easymode

What are your favorite manga? Be sure to keep spoilers properly tagged!

SOIL by Atsushi Kaneko is my absolute favorite. It's a mystery story centered around the disappearance of a family from an idyllic little town. There's twist after twist here, and it gets pretty dark. Kaneko said once that he didn't draw a lot of influence from other manga and primarily watched American TV shows and films for inspiration, and it shows when you realize that SOIL is Kaneko's personal spin on

Spoiler

Twin Peaks.

Berserk by Kentaro Miura feels obligatory to mention; it's ostensibly a revenge story set in a sort of fictional late-medieval warring Europe. I haven't read beyond chapter 364 as of posting, but the art and the characters are simply too good. I'm convinced that Miura, at his peak, was one of the best artists in the history of the world, at least with pencil or pen-and-ink. You could tell by the end that Miura and his assistants were still adjusting after transitioning from traditional to digital art, though.

Claymore by Norihiro Yagi is a story that I fell off of the first time I attempted it, I couldn't really get on board with it until I shifted my perspective on it a little; shounen is a hard sell for me and it gets a little tropey in places. The story's about these mercenaries that go around villages getting paid to slay shapeshifters hiding among humans. The art is extremely good and it does a superb job conveying movement, characters I thought I wouldn't care about actually ended up leaving lasting impressions for me, and without giving anything away I just adore the manga's ending.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou by Hitoshi Ashinano is a wonderful iyashikei story about an android who owns a little cafe. The characters are incredibly sweet and the story is calming and tender; it can be sweet and endearing or it can be quietly mournful at times. It's the kind of story that says to the reader that, come good or bad, everything will be okay. By the way, Ashinano's method for illustrating cloth is fantastic, it's my second favorite cloth in any manga just behind Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro. I love me some beautiful hand-drawn baggy clothes.

Edit: I can't believe I forgot to mention this one! Takemitsuzamurai by Issei Eifuku and Taiyou Matsumoto is my favorite samurai manga. The story follows a ronin trying to live a peaceful life, but trouble continues to find him. Matsumoto's art is beautiful, striking, and super stylized, it's the kind of art where if you see any of it you know right away who made it.

When I saw this post pop up my first thought was Claymore but you beat me to it! I read the first few chapters in a Shonen Jump magazine like 20 years ago and it had me hooked. Now I want to dust them off and re-read the series lol

One of my favorites is Akira. The 6 books are massive, but they add so much that the movie left out. I was so happy when they did a reissue for them. They also have a special place in my heart because they were the first gift that my wife got me.

the_skotts wrote: Feb 19th, '26, 05:44They also have a special place in my heart because they were the first gift that my wife got me.

That's so sweet! I love to hear that.
I've watched the Akira film a few times but I've never read through the manga all the way through. From what I have read I appreciate how much the film does differently to abridge the core concepts of the story. I always like when adaptations aren't created with any pretense of rendering the source material obsolete.

Probably the only manga that I can call my favorite is "Flying Witch". This is a slice of life story about a high school student who learns witchcraft. It's always interesting to watch the adventures of Makoto and her family. A funny and light story that makes you relax.

Virtua Wug wrote: Feb 18th, '26, 04:37 Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou by Hitoshi Ashinano is a wonderful iyashikei story about an android who owns a little cafe.

This one sounds interesting. I'll give it a shot when I have some free time. Thank you for your recommendation!

@RaZZlom

I've never read Flying Witch but I have seen the anime and I enjoyed it a lot! I don't think I was aware there was a manga for it. I do think that if you liked Flying Witch, then Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou would likely be a good fit for you too.

RaZZlom wrote: Feb 20th, '26, 04:05 Probably the only manga that I can call my favorite is "Flying Witch".

I don't read many manga, but this anime was so good... it was my cozy anime for a while, especially this episode:


How is the manga compared to the anime (assuming you've seen it)?

Virtua Wug wrote: Feb 20th, '26, 05:35 I've never read Flying Witch but I have seen the anime and I enjoyed it a lot!

ward wrote: Feb 20th, '26, 05:51 I don't read many manga, but this anime was so good...

I was also first watched anime, and after some time did read manga. I liked anime so much back then that I watched the whole season in one evening!

ward wrote: Feb 20th, '26, 05:51 How is the manga compared to the anime?

The anime is a literal retelling of the manga, they haven't changed or added or removed anything, as far as I remember. So I suggest you to read the manga when you have time and desire.

Nausica was one of the first i read, and it was amazing.

As a recent Manga reader I don't have a ton under my belt currently. If I had to pick a favorite I would probably say "One Punch Man", I absolutely love the art style and the characters. A close second would be "How Heavy are the Dumbbells you Lift?", I can partly credit that Manga to helping boost my interest in self care and exercise.


What are some recommendations for a relative newbie to the space? Also what's the best way to procure Manga? I prefer to load it on my ereader (Kobo) since I'm on the move so much but I wouldn't be against some physical copies for my absolute favorites.