Top Kuudere Manga Recommendations

Shingeki no Kyojin

Also known as Attack on Titan.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery

In this post-apocalyptic sci-fi story, humanity has been devastated by the bizarre, giant humanoids known as the Titans. Little is known about where they came from or why they are bent on consuming mankind. Seemingly unintelligent, they have roamed the world for years, killing everyone they see. For the past century, what's left of man has hidden in a giant, three-walled city. People believe their 50-meter-high walls will protect them from the Titans, but the sudden appearance of an immense Titan is about to change everything.



Note: Includes two extra chapters.

Tags: Dystopian , Anti-Hero , War , Tragedy , Military , Conspiracy , Survival , Philosophy , Kaiju , Shapeshifting , Memory Manipulation , Politics , Revenge , Henshin , Male Protagonist , Monster Boy , Terrorism , Medieval , Post-Apocalyptic , Super Power , Gore , Time Manipulation , Body Horror , Ensemble Cast , Cosmic Horror , Time Skip , Cannibalism , Coming of Age , Slavery , Swordplay , Torture , Shounen , Espionage , Mythology , Amnesia , Tsundere , Kuudere , Class Struggle , Disability , Cult , Dissociative Identities , Drugs , Achronological Order , Transgender , Religion , Heterosexual , Reincarnation , Suicide , Baseball , Acrobatics , Yuri , Primarily Adult Cast

Tokyo Ghoul

Also known as Tokyo Ghoul.

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

Shy Ken Kaneki is thrilled to go on a date with the beautiful Rize. But it turns out that she’s only interested in his body—eating it, that is. When a morally questionable rescue transforms him into the first half-human half-Ghoul hybrid, Ken is drawn into the dark and violent world of Ghouls, which exists alongside our own.



Note: Includes one extra chapter.

Tags: Tragedy , Urban Fantasy , Cannibalism , Gore , Male Protagonist , Dystopian , Seinen , Survival , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Shapeshifting , Body Horror , Torture , Police , Cosmic Horror , Kuudere , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , Chimera , Twins , Mythology , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Demons

Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu.

Also known as Komi Can't Communicate.

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

Timid Tadano is a total wallflower, and that’s just the way he likes it. But all that changes when he finds himself alone in a classroom on the first day of high school with the legendary Komi. He quickly realizes she isn’t aloof—she’s just super awkward. Now he’s made it his mission to help her on her quest to make 100 friends!



Notes:
- Winner of the 67th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shounen Category in 2021.
- Chapter count includes 37 extra chapters.

Tags: School , Coming of Age , Kuudere , Ensemble Cast , Episodic , Male Protagonist , Female Protagonist , Love Triangle , Slapstick , Disability , Heterosexual , Shounen , Meta , Gyaru , Yandere , Surreal Comedy , 4-koma , Agender , Chuunibyou , Crossdressing

Kaijuu 8-gou

Also known as Kaiju No.8.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Sci-Fi

A man working a job far removed from his childhood dreams gets wrapped up in an unexpected situation…! Becoming a monster, he aims once again to fulfill his lifelong dream…!



Note:
- Nominated for the 14th Manga Taisho Award in 2021.
- Winner of the 7th Next Manga Award in the Web Manga Category in 2021.

Tags: Kaiju , Urban Fantasy , Shapeshifting , Shounen , Military , Henshin , Primarily Adult Cast , Super Power , Urban , Male Protagonist , Monster Boy , Tokusatsu , Guns , Gore , Conspiracy , Revenge , War , Body Horror , Heterosexual , Tragedy , Survival , Primarily Male Cast , Slapstick , Kuudere

Tokyo Ghoul:re

Also known as Tokyo Ghoul:re.

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

In Tokyo, an unchanging despair is lurking. Mysterious man-eating beings, ghouls, run rampant in Tokyo. Living hidden during everyday life, the existence of ghouls, whose true identities are shrouded in mystery, permanently terrorizes Tokyo's residents.

At CCG, the sole institution that investigates and resolves cases related to ghouls, Haise Sasaki has been assigned a certain mission. While dealing with the unruly four problem children known as "Quinx", Haise's days of suffering begin...?!

Note: Includes 1 extra chapter and the one-shot "Tokyo Ghoul: Joker".

Tags: Dissociative Identities , Tragedy , Body Horror , Amnesia , Seinen , Philosophy , Shapeshifting , Dystopian , Gore , Urban Fantasy , Conspiracy , Primarily Adult Cast , Police , Rehabilitation , Ensemble Cast , Male Protagonist , Heterosexual , Yandere , Suicide , Kuudere , Cosmic Horror , Meta , Crossdressing , Nudity , Mythology , LGBTQ+ Themes , Transgender , Gender Bending

Koe no Katachi

Also known as A Silent Voice.

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

Based on a one-shot that won the 80th Weekly Shounen Magazine Newbie Best Mangaka Award.

Shouya is a bully. When Shouko, a girl who can't hear, enters his elementary school class, she becomes their favorite target, and Shouya and his friends goad each other into devising new tortures for her. But the children's cruelty goes too far. Shouko is forced to leave the school, and Shouya ends up shouldering all the blame. Six years later, the two meet again. Can Shouya make up for his past mistakes, or is it too late?



Note: Includes two extra chapters.

Tags: Rehabilitation , Language Barrier , Bullying , Coming of Age , Disability , Time Skip , School , Heterosexual , Suicide , Male Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Female Protagonist , Denpa , Ensemble Cast , Kuudere , Filmmaking , Shounen , Tomboy

Sousou no Frieren

Also known as Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy

The adventure is over but life goes on for an elf mage just beginning to learn what living is all about.

Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. With the great struggle over, they all go their separate ways to live a quiet life. But as an elf, Frieren, nearly immortal, will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to terms with the mortality of her friends? How can she find fulfillment in her own life, and can she learn to understand what life means to the humans around her? Frieren begins a new journey to find the answer.



Notes:
- Winner of the Grand Prize at the 14th Manga Taisho Awards.
- Nominated for the 25th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.
- Placed 3rd at the 7th Annual Next Manga Award.

Tags: Magic , Travel , Elf , Philosophy , Female Protagonist , Time Skip , Demons , Episodic , Iyashikei , Medieval , Kuudere , Tragedy , Shounen , Fairy Tale , Dungeon , Food , Time Manipulation , Large Breasts

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi

Also known as Fullmetal Alchemist.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Drama , Fantasy

Alchemy tore the Elric brothers’ bodies apart. Can their bond make them whole again?
In this world, alchemists are those who study and perform the art of alchemical transmutation—the science of manipulating and transforming matter. They are bounded by the Law of Equivalent Exchange: in order to gain something, one must sacrifice something of equal value.
In an alchemical ritual gone wrong, Edward Elric lost his arm and his leg, and his brother Alphonse became nothing but a soul in a suit of armor. Equipped with mechanical “auto-mail” limbs, Edward becomes a state alchemist, seeking the one thing that can restore his and his brother’s bodies...the legendary Philosopher’s Stone.



Note: Includes 8 extra chapters.

Tags: Alchemy , Conspiracy , Politics , Philosophy , Military , War , Tragedy , Shounen , Male Protagonist , Disability , Travel , Steampunk , Ensemble Cast , Super Power , Magic , Body Horror , Lost Civilization , Chimera , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Shapeshifting , Guns , Gore , Historical , Tsundere , Cars , Heterosexual , Kuudere , Tomboy , Trains

Go-toubun no Hanayome

Also known as The Quintessential Quintuplets.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance

One day, a poor high school second-year named Futaro Uesugi comes across a private tutoring gig with good pay. But his pupils are his classmates!! And they’re quintuplets!! A-and they’re all gorgeous girls, but they’re also troublemakers who hate to study and are on the verge of flunking out! And his first task is simply gaining the sisters’ trust?! Every day is a party! The curtain is rising on the Nakano quintuplets’ quirky romantic comedy with five times the cute!!



Note: Winner of the Shounen Manga category of the 43rd annual Kodansha Manga Awards.

Tags: Twins , Female Harem , Primarily Female Cast , Coming of Age , Love Triangle , Male Protagonist , Heterosexual , Marriage , School , Tsundere , Shounen , Family Life , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Ojou-sama , Time Skip , Kuudere , Nudity , Acting , Adoption , Tanned Skin

Grand Blue

Also known as Grand Blue Dreaming.

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

After moving out on his own to a seaside town, Iori Kitahara makes a college debut he never anticipated. A new chapter of his life unfolds, full of diving with beautiful girls and shenanigans with a gaggle of lovable bastards! Idiot-expert Kenji Inoue and au naturel authority Kimitake Yoshioka bring you a glorious college tale filled with booze-fueled antics!



Tags: Slapstick , Surreal Comedy , Male Protagonist , College , Seinen , Primarily Adult Cast , Nudity , Coastal , Bar , Scuba Diving , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , Otaku Culture , Kuudere , Meta , Tsundere , Female Harem , Bisexual , Gore , Yandere , Gyaru , LGBTQ+ Themes

Ao Haru Ride

Also known as Ao Haru Ride.

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

Futaba Yoshioka thought all boys were loud and obnoxious until she met Kou Tanaka in junior high. But as soon as she realized she really liked him, he had already moved away because of family issues. Now, in high school, Kou has reappeared, but is he still the same boy she fell in love with?



Includes two side stories and two oneshots.

Tags: Shoujo , School , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Unrequited Love , Tomboy , Coming of Age , Kuudere , Tsundere , Tragedy , Time Skip , Age Gap

ReLife

Also known as ReLIFE.

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

When the responsibilities of being an adult and the ugly side of corporate bullying betrays one's childhood dreams, many would wish to return to their innocent childhood to relive their life and make the right decisions. Dumbfounded by the offer presented to him, 27-year-old Arata Kaizaki hopes to turn his life around through a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Returning home from his part-time job, Arata is persuaded by Ryou Yoake, an employee of ReLife Research Institute, into participating in an experiment which will help him overcome his difficulties and re-enter corporate life. As part of the ReLife experiment, Arata's physique is reverted to that of a 17-year-old, and all he must do is relive his high school life for one year. Waiting for him at the end of the experiment is a job offer that he has been struggling to get ever since he left his first company.

With few other options, he decides to go along with this plan. However, with adult-like tendencies and many years since his last formal education, Arata steps into an unexpectedly challenging territory—a normal day of high school.



Note: Includes 16 extra chapters

Tags: Age Regression , Memory Manipulation , Shapeshifting , School , Full Color , Rehabilitation , Amnesia , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Kuudere , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Work , Heterosexual , Tragedy , Time Skip , Age Gap , Love Triangle , Volleyball , Suicide

Iphagyongbyeong

Also known as Teenage Mercenary.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Drama

At the age of eight, I-Jin Yu lost his parents in a plane crash and became stranded in a foreign land, forced to become a child mercenary in order to stay alive. He returns home ten years later to be reunited with his family in Korea, where food and shelter are plenty and everything seems peaceful. But I-Jin will soon learn that life as a teenager is a whole other feat of survival. With only one year of high school left, I-Jin must master new tactics to maneuver his way around the schoolhouse battleground. Can he survive a year of high school? Or rather, will the school be able to survive him?



Tags: Full Color , Kuudere , Male Protagonist , Family Life , Military , School , Guns , Martial Arts , Bullying , Assassins , Tragedy , Anti-Hero , Yakuza , Heterosexual , War , Terrorism , Mafia , Long Strip , Revenge , Motorcycles

Akatsuki no Yona

Also known as Yona of the Dawn.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Romance

A red-haired princess loses her family and her kingdom—now she must rise and fight for her throne!

Princess Yona lives an ideal life as the only princess of her kingdom. Doted on by her father, the king, and protected by her faithful guard Hak, she cherishes the time spent with the man she loves, Su-won. But everything changes on her 16th birthday when tragedy strikes her family!

Yona reels from the shock of witnessing a loved one's murder and having to fight for her life. With Hak's help, she flees the palace and struggles to survive while evading her enemy's forces. But where will this displaced princess go when all the paths before her are uncertain?



Tags: Female Protagonist , Found Family , Travel , Shoujo , Historical , Dragons , Politics , Fugitive , Gods , Kingdom Management , Mythology , War , Royal Affairs , Reincarnation , Tragedy , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , Foreign , Primarily Male Cast , Archery , Super Power , Male Harem , Survival , Animals , Orphan , Drugs , Kuudere , Pirates

Akame ga Kill!

Also known as Akame ga KILL!.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Horror

Teenage country bumpkin Tatsumi dreams of earning enough money for his impoverished village by working in the Capital--but his short-lived plans go awry when he's robbed by a buxom beauty upon arrival! Penniless, Tatsumi is taken in by the lovely Miss Aria, but just when his Capital dreams seem in reach yet again, Miss Aria's mansion is besieged by Night Raid--a team of ruthless assassins who targets high-ranking members of the upper class! As Tatsumi is quick to learn, appearances can be deceiving in the Capital, and this team of assassins just might be...the good guys?!



Note: Volumes 5 and 8 each contain a bonus chapter.

Tags: Assassins , Shounen , Tragedy , Gore , War , Swordplay , Anti-Hero , Male Protagonist , Super Power , Heterosexual , Ensemble Cast , Female Protagonist , Kuudere , Yandere , Love Triangle , Henshin , Crime , Time Manipulation , Military , Conspiracy , Tsundere , Female Harem , Nekomimi , Guns , Dragons , Youkai , Alchemy , Transgender

Wind Breaker

Also known as Wind Breaker.

Status: Cancelled
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Romance , Sports

Jay's the perfect student. He's got straight As and he's the student body president. But after being coerced into joining the school's biking team, the Hummingbird Crew, he discovers a whole new world outside of studying. What new adventures will he face outside the comfort of his textbooks?



Notes:
- Includes two extra chapters.
- The work was cancelled after it was discovered that the artist had been tracing other people's art.

Tags: Cycling , Coming of Age , School , Full Color , Kuudere , Heterosexual , Delinquents , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Fitness , Bullying , Slapstick , Meta , Gambling , Mafia , Suicide , Love Triangle , Female Harem , Foreign , Drugs , Long Strip

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e

Also known as Classroom of the Elite.

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

Students of the prestigious Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School are given remarkable freedom—if they can win, barter, or save enough points to work their way up the ranks! Ayanokoji Kiyotaka has landed at the bottom in the scorned Class D, where he meets Horikita Suzune, who’s determined to rise up the ladder to Class A. Can they beat the system in a school where cutthroat competition is the name of the game?



Includes Volumes: 4.5, 7.5, 11.5
Included Chapters: 14 Prologues, 13 Epilogues, 1 Extra

Tags: School , Primarily Teen Cast , Male Protagonist , Anti-Hero , Battle Royale , Ensemble Cast , Politics , Revenge , Fugitive , Survival , Heterosexual , Denpa , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Boarding School , Classic Literature , Conspiracy , School Club , Tragedy , Bullying , Disability , Tsundere , Athletics , Torture , Kuudere , Delinquents , Female Harem , Martial Arts , Rehabilitation , Love Triangle , Suicide , Board Game , Yandere , Teacher

Given

Also known as Given.

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

Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all—with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is, until the day he finds his favorite hidden napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Sato and his slightly odd behavior, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.



Tags: Boys' Love , Band , LGBTQ+ Themes , Rehabilitation , Primarily Male Cast , Musical Theater , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Bisexual , School , Suicide , Love Triangle , Urban , Unrequited Love , Kuudere , Tsundere

Kimi no Koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo

Also known as The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You.

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

Aijou Rentaro tried and tried again, but after asking a hundred girls out on a date, he was rejected every single time. In desperation, he prays for guidance…only to be told by a god that his rejections were due to some cosmic error! Now the god is going to set things right by making sure that Aijou gets one hundred dates. Except, as things often do with gods, the dates come with a catch: one hundred girls are destined to be Aijou’s soulmate, and unless he returns their feelings each and every time, they’ll die in horrible accidents! Sure enough, girls start confessing their love to Aijou left and right. But how is he supposed to choose?! He doesn’t want to kill anyone! When he looks at each potential soulmate, it feels like a bolt of lightning. Can someone really love a hundred other people? This hilarious romantic comedy takes the harem concept to a wild extreme!


Note: Won second place of Tsugimanga 2020 Award in the Manga Category

Tags: Polyamorous , Female Harem , Ensemble Cast , Surreal Comedy , Meta , Seinen , Primarily Female Cast , Parody , Male Protagonist , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Kuudere , Tsundere , Tomboy , Large Breasts , Heterosexual , MILF , Chuunibyou , School , Slapstick , Gyaru , Incest , Maids , Age Gap , Bisexual , Drugs , Food , Age Regression , Crossdressing , Idol , Yuri , Body Swapping , Baseball , Ghost

Eoneu Nal Gongjuga Doeeobeoryeotda

Also known as Who Made Me a Princess.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy , Romance

The story of Athanasia, forsaken princess of the Obelian Empire, ends with her execution at the hands of her own father—or does it? Her tragic tale is the plot of the novel The Lovely Princess. But now, a modern woman who read the book has just woken up as baby Athanasia herself, filled with her own memories and knowledge of the story she’s stuck in! Determined to survive her doomed fate, infant Athanasia embarks on this new life with a plan: avoid attention and hoard valuables to fund her escape. When her plan goes awry, she suddenly needs to charm her way into the good graces of her father, the beautiful tyrant emperor, so he doesn’t kill her again!



Tags: Female Protagonist , Reincarnation , Isekai , Family Life , Magic , Full Color , Tsundere , Parenthood , Coming of Age , Amnesia , Heterosexual , Age Regression , Memory Manipulation , Revenge , Royal Affairs , Kuudere , Age Gap , Foreign , Conspiracy , Long Strip , Kingdom Management , Time Skip , Politics , Love Triangle , Survival , Maids , Time Manipulation , Ojou-sama , Chimera , Adoption , Fairy Tale , Witch , Espionage