Top Martial Arts Manga Recommendations

Jujutsu Kaisen

Also known as Jujutsu Kaisen.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Supernatural

Although Yuji Itadori looks like your average teenager, his immense physical strength is something to behold! Every sports club wants him to join, but Itadori would rather hang out with the school outcasts in the Occult Research Club. One day, the club manages to get their hands on a sealed cursed object. Little do they know the terror they’ll unleash when they break the seal…



Notes:
- Ranked 1st in Japan's Bookstore Employees Top Manga of 2018.
- Nominated for the 25th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2021.
- Nominated for the 65th Shogakukan Manga Award in the Shounen Category in 2019.
- Chapter count includes extra chapter.

Tags: Urban Fantasy , Demons , Super Power , Shounen , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Monster Boy , Youkai , Magic , Curses , Martial Arts , Body Horror , Dissociative Identities , Death Game , Gore , Primarily Teen Cast , Battle Royale , Urban , Ensemble Cast , Exorcism , Cosmic Horror , Sadism , Body Swapping , Cult , Surreal Comedy , School , Philosophy , Anthropomorphism , Assassins , Femboy , Time Manipulation , Swordplay , Slapstick , Time Skip , Nudity , Transgender

One Punch-Man

Also known as One-Punch Man.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Comedy , Sci-Fi , Supernatural

In this new action-comedy, everything about a young man named Saitama screams "AVERAGE,” from his lifeless expression, to his bald head, to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking fellow doesn't have your average problem... He's actually a superhero that's looking for tough opponents! The problem is, every time he finds a promising candidate he beats the snot out of them in one punch. Can Saitama finally find an evil villain strong enough to challenge him? Follow Saitama through his hilarious romps as he searches for new bad guys to challenge!



Tags: Urban Fantasy , Superhero , Super Power , Parody , Surreal Comedy , Kaiju , Satire , Primarily Adult Cast , Male Protagonist , Meta , Slapstick , Ensemble Cast , Cosmic Horror , Gods , Seinen , Philosophy , Urban , Martial Arts , Cyborg , Swordplay , Gore , Aliens , Time Manipulation

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 , Heterosexual , War , Outdoor Activities , Ghost , Agriculture , Classic Literature , Fugitive , Language Barrier , Nudity , Afterlife ,

HUNTER×HUNTER

Also known as Hunter x Hunter.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy

Gon might be a country boy, but he has high aspirations. Despite his Aunt Mito's protests, Gon decides to follow in his father's footsteps and become a legendary Hunter. The Hunter hopefuls begin their journey by storm-tossed ship, where Gon meets Leorio and Kurapika, the only other applicants who aren't devastated by bouts of seasickness.

Having survived the terrors of the high seas, Gon and his companions now have to prove their worth in a variety of tests in order to find the elusive Exam Hall. And once they get there, will they ever leave alive...?



Tags: Shounen , Super Power , Cultivation , Ensemble Cast , Travel , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Urban Fantasy , Revenge , Tragedy , Assassins , Chimera , Battle Royale , Death Game , Politics , Anti-Hero , Crime , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Gangs , War , Martial Arts , Conspiracy , Lost Civilization , Gore , Video Games , Ships , Card Battle , Mafia , Animals , LGBTQ+ Themes , Time Manipulation , Amnesia , Virtual World , Demons , Transgender , Cannibalism , Reincarnation , Asexual , Kemonomimi

Sinui Tap

Also known as Tower of God.

Status: Hiatus
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery

Bam, who was alone all his life has entered the tower to chase after his only friend, Rachel, but how will he survive without having any special strength or power?
"What do you desire? Money and wealth? Honor and pride? Authority and power? Revenge? Or something that transcends them all? Whatever you desire—it's here."



Chapter Notes:
- Season 1 contains a prologue and 78 chapters.
- Season 2 contains a prologue and 337 chapters.
- Season 3 contains 235 chapters


Tags: Super Power , Ensemble Cast , Full Color , War , Conspiracy , Male Protagonist , Magic , Tragedy , Travel , Cultivation , Time Skip , Politics , Memory Manipulation , Space Opera , Martial Arts , Anti-Hero , Battle Royale , Kemonomimi , Philosophy , Artificial Intelligence , Trains , Terrorism , Gore , Afterlife , Meta , Primarily Adult Cast , Slavery , Found Family , Female Harem , Goblin , Time Manipulation , Criminal Organization

NARUTO

Also known as Naruto.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Supernatural

Before Naruto's birth, a great demon fox had attacked the Hidden Leaf Village. A man known as the 4th Hokage sealed the demon inside the newly born Naruto, causing him to unknowingly grow up detested by his fellow villagers. Despite his lack of talent in many areas of ninjutsu, Naruto strives for only one goal: to gain the title of Hokage, the strongest ninja in his village. Desiring the respect he never received, Naruto works towards his dream with fellow friends Sasuke and Sakura and mentor Kakashi as they go through many trials and battles that come with being a ninja.

Tags: Shounen , Ninja , Coming of Age , Revenge , Super Power , Male Protagonist , Found Family , Martial Arts , War , Full Color , Tragedy , Orphan , Time Skip , Magic , Kaiju , Necromancy , Cultivation , Philosophy , Henshin , LGBTQ+ Themes , Heterosexual , Anachronism , Animals , Love Triangle , Travel , Demons , Espionage , Aliens

Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san

Also known as Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro.

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

Nagatoro is a freshman in high school who loves teasing and torturing her older male classmate! What’s her motivation and why does Senpai put up with her? Does Nagatoro just want to create misery for Senpai? Or maybe she secretly likes him?



Note: Includes 34 extra chapters.

Tags: Bullying , Heterosexual , Primarily Teen Cast , Female Protagonist , Tsundere , Male Protagonist , Tanned Skin , School , Primarily Female Cast , Drawing , School Club , Shounen , Tomboy , Gyaru , Slapstick , Judo , Urban , Martial Arts , Nudity , Time Skip , Yandere

Soul Eater

Also known as Soul Eater.

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

Maka is a scythe meister, working to perfect one particular scythe until it is good enough to become Death's Weapon -- the weapon used by Shinigami-sama, the spirit of Death himself. As if that wasn't unusual enough, her scythe is a demon scythe called Soul Eater, which can change form from a scythe to a human-looking boy. In order to make Soul Eater powerful enough to be Death's Weapon, he must eat the souls of 99 humans and 1 witch. Along the way, the two of them face many different challenges, including a cat witch named Blair (who happens to have a thing for Soul) and a teacher who's been turned into a zombie (and wants him to join her!). Her fellow students, like the shadow ninja weapon meister named Black Star who always needs to be the center of attention, aren't much help, either. It'll be a miracle if Maka even survives, let alone manages to make Soul Eater into the Death Scythe.



Note: Includes the 3-chapter prologue and 1 extra chapter.

Tags: Ensemble Cast , Henshin , Magic , Guns , Shounen , Super Power , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Shapeshifting , War , Witch , Gods , School , Twins , Swordplay , Foreign , Travel , Agender , Nudity , Werewolf , Assassins , Tragedy , Philosophy , Coming of Age , Alternate Universe , Zombie , Kemonomimi , Nekomimi , Tanned Skin , Unrequited Love , Body Horror , Urban , Space , Martial Arts , Heterosexual , Gender Bending

Nanatsu no Taizai

Also known as The Seven Deadly Sins.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

When they were accused of trying to overthrow the monarchy, the feared warriors the Seven Deadly Sins were sent into exile. Princess Elizabeth discovers the truth the Sins were framed by the king's guard, the Holy Knights too late to prevent them from assassinating her father and seizing the throne! Now the princess is on the run, seeking the Sins to help her reclaim the kingdom. But the first Sin she meets, Meliodas, is a little innkeeper with a talking pig. He doesn't even have a real sword! Have the legends of the Sins' strength been exaggerated...?



Note: Chapter count includes 346 regular chapters, 18 extra chapters, and 3 gaiden chapters.

Tags: Shounen , Ensemble Cast , Demons , Super Power , Magic , Reincarnation , Tragedy , Gods , Memory Manipulation , Fairy , Spearplay , Fairy Tale , War , Male Protagonist , Amnesia , Primarily Adult Cast , Swordplay , Dissociative Identities , Martial Arts , Anti-Hero , Revenge , Bar , Heterosexual , Animals , Nudity , Time Manipulation , Lost Civilization , Found Family , Medieval

SSS-geup Jugeoya Saneun Hunter

Also known as SSS-Class Revival Hunter.

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

In the mysterious, RPG dungeon-like Tower, Confucius Kim lives a mundane existence, envying all the star hunters. One day, his wish for more is granted with a legendary skill to copy others’ abilities… at the cost of his life. Before he can make sense of it, he’s killed by the #1 hunter, the Flame Emperor! But this activates his skill and now he’s copied a new one, the ability to travel back in time upon death. How will Confucius use these skills to outplay the competition and rise to the top?



Tags: Time Manipulation , Male Protagonist , Full Color , Suicide , Dungeon , Urban Fantasy , Ghost , Revenge , Philosophy , Primarily Adult Cast , Tragedy , Cultivation , Age Regression , Memory Manipulation , Martial Arts , Wuxia , Heterosexual , Necromancy , Goblin , Marriage

God of High School

Also known as The God of High School.

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

Mori Jin is a high school student and Taekwondo specialist who enters "The God of High School," a fighting tournament that promises the winner anything they want. What began as a competition to seek out the best high school fighter soon reveals itself to be part of a much greater plot that goes beyond Mori's wildest imagination. What will he give to become a true god?



Tags: Martial Arts , Super Power , Gods , Full Color , Mythology , War , Urban Fantasy , Ensemble Cast , Conspiracy , Revenge , Amnesia , Cult , Time Skip , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Swordplay , Demons , Cultivation , Post-Apocalyptic , Politics , Religion , Foreign , Space , Heterosexual , Terrorism , Dragons , Isekai , Age Regression , School , Athletics , Espionage , Kemonomimi , Centaur

Dragon Ball

Also known as Dragon Ball.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Sci-Fi

Dragon Ball follows the adventures of Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven mystical orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which can summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls for their own desires. Along the way becoming the strongest warrior in the universe.

Part II of Dragon Ball is also known as "Dragon Ball Z" in North America.

Note: Chapter count includes 519 regular chapters and 1 extra. (Volume 33's "Trunks: The Story").

Tags: Martial Arts , Shounen , Travel , Super Power , Male Protagonist , Cultivation , Full Color , Time Skip , Aliens , Henshin , Coming of Age , Cyborg , Afterlife , Anachronism , Tragedy , Gods , Magic , Adoption , Military , Shapeshifting , Nudity , Robots , Rural , Dragons , Dissociative Identities

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

BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS

Also known as Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Supernatural

The ninja adventures continue with Naruto’s son, Boruto!

Naruto was a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He achieved his dream to become the greatest ninja in his village, and now his face sits atop the Hokage monument. But this is not his story... A new generation of ninja are ready to take the stage, led by Naruto's own son, Boruto!

Years have passed since Naruto and Sasuke teamed up to defeat Kaguya, the progenitor of chakra and the greatest threat the ninja world has ever faced. Times are now peaceful and the new generation of shinobi has not experienced the same hardships as its parents. Perhaps that is why Boruto would rather play video games than train. However, one passion does burn deep in this ninja boy’s heart, and that is the desire to defeat his father!



Note: Includes the one-shot "Naruto: The Path Lit by the Full Moon".

Tags: Shounen , Ninja , Gods , Super Power , Male Protagonist , Aliens , Primarily Child Cast , Fugitive , Memory Manipulation , Cyborg , Martial Arts , Anti-Hero , Cultivation , Espionage , Orphan

BEASTARS

Also known as BEASTARS.

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

One night at Cherryton Academy, an herbivore student is brutally murdered. Among the members of the Drama Club, the herbivores’ suspicions naturally turn to their carnivore classmates… The prime suspect? Gray wolf Legoshi. But he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Or would he? Will dwarf rabbit Haru bring out the beast in him? Or are his feelings for her…something else?



Notes:
- Winner of the 11th Manga Taisho Award in 2018.
- Winner of the 42nd Kodansha Manga Award in the Shounen Category in 2018.
- Winner of the New Face Award from the 21st Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2018.
- Winner of the New Creator Prize of the 22nd Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2018.

Tags: Anthropomorphism , Animals , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Cannibalism , School , Ensemble Cast , Politics , Urban , Crime , Philosophy , Gangs , Primarily Animal Cast , Psychosexual , Tragedy , Revenge , Shounen , School Club , Yakuza , Primarily Teen Cast , Love Triangle , Class Struggle , Bullying , Heterosexual , Adoption , Survival , Acting , Cultivation , Martial Arts

Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!

Also known as Tomo-chan is a Girl!.

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

Boyish high school girl Aizawa Tomo finally manages to tell her childhood friend Jun that she’s got a crush on him. Unfortunately, her confession goes right over his head—he didn’t even realize she was a girl until junior high, and even now, Jun still thinks of her as a bro! How can Tomo-chan possibly convince him otherwise and win Jun’s heart?



Notes:
- Originally published daily on Twi4. The volume release compiled the series into 51 chapters.
- Includes 8 sets of bonus pages, where each set is considered a chapter; each volume contains a set.

Tags: Tomboy , 4-koma , Female Protagonist , School , Heterosexual , Slapstick , Primarily Teen Cast , Tsundere , Episodic , Athletics , Shounen , Judo , Martial Arts , School Club

Sun-Ken Rock

Also known as Sun-Ken Rock.

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

Delinquent Ken goes to Korea to follow the girl he loves, but somehow, he gets caught up in Korea’s local gang business instead!? And what do you mean he’s the gang’s boss now?



Notes:
- Includes 9 extra chapters.
- Includes the one-shot "Trigun: The Lost Plant"

Tags: Seinen , Gangs , Yakuza , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Martial Arts , Foreign , Nudity , Travel , Tragedy , Gore , Swordplay , Mafia , Cars , Food

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 , Coming of Age , Boarding School , Classic Literature , Conspiracy , School Club , Bullying , Disability , Athletics , Torture , Delinquents , Martial Arts , Rehabilitation , Tragedy , Love Triangle , Female Harem , Kuudere , Tsundere , Suicide , Board Game , Yandere , Teacher

Oemo Jisangjuui

Also known as Lookism.

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

Daniel is an unattractive loner who wakes up in a different body. Now tall, handsome, and cooler than ever in his new form, Daniel aims to achieve everything he couldn't before. How far will he go to keep his body... and his secrets?



Tags: Body Swapping , Gangs , Full Color , Delinquents , Martial Arts , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , School , Bullying , Surreal Comedy , Fitness , Heterosexual , Boxing , Love Triangle , Meta , Found Family , Fashion , Cult , Parody , Homeless , Gambling , Detective , Drugs , Memory Manipulation , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Yandere

The Breaker

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama

The new English teacher, Chun-Woo, is not your ordinary teacher. Shioon, a victim of constant bullying, unexpectedly witnesses Chun-Woo's fighting power, and begs him to make him his disciple. Chun-Woo claims he can teach Shioon only if he is truly determined, and Shioon must jump off a bridge into a deep river in order to prove it!

It turns out, however, that Chun-Woo and his powers are more than meets the eye. Shioon makes a grand entrance into the hidden world of martial arts, and he is about to be taught by the best there is!

Tags: Martial Arts , Revenge , Nudity , Male Protagonist , Gangs , School , Bullying , Gore , Tragedy