Top Primarily Child Cast Manga Recommendations

Yakusoku no Neverland

Also known as The Promised Neverland.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Thriller

Emma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean clothes and the perfect environment to learn—what more could an orphan ask for? One day, though, Emma and Norman uncover the dark truth of the outside world they are forbidden from seeing.



Note: Nominated to the 22nd, 23rd, and 25th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Tags: Survival , Primarily Child Cast , Body Horror , Demons , Dystopian , War , Found Family , Guns , Female Protagonist , Shounen , Politics , Coming of Age , Alternate Universe , Travel , Ensemble Cast , Conspiracy , Anti-Hero , Time Skip , Gore , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Amnesia , Rural , Heterosexual , Suicide , Augmented Reality

Tongari Boushi no Atelier

Also known as Witch Hat Atelier.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy

In a world where everyone takes wonders like magic spells and dragons for granted, Coco is a girl with a simple dream: she wants to be a witch. But everybody knows magicians are born, not made, and Coco was not born with a gift for magic. Resigned to her un-magical life, Coco is about to give up on her dream to become a witch … until the day she meets Qifrey, a mysterious, traveling magician. After secretly seeing Qifrey perform magic in a way she’s never seen before, Coco soon learns what everybody “knows” might not be the truth, and discovers that her magical dream may not be as far away as it may seem...



Notes:
- Nominated for the 11th Manga Taishou Award in 2018.
- Won the Daruma d'Or at Japan Expo in 2019.
- Won Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia at the Eisner Awards in 2020.
- Won the Best Manga Award at the Harvey Awards in 2020.

Tags: Witch , Magic , Memory Manipulation , Female Protagonist , Teacher , Drawing , Revenge , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Female Cast , School , Primarily Child Cast , Conspiracy , Tragedy , Politics , Disability , Philosophy , Seinen , Spearplay , Rehabilitation , Foreign , Amnesia , Travel , LGBTQ+ Themes , Iyashikei , Boys' Love , Found Family

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

Look Back

Also known as Look Back.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Fujino is a fourth grader who draws a manga strip for the school newspaper. Her art makes her the star of the class, but one day she's told that Kyomoto, a student who refuses to come to school, would also like to submit a manga for the paper...



Note: The one-shot was compiled in a special volume, released on September 3, 2021.

Tags: Drawing , Tragedy , Female Protagonist , Hikikomori , Primarily Female Cast , Coming of Age , Work , School , Autobiographical , Meta , Shounen , Primarily Child Cast

Made in Abyss

Also known as Made in Abyss.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Horror , Sci-Fi

In an age when the corners of the world have been scoured for their secrets, only one place remains unexplored–a massive cave system known as the Abyss. Those who traverse its endless pits and labyrinth-like tunnels are known as Cave Raiders. A young orphan named Riko dreams of following in her mother’s footsteps as a Cave Raider, and when she meets a strange robot when exploring the Abyss, she’s one step closer to achieving her goal!



Notes:
- Includes the 4-chapter "How Are You? Somewhere" side story.
- Nominated for the 11th Manga Taishou Awards (2018).

Tags: Survival , Tragedy , Primarily Child Cast , Lost Civilization , Travel , Body Horror , Female Protagonist , Chibi , Amnesia , Gore , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Robots , Twins , Monster Girl , Food , Nudity , Adoption , Seinen , Curses

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu

Also known as Assassination Classroom.

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

Meet the would-be assassins of class 3-E: Sugino, who let his grades slip and got kicked off the baseball team. Karma, who’s doing well in his classes but keeps getting suspended for fighting. And Okuda, who lacks both academic and social skills, yet excels at one subject: chemistry. Who has the best chance of winning that reward? Will the deed be accomplished through pity, brute force or poison...? And what chance does their teacher have of repairing his students’ tattered self-esteem?



Note: Includes 7 extras and the one-shot "Tokyo Department Store War Journal".

Tags: Teacher , Assassins , School , Primarily Child Cast , Shounen , Ensemble Cast , Satire , Tragedy , Primarily Teen Cast , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Otaku Culture , Time Skip , Aliens

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

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san

Also known as Teasing Master Takagi-san.

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

Middle schooler Nishikata has had it with his classmate Takagi--the chronic teaser who sits nearby. Day in and day out, she comes after him with every sort of trick or prank. Even when he tries to get her back, she's always one step ahead. But rest assured, it's only the beginning. He's not about to give up that easily in this battle of cunning and youth!

Note: Includes 13 extra chapters

Tags: School , Achronological Order , Slapstick , Primarily Child Cast , Heterosexual , Iyashikei , Shounen , Episodic , Bullying

Boku dake ga Inai Machi

Also known as Erased.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural , Thriller

Twenty-nine-year-old Satoru Fujinuma is floundering through life. Amid his daily drudgery, he finds himself in the grip of an incredible, inexplicable, and uncontrollable phenomenon that rewinds time, a condition that seems to only make his drab life worse. But then, one day, everything changes. A terrible incident forever changes Satoru's life as he knows it...and with it, comes a "Revival" that sends Satoru eighteen years into the past!

In the body of his boyhood self, Satoru encounters sights he never imagined he would see again--the smile of his mother, alive and well, his old friends, and Kayo Hinazuki, the girl who was kidnapped and murdered when he was a boy the first time around. To return to the present and prevent the tragedy that brought him back to his childhood in the first place, Satoru begins plotting a way to change Hinazuki's fate...But up against the clock and a faceless evil, does eleven-year-old Satoru even stand a chance?



Note: Was nominated for the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Reader Award in 2014 and for the 7th, 8th and 9th Manga Taisho Award between 2014 and 2016. Also nominated for the 40th Kodansha Manga Awards in 2016.

Volume 9 contains the 5-chapter “Boku Dake ga Inai Machi:Re” side story.

Tags: Crime , Primarily Child Cast , Age Regression , Male Protagonist , Time Manipulation , Time Skip , School , Seinen , Detective , Fugitive , Tragedy , Revenge , Bullying , Rehabilitation , Writing , Amnesia , Snowscape , Photography

Kami-sama ga Uso wo Tsuku.

Also known as the gods lie..

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

Natsuru Nanao, a 6th grader who lives alone with his mother, strikes up an unlikely friendship with the reserved and driven Rio Suzumura. Natsuru plays hookey from soccer camp that summer, and instead of telling the truth to his mother, he spends all his time with Rio and her kid brother at their rickety house, where a dark secret threatens to upend their fragile happiness.



Tags: Primarily Child Cast , Heterosexual , Coming of Age , Seinen , Family Life , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Tragedy , School , Bullying

Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta

Also known as The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance

Serialisation of the original Twitter comic!

Kaede Komura has a huge crush on his seat partner, Mie-san. She, however, has terrible eyesight, and tends to either forget or break her glasses! Komura-kun offers her a helping hand, and as they grow closer, their feelings for each other grow too.



Note: Includes 10 extra chapters.

Tags: Heterosexual , Iyashikei , School , Disability , Shounen , Male Protagonist , Kuudere , Primarily Child Cast , Coming of Age

Shadows House

Also known as Shadows House.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Fantasy , Horror , Mystery , Slice of Life , Supernatural

In the depths of a murky mansion lives a group of enigmatic nobles known as...the Shadow family. With no visible features to speak of, these mysterious aristocrats employ living dolls to act as their “faces.” Kate and Emilico are one such pair of mistress and servant, dwelling in their own little world and learning from each other bit by bit with every new day. But in a house of locked doors, living according to rules from no apparent source—how long can their blissfully peaceful existence truly last...?



Tags: Conspiracy , Female Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Body Horror , Cosmic Horror , Full Color , Work , Amnesia , Denpa , Tragedy , Found Family , Historical , Magic , Primarily Child Cast , Foreign , Seinen , Maids , Ensemble Cast , Drugs , Twins , Circus , Fairy Tale , Shapeshifting , Politics

Takopii no Genzai

Also known as Takopi's Original Sin.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Sci-Fi

Takopi travels from his home of Happy Planet to spread happiness across Earth, but meets the unsmiling Shizuka upon landing. Her friends at school and home life seem to be the source of her somber expression—and the pure-hearted Takopi is determined to change things for the better! But what truths await him when the curtains rise in this shocking drama?!



Tags: Bullying , Tragedy , Aliens , Denpa , Time Manipulation , Suicide , Primarily Child Cast , Shounen , Female Protagonist , Crime , Memory Manipulation , Magic , Coming of Age , Philosophy , Clone

Cardcaptor Sakura

Also known as Cardcaptor Sakura.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Fantasy , Mahou Shoujo , Romance

Fourth grader Sakura Kinomoto finds a strange book in her father's library -- a book made by the wizard Clow to store dangerous spirits sealed within a set of magical cards. But when Sakura opens it up, there is nothing left inside but Kero-chan, the book's cute little guardian beast... who informs Sakura that since the Clow cards seem to have escaped while he was asleep, it's now her job to capture them!



Tags: Magic , Love Triangle , Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Urban Fantasy , Family Life , Tomboy , LGBTQ+ Themes , School , Primarily Child Cast , Dissociative Identities , Bisexual , Age Gap , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Boys' Love , Unrequited Love , Fairy , Martial Arts , Agender

Pocket Monsters SPECIAL

Also known as Pokémon Adventures.

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

Red is just a normal kid living in the rural Pallet Town, when he decides to go out on his own adventure, along with his rival since childhood, Green. In this world of Pokemon, he makes many friends, humans and Pokemon alike. However, all is not well. Team Rocket is trying to capture Mew, a very rare Pokemon, and is performing experiments on other Pokemon, trying to increase their power. Red and his friends must battle against Team Rocket to stop their cruel experiments and unlock the secrets of Pokemon.


Tags: Travel , Animals , Primarily Child Cast , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Video Games , Kids , Gangs , Tragedy , Time Skip , Estranged Family , Time Manipulation , Proxy Battle

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

Yu☆Gi☆Oh!

Also known as Yu-Gi-Oh!.

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

10th grader Yugi spent most of his time alone playing games--until he solved the Millennium Puzzle, a mysterious Egyptian artifact! Possessed by the puzzle, Yugi becomes Yu-Gi-Oh, the King of Games, and challenges evil-doers to the Shadow Games--weird games with high stakes and high risks! These graphic novels contain new stories not seen in the anime, including the origin of Yugi and his friends!



Notes:
- The Viz Media release split the series into three parts with separate chapter/volume counts. "Yu-Gi-Oh!" includes volumes 1-7, "Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist" includes volumes 8-31, and "Yu-Gi-Oh!: Millennium World" includes volumes 32-38.
- The final chapter of Viz Media's "Yu-Gi-Oh!" was moved from its final volume to the first volume of "Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist."

Tags: Card Battle , Dissociative Identities , Mythology , Shounen , Male Protagonist , School , Death Game , Primarily Child Cast , Urban Fantasy , Gambling , Bullying , Reincarnation , Gods , School Club , Gore , Torture , Adoption , Amnesia , Desert , Dragons , Magic , Primarily Teen Cast

Konjiki no Gash!!

Also known as Zatch Bell!.

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

Kiyo is a brilliant junior high student whose inflated ego (and tendency to blow the grading curve) has made him a major target for teasing at school. So his father sends him a bizarre birthday present – a strange little boy named Zatch Bell – to help him make friends and reform his bad attitude. Zatch brings with him a mysterious red volume of spells, and Kiyo discovers that Zatch has magic powers that are unleashed by reading from the book! But there are more surprises to come, and Kiyo's destiny is about to change forever!



Note: The chapter count includes the volume-exclusive bonus chapter “The Two Queens”.

Tags: Battle Royale , Shounen , Magic , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Demons , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Child Cast , Super Power , Urban Fantasy , Survival , Slapstick , Foreign , Time Skip , Amnesia , Memory Manipulation , Surreal Comedy , Dragons , Kaiju , Bullying

Sunny

Also known as Sunny.

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

The story of an orphanage, the children who live in it, and the beat-up old Nissan Sunny 1200 which provides them with a means of escape from their boring everyday lives.

Note: Winner of the Best Manga of the Year award at the 2016 Shogakukan Manga Awards.

Tags: Family Life , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Child Cast , Seinen , Estranged Family , Tragedy , Autobiographical , Rural , Episodic , Adoption , Cars , Delinquents , Heterosexual , Baseball , Time Skip

Bokurano

Also known as Bokurano: Ours.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mecha , Psychological , Sci-Fi

One summer, fifteen kids innocently wander into a nearby seaside cave. There they meet a strange man who invites them to play an exciting new video game. This game, he explains, pits a lone giant robot against a horde of alien invaders. To play the game all they have to do is sign a simple contract. The game stops being fun when the kids find out the true purpose of their pact.



The extra story Bokurano: Mou Hitotsu no Bokurano (Yet Another Bokurano) ran after the completion of the main story.

Tags: Cosmic Horror , Tragedy , Philosophy , Super Robot , Denpa , Ensemble Cast , Seinen , Primarily Child Cast , Alternate Universe , Military , Gore , Anti-Hero , Bullying , Dystopian , Politics , Body Horror , Age Gap