Best Drama Manga of 2011

At a very young age, Kousei Arima was strictly taught how to play the piano and meticulously follow the score by his mother, to the point where he dominated every competition he entered with ease. He earned the title of "Human Metronome" for performing almost perfectly. Every musician of his age looked up to him. However, after his mother suddenly dies, he became tone-deaf due to the shock and then disappeared, never to be seen onstage since. Two years later, Kousei lives a monotonous life with his childhood friends Tsubaki Sawabe and Ryouta Watari supporting him. He continues to cling to music, although performing is still an impossibility for him. This is until his unexpected encounter with Kaori Miyazono, a violinist who performs freely without the dictations of a score. A story of friendship, love, music, and a single lie, Kousei's life begins to change and gain color as Kaori helps him to take up music again.

In the crime-ridden city of Ergastulum, there exists a group of humans with super strength and speed dubbed "twilights." These twilights define the city with their constant tension with normal humans, and powerful factions of the town—the Corsica Family, the Monroe Family, the Cristiano Family, and the Paulklee Guild—use them as a means to maintain the fragile balance that exists within the city. Enter the charming human Worick Arcangelo and the deaf twilight Nicolas Brown, two long-time friends and business partners of the neutral group "The Handymen." Working as muscle-for-hire, they are willing to take almost any job asked of them in order to make ends meet. One day, they find themselves receiving a seemingly regular job from the police: kill a rival pimp and his prostitute. However, this job is not all that it seems, as it takes the pair down a dangerous path and triggers events that could change the very framework of Ergastulum forever.

Elementary school student Shouya Ishida is creeped out when Shouko Nishimiya, a meek girl born with impaired hearing, transfers into his class. Following her arrival, Shouya and his friends begin to torment Shouko, making her the hapless target of ridicule and assault. The constant bullying turns school into a living hell for Shouko, where even the teachers remain indifferent to the situation. Koe no Katachi tells the heartbreaking story of Shouko falling victim to bullying, but also one of hope, remorse, and redemption.

Yuugo Hachiken has spent every waking moment of his life studying in order to achieve the highest grades in school. Finally cracking under the pressure of his parents' expectations for success, Yuugo decides to leave his city life and enroll in the rural Ooezo Agricultural High School. However, he has absolutely no experience with farming! Attempting to utilize the skills he has built through studying, Yuugo begins to pursue the true meaning of having a dream and perhaps discover his own along the way. But life is not as simple as it seems to be, and Yuugo must learn that hardship may appear when you least expect it.

Fourteen-year-old Madoka Kaname has a surreal dream about a strange creature and a girl in trouble. The next morning, a mysterious girl named Homura Akemi transfers into Madoka's class; to her surprise, Homura appears to be the exact same girl that she saw in her dream. Later that day, Madoka hears a plea for help in her head. It turns out that the cries belong to an injured Kyuubey, the cat-like creature who was also in her dream. But she finds Homura at Kyuubey's location, who warns Madoka to get away from the small entity. Making the connection that her new classmate attacked the helpless creature, Madoka takes Kyuubey and runs away with the help of best friend Sayaka Miki. After their escape, Kyuubey offers the girls an enticing opportunity: become a magical girl in exchange for having any wish granted. However, not everything is as it seems, as the weight of their wishes may be a lot heavier than they might have expected.

With no particular dreams or plans for the future, third-year middle schooler Tatara Fujita yearns to find something that he can pursue wholeheartedly. Initially often bullied and extorted for his lack of confidence, Tatara's life changes when he is saved from delinquents by a man named Kaname Sengoku. His savior, a motorcycle-riding dance instructor, proceeds to drag Tatara to Ogasawara Dance Studio, mistakenly believing that the boy was looking at the studio's flyer. Tatara is then partnered with his schoolmate and skilled dancer Shizuku Hanaoka when he agrees to a trial lesson. The next day after being bullied and only to be saved yet again, he asks the studio to teach him dancing in hopes of changing his image. Now entering a bright and fast-paced new world, Tatara dedicates his time to dancing as he sweeps over the dance hall.

Set in a time when vampires are ubiquitous in society, treated as outcasts, and forced to keep their identities hidden—despite having signed a peace treaty two hundred years ago, following which they have satisfied their hunger with merely pig's blood—Orange Marmalade tells the story of Baek Ma Ri, a young vampire who has faced great difficulty due to her nature. Feared and hated, the girl has been driven away from several neighborhoods and is eager to settle down with her family in their current city. The endless prejudice has left her disillusioned about friendship and love; however, the sweet-scented blood of Jung Jae Min stirs something within her and renders her unable to resist biting into the neck of the charming man. Ma Ri must now cope with her life after this encounter, as her victim begins to fall in love with her.

Shortly after astrology predicts destruction to befall the Tang Dynasty, a coup d'état led by the crown prince Li's very own brother kills him and his wife and sons. Li's daughter, princess Yongning, manages to escape, but is soon declared dead alongside her family. Full of wrath, the princess swears to avenge them as she takes on the identity of a young man, Li Chang Ge, and moves to the Shou province to advance her goals. Li Chang Ge uses her wits to gain the trust of the Shou emperor and swiftly climbs the military ranks as a brilliant strategist. Captivatingly drawn, Song of the Long March portrays the feisty girl's adolescent journey toward countless unknown adventures, faithful comradeship, as well as formidable enmity awaiting her along the way.

For one short year, haplessly awkward, cockatiel-toting Nino has to keep watch over class joker and nextdoor neighbor, Kira-kun. Can Kira-kun—who harbors a terrible secret—find it in himself to open up and learn something new from Nino, or will she be consumed by his world? Two fates intertwine to become the "closest love to Heaven."

Mahiru Shirota, an energetic 15-year-old, leads a simple life. However, that all changes, when he rescues a stray black cat he names Kuro. Seemingly an ordinary feline, Mahiru is taken aback when it transforms into a person! It turns out that Kuro is an outlandishly lazy and sluggish centuries-old vampire who does not drink blood and finds any kind of activity bothersome. Unbeknownst to him, the one thing Mahiru should not do is say Kuro's name aloud, but he does exactly that. It forms a bond between the two, meaning Kuro could become Mahiru's servant vampire—a "servamp." But as fate would have it, after a vicious attack arranged by a vampire called Tsubaki, Kuro drinks Mahiru's blood, thus sealing the deal, making Mahiru his master—"Eve." The mysterious vampire Tsubaki reveals Kuro's real name: Sleepy Ash, the sloth and oldest sibling of seven—each representing one of the deadly sins. Tsubaki, as the forgotten eighth brother representing "melancholy," wages war against all vampires and humans. To prevent bloodshed, Mahiru and Kuro now have to alert the rest of the servamps and their Eves before it is too late.

In middle school, Ichinose Kimitaka taught his friends how to play basketball. Despite his experience with the sport, his friends quickly outmatched him in skill. After an incident brought on by his frustration and jealousy, he was crushed to overhear those same 'friends' discussing how they wished he'd just kill himself. On his way to toss out his special basketball shoes, he met a girl who was just as frustrated, throwing her own dancing shoes away. She was so tall, and her hands and feet are so large, that she had been rejected from her chosen hobby of Spanish dancing. He urged her to give basketball a try, and the two exchanged their shoes instead of throwing them away. As he enters high school, Kimitaka learns that meeting him changed that girl's life for the better, and she is now a happy, social basketball player. Will Kimitaka be able to find the courage to make new friends and pursue his own talents?

The time for logical debate and magical feints has come to an end; the revelation of the truth about Beatrice the Golden Witch is at hand. To facilitate this, game master Bernkastel has chosen Will Wright the Mage-Hunter to step onto her board and answer a single question: Who killed Beatrice? Joining him in the game is Lion Ushiromiya, Krauss's firstborn and heir, whose role is a mystery in its own right. Will's line of questioning draws together the stray strands from all the previous games, twisting them into a thread of truth, revisiting Kinzou's first encounter with the young Beatrice and working through the legends that have since sprung up around her...

The consultation room of Yonggang University's psychology department is run by the genius Dr. Frost. Skilled at reading people, he is an easily recognizable figure with his shocking white hair and stoic face. But Dr. Frost has one fatal flaw—he lacks certain emotions, like love and empathy. Despite this, he solves every case that comes his way using his expansive textbook knowledge and sharp perception. Aiding him in his work is his assistant Yoon Seong-Ah, a young psychology student at the university. As the two work together to uncover the emotions and motivations of others, Dr. Frost begins to discover a part of himself which he lost long ago.

Hunted almost to extinction by monstrous humanoid creatures called "Titans," humanity found refuge by hiding within walled cities. However, with the passing centuries, ignorance fell upon the masses who forgot the Titan menace and have grown perfectly content to live within their fortresses. Angel Aaltonen is no different until, after witnessing the Titan's devastation firsthand, he starts to realize how fragile mankind's safe haven is. Resolved to protect his friends from the threat, the craftsman sets out to create a device powerful enough to fight the Titans. Over a decade later, Kuklo—who was discovered in Titan vomit as a baby and henceforth dubbed the "Titan's son"—finds himself freed from the cage that has held him since infancy. Aware that his life is now in his own hands, the boy soon finds a cause to live for: to meet a Titan face to face and understand why humans have only ever seen him as an object of fear. Thus Kuklo decides to join the Survey Corps, unaware that he may be the person the stagnant military unit has been looking for. Shingeki no Kyojin: Before the Fall tells two separate yet connected tales which detail humanity's struggle, loss, and determination to transcend the role of helpless prey and strike back against the Titans.

Akira, a second year middle school student, has a normal life on an island of solitude, a serene and peaceful school setting. Akira's daily life is shattered one day by the transfer of a mysterious boy; Matsushiro Nishigami who introduces himself as a shinigami with the phrase "Anyone who gets close to me dies." What could be the meaning of such a bizarre introduction?

The only two things that differentiate Shinya Sugiki and Shinya Suzuki from each other are the one-syllable difference in their names and dancing styles. Sugiki is the decorated "Lord of Standard Ballroom," while Suzuki is the fiery "King of Latin Dance." Neither of these talented dancers can see eye to eye, but they both have the ambition of winning the legendary 10 Dance Competition. The lengthy contest requires each dancing pair to perform ten unique styles of standard ballroom and Latin dancing. Having no prior experience with Latin dance, Sugiki asks Suzuki to teach him. In return, he will show Suzuki the art of standard ballroom. Although Sugiki is initially against it, his dancing partner goads him into accepting the offer. As the two begrudgingly work together to refine each other's styles, an unlikely romance begins to blossom.

July 2011 Special When Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin bail on being models for an upcoming fashion show, Mei Yasumura finds herself scrambling through last-minute replacements. Unfortunately for her, the Hitachiin twins have already sent in their substitute: Ritsu Kasanoda. With all options exhausted and time running out, Mei resolves to train a vexed Kasanoda to become her model. August 2011 Special On a hot midsummer night, a few of the Ouran Host Club members begin to share ghost stories to each other. Soon, they are interrupted by a tardy Takashi Morinozuka, who claims to have seen an apparition. Upon arriving at the location of the sighting, the group is surprised to see that the ghost looks similar to Kyouya Ootori—who is very much alive. As they try to identify the mysterious figure, the club encounters a child with a wish to attend a festival.

After the body dies, the soul lives on. Many spirits progress toward the world of light, through the levels of the spirit world where they study how to improve their souls. These spirits are sometimes reincarnated into the physical world, and sometimes they are sent back as guardian spirits for other living people. Guardian spirits must protect their charges souls from the blackness that oozes up from the world of darkness below. Riyon is a very laid-back spirit, who often skips her spirit classes to fool around. To train her further, she is sent back to the physical world as a guardian spirit. Instead of following a human from birth, she is helping a beleaguered man, the Japanese Prime Minister Kasuga Soichiro, in the last year and a half of his life. After an unexpected close call with death, Kasuga gains some unusual talents, including the ability to see Riyon. Will Riyon and Kasuga together be able to protect his battered soul?

Mizumura Shinta didn’t know what to make of the situation when the sexiest girl in school, Kishimoto Ririsu, starts seducing him and things get extremely physical. Shinta isn’t rich or the popular guy in school so it doesn’t make sense that Ririsu would be so interested in him. But Ririsu is in fact a vampire, a secret that she will kill to keep hidden. As the relationship between Shinta and Ririsu grows, it gets harder for her to keep the secret hidden. And when those close to him, like his semi-romantic childhood friend Makimura Chizuru, are involuntarily thrown into the chaos, deep dark secrets get revealed.

The story begins with an eradication of Qingcheng by a group of martial art fanatic from Wudong, whose master and disciples only has one belief – to become the strongest. In order to maintain the supremacy, it takes over all the other martial arts group and kill those refuse to yield themselves to it. Yan Heng, a young swordman in Qingcheng, was saved by ‘Wudang Hunter' Jing Lie, who also lost his fellows because of Wudong. Being the only remnant of their groups, the two allied and start their journey of revenge.

After traversing the entire planet and finding no one else, Kororu realizes that she is truly alone. While she is overwhelmed with sadness, she discovers a string reaching up into the sky farther than her eyes can see. Filled with a sense of wonder, she spends the night holding on to the string—only to awaken to a pull coming from it. When Kororu comprehends that someone might be trying to communicate with her from among the stars, she becomes determined to climb the string and meet the person at the other end.

The old anonymous group chat consisting of some of Ikebukuro's most peculiar residents receives a sudden addition: Saika, a cryptic user who occasionally pops up and sends messages that make little sense. Although everyone simply discards it as spam, a curious connection between Saika's messages and a recent string of slashing assaults soon forms. Dubbed the "Slasher" by the media, their rampage continues. At the same time, Anri Sonohara is advised to stay away from a teacher with a history of dating minors. Although she now has friends, Anri still suffers from bullying; during one incident, she comes face-to-face with the Slasher, becoming the first person to survive the encounter unscathed. Meanwhile, a reporter following a story about the so-called strongest man in Ikebukuro is viciously attacked by the Slasher. As the number one contender for the title of strongest man, Shizuo Heiwajima sets out on a hunt to find the mysterious aggressor. In his latest uncovering, the infamous information broker Izaya Orihara reveals that the Slasher might just be Ikebukuro's next supernatural threat.

Decades ago, a being known as the Giant of Light joined together with Shin Hayata of the Science Special Search Party to save Earth from an invasion of terrifying monsters called Kaiju. Now, many years later, those dark days are fading into memory, and the world is at peace. But in the shadows a new threat is growing, a danger that can only be faced by a new kind of hero—a new kind of Ultraman…

A series of side stories focusing each of the Gold Saints from Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas exploring their lives, mostly events which occurred before.

A 19-year-old girl with a rare growth disorder that leaves her in the body of a small child meets a boy with a mental disorder, who has the mind of a small boy in a 17-year-old's body. A Friendly Winter shares with us the endearing story of their day-to-day lives, joys and tribulations.

In a French town wracked by fear, Rose Dupre is bullied as a witch's daughter. Marie and Pierre don't believe such rumors at first. But when a wave of strange deaths sweeps in, the three children are no longer safe from wary eyes. Can Rose survive the curse of magic and suspicion? An expansive yet colorful gothic tale begins.

In Oval City, where robots are commonplace and used as tools by humans for most basic tasks, Iris Rain Umbrella is an android who lives a carefree and happy life caring for her master, Dr. Wendy von Umbrella, the head of robotics research at Oval University. According to Wendy, she created Iris to take the place of her younger sister, who lost her life in an accident, and whose name and likeness the house robot shares. Iris does the work of a maid in the von Umbrella mansion—shopping, cooking, and cleaning—and wishes for these days to never end. However, this joyful existence is suddenly interrupted by a series of tragic events. Uprooted from her home, Iris must leave her comfortable life behind and adapt to her new circumstances if she wishes to survive.

Nitro+ will be releasing a novel of Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica, using the original animation's series composition/script written by Gen Urobuchi. Nitro+'s Hajime Ninomae (一 肇), active in Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko and Shogakukan Gagaga Bunko, will be the novel writer. Yuupon (ゆーぽん), from the Nitro+Chiral shounen-ai branch, will be doing the illustrations. The novel is split into two volumes of 304 pages and 328 pages length. It will be officially released as a limited edition with a third volume of 32 full-color pages on August 14, 2011. A prerelease will be held at Comiket 80 between August 12 and August 14, 2011.

This is part 2 of Gambling Emperor Legend Zero, picking up a few years after the cliffhanger ending of part 1.

My Kitty and Old Dog is a collection of short, heartwarming, and episodic stories that describe the relationships between the old poodle Nang-nak, the cute kitten Soondae, and their loving owners. Some stories are autobiographical—telling the artist's own experience with his pets—while others are told from the pets' point of view in an interesting, fresh, and innocent take on storytelling.

Born into a world beyond imagination, imprisoned for a crime he never committed. Young Riku's life couldn't sink any lower...or so he thought. Determined to survive no matter the circumstances, Riku now faces the impossible task of outliving a prison sentence in Earth's worst penitentiary.

Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou is a mystery series where Shinokawa Shioriko, a young owner of a bookstore in Kamakura, unravel mysteries of ancient books that are taken there. The story begins with a young man named Daisuke, who grew up practically without reading books due to a "phobia," brings the complete (and autographed) works of Natsume Soseki, Japanese writer of the Meiji era, inherited from his grandmother in the mysterious bookstore. Will the shy and introvert Shioriko solve the mystery of the books?

By chance of fate, Godai met Mr. Yasuda, a rather pretty man, on his first delivery assignment up at Yamanoue Research Facility who greeted poor Godai with a beaming smile. Then the next day, was Mr. Aihara’s turn to receive parcels too. Only…he looks just like Mr. Yasuda. What the hell’s going on?! Never having anybody treat him so kindly before, Godai’s determined to get right down to the bottom of this!

The betrayal of her lover sends Chica into despair and as a result she attempts to end her own life. She is saved by a man called Antonio, who helps nurse her back to health. After the devastating experience, Chica chooses to lead the rest of her life as a matador. It is then Chica that decides and swears: "I will become a bullfighter. By becoming one, I will be able to die in front of my lover." But little does Chica know of the difficult road that lies ahead and the trouble she must face to follow the path of a matador...

Once again, the police are baffled by the serial killings of several young women. Kudou, a detective, is referred to a young girl by a friend. But this girl isn't what she seems - Kudou saw her at the crime scene. Apparently she's a vampire!!

Inariya-sensei says it is going to be a combination of fantasy and military-themed. Involves dragons and possibly time-travel. So far seems lighter than her usual, but still looks to ultimately be about love and war and how poorly they go together.

This story is about a girl from the year 2011 that time-traveled to the year 3011. In year 3011, machines with consciences have taken over some of the humans and some humans with special powers have appeared. All of them want world domination but the humans want their freedom. She is caught between this conflict and struggles to be with the one she loves.

An entire volume to learn more about Pinky, who already appeared in "Ippiki to Kujuu Kyushi to", the character who “solves problems” in the underworld. Shun Umezawa returns to unveil the dark side of the human soul with a noir-tinged work!

In the Majutsushi Orphen Hagure Tabi series: 1. Kiesaruhima no Shuutan 2. Yakusoku no Chi de 3. Hara Tairiku Kaisen 4. Kaihousha no Senjou 5. Majutsu Gakkou Koubou 6. Hasami no Takusen 7-8. Megami Mirai 9. Maou-hen 10. Teshita-hen 11. Comicron's Plan 12. Hartia's Choice