Manga has become a worldwide phenomenon due to the variety of unique stories that it produces from several different genres. Through this, it appeals to almost every section of the audience while making them experience everything from joy to sadness. With many themes and types of characters that fit the tone of the manga, they lead to unforgettable experiences for readers.
In this article, we will be taking a look at the best manga from each genre that everyone needs to read at least once in their life.
Attack on Titan (Action)
Shingeki No Kyojin or Attack on Titan is arguably the most popular manga in the current generation. With a brilliantly written world and great development of characters, it is not hard to guess why.
AoT introduces us to a reality where most of humanity has been destroyed by giants known as Titans and the rest live in fear behind walls. However, when one of these walls is broken, our protagonist, Eren Yeager, loses his mother and vows to get revenge.
With his childhood friends, Eran aspires to join the rangers who venture outside the walls while also being strong enough to defeat the Titans. While experiencing various things during his quest for vengeance, he soon realizes that things aren’t exactly how they seem at first glance and that there are sinister secrets lurking in the background.
With a plot filled with twists and one of the best main characters that a manga can ask for, Attack on Titan is definitely the jewel of the Action genre.
One Piece (Adventure)
The long and grand tale of One Piece has managed to stay relevant while only gaining fans throughout the years.
It follows the life of a young and carefree boy named Luffy who wishes to travel the seas and find a great treasure that every pirate hopes to find, The One Piece. He believes that by doing this, he can become the Pirate King and live life with the most freedom possible. Through his journey, we see Luffy gain member after member, each with a very unique and memorable personality. With their help, he needs to overcome impossible hurdles such as defeating the World Government and extremely strong Pirates in order to achieve his goals and fulfill his promises.
One Piece is one of the most entertaining pieces of fiction that one can read and will never fail to provide satisfaction.
Berserk (Fantasy)
A brutal portrayal of the world and elements of Dark Fantasy are among the major contributors to Berserk becoming the highest-rated manga of all time.
This story revolves around a lone swordsman Guts, who has been branded for death and is constantly chased by demons. However, this isn’t enough to waver his determination to enact vengeance upon Griffith, the one who betrayed Guts and made him lose all his loved ones. Guts lets nothing get in the way while leaving a blood-stained path behind.
With breathtaking art and an extremely mature story that holds nothing back, Berserk is a one-of-a-kind experience.
Uzumaki (Horror)
Made by the king of Horror Manga, Junji Itou, Uzumaki is the finest work among the many horror fiction stories he’s written.
Uzumaki starts off in a normal way as we see a girl living in town while going to meet her boyfriend. On seeing her boyfriend’s father’s fascination with a snail shell, she thinks nothing of it. However, as time passes, she notices objects with spirals more frequently while making those around them go mad. It is soon revealed that the town is cursed by spirals which leads to one disaster after another.
While this premise seems ridiculous at first, it’s made in a horrifying way that completely spooks the readers.
Chainsaw Man (Supernatural)
While Chainsaw Man is a relatively newer manga, it has managed to make its impact on the entire manga industry by being an exhilarating and unique supernatural story.
The story follows a boy named Denji who is stricken by poverty and works for the Yakuza to pay off a debt. His main work is to kill devils with the help of his pet devil named Pochita. However, after getting betrayed by the Yakuza and nearly killed, Pochita becomes his heart and gives him extraordinary powers. Capable of making parts of his body into a chainsaw and slicing up his opponents, life seemed to finally be going Denji’s way. After getting recruited to be a Devil hunter by the Public Safety Bureau, he meets several friends while facing strong opponents and achieving his dreams. At the same time, there is a mysterious plan going on in the background by a person Denji thought he could trust which causes him a lot of pain.
The gory and creative world of Chainsaw Man completely captures the intrigue of its readers while the fast paced story makes them feel an ocean of emotions from laughing to crying.
20th Century Boys (Mystery)
20th Century Boys is a story far ahead of its years while taking the reader’s mind through an amazing and confusing journey.
The story follows a man named Kenji who suspects that there may be something deeper behind the suicide of his friend. In his search, he finds a cult of people who wish a person known as Friend who wishes to cause great harm to the world. While Kenji tries to foil his plan, several other mysteries arise which connect to the past.
20th Century Boys is a grand story set across different timelines but an amazing structure in its storytelling manages to make everything unravel in a very smooth manner. Made by the great Naoki Urasawa, this is a must-read for fans of suspense, mystery and thrill.
Real (Drama)
Real, which was created by Takehiko Inoue who is known for his deep and hard-hitting stories is undoubtedly his most dramatic and emotional manga.
With three main characters, it follows each of their stories while showing how different yet similar they are. The first protagonist is a delinquent who wishes to improve his life after ruining a girl’s life in an accident. He runs into a man playing wheelchair basketball and trying to make the most of his life despite his disadvantages. This is our second protagonist who is having several troubles in his personal life. The third main character is an energetic high school basketball player who gets into an accident and becomes paralyzed.
Watching the development in the lives of these three is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
Gantz (Sci-Fi)
Gantz is a very creative and mature series that follows its protagonist Kei, a young and arrogant boy who gets killed while trying to save a drunk man from a train. To his surprise, he didn’t die but rather ended up in a room with a mysterious black ball and several others who also died moments ago. The black ball tells them that they are assigned to kill various supernatural threats and offers them the opportunity to go back to their normal lives if they succeed. While initially, this seems like a simple task, Kei and the others with him didn’t realize what they were actually signing up for.
Gantz is an extremely exciting and fun series everyone should try reading.
Grand Blue (Comedy)
Grand Blue is a hilarious manga that revolves around the life of a high school student named Iori who starts living with his cousins in his uncle’s scuba diving shop near his university. Here, Lori runs into members of the diving club who force him to take part in their heavy drinking and before you know it, Iori is addicted. Watching their activities together and Iori’s relationship with others leads to several comedic yet sweet scenes.
There is also a considerable number of chapters dedicated to diving and watching Iori learn to love water provides a much-needed balance to the other outrageously funny subplots.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Romance)
Love is War is an extremely romantic and funny series that is beloved by all.
Set in a prestigious academy, it follows the president and vice president namely Miyuki and Kaguya respectively. While these two look cool and composed on the outside, both of them are deeply in love with each other but refuse to admit it as they feel that they would lose some sort of imaginary war. This leads them to try and make the other person confess to them which understandably leads to hysterical coincidences and incidents. Eventually, the series takes a very romantic turn as we see them acknowledge their feelings for each other while trying to set aside their egos.
Love is War is one of the most enjoyable experiences a reader will have while giving us a very satisfying ending.
GIntama and Prison School are funnier than Grand Blue for me. Gantz and Real are good choice