Top Estranged Family Manga Recommendations

Na Honjaman Level Up

Also known as Solo Leveling.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

In a world where awakened beings called “Hunters” must battle deadly monsters to protect humanity, Sung Jinwoo, nicknamed “the weakest hunter of all mankind,” finds himself in a constant struggle for survival. One day, after a brutal encounter in an overpowered dungeon wipes out his party and threatens to end his life, a mysterious System chooses him as its sole player: Jinwoo has been granted the rare opportunity to level up his abilities, possibly beyond any known limits. Follow Jinwoo’s journey as he takes on ever-stronger enemies, both human and monster, to discover the secrets deep within the dungeons and the ultimate extent of his powers.



Note: Chapter count includes a prologue and 21 side stories.

Tags: Dungeon , Male Protagonist , Super Power , War , Full Color , Magic , Necromancy , Urban Fantasy , Gods , Primarily Adult Cast , Politics , Post-Apocalyptic , Demons , Tragedy , Video Games , Foreign , Memory Manipulation , Anti-Hero , Time Manipulation , Bullying , Estranged Family , Age Regression , Assassins , Chimera , Heterosexual , Language Barrier , Time Skip

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 , Anachronism , Crossdressing , Transgender , Boarding School , Musical Theater , School , Torture , Swordplay , Witch , Disability , Idol , Estranged Family , Urban Fantasy

Fruits Basket

Also known as Fruits Basket.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Psychological , Romance , Supernatural

After a family tragedy turns her life upside down, plucky high schooler Tohru Honda takes matters into her own hands and moves out...into a tent! Unfortunately for her, she pitches her new home on private land belonging to the mysterious Sohma clan, and it isn't long before the owners discover her secret. But, as Tohru quickly finds out when the family offers to take her in, the Sohmas have a secret of their own--when touched by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac!



Note: Volume 9 includes the bonus chapter "Rain Shelter of Terror".

Tags: Animals , Shoujo , Mythology , Ensemble Cast , Tragedy , School , Philosophy , Shapeshifting , Rehabilitation , Heterosexual , Reincarnation , Female Protagonist , Found Family , Family Life , Primarily Teen Cast , Tsundere , Coming of Age , Age Gap , Henshin , Urban Fantasy , Love Triangle , Crossdressing , Disability , Incest , Orphan , Memory Manipulation , Delinquents , Dissociative Identities , Revenge , Teacher , Unrequited Love , Estranged Family , Youkai , Curses , Transgender

Agyeogui Ending Jugeumppun

Also known as Villains Are Destined to Die.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Psychological , Romance

This game’s got me obsessed! It’s like it’s taken over my life... wait—HARD MODE ACTIVATED. No-no-no-no-no! It has literally taken me and thrown me into the part of Penelope Eckhart. Love is easy as the heroine, but as the hated villainess, I’m trying very hard not to die… at the hands of my brothers… the prince… a fork… every possible ending is death! This world is stacked against me, but can my wits and insider game knowledge score the affection of these male characters? Or the reset button???



Tags: Female Protagonist , Villainess , Full Color , Isekai , Reincarnation , Ojou-sama , Video Games , Male Harem , Adoption , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Estranged Family , Bullying , Historical , Heterosexual , Royal Affairs , Magic , Yandere , Slavery , Tsundere , Suicide

Taiyou no Ie

Also known as House of the Sun.

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

As a child, Mao spent all her time at Hiro’s house across the street. Going to his house always made her feel cheerful. A few years later, Mao’s father gets remarried and Mao finds herself with nowhere to call home. Hiro ends up letting her stay with him in the house he’s been occupying alone since the death of his parents. A love story unfolds, between two childhood friends of different ages.



Note: Includes twenty extra chapters.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Family Life , Coming of Age , Love Triangle , Shoujo , Age Gap , Tsundere , Tragedy , Heterosexual , School , Adoption , Primarily Teen Cast , Orphan , Estranged Family

Kono Oto Tomare!

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Music , Romance

Since the graduation of the senior members of the club, Takezou ends up being the sole member of the "Koto" (traditional Japanese string instrument) club. Now that the new school year has begun, Takezou will have to seek out new members into the club, or the club will become terminated. Out of nowhere, a new member barges into the near-abandoned club room, demanding to join the club. How will Takezou be able to keep his club alive and deal with this rascal of a new member?

Tags: School Club , School , Band , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Shounen , Bullying , Heterosexual , Delinquents , Tragedy , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Estranged Family , Found Family , Teacher , Transgender , Nudity , Maids

Sangsurinamu Arae

Also known as Under the Oak Tree.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Romance

A flawless love story of the flawed. Stuttering lady Maximilian is forced into a marriage with Sir Riftan, but he leaves on a campaign after their wedding night. 3 years later, he triumphantly returns, ready to cherish her. As life with her husband finally begins, she only has one question — does she deserve this love and happiness?



Tags: Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Marriage , Disability , Arranged Marriage , Magic , Full Color , Swordplay , Bullying , Royal Affairs , Estranged Family

Pocket Monsters SPECIAL

Also known as Pokémon Adventures.

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

Red is just a normal kid living in the rural Pallet Town, when he decides to go out on his own adventure, along with his rival since childhood, Green. In this world of Pokemon, he makes many friends, humans and Pokemon alike. However, all is not well. Team Rocket is trying to capture Mew, a very rare Pokemon, and is performing experiments on other Pokemon, trying to increase their power. Red and his friends must battle against Team Rocket to stop their cruel experiments and unlock the secrets of Pokemon.


Tags: Travel , Animals , Primarily Child Cast , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Proxy Battle , Video Games , Kids , Gangs , Tragedy , Time Skip , Estranged Family , Time Manipulation

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 , Crossdressing , Seinen , Found Family , Estranged Family , Restaurant , Work , Femboy , Maids , Cosplay , Yuri , Love Triangle , School , Boys' Love

Grappler Baki

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Sports

The story revolves around Baki Hanma and his quest to proclaim himself as the strongest grappler in the world, thus taking the title from his father. Baki also fights to gain the trust of his overly psychotic mother.



Tags: Martial Arts , Revenge , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Gore , Shounen , Estranged Family , Achronological Order , Nudity , Tragedy , Sumo , Ensemble Cast , Yakuza

Sunny

Also known as Sunny.

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

The story of an orphanage, the children who live in it, and the beat-up old Nissan Sunny 1200 which provides them with a means of escape from their boring everyday lives.

Note: Winner of the Best Manga of the Year award at the 2016 Shogakukan Manga Awards.

Tags: Family Life , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Child Cast , Seinen , Estranged Family , Tragedy , Autobiographical , Rural , Adoption , Episodic , Cars , Delinquents , Heterosexual , Baseball , Time Skip

Natsume Yuujinchou

Also known as Natsume's Book of Friends.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Supernatural

When Reiko was Takashi's age, she bound the names of demons and spirits in her Book of Friends, enslaving them to her capricious whim. Now Takashi is the owner of the book, and the creatures will do anything to get their names back.



Tags: Youkai , Iyashikei , Male Protagonist , Shoujo , Rural , Episodic , Adoption , Outdoor , Estranged Family , Primarily Teen Cast , Found Family , Primarily Male Cast , School , Exorcism , Shapeshifting , Orphan , Rehabilitation , Gender Bending

Agnyeoneun du Beon Sanda

Also known as The Villainess Lives Again.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Fantasy , Romance

From childhood, Artezia Rosan's happiness was dependent on ensuring the success of her brother. As a master manipulator and schemer, she became his most valuable ally in seizing the empire’s throne. That’s exactly why her brother's betrayal cut so deeply when Artezia was imprisoned as punishment for all of her crimes. Soon after being rescued by Grand Duke Cedric Ebron, she vows to help him overthrow the cruel new emperor by sacrificing her own life with forbidden magic. Now waking up several years earlier back in time, she will forsake her own family to help Cedric at all costs. They say that blood is thicker than water, but can Artezia destroy her brother while her own romance blossoms amidst the chaos?



Tags: Full Color , Villainess , Politics , Female Protagonist , Kingdom Management , Historical , Ojou-sama , Estranged Family , Time Manipulation , Conspiracy , Heterosexual , Magic , Royal Affairs

Ichinose-ke no Taizai

Also known as The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery

Tsubasa Ichinose is a middle schooler who loses his memory in an accident. He is able to safely reunite with his family, but is soon faced with a new shocking reality... What is going on with this family?!

Note: Chapter count includes two one-shots included in vol. 6.

Tags: Tragedy , Amnesia , Family Life , Time Loop , Male Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Conspiracy , Time Manipulation , Bullying , Coming of Age , Shounen , Estranged Family , School , Found Family , Rehabilitation , Photography

Asper Kanojo

Also known as That's My Atypical Girl.

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

Yokoi Taku has trouble getting along with people, so he moved to Tokyo as soon as he graduated from high school. He now lives alone, making a living by delivering newspapers and drawing doujinshi, though people totally ignore his non-erotic works. One day, a girl named Saitou Megumi suddenly shows up at his door, claiming that she came all the way from Tottori to meet him because she's a big fan of one of his doujinshi. It ends up that she has faced many hardships herself, and with no intention of leaving, she ends up living with him.

Note: Current chapter count is based on the original serialization. Several chapters were combined into 100 chapters in the physical release.

Tags: Primarily Adult Cast , Rehabilitation , Bullying , Seinen , Disability , Suicide , Heterosexual , Philosophy , Psychosexual , Drawing , Male Protagonist , Estranged Family , Writing , Language Barrier , Female Protagonist , Tragedy

Tatoe Todokanu Ito da to Shite mo

Also known as If I Could Reach You.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

In this heartwrenching new yuri manga, a teenage girl comes to terms with her own sexuality through her crush on her brother’s wife. Hopelessly in love, high schooler Uta must navigate living with her brother and Kaoru, her crush … and sister-in-law. Desperate to get over her unrequited feelings, Uta pulls away, but when the cracks in her brother’s marriage begin to show, Kaoru begins to confide in her new teenage sister, which just makes matters worse!



Note: Includes 6 extra chapters.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Yuri , Family Life , Love Triangle , Unrequited Love , Coming of Age , LGBTQ+ Themes , Age Gap , Time Skip , Ensemble Cast , School , Estranged Family , Work

Musume no Tomodachi

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

Kosuke has lived to play the ideal self as a father at home and as a manager at work. However, his life changes 180 degrees when he meets his daughter’s friend. In front of her, Kosuke was able to be his real self and his worn-out heart was healed. However, he knows that these are feelings that should never be held. The story of the middle-aged man meeting a young girl, presented to the modern people who suppress themselves in society, begins.

Tags: Age Gap , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Estranged Family , Female Protagonist , Philosophy , Heterosexual , Tragedy , Work , Office , Urban , Hikikomori , School , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Adult Cast

Tokidoki Bosotto Russiago de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san

Also known as Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.

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

Alisa Mikhailovna Kujou is Seiren Private Academy’s “solitary princess.” She’s a half-Russian beauty with silver hair, at the top of her class, student council accountant, and…completely unapproachable. For some reason, she’s also taken on the responsibility of reprimanding the slacker who sits next to her in class. Masachika Kuze is constantly frustrating her by falling asleep, forgetting his textbooks, and just being an overall unexemplary student. Or at least, that’s how it looks from the outside. She may put on a tough act, but she doesn’t mind Masachika as much as others would think. She even lets him call her by her nickname, Alya. Anyone hearing the comments she mutters in Russian under her breath might know how she really feels, but since none of her classmates understand the language, she’s free to say whatever she likes! Except…there is one person who knows what she’s saying. Masachika eavesdrops on her embarrassing revelations, pretending to be clueless, all the while wondering what her flirtatious comments actually mean!



Note: This entry includes volume 4.5.

Tags: Primarily Teen Cast , School , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Otaku Culture , Politics , Female Protagonist , Tsundere , Estranged Family , Love Triangle , Language Barrier , Ojou-sama , Cosplay , Episodic , Primarily Female Cast , Shounen , Tomboy , Slapstick , Parody

Dame na Watashi ni Koishite Kudasai

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance

Michiko is an unemployed 30-year-old. She has just broken up with a younger boyfriend whom she supported financially until she drained all of her savings. Michiko then has a chance meeting with a former boss she used to dislike.

Note: Includes four bonus chapters.

Tags: Josei , Primarily Adult Cast , Female Protagonist , Office Lady , Heterosexual , Restaurant , Work , Love Triangle , Food , Marriage , Matchmaking , Estranged Family , Urban , Gangs

Ikoku Nikki

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

The manga centers on 35-year-old novelist Makio Koudai and her 15-year-old niece Asa, who live together under one roof. Makio took Asa in on a sudden impulse after Asa's parents, which included Makio's older sister, passed away. The next day, Makio returns to her senses and remembers that she does not do well in the company of other people. So begins their daily life, as Makio attempts to acclimate to a roommate, while Asa attempts to get used to an adult that never acts like one.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Family Life , Adoption , Josei , Coming of Age , Writing , Estranged Family , Parenthood , LGBTQ+ Themes , Primarily Female Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Yuri , Food