Top Go Manga Recommendations

Nichijou

Also known as Nichijou.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

Nichijou primarily focuses on the daily antics of a trio of childhood friends—high school girls Mio Naganohara, Yuuko Aioi and Mai Minakami—whose stories soon intertwine with the young genius Hakase Shinonome, her robot caretaker Nano, and their talking cat Sakamoto. With every passing day, the lives of these six, as well as of the many people around them, experience both the calms of normal life and the insanity of the absurd. Walking to school, being bitten by a talking crow, spending time with friends, and watching the principal suplex a deer: they are all in a day's work in the extraordinary everyday lives of those in Nichijou.



Tags: Slapstick , Surreal Comedy , Episodic , Ensemble Cast , School , Primarily Female Cast , Shounen , Female Protagonist , Parody , 4-koma , Robots , Teacher , Time Skip , Go , Heterosexual , Tsundere , Tanned Skin

Hikaru no Go

Also known as Hikaru no Go.

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

After stumbling across a haunted Go board, irresponsible Hikaru Shindo discovers that the spirit of a master player has taken up residence in his consciousness. In his pursuit of the "Divine Move," Fujiwara-no-Sai awakens in Hikaru an untapped interest and genius for the game, and soon the schoolboy is chasing his own dream--defeating the famed Go prodigy Akira Toya!



Note: There are 197 chapters total in the original release.

Tags: Go , Coming of Age , Ghost , Male Protagonist , Shounen , Board Game , Primarily Male Cast , Tragedy , School Club , School , Work , Foreign , Urban Fantasy

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Also known as The Apothecary Diaries.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Mystery

In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there.
Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That's her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao's façade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor's favorite consort... so she can taste the lady's food for poison!



Tags: Female Protagonist , Detective , Royal Affairs , Medicine , Politics , Primarily Adult Cast , Work , Historical , Maids , Conspiracy , Foreign , Drugs , Adoption , Primarily Female Cast , Agriculture , Ancient China , Episodic , Heterosexual , Go , Seinen , Crossdressing , Religion , Economics , LGBTQ+ Themes , Tragedy , Pregnancy , Meta , Natural Disaster , Shogi , Asexual , Suicide , Age Gap

Yumenashi Sensei no Shinro Shidou

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama

A former Career Consultant, Takanashi, now works for a school as a Guidance Counselor. During Career Guidance meetings, he gives headstrong students data and tells them the realities of the world around them, hoping that they rethink their dreams. Because of that, students begin to call him "The Dream Crusher".

Tags: Teacher , Seinen , Coming of Age , Idol , Go , Heterosexual , Marriage , Family Life , Suicide , Parenthood , Male Protagonist

Hoshizora no Karasu

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Sports

Karasuma Waka is a 13 years old girl who adores go. She received this passion for the game from her grand father, a professional go player. She loves go so much that she even forgets to get her hair cut! However, her mother doesn't allow her to play go, since she has a bad image of her father, who once left to play a game while his wife was dying.

One day, Waka sees a game of a very strong professional player called Sagisaka Souji. Impressed by his style, she decides to become pro despite the objection of her mother. The young girl proposes her a bet: if she wins the next tournament, her mother will allow her to become pro, otherwise she will abandon her dream. Can she win her bet and realize her dream?



Tags: Shoujo , Go , Female Protagonist , Board Game

Sonyeobaduk

Also known as Her Game of Go.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Sports

Seol is a rising Go prodigy who built her career by memorizing every game she could find, but her play is empty. When she meets Sang-Hun, a self-taught player who defies all logic, her world begins to crack. To surpass the greatest player of her era and her own past, she must abandon everything she knows and step into the unknown. In a game with endless possibilities, can she create a move that’s truly her own?



Tags: Full Color , Go , Female Protagonist , Long Strip

Tenchi Meisatsu

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

In 1661, Yasui Santetsu is a member of the Yasui House of the Four Houses of Go. However, he's beginning to doubt that Go is his true calling. Outside of the Go house, he goes by the name Shibukawa Harumi, and he's fascinated by mathematical and astronomical problems. Specifically, Harumi is pouring all of his energy into creating a new Japanese calender.

The story is based on the actual astronomer and calender-reformer Shibukawa Harumi (1639-1715). In Harumi's time, the Japanese used the Chinese lunar-solar Xuan-ming calendar, which had not been updated in nearly 800 years. At that point, there was already a two-day delay in the winter solstice. He reformed the calendar based on his careful astronomical observations.

Tags: Seinen , Historical , Go , Biographical

Shinkon Dakedo Kataomoi

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance

I'm going to win you over for sure...! Satsuki, a smart and beautiful JK, became engaged in a marriage arranged by her parents. Her partner is Kuon, a professional Go player as a high school boy. She thought her life would be smooth sailing with the handsome and talented Kuon, but he turns out to be a super-salty guy! His room is marked "off-limits" and Satsuki's charms have no effect on him... Will she be able to overcome Kuon's reluctance and live her dream lovey-dovey newlywed life? It's a little frustrating, but it's also a little bit sweet! The start of a love battle between the perfect JK and a salt-and-peppery go-boy! Note: Chapter count includes two extra chapters.

Tags: Heterosexual , Cohabitation , Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Marriage , Love Triangle , Arranged Marriage , Go

Koko kara Dousuru?

Status: Finished
Genres: Supernatural

The main story (of which, this first chapter is sort of the prologue to) is about a couple, who are rivals in the world of high school Go (As in the Japanese board game).

Tags: Go , School , Boys' Love , Board Game

Gunbu no Pair Go

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Psychological , Romance , Sports

Tags: Seinen , Go , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Board Game

Go to Go

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Sports

Whether in baseball, soccer, or academics, Kousei Akiyama was always an unrivaled prodigy. Determined to make his name known worldwide, the sixth-grader decides to pursue the game of Go. However, waiting for him at his local Go academy are five young geniuses who utterly crush his overwhelming talent.
Broken by this setback, Kousei settles into an ordinary life. Now a high school student, he encounters Go once again. With his dormant abilities finally blossoming, he swears revenge against the five prodigies who defeated him, ready to reclaim the absolute feeling of invincibility he once knew!



Tags: Go , Seinen , Male Protagonist

Shizi Cang Ni De Shuwu

Also known as The Lion in the Manga Library.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Sports

A young woman who works liquidating the stock of manga rental shops has a secret past. A former child prodigy, her career as a tournament go player ended due to unfortunate circumstances. When another elite go player turns up at her door seeking a room to rent, the two begin an unusual friendship that helps each to resolve their conflicted relationship to the game. Note: Winner of the 2021 Golden Comic Grand Prize.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Go

Nü Jiu Duan

Also known as 9 Dan Girl.

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

At the age of four, Ruiwen exhibits Go skills more remarkable than the great majority of her male peers'. When she grows up to be a professional player, she realizes that decades of gender inequality in Go have greatly disadvantaged female players. Consequently, she sets her sights on learning from the best and overcoming learning barriers as a woman, all in the hope of making her mark in the male-dominated world of Go.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Go , Full Color

Omogwang

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Gang-Gu prepares to become a civil servant leaving behind the title of Go prodigy . Bong-Nak, an eccentric teacher, approaches Gang-Gu.

“Wouldn’t you like to compete in an Omok competition?”

A story about the lives of Gang-Gu and Bong-Nak.



Note: Omok is a type of Gomoku ('Five in a Row'), an abstract strategy board game played using Go pieces and a Go board.

Tags: Go , Full Color