Manga Like Serena

Moritaka Mashiro is a skilled artist in middle school but feels uncertain about his future, assuming he'll just lead an ordinary life. After spotting one of his drawings in class, aspiring writer Akito Takagi insists they create a manga together. Mashiro hesitates—his uncle, a mangaka, died from overwork only a few years earlier. However, learning that his crush Miho Azuki aims to become a voice actress, Mashiro becomes determined to produce a manga that can be adapted into an anime for her to star in. Azuki, who returns his feelings, agrees to marry him once they both achieve their dreams. Bakuman. follows Mashiro and Takagi's triumphs and struggles as they try to get serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump and become famous mangakas. Will their gamble succeed, or will they join the countless failures?

Takao Kasuga is an awkward middle school student with a passion for reading, particularly Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal. He harbors a crush on his class's idol, the sweet-natured Nanako Saeki. In sharp contrast, Sawa Nakamura is a rude, unpleasant girl who couldn't care less about school. One day, Takao forgets to bring his book home. He returns to school to fetch it, but freezes when he spots Nanako's freshly worn gym clothes lying on the floor. A strange desire overcomes him, and like a twisted pervert, he steals them. Burdened by guilt over his crime, Takao tries his best to carry on as usual. However, Sawa—who witnessed the theft—has other intentions for him...

When the burdens of adulthood and the harsh reality of workplace harassment shatter childhood aspirations, many might long to go back to their carefree younger years for a second chance at making better choices. Stunned by the proposal laid before him, 27-year-old Arata Kaizaki seeks to change his fate through an extraordinary opportunity. After returning from his part-time job, Arata is convinced by Ryou Yoake, a staff member of the ReLife Research Institute, to join an experiment designed to help him overcome his struggles and re-enter the corporate world. As part of the ReLife program, Arata's body is transformed to look like a 17-year-old, and his only task is to live through high school again for one year. Awaiting him at the end of the experiment is a job offer—the very thing he has been unable to obtain since leaving his first company. With few alternatives, he agrees to proceed. Yet, due to his adult habits and the long gap since his last formal education, Arata finds himself facing an unexpectedly tough challenge—just getting through an ordinary day of high school.

Nana Komatsu is a naive and unmotivated girl who spends her high school years chasing one crush after another. Despite repeatedly failing in her pursuit of love, her spirits never fade. At age 20, she boards a train to Tokyo, hoping to reunite with her current boyfriend. Nana Osaki, in contrast, is feisty and proud. After joining a local band in high school, she falls in love with both music and a fellow band member. But when forced to choose between her relationship and her musical career, she picks the latter and parts ways with her boyfriend. On her 20th birthday, she takes the same train to Tokyo as her namesake, determined to become a top vocalist. These two girls, sharing a name but having very different goals, end up seated together on their journey to the city, and as fate would have it, eventually share the same apartment. A deep and unique bond forms between them, and they support each other through a saga of love, music, friendship, and heartbreak.

One morning, Naho Takamiya finds a letter in her mailbox that claims to be from her future self, ten years from now. The letter details a sequence of events predicted to occur that day. Initially, Naho dismisses it as a joke, but when a transfer student named Kakeru Naruse actually arrives in her class later that day as the letter foretold, she is compelled to accept its truth. As Naho reads further, her future self lists several regrets and urges her to make better choices now. These regrets all seem to revolve around Kakeru, and with the weight of knowing that he will not be present with her and their friends in the future, can Naho make the perfect decisions to change what appears to be destiny? Also includes the Haru-iro Astronaut (Spring-Colored Astronaut) series.

Seon Jin finds no refuge anywhere. At school, he suffers constant bullying because of his unnervingly quiet demeanor and weak physique. Yet this is not the root of his overwhelming horror—what he dreads even more is his own father. To the outside world, Jin's father is a thriving businessman, a charitable volunteer, and an affectionate parent. But this is only a disguise. In truth, he is a twisted serial killer, and Jin is his reluctant accomplice. For years, they have kept up this pretense without the police ever catching on. When his father sets his sights on the attractive transfer student Yoon Kyun, Jin must decide—stay the coward who delivers her to the same doom as the previous victims, or become the bastard son who stands up to his monstrous parent.

After losing her parents, Tooru Honda finds herself living in a tent in the woods, until the Souma family offers her a place to stay. But the Soumas are far from ordinary—they carry a heavy secret: whenever someone of the opposite sex embraces them, they transform into animals from the Chinese zodiac. Tooru takes on the task of helping Kyou and Yuki Souma keep their curse hidden from their classmates, as well as from her friends Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima. As she becomes more involved in the mysterious lives of the Soumas, she encounters more members of the family and forms bonds with them. Yet this curse has brought immense pain, breaking many Soumas over time. Even so, Tooru may be the one who can mend their wounded hearts and bring peace to their spirits.

Although Chidori Public High School and the all-girls Kikyo Private Academy are situated right next to each other, they might as well inhabit entirely separate worlds. Kikyo maintains a flawless reputation and primarily enrolls students from wealthy families, while Chidori is considered a haven for slow-witted delinquents. The students of Kikyo hold a deep-seated hatred for their Chidori counterparts. Rintarou Tsumugi, a sixteen-year-old student at Chidori, has a forbidding face that causes others to shun him. He doesn't let this bother him, as he is happy with his close group of friends. However, there is a secret he hasn't revealed to them: he occasionally works at his family's cake shop. One day on the job, Rintarou spots a customer sitting at a table, but she quickly leaves before he can speak with her. The next day, the girl, Kaoruko Waguri, approaches him to apologize, explaining that she didn't flee because of his appearance and that she believes Rintarou is genuinely kind. Though he is unaccustomed to Kaoruko's lively personality, Rintarou looks forward to building a friendship with her. There is just one problem standing in the way: Kaoruko is a student at Kikyo!

At Ouran High School, a prestigious academy reserved for the children of the wealthy and influential, the Host Club stands as the most exclusive club on campus. Inside their lavish clubroom, six handsome, bored boys pass the time entertaining equally beautiful, bored girls. Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student from a modest background, has zero interest in the Host Club—until she accidentally smashes an expensive vase in their room. Mistaken for a boy, she is compelled by Kyouya Ootori to join the club and work off her debt. Tamaki Suou, the club's princely leader, eagerly takes her under his wing to teach her the art of hosting. But life with the Host Club is never ordinary. Even the simplest events turn into grand spectacles thanks to prankster twins Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, the stoic Takashi Morinozuka, and the sweet-natured Mitsukuni "Hunny" Haninozuka. The Host Club's crazy adventures are only beginning, and Haruhi must learn to navigate the glittering, over-the-top world of the hosts. (The final volume includes a bonus chapter where the group travels to Spain.)

Both Juri Mutou and Yuu have their own reasons for wanting to die. Juri is the child of a former renowned pianist whose career ended when she gave birth. Following a traumatic incident during her teenage years, Juri has made three suicide attempts and developed a deep hatred for her mother. Her life overshadowed by a painful history, her aunt Monica—a woman of the clergy—asks her to meet a condemned prisoner. Yuu sits on death row for killing three people, and has repeatedly tried to take his own life inside his cell. Monica regularly writes to him hoping to offer support, but he perceives her letters as mere pity. When Yuu finally agrees to see Monica in person to tell her to stop writing, he comes across Juri, and that encounter alters the course of both their existences.

After her brother Souichirou dies, Teru Kurebayashi is left all alone—except for a person named Daisy. She can always talk to Daisy through a cell phone her brother left for her, and Daisy never hesitates to cheer her up. However, Teru has never met Daisy; she has no idea what Daisy looks like, and her only means of contact is that cell phone. In stark contrast to the kind words and encouragement from Daisy, Teru receives nothing but grief from the rude school janitor Tasuku Kurosaki. He forces Teru to work for him after she accidentally breaks a window. Kurosaki seems like a lazy good-for-nothing who only enjoys making her miserable, but is there more to him than meets the eye? Included one-shot: Volume 16: Hetakuso Cupid (The Hopeless Cupid)

Kazuki Hoshino treasures his mundane routine above anything else. He spends his school days carefree with his friends, until that uneventful bliss is shattered when the aloof beauty Aya Otonashi transfers into his class and immediately delivers a cold, dramatic statement to him: "I've come to break you. This is my 13,118th transfer. After so many times, it's starting to grate on me, so this time I'm spicing things up with a proper declaration of war." With those puzzling words, the ordinary days Kazuki loved so much become a cycle of turmoil and fear—Aya's sudden appearance signals the unraveling of unseen mysteries surrounding his seemingly normal friends, including the discovery of strange devices known as "boxes."

Lucy is a unique human known as a Diclonius, characterized by a small pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands, which makes her a subject of cruel government scientific experiments. When an opportunity to flee arises, Lucy, hardened by her imprisonment and suffering, unleashes a violent wave of killing as she breaks free from her captors. During her escape, she suffers a severe head injury that causes a split personality: one side is a harmless child with limited speech ability. In this unstable condition, she encounters two college students, Kouta and his cousin Yuka, who unknowingly take in an injured fugitive, unaware of her lethal nature. This act of kindness will alter their lives, as they become entangled in the hidden world of government secrets and conspiracy. Included one-shots: Volume 1: MOL Volume 2: Digitopolis Volume 3: Memoria Volume 5: Elfen Lied

Following her mother's abandonment and her father's remarriage, high school student Mao Motomiya feels she has no place where she truly belongs. One evening, her childhood friend Hiro Nakamura discovers her eating cheap convenience store food at a shrine and offers to take her to a restaurant. During their heartfelt conversation, Hiro suggests that Mao move in with him. For Hiro, who has lived separately from his younger siblings ever since their parents passed away, reuniting his family in the once-lively Nakamura home begins with the first step of giving Mao a loving place to belong. When Mao reluctantly accepts his invitation, she is surprised by how easily she fits in with her longtime friend. Now she must not only work on repairing her relationship with her father and helping the eldest Nakamura brother achieve his goal, but also confront her growing feelings for Hiro.

Despite her ability to perceive supernatural beings, Chise Hatori has never seen herself as fortunate. Abandoned by her parents as a child, her life has been defined by hardship, eventually forcing her to sell herself at a slave market in hopes of finding somewhere to belong. Presented to buyers as a rare "Sleigh Beggy"—individuals with an extraordinary sensitivity to magical energy—Chise's final chance arrives in the form of Elias Ainsworth, an enigmatic magus who is more beast than human. Instead of treating her as property, he chooses to take her on as his apprentice and, at the same time, his bride. Chise is not only physically transported to Elias's home in the English countryside but also introduced to a realm where fairies and dragons are commonplace. However, she soon discovers that her new life holds as much to dread as it does to admire. And at the core of everything lies the unsettling uncertainty of whether she has ended up in the grasp of something far more sinister than her own inner demons.

After Goomoonryong destroys Yi "Shioon" Shi-Woon's ki-center, stripping him of his martial arts ability, Shioon resolves to leave the Murim world behind and return to a normal life of school and time with his mother. But the Murim world refuses to let him go. Identified as Goomoonryong’s sole true disciple and given the Phoenix Medallion of the Sunwoo Clan by Lady Sosul—a gift that makes him the clan’s interim leader—Shioon finds that his new status draws relentless attention. Unfamiliar enemies keep emerging before him, including the group known as Soldiers Under Command, who aim to eliminate him to further their own ambitions. The question remains: how can Shioon defend himself when his ki-center is shattered?

Sixteen-year-old Kyouko Mogami moves to Tokyo alongside her childhood friend and crush Shoutarou "Shou" Fuwa, helping him pursue his goal of becoming a top idol in the entertainment world. When she learns that Shou sees her as nothing more than a convenient maid, she vows to get revenge by breaking into the same industry and outperforming him. Kyouko's plan hits an early snag when the talent agency she applies to turns her down. However, the agency's president offers her a second chance by assigning her to the newly formed "Love Me" division. From there, Kyouko sets out on her long road to fame, honing her acting abilities and building connections with new companions along the way.

Yukio "Koyuki" Tanaka spent his middle school years drifting through life, passively listening to Japanese pop music without any real direction—until a chance encounter with the mysterious guitarist Ryuusuke "Ray" Minami changed everything. Ray opens Koyuki's eyes to Western rock music and sparks a burning desire to learn guitar, giving him something he never knew he was missing. Despite facing countless obstacles on his road to rock stardom, Koyuki refuses to let go of the passion that finally gave his existence meaning, juggling it alongside school, work, and relationships. Beck chronicles the love and hardships involved in chasing a professional music career as Koyuki and Ray strive to turn the guitarist's dream of forming the ultimate band into reality.

From a young age, Kousei Arima was rigorously trained by his mother to play the piano with strict adherence to the score, leading him to dominate every competition effortlessly. He became known as the "Human Metronome" for his near-perfect performances, admired by all young musicians. However, after his mother's sudden death, he was so traumatized that he lost his ability to hear the notes and vanished from the stage. Two years later, Kousei lives a dull life, supported by his childhood friends Tsubaki Sawabe and Ryouta Watari. He still clings to music, though performing remains impossible. That changes when he unexpectedly meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist who plays freely without following a score. A tale of friendship, love, music, and a single lie, Kousei's world starts to grow vibrant as Kaori helps him rediscover music.

Shirayuki, a well-known herbalist from Tanbarun, catches the unwanted eye of the kingdom's vain prince, Raji Shenazard, due to her distinctive red hair. When faced with the distasteful demand to become his concubine, she cuts off her hair and escapes the country overnight. While fleeing through the forest, she crosses paths with Zen Wistalia, the prince of the neighboring country of Clarines. After Zen eats a poisoned apple that Prince Raji sent to recapture Shirayuki, she quickly uses her herbal knowledge to heal him. Accompanied by Zen and his companions Kiki and Mitsuhide, Shirayuki travels to Clarines, where she hopes to build a future as a court apothecary. As her feelings for Zen grow beyond mere friendship, the two must navigate their different social standings while striving toward their individual goals. Included one-shots: Volume 1: Hachigatsu no Shikisai (Colorful Seasons of August) Volume 2: Bokura wo Tsunaide. (Connect Us) Volume 13: Shizuku no Saki ni (Beyond the Drops) Volume 14: Natsuyasumi 00-nichime (00 Days of Summer Vacation)

A rumor persists that a magician lives inside a tent at an abandoned theme park, and some even insist his tricks are genuine. Yet before every performance, he poses the same question: "Do you believe in magic?" For Yoon Ah-ee, magic feels like a distant dream. Stuck in crushing poverty, she spends every waking hour studying, working, and looking after her younger sister while their parents are absent. She has lost all faith in magic's wonders, just like her skeptical classmate Na Il-Deung, who was raised to see a good education as the only sensible path in life. When Ah-ee accidentally wanders into the abandoned theme park and crosses paths with the magician, her existence is forever altered. Annarasumanara unfolds as a philosophical, heartfelt, and thought-provoking story about what it truly means to grow into the person you wish to become.

Haruto Kirishima leads a peaceful existence in his rural Hiroshima hometown until Yuzuki Eba—an enigmatic city girl—abruptly moves in with him. With her bright and capricious nature, Yuzuki has abandoned her Tokyo life for the calm countryside she fondly recalls from childhood, barging into Haruto's home. Forced into an uncomfortable arrangement, Haruto must endure his high school days alongside this clumsy, freeloading nuisance. Yet as their bond deepens, his heart begins to waver between Yuzuki and his poorly hidden crush—his classmate, Nanami Kanzaki. Though country life may be unhurried and straightforward, the challenges awaiting Haruto are as intricate as a city skyline. Leaning on time's undeniable unpredictability, Kimi no Iru Machi shows how a single day can unexpectedly bring strangers together while another can just as swiftly tear them apart. Included one-shot: Volume 6: Yuna

A young traveling merchant named Kraft Lawrence has grown used to days of wandering and trading with few companions. That changes one unusual day when he finds a naked, wolf-like girl sleeping in his wagon. The beautiful girl, who calls herself Holo, claims to be a local wolf deity worshiped by the villagers as the God of Good Harvest. Year after year, she ensured bountiful harvests, but she has grown tired of fulfilling the wishes of the ungrateful locals. Holo strikes a deal with Lawrence: if he helps her escape the villagers, she will gladly assist him in his merchant ventures. Together, they travel from town to town seeking business, and Lawrence comes to learn both the benefits and hardships of traveling with a proud and cunning wolf goddess.

Risa Koizumi, an unusually tall girl at 172 cm, finds out that her frequent rival Atsushi Ootani, who is quite short at 156 cm, has a crush on her friend. She decides to team up with him because she also likes his friend. However, their plans backfire when their crushes start dating each other. Determined to move on, the pair agree to support one another in finding new romance, all while continuing their usual pattern of constant bickering. Although they repeatedly deny it, Risa and Ootani have more in common than they think: both are self-conscious about their unusual heights, have poor grades, share the same food preferences, and act overly childish. Their antics make them the comedic highlight among their classmates, earning them the label of a comedy duo. Could the love they are seeking be closer than they imagine? Also features the one-shots: Volume 12: Hoshi ni Nattemo Aishiteru and Volume 16: Bokura no Ibasho.