Top Jazz Music Manga Recommendations

BLUE GIANT

Also known as Blue Giant.

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

Dai lived a normal high school life in Sendai: a city of hot summer days and rainy nights. Between basketball, part time jobs, and an uncertain future, something was missing. And that thing was music. With his days in senior year running out, Dai swears a heartfelt vow: “I’m gonna be the best jazz player in the world.”

But what do you need to be the best? Talent? Effort? A lucky break? Or maybe just a deep, pure love for music, and too much stubbornness to know when to quit.



Notes: Nominated to the 22nd Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Tags: Seinen , Band , Jazz Music , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Bar , Ensemble Cast , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast

Sakamichi no Apollon

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

Nishimi Kaoru has moved from city to city and school to school because of his father’s job. So the first day at his new school was just routine for him. Being intellectual and the new transfer student, he has always been seen as an outcast and all Kaoru had to do was bear it until the next time he moved. But things were slightly different this time. First, he started to get close to the class president, Mukae Ritsuko, and, secondly, unlikely as it seemed, grew closer to Kawabuchi Sentaro. Sentaro was infamous for getting into fights, skipping class and was an overall bad boy. Strangely enough, the three of them find common ground in music, namely jazz, and Kaoru finds himself actually enjoying the new town.

Notes:
Includes 8 extra chapters.
Won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga.

Tags: Band , Josei , Historical , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , Love Triangle , Primarily Teen Cast , Jazz Music , Male Protagonist , Rural , Age Gap , Time Skip , School , Religion , Tragedy

Jaejeucheoreom

Also known as Jazz for Two.

Status: Finished
Genres: Music , Romance

Taeyi hears a familiar melody fill the empty halls and makes his way to the old music room. He knows his brother is dead, but he can’t help but hope, maybe, just maybe...it’s his brother playing his favorite song. When he slams open the door, however, he finds Seheon, the new transfer student, at the piano. Disappointment comes crashing down and Taeyi can’t control his anger. How dare Seheon play his brother’s song? How dare he smile? How dare he say he loves jazz? “If I ever catch you playing the piano again...that’ll be the end of you.” And with that begins their story, as unpredictable and visceral as jazz.



Tags: Boys' Love , School , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Full Color , LGBTQ+ Themes , Suicide , Coming of Age , Jazz Music , Musical Theater

BLUE GIANT SUPREME

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

The direct sequel to Blue Giant, a manga about the evolution of the young saxophonist Dai Miyamoto in the jazz world. Blue Giant Supreme sees the hero arrive in Europe! Freshly arrived in Munich without speaking a word of German and with an approximate English, he manages to find a roof over his head, a meal and a beer, but struggles to obtain the most important thing: a place where he can have his music heard!



Tags: Ensemble Cast , Band , Foreign , Seinen , Primarily Adult Cast , Jazz Music

Sakamichi no Apollon: Bonus Track

Also known as Kids on the Slope: Bonus Track.

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

Once again, we join Sentarou, Kaoru and their friends in a short jam session of friendship, music and love.

1. Junichi and Yurika, after Junichi's move to Tokyo
2. A short story about Kouta, Ritsuko and the guy who answered the phone when Kaoru called Ritsuko
3. Tsutomu Murae (Ritsuko's dad) and how he finds his way into Jazz
4. Sentarou Kawabuchi and how he discovers his new resolve
5. After story...

Tags: Band , Historical , Josei , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Rural , Female Protagonist , Jazz Music , Tragedy

BLUE GIANT EXPLORER

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

All roads lead to jazz!

After passing his driver's license in Japan, Dai Miyamoto left for the United States with only his tenor saxophone. He learned that Yukinori, a member of his first band, was also there... Dai landed in Seattle, on the West Coast. An experimental adventure begins for the young man, who seeks to create a new sound by discovering the cities and regions of this immense country!



Tags: Seinen , Jazz Music

BLUE GIANT MOMENTUM

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

Tags: Jazz Music , Seinen

Swingin' Dragon & Tiger Boogie

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

One night in Fukui during an air raid in WW2, young Suwa Oto sees her jazz-loving older sister, Ineko, dance to bassist Odajima Tatsuji's music. Ineko later attempts suicide by drowning, and though rescued, is by war's end a shell of the sister who taught Oto to sing, and Odajima disappears. To reunite the two, Oto, now a student, carries her sister's bass across her back to Tokyo. When Oto's singing catches the attention of a troupe, she plays on a US military base and learns the troupe's bassist is Odajima himself, but without his memories.



Note: Won the New Face Award at the 24th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2021.

Tags: Seinen , Band , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Jazz Music , Historical , Primarily Adult Cast , Age Gap

Straight No Chaser

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Music

Shuuhei is an endlessly enthusiastic pizza deliveryman with almost no ambitions or skills, and he's determined to date Hitomi, a high school girl who made the mistake of kissing him once. Her disinterest can't stop him from loving her, though! When he asks her what she likes in a man, one of the things she mentions was the ability to play a musical instrument. In response, he decides to learn to play the trumpet. But learning about the trumpet and jazz music is going to change his life in more ways than he imagined...
[by tethysdust]

Tags: Seinen , Jazz Music

My Sweet Honey?

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance

Story 1: My Sweet Honey?
Use our rental to get yourself a boyfriend. You don’t have to return him, so you can have him for as long as you want.
Story 2: Manatsu no Penguin
She accidentally calls her ex-boyfriend instead. Nostalgia's overwhelming her ... could she still have feelings for the guy she broke up with?
Story 3: Lovely Switch!
Story 4: Himitsu no Koibito



Tags: Shoujo , Jazz Music

Kantai Collection: KanColle Miiro no Alto Sax

Status: Finished
Genres: Music , Slice of Life

Music like the color of the sea, as played by the Ayanami-class destroyer Shikinami. Enjoy the warm and lovely sounds of "miiro" jazz from Shikinami and her fleet girl friends.

Tags: Jazz Music , Military , Primarily Female Cast , Band

Aoi Akuma no Serenade

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance

From the moment Rachel Carradine hears the dark, rich tones of Blackie Madigan's alto saxophone, she knows her heart and her hard-fought, well-ordered life are in danger. As the daughter of a jazz musician, she knows the seductive power of the music just as she is familiar with the insecure, irregular, bohemian existence of the musicians. She escaped that lifestyle once and promised herself that nothing on earth could induce her to embrace it ever again. Yet hearing Blackie's Orpheus-like melodies, she is faced with the greatest temptation of her life.

But Blackie makes some dangerous assumptions about Rachel that threaten to derail their relationship before it even gets going. Unbeknownst to Rachel, Blackie is Blackstone J. Madigan, the entrepreneur behind the powerful conglomerate that owns Exotica, the company threatening Rachel's professional livelihood.

Mistaken identities, secrets, deception—hardly a harmonious beginning. Rachel and Blackie must see if their relationship can overcome these major obstacles and decide how much they're willing to risk and if it will be enough.



Tags: Foreign , Josei , Jazz Music