Best Fantasy Manga of 2022

Living in the slums of a wealthy town, Rudo and his foster father Regto try to coexist with the rest of the town's residents, but Rudo despises the wastefulness of the upper class. Ignoring the warnings from those around him, Rudo regularly rummages through the town's garbage in search of anything useful or valuable to save from the "Abyss"—a massive hole where anything considered trash is dumped, including people. Rudo's biological father was one such person, having been thrown into the Abyss after he was accused of murder. One day, after running into a mysterious figure on the way home, Rudo returns to find Regto's dying body on the floor. He is immediately found at the scene by the authorities and is charged with murder. No one believes his claims of innocence, and he is thrown into the Abyss. Instead of dying, however, he finds himself in a strange, foul-smelling place surrounded by monsters made out of trash. When Rudo is attacked by said monsters, he is saved by a man named Enjin, who reveals himself to be a "Cleaner"—someone who uses special weapons called Vital Instruments to combat these creatures. In order to get his revenge on the one who killed Regto, Rudo reluctantly becomes a Cleaner to fight his way back up and out of the Abyss.

Maga—dangerous and powerful creatures resurrected from the corpses of people and animals—are behind mysterious disappearances every day. Humans and the lower-class beastmen who possess both human and animal characteristics reside in the bustling Gokuraku district, where the situation is no different; in fact, it is strangely becoming worse. In the district lies a peculiar office, used by the Gokurakugai Troubleshooter Agency. Cool-headed leader Tao and intuitive young Alma, its only two members, take on any job that requires them to look into private incidents or even track down missing people—if their clients can afford it, that is. But the two hide a secret: their main objective is to investigate the disturbing cases caused by maga and eradicate every single one of them.Included one-shot: Volume 2: Gokurakugai Sanban-doori no Ken

1-Star heroes are just fodder for learning a boss' attack patterns. That was Seojin Han's philosophy when playing the notoriously difficult game Pick Me Up. But after being transported into the game as one of those 1-star heroes, he's got no choice but to rise in rank and defeat the player controlling him and his party. Can a gacha game character hope to defeat a player akin to being his god?

Jin Runcandel was destined to become the head of his swordmaster clan. But despite his best efforts, he's banished for his shoddy swordsmanship. Though Jin eventually makes a contract with the god Solderet and is freed from the curse that hindered his abilities, he meets a rather unfortunate end. In the next moment, however, he awakens as a baby, long before his tragedy began. Armed with a second chance and some new powers, Jin swears to fulfill his destiny and become the ultimate swordmaster.

Abandoned at birth in a stable, Shirone was raised by commoners. As a child, he had gifted insight and had learned how to read. After visiting the city, he finally saw the workings of magic, which he was immensely curious about. This inspired Shirone's dream of becoming a mage. However, the city was a place with a cruel and rigid social hierarchy. Here, Shirone discovered the hidden side of the world before he even reached adulthood... Will Shirone be able to achieve his dream of becoming a mage in this twisted world?

In the web novel Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse, people are forced to fight monsters and each other for coins, food, and—ultimately—survival. While mysterious "Constellations" watch the unwilling participants for their own entertainment, one man emerges as the protagonist: Yoo Joonghyuk, who repeatedly lives and dies in an endless struggle to close the book on this indiscriminate torture. Kim Dokja has lived a challenging and action-packed life through Joonghyuk for over a decade. While other readers abandoned the story early on, Dokja has remained its sole reader until the very last chapter. At that time, he receives a puzzling message from the author, and the novel's inhumane world suddenly becomes reality. As the only person aware of what lies ahead, Dokja realizes that he must utilize his omniscience to navigate the deadly scenarios and stay alive. Dokja was never meant to play a main part, but in defiance of those who wish to spell his fate, he might just have to take the lead in writing his own conclusion.

The warrior Hamel went on an adventure with his companions to defeat the Demon Kings, but after dying just before the final battle with the Demon Kings... "Waaah." "What the fuck!" He was reincarnated as the descendant of his fellow warrior, Vermouth. Hamel—no, Eugene Lionheart was reborn with the blood of the Great Vermouth. "My previous body held enough talent to be mistaken for a genius, but this one... there's just no comparison." With a body that had higher specs right from the start, he showed explosive growth that far surpassed what he had achieved in his previous life. Along with the unknown reasons for his reincarnation came the uneasy reality of having to coexist with demons. He was faced with a world that made him question everything he had believed in. Gifted with this extraordinary body since birth, as Eugene, he begins walking down the unfinished path from his previous life.

Wouldn't it be a dream to wake up in a world of your own creation? For Hajin Kim, it's nothing short of a nightmare. With no clue how or why he's been transported into his web novel—as a mere extra, no less!—Hajin has little choice but to see his story through until the end. Lucky for him, as the author, he knows this perilous world like the back of his hand. But when discrepancies in the plot begin popping up left and right, Hajin soon realizes that things aren't quite so simple, after all...

No one knows his true name or face, but he has gained global notoriety under many aliases—from Gerrard to Machiavelli. His newest identity is that of Ludger Cherish, a young and talented professor at the prestigious Ceoren Academy. However, what seems like an easy teaching job turns out to be anything but. The original Ludger Cherish was far more than he appeared, entangled in a secret society with unclear motives. Doing whatever it takes to protect his identity, the man of many faces must walk a tightrope between two opposing groups that would kill him at the slightest slip-up.

A mysterious god-like entity has given Ed a crazy ordeal in which he must be expelled from a party of 100 heroes in 100 different worlds in order to return to his original world, but he finally achieves the condition and is able to return to his original world. However, as a final additional condition, he is given the chance to "see what happens to the worlds he has been banished from."... This is where he learns a shocking fact. "All right, I'll do it! I'll go there again and be banished for good all over again!" Only this time he is accompanied to these 100 worlds by a former companion... "Fufu~, don't worry! I'll be with you this time!" "Yeah, I'm more worried..."

Pyo Wol was an orphan who wandered around the continent until he bumped into a mysterious man and lost consciousness. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a dark, confined space with only one iron door for an exit. Wol survives the next several grueling months, trying to keep a cool head and stay in shape. When the iron door finally opens, he discovers he's not the only one in this miserable situation. A group of masked people has kidnapped 300 children to train them into human weapons. Wol must fight and kill the others, for only a handful of the strongest will be selected. Will Wol be able to become one of the chosen and find a way to free himself from his captors?

In Arboral Year 1294, the world is dominated by nine massive towers known as the Spires, remnants of an ancient civilization. Filled with lost secrets and powerful knowledge, nations struggle to possess them. Luca is a bugler in a mercenary company who wants nothing more than to leave the battlefield behind and become a true musician, a maestro. But marked as one of the enigmatic Branch-hexed, and gifted with the strange ability to see the sound of his instrument, Luca finds himself drawn reluctantly into a war of epic proportions!

When the war between the aboveground and underground ended, humanity was joined by so-called "dungeon babies," those gifted with supernatural abilities and an obsession with the labyrinths below ground. Despite being a dungeon baby, Jinwoo Kim suppressed his instincts, choosing to live an ordinary life as a guide and caring for his family. But when an expedition goes wrong and he somehow ends up becoming the new owner of a labyrinth, he discovers that he cannot ignore his instincts forever...

Centuries ago, humanity's natural enemy, Demons, invaded the world and defeated humanity. The Great Demon Lord and his generals have since dominated the world, while the human race lives on in fear. In desperation, a group of 47 people gathered from around the world undertake a last-ditch effort to save humanity from ultimate annihilation. These heroes swear to defeat the demon army and win back humanity's freedom, but they have no idea the desperate measures that this battle will drive them to embrace...

"Protect the Empire" was considered unbeatable for over a decade until streamer extraordinaire "Mr. Gamer Geek" comes along and defeats the game on its hardest mode. But just when he's about to rest on his laurels, he's sucked into the world of the game by some mysterious figure and thrust into Prince Ash's body! Ash now realizes that every click and command he had mindlessly sent out had real, gruesome costs—including his teammates' lives that he sacrificed for the sake of victory. To make up for his previous actions, Ash promises to keep his whole team alive this time while using his wits and knowledge to survive the hellish onslaught of monsters. But who brought him to this world in the first place, and why? Ash may soon find the answers to these questions—if he can survive the bloody battlefield first!

Before she even knew what marriage was, Bianca de Blanchefort had to leave the lavishness of her home forever and become the wife of Count Zachary de Arno. Her love for the extravagance of her beginnings never waned, and while her husband ignored her, she gained a reputation as a greedy, evil wife. After Zachary tragically died on the battlefield, Bianca—without an heir to secure her place in the palace—lost everything and became a beggar. In a twist of fate, Bianca is granted another chance at life. She awakens as an 18-year-old again and swears to shed her arrogance and immaturity this time around. However, Bianca still fears meeting the same unbecoming future and puts up a brave front, even when asking Zachary for an heir. With a husband who refuses to touch her, Bianca is hopeless. As she turns to other means to save herself, she begins to see Zachary in a new light, wondering if his indifference may have been a veil for something deeper.

Mere moments before her death, Korean architecture student Yoon Dohee has an epiphany: those around her regard her as nothing more than a pushover and someone utterly undeserving of respect. A chance to turn her life around comes in the most unexpected form when she is reborn as Deborah Seymour, a brazen and scornful villainess from a dark reverse harem novel. When one of the male leads acquired a rare pink diamond for the heroine, Mia Binoche, Deborah's envy sparked an abusive campaign that eventually landed her in an isolated monastery. For this incarnation of Deborah, being a villainess from such a prominent and wealthy family is living the dream. People expect nothing from her, and she gets to relax and be pampered to her heart's content. She is personally disinterested in the diamond, so she simply has to avoid crossing paths with Mia and her love interests. But if Deborah, as a noble lady, refuses to marry, she will meet the same pitiful ending regardless. To secure her independence, Deborah needs money and help—and a mysterious hooded information broker may prove to be her lifeline.

After "outboxer009" wakes up in the body of Yuder Bayel from Legend of Heroes 2, he soon discovers that his rival "sandstorm" has also entered the game world as Cordelia Chace. These top-two-ranked old pros come to realize that navigating this game world is much harder than just pointing and clicking. With the apocalyptic conclusion of the game looming before them, they'll have to combine his quick wit, her foul mouth, and both their gamer mindsets to make a new, less cataclysmic ending.

For as long as he can remember, Woonhwi So has been the black sheep of his family and clan. Because his spirit core has been destroyed, he has no choice but to serve as a third-rate spy for the Blood Cult. One day, during his mission to find the legendary Blade Scroll, he is killed and sent 10 years into the past. When Woonhwi regains consciousness, he realizes that he has been sent back to the day he was kidnapped by the Blood Cult, and that he has gained a mysterious ability to hear the voice of a dagger.

Raizou Takakura, who died of a heart attack, was reborn in another world as the third son of a penurious farmer. He is known as Walm in his second life and he has been living as a soldier for the Highserk Empire, a small country currently being invaded by the surrounding large countries. To survive, Walm was forced to spend his days killing people left and right. The Highserk empire decided to point their fangs toward their enemy and plotted a great invasion battle against the principality of Myard as well as the Ferrius Kingdom. This led to Walm being covered in blood and witnessing the dying breaths of comrades and enemies alike, as well as learning of the fine line between life and death.

Nobody understands why the brilliant six-year-old Inés Valeztena de Perez picked Cárcel Escalante de Esposa as her fiancé. Considering her family's high status, she could have easily married the crown prince and led an outstanding life as the empress. Cárcel grew up believing that Inés loved him deeply, despite her eerily emotionless demeanor and understated style. But, put in a difficult position against his will, he harbored no affection for such a dull person and instead turned to countless other women behind her back. Cárcel's whole reality crumbles when Inés catches him in the act—because she does not care whatsoever. She intends to turn a blind eye to his infidelity even after tying the knot, which leaves Cárcel in complete disbelief. Inés' indifference ignites a perverse desire inside Cárcel, and he abruptly loses interest in everyone else. However, there is a reason behind each of Inés' actions, and it all started when she took her own life for the very first time.

"The Age of Transmigration" is a concerning, worldwide phenomenon where people on the verge of death receive spam text messages about a life insurance package. With her life cut short, a woman receives the cryptic message before waking up in the afterlife. There, she is given a choice on which fictional world she would like to be reincarnated in. After dealing with many hardships in her past life, the woman desires to be a child in a fantasy romance novel, famously known for having easy-going plots. To her misfortune, she is transmigrated into Infinite Returns to Save the World—a story with S-Class difficulty, where death is a reoccuring instance. She awakens as Ailette Rodeline, the daughter of a servant who works under an aristocratic family. In the original novel, the next family head canonically abused the main character, leading toward the tragic ending of the entire household. Luckily, the woman's life as Ailette is not as doomed as she thought; without her knowledge, she had bought the insurance's full package. As a result, she is given an unimaginable amount of cash to spend on skills and other special items. In order to avoid Ailette's original deadly fate, the woman must become strong and fend for herself.

When Urich's daring attempt to venture near the ominous Sky Mountains with his friends gets him kidnapped, he learns that there is a new world that exists beyond his own. After a hellish fight with his attackers, he frees himself and sets off on a journey to explore this new realm. There, he encounters allies and enemies alike, each meeting helping him learn more about the civilization and grow as a warrior. But even Urich has yet to find out where his quest will truly take him...

Years ago, a nobleman abandoned his wife, Ludia, and their daughter, Lyrica Vans. Without him, Ludia and Lyrica lost their status and were forced to move to the slums. While Ludia drinks her sorrows away, eight-year-old Lyrica works tirelessly to pay their living expenses, refusing to hate her mother for her neglect and abuse. One day, a drunk Ludia falls asleep and wakes up a changed woman. Lyrica believes she is dreaming when her mother suddenly embraces her, with a string of apologies and loving words pouring from her lips. After Ludia exclaims that she will marry the dread emperor Alterres Takar, Lyrica is sure her mother has lost her mind. However, Ludia quickly secures her marriage to Alterres, confessing to Lyrica that it is truthfully a contractual relationship. In no time, Lyrica is thrown into the role of princess, surrounded by glittering riches beyond her wildest dreams. Life as royalty is full of rules and devious schemes, but Lyrica's refreshing honesty and pure heart soon become the most precious things in the palace.

After falling asleep while reading her favorite novel, a woman awakens as Hestia, a background character with no family but an immense fortune. Basking in her newfound riches, she makes it her lifelong mission to observe the protagonists—Diana, Helios, and Caelus—from the sidelines as the plot unfolds. Hestia especially loves and cheers for Caelus, the complex second lead. However, events take a dark turn when Caelus resorts to unethical methods to defeat the villains, which causes a rift between him and the main couple. A year after Helios and Diana's wedding, Hestia resides in a run-down cabin in the forest, having depleted her wealth. By chance, she meets Caelus; abandoned by his best friend and the woman he loves, he is now a husk of his former self. As Caelus dies by suicide mere moments later, Hestia desperately curses those who wronged him and wishes to avenge him. Her prayers are answered, and she travels back in time before Caelus' life crumbles. Without a second to waste, Hestia initiates a plan that will ensure everlasting happiness for her beloved Caelus.

Moa Son, an ordinary office worker, wakes up in a dungeon in the middle of the night and awakens as a collecting hunter. After barely making it out alive, she falls into the same dungeon but gets rescued by the first-ranked hunter, Jihan Seo, and becomes bound up with him. Now he's offering to make her strong on this one condition—"Promise me you will do your best to kill the bosses of all the dungeons that exist in the world." Come again?

Midori Natori has been giving it all at her hum-drum office job for three years now, only to have the rug pulled out from under her when she's suddenly laid off. But just as she's feeling lost and adrift, she is summoned to the world of the visual novel she's currently playing, Fairy Tale of Jewels. And the person who summoned her there? None other than the game's cruel villainess, Lapis Tenebrau, who's trying to take down the main cast of the game. Driven into a corner, Natori pretends she's psychic and uses her knowledge of the game to save Lapis from danger. Now Lapis has taken a shine to her, and is going to make Natori her private secretary?! Can Natori handle this new job, and her growing feelings for her villainess boss?

A love story between a human and a skeleton.

Oriana, a seventeen-year-old magic student, suddenly dies alongside her boyfriend, Vincent. However, she returns from death in the body of her seven-year-old self with the memories of her past life intact—except for the knowledge of what killed her. She fantasizes for years about reuniting with her beloved, but when they finally meet, Vincent doesn’t remember her! Can she make Vincent fall in love with her again and avoid the death that started this mysterious time loop?

In a world where the Han Empire never fell, martial arts is a power used to squeeze people dry. So when a new continent is discovered, both good and evil men alike flee to settle there and escape the tyranny of the Emperor, opening up the era of a Martial Wild West. In the turbulent frontier, Zhang Qian is a man that reincarnated from our cushy, modern world, but his new world is nothing like the fantastical world he dreamed about from reading martial arts novels. While the martial arts in his new world are powerful, they are also too crude and lack elegance. And so Qian journeys along the continent for his dream of bringing true martial arts back to the new realm.

Lucille was unfairly fired from her job as a maid because of her employer's sexual harassment. She finds a new job in a distant rural town at the home of Firis, a quiet and unfriendly magician who lives alone in a forest. Spending her days investigating the mysterious Firis's preferences is not bad; it's actually quite enjoyable! However, it seems that her previous employer is trying to find and bring her back?!

Ever since Shuryna "Shushu" West started dreaming of her past life, she resolved to change her fate. In the dark romance novel she had read as Han Yeahn, Shushu was a side character, approached by the obsessive love interests only so they could get closer to the heroine, Hestia "Hess" Flauid. To save her family from bankruptcy and avoid an arranged marriage, when it is time to enroll at the academy at the age of 13, Shushu chooses the most profitable but unusual profession for a girl—swordsmanship. As a side hustle, Shushu works under the pseudonym "Schneeballen" as a crafty mage. Her many interests lead her to cross paths with the male leads, but no matter how much they follow her—undoubtedly to have her play Cupid—Shushu is determined not to play matchmaker and focus on her own happiness instead.

It was inevitable that the road walked by Teacher and Shiva would be sorrowful, but not all of their times together were bleak. Many of their days held quiet, shimmering joy; comfortable days of sunlight and soft breezes where nothing of significance happened. Days that remained unseen...until now. These are the side stories of two people—one human, one inhuman—who linger in the hazy twilight that separates night from day.

In the imperial capital of Ventfleur, the newly enthroned Princess Natalia is approached by the inscrutable and suspect Sister Sara... The fantasy yuri adventure of a lonesome princess and meddlesome nun!

Ever dreamt of waking up inside a novel? For Kim Roksu, this dream becomes reality when he finds himself in the shoes of Cale Henituse, the lazy, wine-loving son of a count—and punching bag for the novel's destined hero. Determined to dodge his grim fate, this new Cale Henituse vows to rewrite his story, aiming for a life of leisure far from heroic deeds and inevitable beatdowns. But the path to a peaceful life is twisted by irony. As Cale plots his escape from destiny, he inadvertently gathers a motley crew of magical allies—including a haughty baby dragon and two mischievous kitten shapeshifters. Every attempt to avoid heroism entangles him further in a whirlwind of unforeseen adventures, proving that sometimes the best heroes are the ones who resist the call.

Suzume, a 17-year-old girl who lives in a quiet town in Kyushu, encounters a traveling young man who tells her "I'm looking for a door." She follows after him and discovers a weathered door in the ruins in the mountains, as if it were the only thing left standing from a collapse. As if drawn by something, Suzume reaches for the door... Before long, doors begin to open one after another in various parts of Japan. As disasters come from the far side of the doors, the open doors must be closed. The stars, the setting sun, and the morning sky—in that place she wandered into, there was a sky that seemingly blended all of time together. Guided by the mysterious doors, Suzume's "door-locking journey" begins.

A massive asteroid is about to hit earth! Humanity has failed to stop a giant asteroid from plummeting into Earth, and life as we know it has ended. An ordinary Korean office worker named Cheolsu is somehow given the chance to go back in time and prevent this catastrophe from ever happening. Does he have a chance?

I can help you kill your friends. Strange dungeons have started appearing all over the world and wreaking havoc. Yiseon, a guy with the power to rebuild cities, witnesses his friends being turned into the undead. Hyeon, a powerful hunter, comes to him with an interesting proposition. Yiseon has no choice but to accept his offer.

The stories from the "Prologue" and "Episode 1: The Crimson Tyrant" are adapted into a light novel, depicting the story from a unique point of view! (Source: Square-Enix, translated)

Kurumi Tokisaki, a college student with a dark past, works as a detective specializing in crimes involving magical artifacts. A magic bullet fired from an impossible angle, a living doll mixed up in a series of comas, an absurdly expensive meal said to restore one's youth, and a doppelgänger spotted at an all-girls school after an attempted suicide. Magical artifacts make the impossible possible, but Kurumi won't let that stop her from solving the case! (Source: Yen Press)

Due to her lack of magical powers, the count's daughter Sufia has been trapped in her house from a young age. Upon her father's remarriage, she sees her new stepmother and stepsister. From this comes a revelation: she has been reincarnated in an otome game. According to the storyline, Sufia will suffer under the thumb of her stepsister, Lily... But with her positivity and composure, Sufia is unmoved! Furthermore, in order to save her favorite character, Evuard, who is bound to fall into evil, Sufia begins manipulating her sister from behind the scenes. Sufia succeeds in preventing his downfall. After using her knowledge of the game, Sufia acquires the title of "saint" and enrolls in the magic academy! No matter what, she resolves to save the other characters as well! Thereupon, perplexed by Sufia's actions, Evuard begins showing an interest in her...? This is the story of an overwhelmingly positive heroine seizing her own happiness! (Source: Overlap, translated)

"This world, it's like it spins just for me──" Mitsuba, the girl who awoke from a long sleep with an uncanny power, didn't find her stepmother too thrilled about her newfound abilities. Thanks to her stepmother's scheming, Mitsuba not only lost her noble title but also ended up enrolling in a military academy. However, within Mitsuba dwelled hazy memories of a different world and the unwittingly triggered power of a curse. This is the story of a girl, navigating life with extraordinary abilities, feared by those around her, as she boldly carves her own path in a world filled with unique challenges. (Source: Kadokawa, translated)

**“I’ll never love you.”** Unused to humans, Abigail panics when her new husband declares that he’ll never love her on the first night of their political marriage. Does that mean she’s not allowed to eat?! A new twist on the food-based romance tale, starring an earl’s daughter who was the Monster King in her previous life! After years of neglect by her old family, Abigail will charm her sincere military husband and his household one bite at a time and find her happy ending! (Source: Cross Infinite World)

The story centers on a gamer with the player name Zephyrus, who has played the legendary dungeon-crawl game Dungeon Shuukatsu no Susume (Encouragement for Job Hunting in Dungeons or Dan-katsu for short) for over 8,000 hours, but he suddenly loses all his save data and dies of shock. When Zephyrus wakes up, he realizes that he is reincarnated in the unconquered world of the Dan-katsu game. He immediately gets the classic, strongest job as a hero, and starts "a new game" in the world of Dan-katsu. (Source: Anime News Network, edited)