Top Language Barrier 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 , War , Male Protagonist , Super Power , 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 , Time Skip , Language Barrier

Vagabond

Also known as Vagabond.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama

At seventeen years of age, Miyamoto Musashi--still known by his childhood name, Shinmen Takezo--was a wild young brute just setting out along the way of the sword.

In the aftermath of the epic Battle of Sekigahara, Takezo finds himself a fugitive survivor on the losing side of the war. Takezo's vicious nature has made him an outcast even in his own village, and he is hunted down like an animal. At this crucial crossroads in Takezo's life, an eccentric monk and a childhood friend are the only ones who can help him find his way.



Tags: Swordplay , Seinen , Samurai , Historical , Philosophy , Travel , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Martial Arts , Tragedy , Survival , Cultivation , Biographical , Gore , Rural , Fugitive , Heterosexual , War , Outdoor , Ghost , Agriculture , Language Barrier , Nudity , Afterlife ,

Vinland Saga

Also known as Vinland Saga.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama

As a child, Thorfinn sat at the feet of the great Leif Ericson and thrilled to wild tales of a land far to the west. But his youthful fantasies were shattered by a mercenary raid. Raised by the Vikings who murdered his father, Thorfinn became a terrifying warrior, forever seeking to kill the band's leader, Askeladd, and avenge his father. Sustaining Thorfinn through his ordeal are his pride in his family and his dreams of a fertile westward land, a land without war or slavery … the land Leif called Vinland.



Notes:
- Won the Grand Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2009.
- Winner of the 36th Kodansha Manga Award in the General category in 2012.

Tags: Historical , Coming of Age , Vikings , Rehabilitation , Foreign , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Seinen , War , Revenge , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Parenthood , Adoption , Travel , Slavery , Found Family , Time Skip , Politics , Gore , Swordplay , Ships , Anti-Hero , Rural , Pirates , Agriculture , Environmental , Language Barrier , Heterosexual , Nudity , Achronological Order , Archery , Tomboy , LGBTQ+ Themes , Transgender

Blue Lock

Also known as Blue Lock.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Drama , Sports

After a disastrous defeat at the 2018 World Cup, Japan's team struggles to regroup. But what's missing? An absolute Ace Striker, who can guide them to the win. The Japan Football Union is hell-bent on creating a striker who hungers for goals and thirsts for victory, and who can be the decisive instrument in turning around a losing match...and to do so, they've gathered 300 of Japan's best and brightest youth players. Who will emerge to lead the team...and will they be able to out-muscle and out-ego everyone who stands in their way?



Note: Winner of the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the Shounen Category in 2021.

Tags: Football , Battle Royale , Male Protagonist , Athletics , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Teen Cast , Shounen , Ensemble Cast , Fitness , LGBTQ+ Themes , Foreign , Language Barrier , Bisexual , Augmented Reality , Tragedy , Suicide

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 2 extra chapters.

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

Supyeongseon

Also known as The Horizon.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Psychological

A world where everything has been lost. A boy and a girl alone together. A spark of hope kindled between them. All they can do is move forward. But against broken adults and devastating despair, how long will they be able to keep going...?



Tags: Survival , Post-Apocalyptic , Philosophy , War , Tragedy , Coming of Age , Primarily Child Cast , Crime , Travel , Time Skip , Male Protagonist , Rehabilitation , Orphan , Guns , Gore , Suicide , Cannibalism , Language Barrier , Outdoor

Fumetsu no Anata e

Also known as To Your Eternity.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Psychological , Supernatural

A lonely boy wandering the Arctic regions of North America meets a wolf, and the two become fast friends, depending on each other to survive the harsh environment. But the boy has a history, and the wolf is more than meets the eye as well …



Tags: Tragedy , Shapeshifting , Coming of Age , Philosophy , Time Skip , Outdoor , Ensemble Cast , Dissociative Identities , Survival , Urban Fantasy , Ghost , Cosmic Horror , Denpa , Shounen , Agender , Travel , Gore , Yandere , Bullying , Suicide , Age Regression , Male Protagonist , Language Barrier , Animals , LGBTQ+ Themes , Nudity , Urban , Female Protagonist , Boys' Love

Golden Kamuy

Also known as Golden Kamuy.

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

In the early twentieth century, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto scratches out a meager existence during the postwar gold rush in the wilderness of Hokkaido. When he stumbles across a map to a fortune in hidden Ainu gold, he sets off on a treacherous quest to find it. But Sugimoto is not the only interested party, and everyone who knows about the gold will kill to possess it! Faced with the harsh conditions of the northern wilderness, ruthless criminals and rogue Japanese soldiers, Sugimoto will need all his skills and luck—and the help of an Ainu girl named Asirpa—to survive.



Note: Won the 9th Manga Taisho Award in 2016 and the 22nd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2018. Nominated for the 20th and 21st Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and the 40th Kodansha Manga Awards in 2016.

Tags: Conspiracy , Historical , Military , Outdoor , Seinen , Educational , Politics , Ensemble Cast , Surreal Comedy , Food , Travel , Found Family , Primarily Adult Cast , Gore , Primarily Male Cast , Survival , Guns , LGBTQ+ Themes , Cute Boys Doing Cute Things , Language Barrier , Crime , Slapstick , Revenge , Anti-Hero , Trains , Male Harem , Snowscape , Male Protagonist , Nudity , Prison , Swordplay , Disability , Suicide , Archery , Tanned Skin , Boys' Love , Twins , Transgender , Cannibalism , Yakuza , Time Skip , Crossdressing , Zoophilia , Dissociative Identities , Heterosexual , Gender Bending

Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction

Also known as Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Sci-Fi , Slice of Life

The Japan Self-Defense Forces are still looking for a way to combat the alien threat, but so far conventional weapons have had no effect. Maybe it’s time to try something unconventional.

Meanwhile, Kadode Koyama and her best friend avidly track the aliens’ movements on social media and less enthusiastically study for college entrance exams. When the end of the world looms overhead, you learn to take things one step at a time.



Notes:
- Winner of the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category.
- Includes 1 extra chapter.

Tags: Seinen , Aliens , Female Protagonist , Alternate Universe , Politics , Primarily Female Cast , Military , Time Manipulation , Bisexual , Coming of Age , Denpa , Dystopian , Language Barrier , Philosophy , Tragedy , School , Otaku Culture , Suicide , Anti-Hero , Post-Apocalyptic , Gore , Satire , Cosmic Horror , Yuri , Love Triangle

Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu

Also known as Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Ecchi , Fantasy

Kicked out by his family and wandering the streets, an unemployed 34-year-old shut-in thinks he’s hit rock-bottom—just as he’s hit and killed by a speeding truck! Awakening to find himself reborn as an infant in a world of swords and sorcery, but with the memories of his first life intact, Rudeus Greyrat is determined not to repeat his past mistakes. He’s going to make the most of this reincarnation as he sets off on the adventure of a second lifetime!



Tags: Coming of Age , Rehabilitation , Isekai , Reincarnation , Magic , Polyamorous , Travel , Family Life , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Ensemble Cast , Survival , Female Harem , Time Manipulation , Time Skip , Gods , Meta , Demons , Hikikomori , Matriarchy , Swordplay , Tomboy , Crossdressing , Teacher , Tsundere , Elf , Language Barrier , School , Slavery , Dragons , Nekomimi , Amnesia , Dungeon , Otaku Culture , Revenge , Marriage , Maids , Episodic , Ojou-sama , Religion , Boys' Love , Archery , Desert

Yubisaki to Renren

Also known as A Sign of Affection.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

Yuki is a typical college student, whose world revolves around her friends, social media, and the latest sales. But when a chance encounter on a train leads to her meeting friend-of-a-friend and fellow student Itsuomi-san, her world starts to widen. But even though Itsuomi-kun can speak three languages, sign language isn’t one of them. Can the two learn to communicate the budding feelings between them?



Notes:
- Ranked 17th place for the Tsugimanga Award in the Print Manga Category in 2020.
- Nominated for the 45th and 46th Kodansha Manga Award in the Shoujo Category in 2021 and 2022.
- Nominated for the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shoujo Category

Tags: Shoujo , Language Barrier , Female Protagonist , Disability , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , College , Love Triangle , Bar , Chibi , Urban , Tsundere

Otoyomegatari

Also known as A Bride's Story.

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

A Bride’s Story tells the tale of a beautiful young bride in nineteenth-century Asia. At the age of twenty, Amir is sent to a neighboring town to be wed. But her surprise at learning her new husband, Karluk, is eight years younger than her is quickly replaced by a deep affection for the boy and his family. Though she hails from just beyond the mountains, Amir’s clan had very different customs, foods, and clothes from what Karluk is used to. As the two of them learn more about each other through their day-to-day lives, the bond of respect and love grows stronger.



Note: Won the Prix Intergénérations ("Intergenerational Award") at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2012 and the 7th Manga Taishou award in 2014.

Tags: Ensemble Cast , Historical , Seinen , Female Protagonist , Marriage , Foreign , Heterosexual , Iyashikei , Travel , Age Gap , Family Life , Educational , Arranged Marriage , Food , Twins , War , Archery , Nudity , Language Barrier , LGBTQ+ Themes , Animals

Elfen Lied

Also known as Elfen Lied.

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

The story involves human mutations called "diclonii", who are born with horns on their heads and possess telekinetic powers, in the form of invisible "arms" called vectors. The power of these arms vary, but they can stop normal bullets and deflect some others. The number of them differ with each diclinous, as does their full range.

The tendency for violence among diclonii is high, especially as they grow older. As children, their violence stems from a certain playfulness, unlike the absolute hatred of humans in their later years. Diclonii are rare, as they are the members of their species that are able to reproduce naturally.

Silpelits are more common. They are the offspring of two humans, the male of which has been infected with the mutation. Interestingly, only males can pass on the genes, and all diclonii and silpelits turn out to be female. Certain scientists noticed an increasing number of babies with horns being born, along with those children murdering their own parents and others, and tried to contain the spreading and find out the cause by placing them in a Facility in cells where they are subject to inhumane experiments to test their abilities or where they await execution for being too dangerous.

The main non-mutant character in the story is Kouta, who ends up becoming increasingly involved with one diclonius in particular, the main mutant character Lucy, the only pure diclonius, as she seeks a way to infect or kill all of humanity. Lucy has a cruel and unsettling past, and she has long since lost her empathy for humans, except for Kouta.

However, Director Kakuzawa, who has diclonius ancestry although he doesn't have the vectors, has plans to mate with Lucy and start a true diclonius race. If Lucy is found and he manages to do so, humanity will be nonexistent.

Kouta and Lucy's lives have been intertwined since their childhood, but not necessarily in a good way. And after the virus is airborne and spread across all of Japan, what is the fate of humanity and who holds all of the answers?

Note: Chapter count includes 6 extras.

Tags: Body Horror , Philosophy , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Female Harem , Dissociative Identities , Super Power , Seinen , Fugitive , Nudity , Gore , Heterosexual , Military , Guns , Monster Girl , Conspiracy , Primarily Adult Cast , Yandere , Torture , Language Barrier , Male Protagonist

Tokidoki Bosotto Russiago de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san

Also known as Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Romance

Masachika Kuse sits next to Alya, a girl of Russian and Japanese descent. She's beautiful, haughty, and an exceptional student, while Masachika is nerdy and known for being a slacker. He's an easy target for her comments in Russian, which she's all too happy to translate—except he can understand what she's really saying!



Tags: Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Language Barrier , School , Tsundere , Kuudere , Foreign , Female Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Otaku Culture , Primarily Female Cast , Love Triangle , Female Harem , Nudity , Shounen , Crossdressing

Koe no Katachi

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

A story about a grade school class that accepts a girl with impaired hearing.

Winner of the 80th Weekly Shounen Magazine Newbie Best Mangaka Award.

Tags: Bullying , Language Barrier , School , Shounen , Disability , Male Protagonist , Time Skip , Tragedy , Suicide , Primarily Child Cast

Kuragehime

Also known as Princess Jellyfish.

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

Tsukimi Kurashita has a strange fascination with jellyfish. She’s loved them from a young age and has carried that love with her to her new life in the big city of Tokyo. There, she resides in Amamizukan, a safe-haven for girl geeks who regularly gush over a range of things from trains to Japanese dolls. However, a chance meeting at a pet shop has Tsukimi crossing paths with one of the things that the residents of Amamizukan have been desperately trying to avoid—a beautiful and fashionable woman! But there’s much more to this woman than her trendy clothes! This odd encounter is only the beginning of a new and unexpected path for Tsukimi and her friends.



Note: Chapter count includes 10 extra chapters

Tags: Josei , Female Protagonist , Fashion , Crossdressing , Foreign , Love Triangle , Heterosexual , Otaku Culture , Language Barrier , Primarily Adult Cast , LGBTQ+ Themes , Found Family , Urban , Makeup , Age Gap , Drawing , Male Harem , Gender Bending , Animals , Coming of Age

Senryuu Shoujo

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

Yukishiro Nanako is a cute, cheerful high school girl with one peculiar trait – instead of verbal communication, she writes senryu (a type of haiku) poems to relay her thoughts. Together with ex-delinquent Busujima Eiji, they are budding freshmen of the school’s Literature Club.

Even though Nanako doesn’t talk, with the power of senryu, the adorable pair has no problem enjoying their fun school-life through the tune of 5-7-5 syllables.

Note: Includes 15 extra chapters.

Tags: School Club , 4-koma , Heterosexual , School , Male Protagonist , Episodic , Language Barrier , Primarily Teen Cast , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Shounen , Female Protagonist , Love Triangle , Delinquents

I Yongsa Silhwanya

Also known as Is This Hero for Real?.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Fantasy

When a goddess transports Hansoo Kang and his classmates to a magical fantasy world to become heroes, it’s like a dream come true. But when Hansoo declines to risk his life for a world that isn’t his own, the goddess leaves him for dead, alone in the forest. That’s when he realizes she’s not what she seems. With the help of a loner god, Hansoo faces the hostile new world and earns powerful blessings to help him survive. But his goal isn’t to save the world; it’s to return home… well, after he gets revenge on the goddess that is.



Tags: Isekai , Language Barrier , Revenge , Full Color , Anti-Hero , Male Protagonist , Magic

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

Toshokan no Daimajutsushi

Also known as Magus of the Library.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Fantasy

A story about a poor boy swept away by a kind library mage and the (literal) magic of reading, Magus of the Library is a beautifully-drawn, spirited fantasy adventure, like a Fullmetal Alchemist for all ages!

In the small village of Amun lives a poor boy named Theo. Theo adores books, but because of his pointed ears and impoverished life, he isn’t allowed to use the village library. As he endures the prejudice and hatred of the village, he dreams of going where such things don’t exist: Aftzaak, City of Books. But one day, Theo chances to meet a Kafna—a librarian who works for the great library of Aftzaak—and his life changes forever…



Tags: Politics , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Elf , Magic , Adoption , Travel , Primarily Female Cast , Language Barrier , Dragons , Religion , Desert , Bullying , Tanned Skin , Environmental , Slavery , Conspiracy , Espionage , Criminal Organization , Dinosaurs , Fairy , Kemonomimi , Nekomimi , Philosophy , Time Skip , Pirates