Best Adventure Manga of 2003

Warmhearted Syaoran has always been friends with Sakura—the princess of the Clow Kingdom who holds an extraordinary power capable of changing the world. When a mysterious man attempts to monopolize Sakura's ability, her memories scatter throughout different worlds in the form of feathers. To save Sakura, Syaoran seeks help from the Dimensional Witch and meets two other travelers—Kurogane and Fai D. Flourite. Kurogane, a capable fighter and ninja, has been banished from his homeworld and wishes to return. In contrast, Fai, a magician from Celes, wants to traverse different worlds to avoid his home and past. As the price to cross dimensions, each of the three must sacrifice their most valued possession. For Sakura's sake, Syaoran agrees to give away their relationship as payment to the Dimensional Witch. With firm determination, Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fai begin journeying through numerous worlds to fight against their ill-fated destinies.

Negi Springfield, a 10-year-old wizard who recently graduated from Merdiana Magic Academy in Wales, hopes to achieve two things—to find his missing father, who was once known as the Thousand Master, and to become a Magister Magi, someone who helps the everyday world through magic. To reach his latter goal, he is assigned one last task: to teach English at a middle school in Japan. Much to his surprise and dismay, he not only discovers that his homeroom class consists of 31 girls, but also ends up revealing his true identity as a magician to Asuna Kagurazaka, one of his new students. Negi must now negotiate with the girl and face his most difficult challenge yet—to keep his identity a secret as he tackles magical threats both from within and outside of Mahora Academy, all the while keeping a watchful eye out for his lost father.

Alexander the Great is a name known around the world as belonging to one of the greatest military commanders in history. But due to the grandeur of his name and enormity of his achievements, his right-hand man Eumenes remains a lesser-known historical figure. Eumenes led a turbulent life, overcoming numerous struggles and traveling great distances to meet and befriend many of the most influential names of his time. One does not become the right hand of Alexander the Great by mere birth. Eumenes fought for his position with fierce talent, intellect, and confidence. This is his story.

Taisuke Kanou is your average 16-year-old student. He has two close friends, Hirose and Megumi. Hirose has trouble with bullies, but Taisuke is always there to defend him, even though he just winds up getting beaten instead of Hirose. During class one day, Taisuke is hit by something unworldly and for that split second, he sees a vision of the universe. As he's walking home from school, he sees a girl fall and die in front of him, but his first thought is jealousy. He later finds out that the strange sensation that hit him is spreading throughout Japan. Those who are struck by it either commit suicide or "evolve," but the comrades that evolve usually have dark intentions for the rest of the world.

Travel back to the mystical Universe of the Four Gods in this prequel to hit the hit series Fushigi Yugi! When schoolgirl Takiko Okuda attempts to destroy her father's translation of The Universe of the Four Gods, she is instead sucked into the story, becoming the Priestess of Genbu in an epic journey to find the seven Celestial Warriors! In her first encounter, she meets the mysterious outlaw Limdo, a Celestial Warrior with a tattoo of the Chinese character for "woman" on his chest. Limdo can not only summon the wind as one of his special powers, but he can also transform into a woman! Takiko meets up with the bowman, Chamka, who is hunting Limdo. It seems Chamka is one of the seven Celestial Warriors as well...Included one-shot: Volume 6: Ayashi no Ceres Gaiden

Usagi is the granddaughter of the leader of a prestigious ninja village, but she's such a klutz that she's never made it out of the kiddie class. Frustrated with Usagi's lack of progress, her grandfather sends her to marry Lord Hanzo and have lots of ninja babies. But the lord has no interest in her or her childbearing potential!

Rakan Sawa is a normal high school student living a quiet life alone, tending to his many lush plants. This peace is disrupted when a foreign man and several dangerous creatures suddenly crash into his garden. The man immediately turns his odd plant-like weapon on Rakan, but after seeing it respond to Rakan's touch, his attitude completely changes. The man, Chigusa, declares that Rakan is a precious "sanome," a person who can cultivate plant life at will. Being the last known sanome, Chigusa vows to protect Rakan at all costs and asks for his support. Chigusa is an infamous outlaw that aims to destroy the "ayame," creatures that siphon life from his dying world, including the current prince who oddly looks exactly like Rakan. Rakan travels to Chigusa's desert world that is filled with despondent people, strange creatures, spirits, and magic. Along the way, they gather more followers and supporters in their quest to return green to the barren, decaying land.

The world once fought a war with ten other worlds that exist alongside ours. That war was known as the Concept War and sixty years have passed since it was won. It was all kept secret and time has passed to the present without the ordinary people knowing. After the death of his grandfather, the high school student Sayama Mikoto is suddenly summoned by the giant corporation IAI. He learns this world is headed for destruction due to the acceleration of the Minus Concepts. To prevent this, negotiations must be undertaken with the survivors of the other parallel worlds so their ten concepts can be released. And so Sayama is caught up in the final battle to clean up after the Concept War which left behind so much enmity.

Ha-Ru is the daughter of a family that rules a remote island--she is also the heiress to this secluded land, something that Ha-Ru's half sister, Mi-Ru, resents. When Mi-Ru becomes upset and runs away, Ha-Ru follows her--and magically they are ushered into a foreign desert! And in this land, it's survival of the fittest!