Top Detective Manga Recommendations

[Oshi no Ko]

Also known as [Oshi no Ko].

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

Gorou is a gynecologist and idol fan who’s in shock after his favorite star, Ai, announces an impromptu hiatus. Little does Gorou realize that he’s about to forge a bond with her that defies all common sense! Lies are an idol’s weapon!

Awards: - Nominated for the 14th and 15th Manga Taisho. - Winner of the 7th Next Manga Award in the print category. - Nominated for the 26th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. - Nominated for the 67th Shogakukan Manga Award in general category. - Nominated for the 46th Kodansha Manga Award.

Tags: Revenge , Idol , Acting , Reincarnation , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Twins , Detective , Time Skip , Work , Age Gap , Otaku Culture , Love Triangle , Female Harem , Heterosexual , Anti-Hero , Suicide , Bullying , Educational , Urban Fantasy , Tsundere , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Urban , Pregnant , Filmmaking , VTuber , Cosplay , Denpa

MONSTER

Also known as Monster.

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

Everyone faces uncertainty at some point in their lives. Even a brilliant surgeon like Kenzo Tenma is no exception. But there’s no way he could have known that his decision to stop chasing professional success and instead concentrate on his oath to save peoples’ lives would result in the birth of an abomination. The questions of good and evil now take on a terrifyingly real dimension.

Years later, in Germany during the tumultuous post-reunification period, middle-aged childless couples are being killed one after another. The serial killer’s identity is known. The reasons why he kills are not. Dr. Tenma sets out on a journey to find the killer’s twin sister, who may hold some clues to solving the enigma of the “Monster.”



Tags: Seinen , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Philosophy , Twins , Amnesia , Fugitive , Noir , Foreign , Male Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Primarily Adult Cast , Historical , Detective , Ensemble Cast , Police , Medicine , Time Skip , Crossdressing , Suicide , Achronological Order , Adoption , Assassins , Torture , Gore

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

DEATH NOTE

Also known as Death Note.

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

When Light Yagami finds a notebook giving him power over death, will he use it for good—or evil?

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?



Tags: Detective , Tragedy , Anti-Hero , Police , Urban Fantasy , Crime , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Gods , Espionage , Primarily Male Cast , Time Skip , Shounen , Demons , Memory Manipulation , Amnesia , Politics

Yofukashi no Uta

Also known as Call of the Night.

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

One sleepless night, Ko slips out to walk the streets. Life after dark is a revelation! When flirtatious Nazuna invites Ko to spend the night at her place in an abandoned building, he’s stoked! But then he awakens to kisses on his neck with a little too much bite to them... Is it just the delicious taste of his blood that makes her meet him night after night for late-night adventures, conversation and...naps? Or something else? Then, when a cute girl from Ko’s past shows up and competes for his attention, his budding relationship with the undead is put to the test!



Notes:
-Seventh place of Tsugimanga 2020 Award in the Manga Category.
-First place of Daruma 2023 Award (France) in the new manga category (released in 2022 in France).

Tags: Vampire , Urban Fantasy , Age Gap , Male Protagonist , Monster Girl , Tragedy , Surreal Comedy , Coming of Age , Hikikomori , Heterosexual , Outdoor , Shounen , Female Protagonist , Urban , Monster Boy , Detective , Primarily Teen Cast , Philosophy , Gore , Maids , Suicide , Gyaru , LGBTQ+ Themes , Iyashikei , Boys' Love , Yuri , Femboy

GTO

Also known as GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka.

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

Former juvenile delinquent Onizuka finds himself thrust into to role of high school teacher, facing students who behave just as he used to and an administration that doesn't trust him. Using the brash an unorthodox methods he picked up in his youth, Onizuka manages to reach through to his kids and help them with their problems.



Notes:
- Won the 22nd Kodansha Manga Award for Best Shounen Manga.
- The chapter count includes the 7 chapters extra GTO: Great Toroko Oppai♡ (Tomoko's Big Adventures) published in volumes 11 and 12, and one extra published in volume 25.

Tags: Teacher , School , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Work , Male Protagonist , Terrorism , Bullying , Tragedy , Rehabilitation , Delinquents , Nudity , Gangs , Shounen , Age Gap , Family Life , Motorcycles , Dragons , Crime , Revenge , Heterosexual , Yakuza , Detective , Acting , Guns , Police , Espionage , Drugs , Slapstick , Primarily Teen Cast

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

Bungou Stray Dogs

Also known as Bungo Stray Dogs.

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

Having been kicked out of the orphanage, a despairing young man by the name of Atsushi Nakajima rescues a strange man from a suicide attempt--Osamu Dazai. Turns out that Dazai is part of an armed-detective agency staffed by individuals whose supernatural powers take on a literary bent!



Tags: Urban Fantasy , Detective , Super Power , Mafia , Crime , Male Protagonist , Classic Literature , Fugitive , Seinen , Primarily Male Cast , Tragedy , Work , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Orphan , Anti-Hero , Philosophy , Terrorism , Conspiracy , Gore , Assassins , Suicide , Vampire , Monster Boy , Police , Guns , Swordplay , Torture , Circus , Sadism , Time Manipulation , Tsundere , Shapeshifting , Found Family

Jagaaaaaan

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Horror , Mystery , Supernatural

Shintarou Jagasaki, who is a neighborhood police officer, lives with his girlfriend while working a job that is killing him slowly with annoyance. It looks like he will end up marrying soon and live a boring life with a nuclear family - a grim future for a guy with dreams! One such day, a mysterious monster appeared on the train and he suddenly can shoot with his right hand like Master Buppanatsu, the eggplant mascot of his city!

Tags: Aliens , Super Power , Seinen , Anti-Hero , Tragedy , Gore , Monster Boy , Philosophy , Primarily Adult Cast , Post-Apocalyptic , Dystopian , Revenge , Terrorism , Male Protagonist , Nudity , Detective , Police , Dissociative Identities , Shapeshifting , Body Horror , Conspiracy , Cosmic Horror , Heterosexual , Bullying , Gender Bending , Body Swapping , Kaiju , Mythology , Transgender , Death Game , Drugs

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

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Also known as The Apothecary Diaries.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Mystery

Maomao, a young woman trained in the art of herbal medicine, is forced to work as a lowly servant in the inner palace. Though she yearns for life outside its perfumed halls, she isn’t long for a life of drudgery! Using her wits to break a “curse” afflicting the imperial heirs, Maomao attracts the attentions of the handsome eunuch Jinshi and is promoted to attendant food taster. But Jinshi has other plans for the erstwhile apothecary, and soon Maomao is back to brewing potions and…solving mysteries?!



Note: Won the Grand Prize in the Printed Manga category at the Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Award 2019.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Medicine , Detective , Historical , Foreign , Ancient China , Primarily Female Cast , Seinen , Drugs , Tragedy , Royal Affairs , Politics , Work , Crime , Maids , Adoption , Asexual , Heterosexual , Episodic , Conspiracy , Suicide , Chibi , Ojou-sama

Vanitas no Carte

Also known as The Case Study of Vanitas.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery , Supernatural

Rumors revolving around The Book of Vanitas, a clockwork grimoire of dubious reputation, draw Noé, a young vampire in search of a friend's salvation, to Paris. What awaits him in the City of Flowers, however, is not long hours treading the pavement or rifling through dusty bookshops in search of the tome. Instead, his quarry comes to him...in the arms of a man claiming to be a vampire doctor! Thrust into a conflict that threatens the peace between humans and vampires, will Noé cast in his lot with the curious and slightly unbalanced Vanitas and his quest to save vampirekind?



Tags: Vampire , Tragedy , Historical , Steampunk , Primarily Adult Cast , Medicine , Conspiracy , Shounen , Anti-Hero , Male Protagonist , Revenge , Religion , Foreign , Twins , Ensemble Cast , Alternate Universe , Suicide , Time Manipulation , Amnesia , Anachronism , Detective , Assassins , Acting

Boku dake ga Inai Machi

Also known as Erased.

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

Twenty-nine-year-old Satoru Fujinuma is floundering through life. Amid his daily drudgery, he finds himself in the grip of an incredible, inexplicable, and uncontrollable phenomenon that rewinds time, a condition that seems to only make his drab life worse. But then, one day, everything changes. A terrible incident forever changes Satoru's life as he knows it...and with it, comes a "Revival" that sends Satoru eighteen years into the past!

In the body of his boyhood self, Satoru encounters sights he never imagined he would see again--the smile of his mother, alive and well, his old friends, and Kayo Hinazuki, the girl who was kidnapped and murdered when he was a boy the first time around. To return to the present and prevent the tragedy that brought him back to his childhood in the first place, Satoru begins plotting a way to change Hinazuki's fate...But up against the clock and a faceless evil, does eleven-year-old Satoru even stand a chance?



Note: Was nominated for the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Reader Award in 2014 and for the 7th, 8th and 9th Manga Taisho Award between 2014 and 2016. Also nominated for the 40th Kodansha Manga Awards in 2016.

Volume 9 contains the 5-chapter “Boku Dake ga Inai Machi:Re” side story.

Tags: Crime , Primarily Child Cast , Age Regression , Male Protagonist , Time Manipulation , Time Skip , School , Seinen , Detective , Fugitive , Tragedy , Revenge , Bullying , Rehabilitation , Writing , Amnesia , Snowscape , Photography

Sachi-iro no One Room

Also known as One Room of Happiness.

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

That day, she was abducted. But to her, that abduction was a ray of hope -- the beginning of a new life. The girl promises to marry her abductor, and the abductor offers plenty of "happiness." This is the story of an abductor and his victim... How could it be so warm?
Note: Chapter count includes one bonus chapter.

Tags: Denpa , Rehabilitation , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Bullying , Crime , Philosophy , Suicide , Detective , Found Family , Yandere , Age Gap , Heterosexual , Homeless , Delinquents , Time Skip , Coastal , Primarily Adult Cast , Crossdressing

Shinai naru Boku e Satsui wo Komete

Also known as My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Slice of Life , Thriller

Eiji the college-age virgin dreams of someday having a girlfriend...until he wakes up one day with his "girlfriend" in his bed with him! Not only that, his buddy tells him he got in a fight...and that three days have passed that Eiji doesn't remember? What dark secrets are being hidden...by Eiji himself?



Note: Includes 1 epilogue chapter.

Tags: Dissociative Identities , Revenge , Crime , Seinen , Amnesia , Police , Denpa , Fugitive , Yandere , Detective , Torture , Male Protagonist , Anti-Hero , Prostitution , Suicide , Gore , Gangs , Adoption , College , Time Skip , Orphan , Tragedy , Nudity , Body Horror , Guns , LGBTQ+ Themes , Transgender

White Blood

Also known as Unholy Blood.

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

All pure-blooded vampire Ha-Yan Park wanted to do was live a normal life. But the rise of half-bloods ten years ago transformed the world into a dangerous and frightening place—robbing her of her one true wish. Determined to return Korea to how it used to be, Ha-Yan teams up with local police captain Eun-Tae Hwang to wipe out the bloodthirsty killers in a tale of hot-blooded romance and revenge.



Note: The chapter count includes a prologue and 2 extra chapters.

Tags: Vampire , Female Protagonist , Revenge , Crime , Full Color , Tragedy , Amnesia , Super Power , Urban Fantasy , Primarily Adult Cast , Detective , Heterosexual , Conspiracy , Terrorism , Adoption , Age Gap , Gore , Bullying , Motorcycles , Torture , College , Time Skip

Yuukoku no Moriarty

Also known as Moriarty the Patriot.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Mystery , Psychological , Thriller

In the late 19th century, Great Britain rules over a quarter of the world. Nobles sit in their fancy homes in comfort and luxury, while the working class slaves away at their jobs. When young Albert James Moriarty’s upper-class family adopts two lower-class orphans, the cruelty the boys experience at his family’s hands cements Albert’s hatred of the nobility he was born into. He asks the older of the two boys—who has a genius mind and a killer instinct—to help him rid the world of evil, starting with Albert’s own family!



Tags: Historical , Anti-Hero , Crime , Foreign , Male Protagonist , Conspiracy , Detective , Primarily Adult Cast , Classic Literature , Politics , Gore , Suicide , Orphan , Primarily Male Cast , Gender Bending , LGBTQ+ Themes , Shounen , Transgender , Found Family , Class Struggle , Bisexual , Crossdressing , Boys' Love , Urban

Nijigahara Holograph

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

Even as butterflies ominously proliferate in town, the rumour of a mysterious creature lurking in the tunnel behind the school spreads among the children. When the body of Arie Kimura's mother is found by this tunnel's entrance, next to apparently human traces, the legend seems to be confirmed. Is the end of the world coming? In order to appease the wrath of the beast, the children decide to offer it a sacrifice: The unfortunate Arie, whom they believe to be the cause of the curse, is shoved into a well that leads to the Nijigahara tunnel—an act that in turns pushes Komatsuzaki, the budding thug who has carried a torch for Arie for a while already, entirely over the edge.

But this is only the beginning of the complex, challenging, obliquely told Nijigahara Holograph, which takes place in two separate timelines and involves the suicidal Suzuki; Higure, his stalker-ish would-be girlfriend; their teacher Miss Sakaki, whose heavily bandaged face remains a mystery; and many more―brothers, sisters, parents, co-workers, teachers, aggressors and victims who are all inextricably linked to one another and all will eventually―ten years later―have to live with what they've done or suffered through.



Tags: Achronological Order , Denpa , Philosophy , Seinen , Tragedy , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Religion , Suicide , Crime , Bullying , Male Protagonist , Adoption , Twins , Nudity , Heterosexual , Police , Detective

Meitantei Conan

Also known as Case Closed.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Mystery , Romance

Precocious high school student Jimmy Kudo uses his keen powers of observation and astute intuition to solve mysteries that have left law enforcement officials baffled. Hot on the trail of a suspect, Jimmy is accosted from behind and fed a strange chemical which physically transforms him into a grade schooler! Taking on the pseudonym Conan Edogawa, he attempts to track down the people who did this to him. But until he finds a cure for his bizarre condition, Jimmy continues to help the police solve their toughest cases. Can you crack the case before Conan does?



Note: Won the 46th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shounen category in 2001.

Tags: Detective , Crime , Age Regression , Police , Male Protagonist , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Shounen , Episodic , Heterosexual , Educational , School , Ensemble Cast , Guns , School Club , Magic , Mahjong