Alright, I think I’ve tried writing this post a dozen times before this version and I’m still not fully convinced that I have made the perfect list. It doesn’t help that I keep reading new series and recency bias makes me want to put them on the list in spots where older favorites currently are. But at some point I will just have to put out a list and accept that the top 10 will continue to change over time. When it came to the anime list I made, I tried to limit each genre to a singular entry, but truth be told I haven’t read enough different manga for that to make much sense here, so I’m just going by the actual ten manga/comics/webtoons that I enjoyed the most. I’ll give some honorable mentions throughout the post but everything in this post comes highly recommended. So let’s start at number ten and work our way up. 

Horimiya

The romance manga that made it into my top 10 anime of all time is also here in my top 10 manga of all time. It was a hard call to make, with other options for this spot being Yuru Camp, Witch Hat Atelier and Skip & Loafer. All of which are good in their own way, but with Horimiya telling a very satisfying and complete story, it just barely makes it into this spot. If I were a betting man, I’d bet that Witch Hat Atelier will be in this list in the future, when I’ve read more than a handful of chapters of it, but it felt unfair to rank it highly based on the anime. Horimiya tells the story of two teenagers who each do a good job at masking while at school. Miyamura has tattoos and piercings which he hides from his classmates and Hori is a loving older sister that does a lot of housework which I guess is a secret? The summary that it uses to hook readers falls apart pretty quickly but that is okay because underneath that contrived idea for a plot hook is a really fun and colorful cast of teenagers who are each trying to find their place in life and love. What I’ve come to appreciate a lot about romance manga is when characters actually get into a relationship and as a reader we get to explore those feelings with them. I grew up on a lot of more “shonen” romance shows, which spent all of their time on the “will they – won’t they” part of the relationship, similar to how a lot of romcoms used to do it back in the day. That was fun for about two seasons but after a while it felt more like baiting readers than actually providing an interesting story. Horimiya does none of that but instead it takes a leisurely stroll through adolescence while we get to watch. Ah, to be young again. I remember some of my first girlfriends in high school and how absolutely inconsiderate, socially inept and probably downright disrespectful I was towards them. Not on purpose of course, but I think back to the person I was and can’t help but feel bad about how I behaved. I’m glad I grew up to be better. Now I just don’t talk to girls. Moving on.

Mononogatari

Not to be confused with the similarly named Monogatari, this series is not about incest and vampires but instead tells the story of one of my favorite entries into the world of Japanese Folklore and that is the concept of Tsukumogami. The idea here is simple. If you take good care of an object for a very long time, a spirit will eventually want to live in that object, bringing it to life. In this world, these Tsukumogami are often there because they have a lingering connection to the world and this can create dangerous situations, which is why our protagonist Hyoma is making sure all of them get destroyed. A big part of his rage towards Tsukumogami comes from the trauma of watching his older brother and sister get murdered by an evil spirit when he was young. But now he has to learn to get over his hatred by coexisting with Botan, an orphaned teenager who lives together with a whole group of Bridal Tsukumogami. The story sees these two young people grow closer together while Hyoma gets to explore his trauma. Of course the stakes ramp up quickly and with only one or two volumes left to read as of writing this, I’m excited for the conclusion for this one. The selling point for this manga for me is that it has all the things you want from an action series but due to it being more seinen than shonen it feels like the characters and the writing are just a step above most of the shonen action I’ve consumed. Definitely give this one a read or if you’re patient you can wait for the anime adaptation to continue. I don’t know if there are any plans for that though.

The Ancient Magus Bride

Out of the several fantasy manga that I’ve read, this is the one that’s been the most consistently good. Chise Hatori is a young girl who can see spirits and fey folk. Unfortunately for Chise, this has made her life very difficult. She’s reached the point where she simply does not want to carry on. She ends up selling herself on the black market – it’s not really explained how she got a contact in this space, but let’s just roll with it – to the titular ancient magus. Elias Ainsworth buys her for a large sum of money with the intent to become her bride. Now, an old magus buying a young girl to be his bride is about as creepy as it gets and to stop people from immediately losing interest I will give you a little bit of a spoiler. Elias’ knowledge of human concepts like marriage is very much incomplete and his intent might be to become closer to Chise, but not in any creepy way. He thought marriage just meant someone who you were close with. Either way, Chise is thrust into the world of magic and slowly comes out of her shell, meeting all sorts of people and fey folk throughout. While Elias teaches her what it’s like to wield the dangerous magic she possesses, Chise in turn teaches Elias what it’s like to be a human and how human emotions work. The two truly become teacher and student that each have something that the other needs. With Chise’s talent to get into trouble by helping other people there is also more than enough for the two to deal with. A very good shonen fantasy story wrapped up neatly in beautiful art of myths and fairies makes for a very good read. This series was also in my top 10 anime, alongside two of the upcoming mentions.

The Breaker

The only entry on this list that doesn’t have an anime adaptation (although two of the shows higher up on this list don’t really have an adaptation that does them justice) is the Korean manwha The Breaker. I will give a fair warning for this one though, it’s currently on a hiatus and this is far from the first time this has happened. I was even surprised we got a third part a few years ago, because after part 2 I thought it would never continue. Having said the negative part first, let’s look at the positive parts. Shiwoon Yi (Different translators have used different spellings for some of the names, I’m using the ones on Wikipedia) is a young high school student who is weak and gets bullied by people from his class. He meets a new teacher who ends up teaching him a few tricks. It turns out that his new teacher is actually the legendary Nine-Arts Dragon, the strongest figure in the world of Murim and someone wanted by much of this world. The Murim is a term for the Korean underworld martial arts society. In this world, martial artists are so strong that they are basically superhumans and throughout the three parts of The Breaker Shiwoon slowly becomes one such powerhouse. Intricate alliances, beautifully drawn battles and some very attractive women (and men) really elevate this story to new heights. There aren’t very many action series in which I like the manga all too much because I feel like fights can often be hard to draw in an appealing way. Anime excels at this, making something decent into something even better. But in The Breaker all you need is a few great panels of the characters being menacing and exchanging blows and I feel like I’m fully invested. If you don’t mind starting a series that might never see an ending, then definitely pick up this one as I absolutely adore it. If it ever gets a proper ending it will likely get even higher on this list.

Frieren

It was tough for me to figure out where on this list I would put Frieren. Like some other series, I worried that recency bias might have me put it higher than it should, but after reading through the first few parts of the new arc I can honestly say that this manga still has a ton of potential ahead of it. For the handful of people who are still unfamiliar with Frieren, this manga tells the story of the titular Frieren. Frieren is an elven mage and was a member of the hero’s party that defeated the demon king. After the rest of the party either dies or gets old enough to be retired, Frieren reflects on the “mere 10-year” journey they all took together and realizes how much she took some of their adventures for granted. Wanting to relive some of those moments and wanting to find the old hero in the afterlife, she starts her journey north, following the same route that she followed with the hero’s party. We see the impact that Himmel, Frieren, Heiter and Eisen had on the people they encountered and the legends they left behind and we also see how a new story unfolds as Frieren is joined by the young orphan Fern and the warrior Stark. These two teenagers round up the party as they fight demons, dragons, monsters and the weather. We meet several interesting sidecharacters – especially during an arc that has already been animated that features fellow mages from the mage exam – and the worldbuilding in this one is great. I spoke about the concept of “ma” in storytelling the other day, which refers to the quiet moments in between the action and I think Frieren is one of the very best at making use of this concept. There are so many quiet moments throughout this story that make the tension hit that much more when things do start going south. I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here as I doubt anyone hasn’t heard of Frieren yet, but if you’ve only seen the anime so far and are on the fence about reading the manga, this is your reminder to definitely pick it up and read.

The Fragrant Flower blooms with Dignity

Now, this is one entry that I actually talked about quite recently because it came up in one of my classes. The Fragrant Flower tells a very classic story in the style of Romeo and Julliet. Rin goes to an all-boys school where most of the student body is rough around the edges and perhaps not academically gifted. Meanwhile Kaoruko goes to the prestigious Kikyo girls academy next door. The people at Kikyo hate the people at Chidori (the boys’ school) and both groups avoid each other like the plague. Kaoruko also happens to visit the patisserie that Rin’s parents own and where he sometimes works in his spare time. Rin’s imposing looks with his blond hair and tall stature do not intimidate Kaoruko at all and it is instead his kindness towards a total stranger that has a much bigger impact on her. She quickly starts to frequent the place in hopes of seeing the boy again and when this happens the two start a friendship that quickly blossoms. What makes this series so good in my opinion – and this is similar to Horimiya – is the supporting cast. We get to meet the friends of both Rin and Kaoruko and each of them feel very well developed and actually have their own stories. Not only that, the way they all interact with each other is incredibly positive. That doesn’t mean there is no conflict, but it means that the way they resolve much of their conflict is quite mature. There have been arguments online that this makes the story a bit unrealistic due to teenagers not actually being that mature, but I will get into my opinion on that later on. Considering that this manga made it into my top 10, I think you can probably figure out a little bit of what I think about this argument.

March comes in like a Lion

This manga is something special. As the keen reader might have already spotted, this series was also in my anime top 10 and in the very first place to be specific. March comes in like a Lion tells the story of Kiriyama Rei, a young shogi player who is talented enough to be someone of note in the world of shogi, but not quite talented enough that it doesn’t require a ton of hard work. For a 17 year old orphan with a complicated family home this is not something to easily deal with. Kiriyama lost his parents and his little sister in a car accident and was then adopted by a friend of his father, who saw potential in him as a shogi player. In fear of losing his place to live, Kiriyama threw himself at the game, showing great promise which earned him the ire of his stepbrother and stepsister. The latter of which ends up causing a great deal of psychological unrest in Kiriyama throughout the story.

Luckily for Kiriyama and the reader, he also ends up meeting several fantastic people who help him come out of his shell and help him cope with his returning depression. Some of the members of the science club at school become his friends while a caring teacher – who is also an amateur shogi player – makes sure that Kiriyama feels seen at school even when he didn’t have any friends yet. Outside of school he has several members within the shogi club that keep an eye on him from time to time but as they are all adults with their own lives, they don’t always have the time to take care of a teenager who isn’t exactly eager to share his problems to begin with. It is at this point in his life that he meets the Kawamoto sisters. These three sisters are getting by through hard work while their parents are not present. Their mom has passed away and their dad is not in the picture, but grandpa keeps an eye on them. Akari brings Rei home after his fellow shogi players let him drink alcohol and he does not deal with it well. That’s how he ends up becoming friends with Akari and her little sisters Hina and Momo. It is the friendship and feeling of belonging that he experiences in their home that ends up saving him and putting him on the path to becoming a happier person. If you like a series that is filled with emotional highs and lows and has incredible characters to support it, then definitely check out this wonderful manga by Chica Umino.

Now, before diving into our top three, let’s quickly go through a few honorable mentions that didn’t make the list. For the Horimiya spot I considered a few of the other romance manga that I think are quite good. Among those were Skip & Loafer which gives a much more muted look at teenage romance and finding your place in the world. Another one I considered putting in this place was A Silent Voice, which everyone knows is an absolutely great story, although more drama than romance for most of it. Other manga that I considered to put in this list were Assassination Classroom – which I’ve recently read again and still holds up really well – as well as Yuru Camp. I’ve been a big fan of the cozy camping manga and anime for quite some time, but as enjoyable as it is, I think every entry on this list has something to offer that it doesn’t quite offer. And finally, I almost put Solo Leveling on here, but my dislike of the first quarter of that story has made me hesitant to rank it too highly. I think that once the ants arrive, the story picks up and starts being really fun, but before that I find that it drags on quite a while. But there will be a very well known webtoon in the top 3, so webtoon fans have something to look forward to!

Soul Eater

We’re getting to the top three now and all three of these are incredible stories in their own right and it was hard to rank them. But we’re starting out with Soul Eater here. Soul Eater tells the story of Maka Albarn and Soul Evans, a meister and her weapon at the Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA). Together with several of their friends, teachers and classmates it is their job to regulate the evils that walk the world and reap the souls of 99 demons and 1 witch to become much more powerful. While all of this is happening and the gang is dealing with some of the lesser evils in the world, a more potent evil is brewing below the surface as well. The witch Medusa is trying to awaken the Kishin, and ancient evil that spreads madness to anyone he comes into contact with. The race to protect or destroy the world is on and many interesting characters join the cause on either side of this conflict. Where Soul Eater shines is in its art. I’ve talked about the series on this website before so I will keep it relatively short, but there are many fantastic panels within this manga that really help you feel the odd vibe of this world. It is cartoonish even for a cartoon and that is by design. Things get quite crazy as the story continues and I will avoid spoiling too much, but it does touch upon one of my favorite fantasy tropes of all time. If you are thinking about giving this one a shot, definitely check out the manga over the anime, as the anime has pacing issues, is on the older side and also has an anime original ending that ends up cutting out a ton of great moments from the manga as well as fantastic characters that simply do not get a chance to shine in the adaptation. It’s still on my bucket list for manga I’d love to see a new adaptation of.

Tower of God

Imagine that you were born inside of a dark cave. Or at the very least, your memories do not go beyond the existence that you have in that dark cave. The only bit of solace you have in your rather sad life is your friend Rachel. Then one day, she up and leaves you to go and climb the tower. It is said that whoever gets to the top of the tower will have their wishes granted. You have no real desire for any of that, but you just want to spend your days with Rachel. So what does our protagonist do? He goes after her. The 25th Bam (or Bam for short) joins the climb alongside the leagues of other people who come from the outer layers of the tower to climb its terrifying floors while taking tests on their way that allow them to continue. Why did Rachel leave him? And what is she scheming?

With the story set up, we’re dropped into the first big hurdle, the test floor. Disguised as a way to filter out those who aren’t strong enough to climb the tower, in reality it is a safety measure against dangerous outsiders who could eventually pose a threat against the Jahad family. This is where Bam ends up meeting several of the people he will end up spending his time in the tower with. The first one is Khun Aguero Agnes – named after a football player – who is the son of Khun Edan, one of the ten ruling families of the tower. Not that being part of that family gives him any shortcuts through the tower as the people here live incredibly long and the family leaders have droves of children. Alongside Bam and Khun is the lovable violent crocodile that is Rak Wraithraiser. Belonging to a warlike species, he first wants to hunt the two others who he refers to as “turtles” but through circumstance he ends up becoming their friend and ally. This trio forms the core of an incredibly large cast of characters that navigate through a tower where they’re ultimately nothing more than a minor force in a major game. Even in the current day chapters, which number well above 500, it still feels like we’re only just getting a seat at the table of the real game. Despite that, it never feels like the story is moving too slowly. At least not after the prologue chapters are done. One of the biggest issues this series has is that it takes its time setting the stage. That is not a bad thing, but I can imagine people losing interest before getting past the floor of tests. Despite that issue, I still think this series deserved the second place spot on this list purely because of its incredible worldbuilding, fun characters, deep storyline and ever increasing quality of art. Tower of God is currently on hiatus while the author is writing a spin-off for one of the most beloved side characters in the series, so now is a great time to catch up before the main story begins again. My guess is that the main story continues again in late 2027, but that is just a guess. Now, once we’ve climbed the tower and defeated all our enemies it is time for the treasure at the top. Or should I say, the treasure at the end of the ocean?

One Piece

Surprising absolutely no one, the manga that takes the number one spot is One Piece. Unless the ending of this manga is a historic disappointment, I don’t believe it will ever be dethroned from this spot. Telling the story of Monkey D. Luffy, the son of a revolutionary and the grandson of a marine vice admiral, who wants to be the king of the pirates, this manga follows a crew of misfits on their journey across the sea as they try and find the legendary island of Laugh Tale where the One Piece was hidden 20 years ago. In the great pirate era, everyone is trying to get there and it’s a race filled with fights, adventure and friendship. As the crew grows bigger and the stakes get higher, we start learning more and more about the darkness hidden below the surface as we find out just how evil and corrupt the world government is. Not that Luffy cares about any of that in a direct sense, he just wants his friends to be happy and free. Despite Luffy’s deposition, having a large cast of supporting characters that do care about the state of the world makes it possible for us to both enjoy the rubber boy kicking people’s asses while also seeing other people address the injustices in the world. With the manga running for almost thirty years now, the end does seem to be within view, but it’s still a bit of a journey to actually get there. One Piece also has an almost equally long running anime that definitely varies in quality throughout the years. Where many anime have filler arcs to prevent catching up to the source material, One Piece tried to tackle that same issue by just stretching out the existing content, which turned each episode into a slow mess with many flashbacks and repeating scenes. Having said that, if you binge the series you can choose a version called “One Pace” that cuts out a lot of this filler content and saves you quite a bit of time. And it is all worth it to see the animation quality of some of the most recent arcs. There is a remake of the anime coming in 2027 and studio Toei took that as a personal insult and stepped up their game. But we are talking about manga here, not anime. Like any shonen manga, the fights can be a bit confusing at times, which is a risk of the trade, but otherwise I love the art that Oda draws. His worldbuilding is second to none in my opinion and every question about the world that you might have will have an answer. At least us readers all have the confidence that everything clicks into place in some way. What Oda is also a master at is using the things he foreshadowed decades ago. Now I don’t think he had a masterplan for every little detail when he first started drawing this series, but he is very good at taking what is already established and running with it, making it look like it was planned all along while in reality he probably came up with the ideas much later. If you write it well enough, it doesn’t matter that your fans know what trick you’re applying, it’s still a cool trick.

And there we have it, the ten best manga that I’ve read. It was a difficult list to make and just like with the top ten anime list I wrote last year, I’ll probably look at this in a month and think “what was I thinking” but for now this seems like a pretty solid list. If there are any series on this list that you haven’t checked out yet, I highly recommend you do so and if you have any manga that should have been on this list but aren’t, feel free to let me know in the comments. I’m currently reading The Omniscient Reader but at the pace I’m going through it, I will be caught up in no time and be ready for something new. Thanks for reading.