Best Slice of Life Manga of 2011

Akiko Hayashi has soaring but strangely specific dreams: to make a successful manga debut while still in school, have her favorite actor star in its adaptation, and end up marrying him. However, she is far from having the motivation or skills to realize these hopes. When a friend introduces her to an unorthodox, backstreet art class taught by the strong-armed Kenzou Hidaka, called simply as "sensei," Akiko decides to enroll, expecting an easy ride and an automatic improvement in her art skills. To her chagrin, what she gets is something else entirely—a tough, demanding, and uncompromising teacher with absolutely no interest in manga. But when Akiko takes up Sensei's challenge of an intense schedule, she comes to recognize how much he cares about his students and forms a close bond with him. With Sensei's guidance, Akiko learns what is necessary to become a successful mangaka as well as what it means to be an adult.

Responsible class president Nanase Sakashita couldn't be more different than the class-cutting loner, Hana-kun. But when he saves her from a pushy classmate, the two strike up an unlikely friendship. Nanase is determined to help set him straight and keep him in school, and Hana-kun is equally determined to show her there's a life outside the classroom. Will the two be able to overcome their differences?

As the sole inhabitant of an enormous mansion, Coco would be utterly alone if not for her beloved black cat, Kuro. Although Kuro has his quirks, the two are an inseparable pair and enjoy fun-filled adventures on a daily basis. Lulled into bliss by these idyllic days, Coco is completely unaware of the harrowing reality that surrounds her. For everyone else in her town, life is filled with dread and unease. They fear the sinister forces enveloping their town, but they are also afraid of Coco and Kuro. Ignorant of the situation, Coco lives out her peaceful days with Kuro, but her days of blissful ignorance may be quickly coming to an end.

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?

Following their memorable graduation, the original members of the Light Music Club now begin their lives as college students. As grown-ups, Yui Hirasawa and the others must learn how to be more responsible—from not oversleeping to personal grooming. College may be tough, but with the presence of a light music club and a group of new faces, the girls can handle anything in their way. As the sounds of joyful music play in the fleeting story of K-On! College, the quartet faces their next stage in life head on while retaining their usual goofy personalities.

As the only member of the pop music club not to graduate, the responsibility of recruiting new members has fallen to Azusa. Ui and Jun have agreed to help out their friend, but they might be more interested in having actual afterschool teatime than making music. Even when Azusa secures the necessary four members to keep the club alive, the lack of musical experience (and musical instruments) is going to be a challenge! Will the high school pop music club survive to take the stage once more?!

Masahiro Setagawa doesn't believe in heroes, but wishes he could: he's found himself trapped in a gang of small-time street bullies, and with no prospects for a real future. But when high school teacher (and scourge of the streets) Kousuke Ohshiba comes to his rescue, he finds he may start believing after all...in heroes, and in his budding feelings, too.

Second season of Cheese in the Trap.

Yuu Sonoda and Haruka Takayama have been the best of friends since middle school. Now, the two girls attend Misato West High School together and are even placed in the same class, but their seats are far away from each other. With the school officials announcing the closing of the school in three years, they resolve to make the most of their time there and create more memories with each other. However, a misunderstanding makes Haruka jealous of Yuu, causing Haruka to run away. Yuu follows her and apologizes. They share a kiss, crossing the boundary of being friends, and then begin a deeper relationship with each other.

Nine centimeters (3.5 inches) tall, the tiny girls Hakumei and Mikochi live in the forest. Living in a tiny house in a tree, riding insects and birds, and making umbrellas out of leaves, these tiny girls live a tiny life. Follow their tiny but lovely lives as they live their day to day in a fantastic world of tiny people and gods.

After losing her mother to a traffic accident, five-year-old tomboy Michiru finds a "suspicious person" moving into her home: her father's younger brother Kouji, whom she quickly nicknames "Beard Gorilla." While awkward at first, it doesn't take long for them to develop a relationship that's closer to one between a brother and sister than an uncle and niece.

Viciously bullied for being gay, junior high schooler Mishima struggles to belong in his hopelessly rural hometown. In fact, the only time he really feels alive is when he dolls himself up with a stolen tube of his single-mother's lipstick. But that pocket of joy is forever changed when he loses the lipstick, only to find soccer team ace Kirino, one of Mishima's worst tormenters, trying it on in secret on their school roof. So begins a bittersweet summer of searching for a place where the two can be their true selves, but Pandora's box is not always so easily opened...

The story revolves around Haruki and his four sisters: Mutsuki, Yayoi, Uzuki, and Satsuki. While their life may seem monotonous—aside from the fact that Haruki's sisters don't give him a single opportunity to rest, lecturing him about every perceived mistake and playing tricks on him—Haruki still likes his life.

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.

Who were the legendary "Generation of Miracles" that led Teikou Middle School to three consecutive basketball championship titles? The group consisted of five prodigies—alongside their "Phantom Sixth Member"—and dominated the courts, striking down any who stood in their way. Outside of the sport, these talented players were simply middle school boys dealing with their own problems, such as getting through the midterm season and surviving an unlucky day. Kuroko no Basuke: Replace captures the off-court adventures of Tetsuya Kuroko and the Generation of Miracles during their days at Teikou.

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.

Sakura Hane has to ride her bicycle up several steep hills just to get to her new high school. As she is desperately pedaling, she sees and hears a motorcycle zoom past her and instantly falls in love with it. It turns out that bike was driven by her new classmate Amano Onsa, one badass girl who decided to attend this school because of one reason, there is no policy against motorcycles. Not only that, there is apparently a motorcycle club on campus. Hane and Onsa instantly become friends and she is able to convince Hane to start riding a bike. Now the only thing Hane has to do is get a license...

We follow Shidou Itsuka, Kotori Itsuka, Tooka Yatogami, Origami Tobiichi, and many others in their adventures in high school through small stories. We learn a little more about the different relationships through the daily hassles. Big events take place, including Kotori's birthday and Yoshino's fireworks.

Aoi prefers indoor hobbies and is afraid of heights, but her childhood friend Hinata loves to show off her passion for mountain climbing. As young children they once watched the sunrise from the top of a mountain, and now they've decided to take up mountain climbing in hopes of seeing that sunrise again. They have cooking battles with mountaineering gear, climb small hills in their neighborhood, and meet new mountaineering friends as they learn the ropes of the hobby. When will they finally see that sunrise again?

The Achiga Girls' Academy in Nara once defeated regional mahjong powerhouse Bansei High School. It advanced into the national team semifinals but lost to the eventual champion, and the mahjong club was later disbanded. Six years later, elementary school student Shizuno Takakamo befriends transfer student Nodoka Haramura. The two eventually enter Achiga Girls,' but Nodoka transfers out of the school in the second year. When Shizuno sees Nodoka on television the following year as the national middle school individual mahjong champion, she decides to revive Achiga's mahjong club.

Murasaki Wakako, who is twenty-six years old, loves going out alone to enjoy eating and drinking, especially when something unpleasant happens at work. This manga follows Wakako through many solitary outings, where she enjoys different combinations of food and drink.

This is the story of a catgirl and her excursions along the railways of Japan. *After volume two, Terumina continued as Terumina Neu on Le Paradis' as a web serial. These chapters were then condensed into Terumina for volume 3 onwards.*

Kouta is an ordinary high school student. He has a very feminine brother who is more like a sister. He dresses as a girl so even Kouta's friends mistake her as a girl. Kouta seems to care for his brother very much. How is their relationship going to change?

After Yune returns to Japan, Alice can't seem to forget about her, so she decides to go visit Yune herself! Each chapter in this series features "quickies" that show the daily lives of Alice and Yune having fun being silly in Japan! Each page links to the next in a sequence of events that help build the story as it progresses!

This is a diary-style 4-koma manga that depicts the daily life and observations of the 40-year old author, who married a 26-year old Chinese girl. The author immediately states that this manga-style blog was meant to show the quirky and interesting nature of his young wife. He is an extremely stereotypical "otaku", while she is a Chinese girl enjoying and learning the Japanese culture.

Nuri On would give anything to be a producer - he’s always on the lookout for the best stories and is willing to do whatever it takes to get the best shot, even if it means jumping off a building or leaping from a moving bus! Now, Nuri and a group of other trainees must do their best to prove their worth at a popular TV station, in hopes of fulfilling their showbiz dreams!

Set in Japan, the manga tell a story as viewed by a young professor in the 1960s.

Doujin written by Tennouji Kitsune and published at comiket, centred around side characters from the main series.

Manga which follows the life a young man who tries to become a mangaka.