artificial Intelligence , Detective , Police , Tragedy , Urban Fantasy , Philosophy , Politics , Foreign , Anti-Hero , Memory Manipulation , Real Robot , Ensemble Cast , Amnesia , Conspiracy , War , Noir , Anachronism , Post-Apocalyptic , Male Protagonist , Cult , Suicide , Cyberpunk , Agender

Mob Psycho 100

Also known as Mob Psycho 100.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Psychological , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Do you or someone you know need an exorcist who works cheap? Reigen's your guy! What's his secret to busting ghosts while keeping prices low? Well, first, he's a fraud, and second, he pays the guy who's got the real psychic power—his student assistant Shigeo—less than minimum wage. Shigeo is an awkward but kind boy whose urge to help others and get along with them is bound up with the mental safety locks he's placed on his own emotions. Reigen knows he needs to exploit Shigeo to stay in business, yet for better or worse he's also his mentor and counselor. And he also knows whenever the normally repressed kid's emotions reach level 100, it may unleash more psychic energy than either of them can handle!



Note: Includes 12 extra chapters.

Tags: Coming of Age , Philosophy , Super Power , Urban Fantasy , Ghost , Dissociative Identities , Shounen , Male Protagonist , Satire , School , Demons , Primarily Teen Cast , Aliens , Youkai , Parody , Surreal Comedy , School Club , Delinquents , Cult , Body Horror

AKIRA

Also known as Akira.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Horror , Psychological , Sci-Fi

Welcome to Neo-Tokyo, built on the ashes of a Tokyo annihilated by a blast of unknown origin that triggered World War III. The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, change forever when paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, making him a target for a shadowy agency that will stop at nothing to prevent another catastrophe like the one that leveled Tokyo. At the core of the agency's motivation is a raw, all-consuming fear of an unthinkable, monstrous power known only as Akira.



Tags: Dystopian , Cyberpunk , Military , Post-Apocalyptic , Seinen , Tragedy , Super Power , Male Protagonist , Gore , Survival , Delinquents , Philosophy , Body Horror , Drugs , Anti-Hero , War , Cult , Gangs , Motorcycles , Coming of Age , Afterlife , Terrorism , Basketball , Nudity , Reincarnation , Bullying

Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!

Also known as The Eminence in Shadow.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Comedy , Fantasy

One big fat lie and a few twisted truths.

Even in his past life, Cid's dream wasn't to become a protagonist or a final boss. He'd rather lie low as a minor character until it's prime time to reveal he's a mastermind...or at least, do the next best thing-pretend to be one! And now that he's been reborn into another world, he's ready to set the perfect conditions to live out his dreams to the fullest. Armed with his overactive imagination, Cid jokingly recruits members to his organization and makes up a whole backstory about an evil cult that they need to take down. Well, as luck would have it, these imaginary adversaries turn out to be the real deal-and everyone knows the truth but him!



Tags: Chuunibyou , Male Protagonist , Magic , Cult , Isekai , Parody , Reincarnation , Anti-Hero , Shounen , Swordplay , Female Harem , Elf , Fugitive , Kemonomimi , Vampire , Zombie , Satire

D.Gray-man

Also known as D.Gray-man.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

A born exorcist, Walker's primary anti-akuma weapon is the cross that's embossed on his red, disfigured left hand, which contains Innocence. But not only does Walker destroy akuma, he sees the akuma hiding inside a person's soul! Together with his fellow exorcists fighting under the command of the Black Order, Walker leads the battle against the Millennium Earl, the evil being out to destroy mankind.



Tags: Demons , Amnesia , Tragedy , Found Family , Super Power , Foreign , Dissociative Identities , Male Protagonist , Religion , Cult , Shounen , Adoption , Circus , Historical , Primarily Male Cast , Steampunk , Post-Apocalyptic

I Am a Hero

Also known as I Am a Hero.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Horror , Psychological

A mentally unhinged manga artist witnesses the beginning of a zombie outbreak in Tokyo, and he’s certain of only two things: he’s destined to be the city’s hero, and he possesses something quite rare in Japan—an actual firearm!



Notes:
Nominated for the 3rd and 4th Manga Taisho Award (2010).
Includes a new epilogue chapter that was released 4 years after the official end of the manga.

Tags: Seinen , Survival , Zombie , Post-Apocalyptic , Male Protagonist , Gore , Guns , Urban , Tragedy , Body Horror , Age Gap , Nudity , Cult , Otaku Culture , Disability , POV , Love Triangle , Hikikomori

Happiness

Also known as Happiness.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Supernatural

Nothing interesting is happening in Makoto Ozaki’s first year of high school. His life is a series of quiet humiliations: low-grade bullies, unreliable friends, and the constant frustration of his adolescent lust. But one night, a pale, thin girl knocks him to the ground in an alley and offers him a choice. Now everything is different. Daylight is searingly bright. Food tastes awful. And worse than anything is the terrible, consuming thirst. The tiny shames of his old life have been replaced by two towering horrors: the truth of what will slake his awful craving and high school itself.



Tags: Vampire , Tragedy , Primarily Teen Cast , Gore , Cult , Time Skip , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Torture , Cannibalism , Urban Fantasy , Body Horror , Urban , Shounen , Delinquents , School , Bullying , Religion , Nudity

Oemo Jisangjuui

Also known as Lookism.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Supernatural

Daniel is an unattractive loner who wakes up in a different body. Now tall, handsome, and cooler than ever in his new form, Daniel aims to achieve everything he couldn't before. How far will he go to keep his body... and his secrets?



Tags: Body Swapping , Gangs , Full Color , Delinquents , Ensemble Cast , Martial Arts , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , School , Bullying , Surreal Comedy , Fitness , Heterosexual , Boxing , Love Triangle , Meta , Found Family , Fashion , Cult , Parody , Homeless , Gambling , Detective , Drugs , Memory Manipulation , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Yandere

Kuroshitsuji

Also known as Black Butler.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Action , Fantasy , Mystery , Supernatural

In Victorian era Europe, a young boy loses everything he once held near and dear to a vicious plot. In his moment of death, he strikes a deal with a demon: his soul, in exchange for revenge. Ciel Phantomhive is now the head of the Phantomhive corporation, handling all business affairs as well as the underground work for the Queen of England. His new partner is a demon butler, Sebastian Michaelis, whose prowess as a butler is only surpassed by his strength as a demon.

The story follows the two along with their other servants, as they work to unravel the plot behind Ciel's parents' murder, and the horrendous tragedies that befell Ciel in the month directly after.

Tags: Demons , Revenge , Tragedy , Crime , Historical , Butler , Anti-Hero , Male Protagonist , Orphan , Twins , Royal Affairs , Foreign , Cult , Shounen , Steampunk , Magic , Detective , Found Family , Circus , Mythology , Maids , Assassins , Travel , LGBTQ+ Themes , Medicine , Zombie , Fugitive , Crossdressing , Transgender , Anachronism , Boarding School , School , Musical Theater , Torture , Witch , Disability , Swordplay , Idol , Estranged Family