Top Ships Manga Recommendations

Berserk

Also known as Berserk.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Horror , Psychological

His name is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a feared warrior spoken of only in whispers. Bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand, and the scars of countless battles and tortures, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an unholy symbol that draws the forces of darkness to him and dooms him as their sacrifice. But Guts won't take his fate lying down; he'll cut a crimson swath of carnage through the ranks of the damned—and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more an annoyance than a companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloodstained path that leads only to death...or vengeance.



Notes:
- Volumes 1-5 contain the 16 prequel chapters 0A - 0P.
- Chapter 83 was omitted from Volume 13 due to the author’s request.
- Volume 14 includes “Berserk: The Prototype”.
- Due to the author's passing, starting from Chapter 365, the manga is illustrated by Studio Gaga (Miura's assistants) and supervised by Kouji Mori (a close friend of Miura's).

Tags: Tragedy , Seinen , Revenge , Male Protagonist , Demons , Cosmic Horror , Gore , Philosophy , Found Family , Anti-Hero , Travel , Swordplay , Rehabilitation , Magic , War , Mythology , Survival , Foreign , Body Horror , Gods , Religion , Primarily Adult Cast , Nudity , Politics , Fairy , Military , Disability , Dystopian , Witch , Coming of Age , Sadism , Torture , Amnesia , Time Skip , Ensemble Cast , Elf , Heterosexual , Kaiju , Achronological Order , Tomboy , Age Regression , Skeleton , Cult , Adoption , Dungeon , Slavery , Dragons , Super Power , Kingdom Management , Group Sex , Prostitution , Cannibalism , Pregnancy , Incest , Curses , Medieval , Ships , Monster Girl , Vore , Monster Boy , LGBTQ+ Themes , Mermaid , Masturbation , Fellatio

ONE PIECE

Also known as One Piece.

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

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy was inspired to become a pirate by listening to the tales of the buccaneer "Red-Haired" Shanks. But his life changed when Luffy accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit and gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years later, still vowing to become the king of the pirates, Luffy sets out on his adventure...one guy alone in a rowboat, in search of the legendary "One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the world...



Tags: Pirates , Travel , Found Family , Shounen , Ensemble Cast , Super Power , Tragedy , Ships , Male Protagonist , Fugitive , Conspiracy , Crime , Military , Politics , Terrorism , War , Slapstick , Time Skip , Gods , Primarily Adult Cast , Post-Apocalyptic , Lost Civilization , Slavery , Anachronism , Cultivation , Large Breasts , Dystopian , Swordplay , Mythology , Environmental , Prison , Religion , Gangs , Animals , Espionage , Anti-Hero , Skeleton , Cyborg , Meta , Anthropomorphism , Primarily Male Cast , Samurai , Henshin , Adoption , Assassins , Robots , Food , Guns , Medicine , Mermaid , Drugs , Amnesia , Dragons , Revenge , Desert , Battle Royale , Kemonomimi , Monster Girl , Oiran , Time Manipulation , LGBTQ+ Themes , Centaur , Ninja , Zombie , Memory Manipulation , Trains , Angels , Transgender , Female Protagonist , Clone , Dinosaurs , Gender Bending , Aliens , Body Swapping , Shapeshifting , Primarily Child Cast , Curses

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 , Travel , Found Family , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Slavery , Time Skip , Gore , Politics , Swordplay , Ships , Parenthood , Anti-Hero , Rural , Pirates , Agriculture , Environmental , Achronological Order , Religion , Language Barrier , Heterosexual , Adoption , Nudity , Tomboy , Medieval , Mythology , Archery , Transgender , LGBTQ+ Themes , Wilderness , Indigenous Cultures

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 , Tragedy , Assassins , Revenge , Chimera , Battle Royale , Death Game , Anti-Hero , Politics , Crime , Coming of Age , Gangs , War , Martial Arts , Philosophy , Gore , Conspiracy , Lost Civilization , Ships , Video Games , Card Battle , LGBTQ+ Themes , Animals , Mafia , Time Manipulation , Transgender , Cannibalism , Amnesia , Virtual World , Demons , Reincarnation , Asexual , Kemonomimi

Dr. STONE

Also known as Dr. STONE.

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

One fateful day, all of humanity was petrified by a blinding flash of light. After several millennia, high schooler Taiju awakens and finds himself lost in a world of statues. However, he’s not alone! His science-loving friend Senku’s been up and running for a few months and he's got a grand plan in mind—to kickstart civilization with the power of science!



Note: Shueisha published its 27th volume on April 4, 2024. This volume contains the one-shot Dr. STONE: TERRAFORMING and the mini-series Dr. STONE 4D SCIENCE.

Tags: Post-Apocalyptic , Survival , Ensemble Cast , Educational , Male Protagonist , Shounen , Lost Civilization , Travel , Philosophy , War , Environmental , Time Skip , Kingdom Management , Space , Primarily Male Cast , Tragedy , Espionage , Ships , Adoption , Food , Asexual , Time Manipulation , Guns , Wilderness

JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Ougon no Kaze

Also known as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Mystery , Supernatural

Golden Wind is here! The highly-acclaimed fifth arc of Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure shifts the action from Japan to Italy, as Koichi Hirose heads to Europe to find an aspiring gangster named Giorno Giovanna, the secret son of Dio Brando, scourge of the Joestar family. Organized crime meets family drama and unbelievable enemy Stands in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5—Golden Wind!



Tags: Mafia , Super Power , Foreign , Shounen , Travel , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Tragedy , Guns , Time Manipulation , Dissociative Identities , Gore , Urban Fantasy , LGBTQ+ Themes , Disability , Body Swapping , Ships , Body Horror

Tomodachi Game

Also known as Tomodachi Game.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological

Play a game that costs a lot of money with your best friends! The key to clearing the game is "don't doubt your friends." However, one betrayal raises suspicion, and the game becomes a psychological warfare! Money or friends?

The ultimate intellectual game manga that shakes people's hearts has been born!



Note: Includes 3 extra chapters.

Tags: Anti-Hero , Death Game , Male Protagonist , Battle Royale , Survival , Crime , Tragedy , Revenge , Shounen , Yandere , Ships , Snowscape , Torture , Gambling , LGBTQ+ Themes , Adoption , Card Battle , Ensemble Cast , Prison , School , Gangs , Poker

Omoide Emanon

Also known as Memories of Emanon.

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

The year is 1967, and a young Japanese man is thinking about the future. On one side of the water, the war is raging in Vietnam; far away on the other side, the Apollo Project has just met with disaster as three astronauts die in a capsule fire. And here and now, on a long nighttime ferry ride back home, he will meet and fall in love with a mysterious young woman who carries a past deeper and more profound than his dreams and fears of tomorrow. Her name, she jokes, is no name—Emanon, and she can never be forgotten, any more than she can forget.



Tags: Seinen , Philosophy , Female Protagonist , Memory Manipulation , Reincarnation , Heterosexual , Historical , Amnesia , Time Skip , Travel , Environmental , Nudity , Ships , Super Power , Autobiographical

86: Eighty Six

Also known as 86―EIGHTY-SIX.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Drama , Mecha , Sci-Fi

A War Without Casualties:

The Republic of San Magnolia has long been under attack from the neighboring Giadian Empire's army of unmanned drones known as the Legion. After years of painstaking research, the Republic finally developed autonomous drones of their own, turning the one-sided struggle into a war without casualties-or at least, that's what the government claims.

In truth, there is no such thing as a bloodless war. Beyond the fortified walls protecting the eighty-five Republic territories lies the "nonexistent" Eighty-Sixth Sector. The young men and women of this forsaken land are branded the Eighty-Six and, stripped of their humanity, pilot the "unmanned" weapons into battle...



Tags: War , Dystopian , Military , Tragedy , Robots , Survival , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Politics , Super Power , Class Struggle , Seinen , Heterosexual , Ghost , Female Protagonist , Guns , Ships , Artificial Intelligence , Ensemble Cast , Alternate Universe , Time Skip , Primarily Teen Cast

BLACK LAGOON

Also known as Black Lagoon.

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

Rokurō Okajima is just an average Japanese salaryman, living an average life. But when he's taken hostage by the crew of the Black Lagoon, Rokurō finds himself thrown headfirst into a deadly world of outlawed heroes, brutal villains, and blazing gunfights. Where he ends up is anyone's guess, but one thing is for certain—he's in for a wild ride!



Tags: Seinen , Gangs , Military , Guns , Ships , Crime , Triads , Mafia , Primarily Adult Cast , Yakuza , Foreign , Male Protagonist , Pirates , Female Protagonist , Assassins , Ensemble Cast , Gore , Heterosexual , Tragedy , Nun

Simhaesu

Also known as Leviathan.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

The world is submerged, and sea monsters rule the earth. Will Bota and his family ever make it to safety and escape this aquatic hell? And who in the world is Kana?!



Tags: Post-Apocalyptic , Kaiju , Tragedy , Survival , Male Protagonist , Full Color , Dystopian , Gore , Female Protagonist , Revenge , Cosmic Horror , Conspiracy , Body Horror , Time Skip , Ships , Coming of Age , Heterosexual , Monster Girl , Shapeshifting , Super Power

Emma

Also known as Emma.

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Slice of Life

Calling upon his former governess, William Jones, gentleman, is startled when his knock is answered by an uncommonly beautiful servant, the soft-spoken Emma. Throughout his visit, William's eyes drift to the maid whenever she enters the room, and he contrives to meet Emma socially as she goes about her errands. But London society is a web of strict codes and divisions. For the son of a wealthy merchant, seeking out a working-class girl is simply not done! William's father plans for his son to marry into the peerage and elevate the Jones family to greater heights, but although William says and does what is expected of him, he longs only for Emma's company...



Tags: Foreign , Historical , Maids , Work , Educational , Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Adoption , Seinen , Primarily Adult Cast , Ojou-sama , Orphan , Travel , Time Skip , Butler , Teacher , Nudity , Cars , Trains , Ships

Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 8: Twilight of the Golden Witch

Also known as Umineko When They Cry Episode 8: Twilight of the Golden Witch.

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

It's time once again for the annual family gathering on Rokkenjima! Ange Ushiromiya is just getting over a cold, but that won't dampen her excitement at seeing her cousins again! Granddad couldn't be more thrilled to see his beloved grandchildren and throws a special Halloween party where everyone gets lots of treats! By lunchtime on the first day, the aunts and uncles are chatting up a storm, and the cousins are eagerly planning the afternoon's fun. It's the very picture of a happy family-one that in no way resembles the bickering, bitter Ushiromiya clan! What is going on?!



Note: Includes 4 extra chapters.

Tags: Magic , Dissociative Identities , Tragedy , Philosophy , Witch , Cosmic Horror , Detective , Transgender , Coming of Age , Meta , Suicide , LGBTQ+ Themes , Alternate Universe , Ensemble Cast , Time Skip , Crossdressing , Amnesia , Denpa , Demons , Shounen , Time Manipulation , Ojou-sama , Yuri , Boys' Love , Ships , Female Protagonist

BASARA

Also known as Basara.

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

Basara is a post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure series and one of the most popular shoujo manga of the 90s in Japan. It is the story of how a young girl becomes "the child of destiny" and finds the strength to free her people and seek revenge for the death of her brother.



Note: Won the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shoujo category in 1992.

Tags: War , Twins , Shoujo , Politics , Post-Apocalyptic , Dystopian , Female Protagonist , Crossdressing , Coming of Age , Revenge , Fugitive , Slavery , Class Struggle , Royal Affairs , Conspiracy , Heterosexual , Travel , Tragedy , Philosophy , Lost Civilization , Pirates , Disability , Desert , Archery , Espionage , Swordplay , Military , Prison , Tomboy , LGBTQ+ Themes , Astronomy , Animals , Boys' Love , Bisexual , Suicide , Martial Arts , Ships

Kaijuu no Kodomo

Also known as Children of the Sea.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Supernatural

When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does.

Ruka's dad and the other adults who work at the aquarium are only distantly aware of what the children are experiencing as they get caught up in the mystery of the worldwide disappearance of the oceans' fish.



Tags: Philosophy , Mythology , Environmental , Seinen , Swimming , Female Protagonist , Cosmic Horror , Ensemble Cast , POV , Astronomy , Kaiju , Male Protagonist , Urban , Scuba Diving , Amnesia , Monster Boy , Coastal , Educational , Animals , Ships , Body Horror , Cannibalism , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Heterosexual , Work , Nudity

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau

Also known as Children of the Whales.

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure , Drama , Fantasy , Mystery , Romance

Chakuro is the archivist for the Mud Whale, diligently chronicling the lives and deaths of his people. As one of the short-lived thymia wielders, he knows his time is limited and is determined to leave a better record than his predecessors. But the steady pace of their isolated existence on the Mud Whale is abruptly shattered when a scouting party discovers a mysterious young girl who seems to know more about their home than they do…



Notes: Nominated to the 21st Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.

Tags: Lost Civilization , Dystopian , War , Ships , Philosophy , Shoujo , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Magic , Reincarnation , Conspiracy , Desert , Kuudere , Heterosexual

Kuutei Dragons

Also known as Drifting Dragons.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

Mika is a draker on the airship Quin Zaza. He earns his livelihood hunting the whales of the sky—dragons! The beautiful beasts are flying treasure troves, providing food and materials, and the Quin Zaza is among the last draking vessels. Mika’s not just a talented hunter; he’s also a gourmand with a refined palette and a taste for the exotic. Between his duties aboard the ship, his ambitions as an eater, and his new job training the rookie dragon hunter Takita, Mika’s days are never boring. But even with the lively crew of the Quin Zaza as his family, the nomadic life of a draker can be lonely and dangerous…



Tags: Dragons , Food , Aviation , Seinen , Steampunk , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Orphan , Ships , Urban Fantasy

Isekai Tensei Soudouki

Also known as Multi-Mind Mayhem: Isekai Tensei Soudouki.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Adventure , Fantasy

Bard Cornelius: the son of a nobleman of Mauricia, an empire located in a parallel universe. But Bard is no ordinary boy―he's got three souls packed into one body! Aside from his own consciousness, he's got Oka Sanai, a miserly samurai, and Masaharu Oka, a high school otaku who loves animal ears. With his extra knowledge of military tactics and business acumen, Bard's ready to cheat his way to the top!



Tags: Isekai , Dissociative Identities , Male Protagonist , Female Harem , War , Politics , Kemonomimi , Maids , Reincarnation , Spearplay , Heterosexual , Ships , Tomboy , School , Kingdom Management

SIDOOH

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama

During the political upheavals and social strife at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan (1855), two parent-less brothers Yukimura Shoutarou and Yukimura Gentarou struggles to survive in these turbulent times. With their only possession being their deceased father's sword and clinging onto the wisdom of their mother's final words, the brothers seek to embark on the Path of the Warrior: Sidooh.

Tags: Swordplay , Seinen , Historical , Samurai , Orphan , Cult , Revenge , Religion , Nudity , Coming of Age , Time Skip , Ships , Delinquents , LGBTQ+ Themes

Yeongwonhan Neoui Geojinmal

Also known as Your Eternal Lies.

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

Infamous jailbreaker Rosen Walker is finally being transferred to the Isle of Monte, the most notorious maximum security prison in the world. Her guard? It’s none other than the beloved war hero of the empire himself — Ian Connor. Now Ian must unravel the truth. Did Rosen really commit the murder? Or is there more to the story?



Tags: Crime , War , Anti-Hero , Arranged Marriage , Full Color , Historical , Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Ships , Aviation , Tragedy , Witch , Magic , Medicine , Orphan , Suicide , Class Struggle , Foreign