Top Elderly Protagonist Manga Recommendations

Inuyashiki

Also known as Inuyashiki.

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

Ichiro Inuyashiki is down on his luck. While only 58 years old, his geriatric looks often have him written off as a pathetic old man by the world around him and he's constantly ignored and disrespected by his family despite all that he's done to support them. On top of everything else, his doctor has revealed that he has cancer and it appears that he has little time left in this world. But just when it seems things couldn't get any worse, a blinding light in the night sky strikes the earth where Ichiro stands. He later wakes up to find himself unscathed, but he soon starts to notice that there's something…different about himself.



Tags: Cyborg , Seinen , Super Power , Philosophy , Tragedy , Urban , Gore , Terrorism , Fugitive , Robots , Crime , Male Protagonist , Elderly Protagonist , Aliens , Bullying ,

Ojisama to Neko

Also known as A Man and His Cat.

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

In this wholesome, heartwarming tale, a lonely older man takes home a pet-shop kitten that no one else wants. It doesn't take long for the pair to warm up to each other, and soon, they're inseparable. Told through the eyes of both the man and his cat, this sweet and hilarious story is a balm for the soul!



Tags: Animals , Iyashikei , Found Family , Primarily Adult Cast , School , Male Protagonist , Chibi , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Elderly Protagonist , Shounen , Work , Classical Music

Jii-san Baa-san Wakagaeru

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy , Romance

The story is about Ine and Shouzou, two pensioners well into their 80s who are mysteriously returned to their 20s one night. Note: Sixth place of Tsugimanga 2020 Award in the Web Manga Category

Jiisan Baasan Wakagaeru is a web manga released on the author's pixiv and Twitter accounts, and later picked for print release by Kadokawa.
Includes 4 extra chapters

Tags: Age Regression , Episodic , Rural , Primarily Adult Cast , Family Life , Seinen , Iyashikei , Agriculture , Elderly Protagonist

Metamorphose no Engawa

Also known as BL Metamorphosis.

Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

Ichinoi, a 75-year-old woman living a peaceful life, unwittingly buys a Boy's Love manga one day…and is fascinated by what she finds inside. When she returns to the bookstore to buy the next volume, the high school girl working there–Urara, a seasoned BL fan–notices a budding fangirl when she sees one. When Urara offers to help Ichinoi explore this whole new world of fiction, the two dive into BL fandom together, and form an unlikely friendship along the way.



Notes:
- Winner of the New Face Award from the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2019.
- Nominated for the 12th and 14th Manga Taisho Award in 2019 and 2021.

Tags: Otaku Culture , Female Protagonist , Josei , Primarily Female Cast , Boys' Love , Iyashikei , Coming of Age , Drawing , Elderly Protagonist , Urban , Heterosexual

Umi ga Hashiru End Roll

Also known as The Credits Roll into the Sea.

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

Umiko, a grandma, realizes that she has the same desire to make movies as university student Kai—and soon she enrolls in Kai's film school!

"It's not the movies you like…you like watching the people watching the movies."

Just what are you going to do with the rest of your life? It's the question you'll always have to answer, no matter your age. Umiko Chino is a 65-year-old retired woman in mourning for her late husband. Remembering how they used to watch films together, Umiko goes to the movie theater for the first time in years, where she meets Kai, an attractive, ambiguous young man who studies filmmaking at a nearby art school.

They seem to have nothing in common except for this: both of them enjoy looking at how the audience reacts to a movie more than the movie itself at times. Kai believes Umiko has the same deep desire he possesses to experience how people respond to something they made, and challenges her to risk everything by discovering that thrill.

Soon, Umiko surprises herself by enrolling in the same film school as Kai. But sailing into this new sea, she's suddenly inside the currents of her fellow students' lives, a much younger generation that she struggles to understand, driven by their own passions and relationships. Who's experienced in life, and is it old age or observation that brings wisdom? Does what you're looking for change when you look with your eyes instead of through a camera lens?



Tags: Female Protagonist , Filmmaking , Photography , Elderly Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , College , Shoujo , Iyashikei , LGBTQ+ Themes , Asexual , Aromantic

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Also known as Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

This multi-generational epic dives deep into rakugo, a rich form of Japanese storytelling theater. Small-time crook Yotaro has never forgotten the rakugo tale "The God of Death," which the master Yurakutei Yakumo performed for Yotaro during his time in prison. After his release, he goes to Yakumo's theater and pleads to be made his apprentice. Yakumo reluctantly accepts, but Yotaro quickly finds the world of rakugo is complex and grapples with a growing bond with Yakumo's ward, Konatsu. Meanwhile, the two young people bring reminders of Yakumo’s own inescapable past.



Note: Won the 38th Kodansha Manga Awards for Best General Manga and the New Creator Prize of the 21st Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2017.

Tags: Rakugo , Josei , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Historical , Acting , Family Life , Love Triangle , Work , Afterlife , Suicide , Yakuza , Oiran , Tsundere , Crossdressing , War , Adoption , Heterosexual , Elderly Protagonist

Henkyou no Roukishi: Bard Loen

Also known as Old Knight in the Frontier: Bard Roehn.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy

For some reason, Bard Roehn, an old knight, sets off on a carefree solo journey. What was supposed to be a laid-back trip to seek delicious food and savor the subtleties of life turns out to be thewhirlpool of a gigantic conspiracy?! But it was the beginning of an adventure told around the world!



Tags: Travel , Food , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Elderly Protagonist , Swordplay , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Time Skip

Yume no Hashibashi

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

Kyoko is at the autumn of her life.

She can barely recognise her own family member. But one day, someone she remembers perfectly comes to visit. Her name is Mitsu, the women Kiyoko had a love story with. Just after the war, when they were still teenagers, they nearly did the irredeemable out of passion.
Despite a few meeting from time to time, life ups and downs separated them, but the story draws us back in the time when they couldn't imagine life without each other.



Tags: Yuri , LGBTQ+ Themes , Tragedy , Achronological Order , Historical , Female Protagonist , Josei , Suicide , Elderly Protagonist , Rural , Primarily Adult Cast

Hana Monogatari

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

The manga centers on Hanayo, an elderly woman whose husband of many years has only recently died. After finishing a Buddhist service for her husband, she finds herself walking out in town alone for the first time in a long time. She stumbles onto a cosmetics store, and meets a beautiful woman named Yoshiko Doujima, and falls in love at first sight. Hanayo had long given up on makeup after her husband nagged her about it, but putting some on with Yoshiko's help brightens her heart.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Yuri , LGBTQ+ Themes , Primarily Adult Cast , Elderly Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , Makeup , Fashion , Seinen , Iyashikei , Classic Literature , Work , College

Nabillera

Also known as Navillera: Like a Butterfly.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

After the funeral of an old friend, Deok-Chul Sim resolves to pursue something he had always wanted to try: ballet. Much to the surprise (and maybe~ horror) of his wife, children, and other acquaintances, this 70-year-old throws himself into following his heart and his passion. With the help of his young instructor Chae-Rok and others hoping for their own ambitions to take flight, Deok-Chul shows the importance and joy of pursuing one's dream… even in the face of hardships and our own mortality.



Tags: Dancing , Family Life , Disability , Iyashikei , Ballet , Primarily Adult Cast , Amnesia , Full Color , Male Protagonist , Time Skip , Foreign , Elderly Protagonist

Ojiichan Shinanai

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy , Romance

A pure angel descends from the heaven to carry a dying old man to the afterlife. What she doesn't know is that this is not your typical feeble grampa. No, he is much more... charming. Thus, their misadventures begin as the angel realized what type of man she's dealing with. This old man won't die anytime soon...

Tags: Male Protagonist , Age Gap , Angels , Heterosexual , Shoujo , Elderly Protagonist

Ryuu no Kawaii Nanatsu no Ko

Also known as Seven Little Sons of the Dragon: A Collection of Seven Stories.

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

Ryoko Kui, the master storyteller behind the beloved manga series Delicious in Dungeon, pens seven brand-new tales that will delight fantasy fans and manga devotees equally. Covering a broad range of themes and time periods, no two stories in this collection are alike!



1. Ryuu no Shoutou (竜の小塔)
2. Ningyo Kinryoku (人魚禁漁区)
3. Watashi no Kami-sama (わたしのかみさま)
4. Ookami wa Uso wo Tsukanai (狼は嘘をつかない)
5. Kanenashi Hakuroku (金なし白祿)
6. Ko ga Kawaii to Ryuu wa Naku (子がかわいいと竜は鳴く)
7. Inutanike no Hitobito (犬谷家の人々)

Tags: Anthology , Historical , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Dragons , Seinen , Urban Fantasy , Mermaid , Family Life , Medieval , Assassins , Youkai , Mythology , Drawing , Elderly Protagonist , Detective , Twins , Super Power , Revenge , Werewolf , Gods , Parenthood , College , School , Episodic , Alternate Universe

Jiisama ga Iku

Also known as Grandpa is Summoned.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy

While protecting his grandson from a burglar, Seitaro Asao, a tea plantation owner, gets stabbed to death. A slight mix-up by a goddess gets him, instead of his grandson, accidentally summoned to another world. Seitaro accepts to take his grandson's place and starts his new life in the new world as a man ten years younger. Things are quite eventful from the start, but the gods work in mysterious ways, and wisdom and protection from the goddess helps him overcome all obstacles.



Tags: Age Regression , Isekai , Magic , Male Protagonist , Elf , Vikings , Elderly Protagonist

Garaku

Status: Finished
Genres: Action

Garaku, a city where murders occur frequently. A young man involved with the yakuza saw an old man resting with a katana on a bench.

Tags: Yakuza , Gore , Crime , Swordplay , Elderly Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Guns , Shounen

Halbaemusawa Jijon Sonnyeo

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

Just when Liu Jinshan thought he could die without regrets, his family was annihilated! As a result, he became determined to live just so that he could see his only surviving granddaughter, Liu Seol, reach adulthood. As he struggled to raise her and train her with his aging body, Liu Seol, who was born with the talent of a supreme martial artist, grew up much faster than he thought she would. "Don't worry, Grandpa, I'll protect you from now on!"



Tags: Martial Arts , Wuxia , Cultivation , Full Color , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Elderly Protagonist

Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Mystery

The series follows the adventures of Sabu, a young Edo bakufu investigator traveling with the blind master swordsman Ichi. In their travels, they assist the common people in solving mysteries and righting wrongs (usually committed by bandits or corrupt officials). Sabu is engaged to Midori, the daughter of his boss, who works as a police officer for the Tokugawa shogunate.



Tags: Historical , Seinen , Crime , Samurai , Swordplay , Tragedy , Revenge , Nudity , Detective , Episodic , Elderly Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Suicide

Akage no Anne

Also known as Anne of Green Gables.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Miss Marilla Cuthbert and Mr. Matthew Cuthbert, middle-aged siblings who live together at Green Gables, a farm in Avonlea, on Prince Edward Island, decide to adopt an orphan boy from the asylum as a helper on their farm. Through a series of mishaps, what ends up under their roof is a precocious girl of eleven named Anne Shirley. Anne is bright and quick, eager to please but dissatisfied with her name, her pale countenance dotted with freckles, and with her long braids of red hair. Being a child of imagination, however, Anne takes much joy in life, and adapts quickly, thriving in the environment of Prince Edward Island.

Tags: Shoujo , Historical , Adoption , Classic Literature , Family Life , Tragedy , Orphan , Parenthood , Coastal , Rural , Foreign , Coming of Age , Female Protagonist , School , Elderly Protagonist

B no Seisen

Also known as Star of Beethoven.

Status: Finished
Genres: Music , Supernatural

The door of fate now opens... Piano prodigy Ichiro Yaso left the world of classical music after an incident at a competition. He vowed to never play the piano again, but now that he has a mentor claiming to be Beethoven, it may be time for his redemption!



Note: Includes the one-shots "LIFE LIAR FROM HELL" and "Violin-hime (バイオリン姫)".

Tags: Classical Music , Elderly Protagonist , Shounen , Male Protagonist , Criminal Organization , Found Family

Gojuu, Rokujuu, Yorokonde.

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

A romance about a 50-year old woman divorcing and returning home to her parents' house. There she meets a 60-year old friend from her past, who has always had a crush on her. A new - old - romance blossoms.

Notes: The manga was picked up by the publishing editorial Libre and started to being officially published on the website Kurofune Pixiv since January 18, 2021.

Tags: Primarily Adult Cast , Josei , Heterosexual , Elderly Protagonist

Sanju Mariko

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

The manga centers on veteran novelist Mariko Kouda, who lives with the families of both her son and her grandson in one house. Feeling like she no longer has any place in her home, she decides to leave the house and strike out on her own, beginning with living in a manga cafe in the city.



Notes:
- Includes 1 extra chapter.
- Nominated to the 22nd Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Tags: Elderly Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Philosophy , Estranged Family , Josei , Writing , Animals