Top Poverty Manga Recommendations

Fruits Basket

Also known as Fruits Basket.

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

After a family tragedy turns her life upside down, plucky high schooler Tohru Honda takes matters into her own hands and moves out...into a tent! Unfortunately for her, she pitches her new home on private land belonging to the mysterious Sohma clan, and it isn't long before the owners discover her secret. But, as Tohru quickly finds out when the family offers to take her in, the Sohmas have a secret of their own--when touched by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac!



Note: Volume 9 includes the bonus chapter "Rain Shelter of Terror".

Tags: Shoujo , Mythology , Animals , Ensemble Cast , Tragedy , Shapeshifting , Philosophy , Rehabilitation , Heterosexual , Reincarnation , Found Family , Female Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Primarily Male Cast , School , Family Life , Primarily Teen Cast , Coming of Age , Age Gap , Tsundere , Estranged Family , Youkai , Curses , Love Triangle , Memory Manipulation , Disability , Orphan , Unrequited Love , Incest , Crossdressing , Henshin , Delinquents , Cohabitation , Monster Boy , Iyashikei , Revenge , Dissociative Identities , Teacher , Marriage , Poverty , Transgender

Ashita no Joe

Also known as Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow.

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

A young drifter named Joe Yabuki wanders through the slums of Tokyo, but when the local ruffians try to give him a hard time he teaches them a rough lesson with his fists. The spectacle sparks a gleam in the eye of an old drunk who happens to be watching—Danpei Tange, a failed boxer and former coach who sees something special in the boy. He pleads with Joe to train with him off, but the cocky young fighter brushes him. Later, though, when Joe is arrested and put in a juvenile detention facility, he realizes that he’s going to need to hone his raw fighting skills if he wants to survive. Thus is born a partnership that might just take Joe all the way to the top…



Tags: Boxing , Tragedy , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Urban , Orphan , Class Struggle , Anti-Hero , Athletics , Shounen , Rehabilitation , Primarily Male Cast , Disability , Delinquents , Prison , Foreign , Historical , Yakuza , War , Poverty

Hadashi no Gen

Also known as Barefoot Gen.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

1945, Japan. Gen Nakaoka is a spirited six-year-old boy who lives with his poor yet loving family in wartime Hiroshima. As the second World War rages on, Gen's father Daikichi stands among the few outspoken who are opposed to the emperor and stand for the innocent civilians bearing the brunt of the war. However, in a society with nothing but feverous support for their nation, Gen and his family are ostracized as traitors. Unbeknownst to them, a terrible fate awaits the people of Hiroshima...

One quiet morning, the US forces drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In an instant, the city is completely destroyed, leaving thousands dead and many more exposed to radiation. Though Gen manages to survive the blast, he finds his life irreversibly changed. Regrouping with what's left of his family, Gen must now grapple with starvation, destitution, and an unsympathetic public who see survivors as little more than disease-ridden beggars.

Based on author Keiji Nakazawa's real-life experiences, Hadashi no Gen follows Gen and his fellow survivors in their struggle to survive in post-war Hiroshima. Gen resolves to soldier on with unwavering determination, while never forgiving those who caused the atrocity, never forgetting the pain of the bomb, and never letting his spirit be broken by the tragedy.

Tags: Tragedy , Historical , Male Protagonist , Autobiographical , Gore , Adoption , Delinquents , War , Found Family , Philosophy , Educational , Body Horror , Coming of Age , Shounen , Crime , Poverty

Shissou Nikki

Also known as Disappearance Diary.

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

In 1989, comic artist Hideo Azuma succumbs to the pressures of deadlines and tries (unsuccessfully) to hang himself using the slope of a mountain. He leaves his family, wandering as a dumpster bum looking for scraps of food, cigarette butts or discarded alcohol. After several months he is arrested as a vagrant and returned to his home. He then repeats the cycle in 1992 this time becoming a gas pipe fitter in another town. Later, in 1998, his alcohol dependence is so bad he is forced into rehab. This book is his expression of those three periods of his life told, not in a deep or depressed way but, as befits his nature, in a buoyant and cheerful cartoon art.



Tags: Autobiographical , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Rehabilitation , Non-fiction , Disability , Homeless , Food , Work , Suicide , Poverty

Tsumi to Batsu

Also known as Crime and Punishment.

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

In Russia, on the eve of the revolution, a young student named Raskolnikov murders an old pawnbroker over a pocket watch. Although an innocent man is quickly arrested for the crime, Raskolnikovs’s own published essay - suggesting that people who are “extra-ordinary” are above such things as “right” and “wrong” - draws the suspicion of judge Porfiry. Who will catch up to Raskolnikov first? Porfiry … or his own guilty conscience?



Tags: Foreign , Classic Literature , Historical , Shounen , Philosophy , Poverty

Binbou Shimai Monogatari

Also known as Poor Sisters Story.

Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

Kyo and Asu have lived alone ever since their mother died and their father disappeared after running up a huge gambling debt. Every day they struggle to make ends meet whilst bringing a little happiness into their lives.

Tags: Iyashikei , Poverty

Uki

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

1. Kuzu no Ichi (Trash Market)
2. Uki
3. Yoru yo Yuruyaka ni (Gently Goes the Night)
4. Tooi Natsu no Fuukei
5. Shiosai

Tags: Anthology , Poverty

Manga Michi

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

A valuable record of postwar manga history, this autobiographical work by Fujiko Fujio A. This grand tale based on the true story of one of post-war manga's legends, depicts the meeting of two boys; the protagonist, Michio Maga (Fujiko A. Fujio), and Shigeru Saino (Fujiko F. Fujio) and their journey of growth as they pursue their shared dream of becoming manga artists. This masterpiece of Japanese manga is not just a valuable first person account, but also meticulously portrays the joys and struggles of youth.

Tags: Shounen , Work , Autobiographical , Drawing , Non-fiction , Poverty

Koutetsu no Hanappashira

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance

Omaezaki Sanemichi was born into a near-perfect existence. His family is wealthy and powerful, and he's good-natured, smart, and athletic as well! All the girls at his high school dream of having a Cinderella-style romance with him, and, though they are desperately jealous of him, none of the boys can come up with a legitimate reason to publicly hate him.

But one day the unthinkable happens: Sanemichi's family's flagship company collapses, and his father flees. Sanemichi and his former servants, the teenage siblings Natsuno and Asasuzu and the absent-minded old man Furukawa, are left without a dime. Will Sanemichi be able to maintain his gentlemanly behavior despite the humiliation and many hardships that face him?



Tags: School , Shounen , Poverty

Otoko Oidon

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

Taking place somewhere in the 1970s in Tokyo, Japan, Bunkyo-ku, Hongo. Nobotta Ooyama lives a poor life as a rounin after failing his initial college entrance exams. Living in an apartment complex after losing jobs and chances to get into college, Ooyama struggles everyday with life's inconveniences while also dealing with loneliness. He is constantly called a beast for his arrogant and messy behavior, but Nobotta has a sympathetic soul underneath it all and despite his looks and lifestyle has a good relationship with a number of women.



Tags: Shounen , Poverty

Gomennasai...

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

Ryouko Hagiwara is a girl both rich and popular at school. She tries befriend the poor Yasue Yamada who is bullied by her classmates, but sadly, nothing happens as Ryouko expected.

Tags: Shoujo , Bullying , Female Protagonist , Tragedy , Class Struggle , Suicide , Primarily Child Cast , Poverty

Ballet Boshi

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama

It is a story about young Kasumi-chan, who overcomes many misfortune to become a wonderful ballerina.

Tags: Shoujo , Dancing , Ballet , Poverty

Juukyouden

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama

Even so, the man tried to remain kind.

Kanichirou Yanagi, a 19 year old judo athelte, heads to Tokyo with his father’s dying wish: “Defeat the Kodokan Judo doujo” etched in his heart.
The streets of Meiji-era Tokyo, reeling from the wave of modernization and western influences. The wanderings of youth. Injustice and absurdity, contradictions and desire, who can truly understand what lies in a man’s heart?

Tags: Seinen , Historical , Judo , Prison , Episodic , Poverty

Realism no Yado

Also known as Realism Inn.

Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

A story about a shabby inn in the fishing town of Ajigasawa during winter, based on the author's own travels.

Note: Published in Manga Story (November 1973).

Tags: Rural , Autobiographical , Poverty , Gekiga

Madang Ssiui Siktak

Also known as Umma's Table.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Madang is an artist and new father who moves to a quiet home in the countryside with his wife and young baby, excited to build a new life full of hope and joy, complete with a garden and even snow. But soon reality sets in and his attention is divided between his growing happy family and his impoverished parents back in Seoul in a dingy basement apartment. With an ailing mother in and out of the hospital and an alcoholic father, Madang struggles to overcome the exhaustion and frustration of trying to be everything all at once: a good son, devoted father, and loving husband.

To cope, he finds himself reminiscing about their family meals together, particularly his mother's kimchi, a traditional dish that is prepared by the family and requires months of fermentation. Memories of his mother's glorious cooking―so good it would prompt a young Madang and his brother into song―soothe the family. With her impending death, Madang races to learn her recipes and bring together the three generations at the family table while it's still possible. This is a beautiful and thoughtful meditation on how the kitchen and communal cooking―in the past, present, and future―bind a family together amidst the inevitable.



Tags: Full Color , Food , Family Life , Animals , Poverty

Dai Tokyo Binbo Seikatsu Manuel

Status: Finished
Genres: Slice of Life

Tags: Seinen , Poverty

Binbou Manga

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

Ⅰ:
1. Realism Inn (リアリズムの宿) [Yoshiharu Tsuge]
2. Kinako-ya no Baa-san (きなこ屋のばあさん) [Tadao Tsuge]
3. Binbougami (貧乏神) [Shigeru Mizuki]
4. Tokiwa-sou Monogatari (トキワ荘物語) [Fujio Akatsuka]
5. Oo-baasan no Uta Kanashi (From Otoko Oidon) (大バーサンの歌悲し　―男おいどん より) [Leiji Matsumoto]
6. Aru uki no Yoru no Monogatari (ある雪の夜の物語) [Hideko Mizuno]

Ⅱ:
7. Inochi Urimasu (いのち売ります) [Yoshihiro Tatsumi]
8. Sekihin (赤貧) [Shinji Nagashima]
9. Osen (おせん) [Shouhei Kusunoki]
10. Slip (スリップ) [Ryouichi Ikegami]
11. Hi (From Umi no Mi) (灯　―「海の実」より) [Suzuki Oji]

Ⅲ:
12. Agyakyaaa-man (アギャキャーマン) [Yasuji Tanioka] 13. Baito-kun (バイトくん) [Hisaichi Ishii]
14. Jigyaku no Uta (自虐の詩) [Yoshiie Gouda]

Ⅳ:
15. Fruits Takuhaibin: Asaii (フルーツ宅配便　「アサイー」) [Yoshio Suzuki] 16. Hot Cake (ホットケーキ) [Jun Urata]
17. Nagai Michi (長い道) [Fumiyo Kouno]

Tags: Anthology , Poverty