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Fullmetal Alchemist ✔

Yeah, I finally got around to reading the manga that has the anime that everyone and their dog has been talking about and says is the best. You'll be shocked to find out that, yeah, it's pretty fucking good.

Ed and Al are cool and all and their story is incredibly fun to follow, but really the highlight here is the pacing of the story and its many side characters. The story feels incredibly well thought out and cuts it to the bone. The sheer amount of story we cover in a breif 108 chapters is insane to think about, and there's like 100 named characters.

Mustang and Hawkeye are perfect, both Armstrong's are electric, Lan Fan might be the coolest person ever, Ling and Greed are a compelling duo, and I haven't even brought up any of the many villains yet. It's awesome.

I do, however, have a couple very small problems with the ending. It doesn't really take away from the enjoyment of the manga as a whole, but do know that I have thoughts. There will probably be a video about this one one day.

Make the Exorcist Fall in Love

This manga caught my eye initially purely based off of its unique artstyle. The lines are thicker, but the shapes and characters are softer. The series, however, is sparse in terms of softness, and while its characters do have moments of peace, the story is anything but peaceful.

Make the Exorcist Fall in Love follows the young Priest and his protection of Imuri, a demon girl sent by Satan whom he thinks is an innocent bystander caught up in a war of attrition between not only Satan and his Sins and the humans and their Priests, but also the Witches of the Sabbath.

And while these threats are very real, they are often overshadowed by the depth of the relationships between the characters on different sides of this eternal battle. All of the characters are electrifying, especially Imuri and Verg, and their decisions never fail to enthral me. I hope this story is far from over.

09/06/2026 - Removed star from name. After the very good leadup to Hell Arc and all the things that happened in it, everything after has been a bit of a mixed bag, so I don't know how I feel. I do love the yaoi though so it's still pretty peak.

Petals of Reincarnation

Petals of Reincarnation is an odd manga for me to recommend because I’m not entirely sure what part about it I like and there are some pretty wild warnings I need to get out of the way. The characters in this story all claim the power of a “Great” through their magic system (and some even become them) and it’s very interesting and very clearly well researched. All of the powers are interesting and tailored to a specific aspect of that real person's legacy.

The problem begins when “Greats” can be heroes or villains of history, meaning that some pretty wild characters show up with some pretty insane powers, the easiest example being Hitler and his power of panoptic vision using anything that has a swastika on it. Kinda baller, but also wildly gray area.

The characters are memorable and distinct while the cast grows exponentially, as do the threats the core group comes in contact with, and the threat of death is very real. Characters die and stay dead and that is awesome and twists feel real and earned by the story when friends become villains or villains become friends. A very fun ride.

Supervillian Boy ☆

This will not be the last time I mention his name, but skitty may know ball. With a name like this and the trackrecord that I thought skitty has, I was not expecting anything from this manga. I have never been more mad to enjoy something.

The plot of Supervillian Boy is probably exactly what you expect. It's about an edgy kid with Trauma™ who has a fairly busted (but not too busted) superpower and he decides to be a villain rather than a hero out of distrust of the hero organization. Fairly understandable and expected.

What I did not expect was the quality of just how complex the polotics and worldbuilding was going to be and just how many interconnected characters and events were going to combine into the absolute masterpiece that is this manga.

The main character isn't even the best character, despite being really interesting himself, but instead the lancer and the love interest kinda steal the show. I can't even reduce her to love interest, she's so interesting, and the best fight in the manga is with her versus a child terrorist. The resolution to the fight is so good that I go back to just look at the panels after the fight. It's frustratingly well written.

Yumekui Merry ✔ ☆

Yumekui Merry is my all-timer. It is the first manga I read because of an anime and it was, unbeknownst to me, still ongoing, allowing my first manga to also be a hell of a ride as I watched it go from scan group to scan group, struggling to finish, catching up to the raws only single digit chapters away from the finale.

I love this manga with my whole heart, and with only a jaunty 141 chapters, it breezes right by. It has one of my favorite MC's, commits wholeheartedly to its premise, and sticks the very difficult landing it set up for.

To give a little more of what is actually going on in the story, it starts with our main man Yumeji, a student with friends and hobbies, joining together with Merry, a person not from around these parts, hellbent on send Dream Demons back to the Dream World. They monster-of-the-week their way into an overarching story with many twists and turns and ends with them essentially fighting god. It's awesome.

After the Rain ✔

This manga had me on the edge of my seat right to the end, which is odd, because most of its chapters are structured more as checkpoints than real dramatic or nailbiter moments. The slow and steady pace at which the romance marched felt unstoppable, which was booth enthralling and terrifying.

This was a 45 year old manager who is just trying to collect his paycheck getting asked out and pursued by a 17 year old girl who is a high school junior. Bad bad bad bad wrong bad no!

These two characters are slowly defined through repetition and go through tremendous growth, especially our main girl, and throughout the story it always feels teetering close to an uncrossable line. However, the story does end in a hopeful manner and in a way I think many people would be happy with. It’s not bittersweet, it isn’t wrong, it’s certainly not bad, but perfect.

Hope You're Happy, Lemon ☆

Hope You’re Happy, Lemon is a body swap story that feels like it was actually thought about before writing. The swaps happen right from the get go, not between two crushes but of exes who haven't spoken in years. The swaps happen every other day so they are forced to become closer, but at arms length, and this setup also gives way to strategy as they essentially have to “share” their bodies.

All of the characters are college aged and speak honestly so often that it is a breath of fresh air. You know when you read a manga and you can’t stand it because all of the drama of the past 30 chapters could have been solved by like, one conversation? This manga is whatever the opposite of that is. Misunderstandings still happen but characters just like, talk, and things get figured out. It’s so nice.

All of the characters that are part of this slowly created love dodecahedron are easy to root for and have multiple potential places that I would be happy if they ended up. So thoughtfully crafted, and such fun dialogue, and I didn’t even get a chance to mention the art! It’s simply fantastic. Thank you so much skitters for showing me this.

Seven Sleeping Beauties

So like, I’ll be honest. I thought this was gonna be a pretty trashy harem manga with decent art. This was like half right. It is still more ecchi than it needs to be, and it is still a harem, but the largest improvement is an actual MC and an actual plot.

Sir Alec, our MC, is the most genuine, thoughtful, real person in a harem I have read in a long time, maybe ever. He has thoughts, is respectful of women, has flaws and makes mistakes, but grows and learns. His chemistry is believable with all of the girls, his interactions are always cute, and he’s only a little dense.

The plot is also very interesting. There’s both political drama from Alec’s home country wanting to invade and also the question of the curse that put a whole kingdom to sleep. It’s awesome! Why aren't there more harems like this?

Oh yeah, and the girls are hot or whatever. (My favorites are Chiara and Flora.)

Walking Home with You ☆

This manga is the distilled essence of what most people want out of a romance manga. It's cute, there's no drama cooked up by other characters for no reason, there's no dumb communication problems, the characters are the perfect amount of dense/oblivious to not feel stupid while keeping the will-they-won't-they fresh, and did I mention that they're both cute?

Most importantly, the two main characters are interesting people with lives outside of each other that come up within the story. The guy is a first year who badly wants to play soccer, but has an injury preventing him from playing and so he feels lost as he enters high school. The girl is a second year who is a free spirit who wants a friend to go on little adventures with to find the "romance" in the simple joys of everyday life.

Thus, their combination in the Going Home Club and the hijinks they get up to while their friendship blooms before anyone gets any idea about romance, is incredibly sweet. I really like this one, and apparently, it's going to get an anime!

Yancha Gal no Anjou-san ☆

When I started reading manga initially, I basically only read romance for a bit, and a lot of them were just okay, or I dropped, or both. This manga, however, despite starting out similar to many that I dropped, only got better and better with time and I can confiidently say is one of the better ensemble-long-running-romance manga.

Despite not being completed, the story feels like it could both go on for many more chapters without going stale or end in a dozen chapters with a heartfelt conclusion I'd be happy with. It strikes a perfect balance of progression and evolution while staying true to its original, slice-of-life charm.

Do be warned, though, there's a bit of ecchi in there, nothing too crazy, but it's there. Even with this "downside," though, this series is great as it follows along the highs and lows of a cute high school romance. Just overall very sweet.

You and I are Polar Opposites ✔ ☆

This manga is quick as heck so you better read it. Coming in at only 65 chapters, this manga did the unthinkable: ended high. While I would have loved a dozen or so more chapters to wrap up some of the looser ends, the trajectories and momentum of the finale chapters send off the manga in the best possible way.

While at first, this early ending did annoy me slightly, in retrospect, it was a wise choice. This romance between not just the main two but their many friends and friends they make along the way build out a friend group of misfits that is as colorful and believable as the ones you often find in high school.

The characters are exaggerated in the best ways, leaning more towards endearing than cringey, and are written in a very “this is so me” way that has you relating to many little parts of many characters. It’s great stuff. It’s short. Why are you still here? Go read it!

9/7/26 - Added ☆ to it because how was it not there yet. I've read it twice and I'm watching the anime as it airs and it's perfect. I'm not crying.

Magical Girl Dandelion

The next suggestion on this page is probably a bit more interesting to most people because of how it plays on the formula of the magical girl, but I really like Magical Girl Dandelion because of how much it doubles down on the formula. It's magical girls through and through, and it wears that proudly.

The subject and story of the many evildoers they fight is a bit more nuanced than just a bad guy, but they aren't overly complicated. Rather than fighting to kill it's more like fighting to resolve trauma, which is about as magical girl as it gets. Me when I fight with a smile and my best weapon is my words and a hug. Almost (if not every) fight leaves at least one person in tears and it always hits. I absolutely adore this shit.

Also, a small thing that I like about this one, is that we also get a magical boy and it's given absolutely zero fanfare and is actually just awesome. We just also get a guy in our magical girl group and eveyone is like "yeah, alright." Incredible.

Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. ✔ ☆

Magilumiere takes all of the joy and whimsy and heart of classic magical girl and brings it into the modern day with a tinge of darkness that makes it interesting without being another "omg what if magical girls was messed up and dark?" but instead just adds depth to the world. And then it twists the magical girl group into the concept of tech startups. It's a little unhinged but it works.

I love how much it revels in the joys of old magical stories with transformations, friendship, smiles, never giving up, and the beautiful magic, but then, at the same time, it adds the new stuff of competing companies, the morality and views on fighting, the cost of growth, and the many ways the world can be unfair and leave you with real trauma.

The world can be a very dark place and be brought there by selfish people focused only on growth, but with the right people, with the right attitudes pushing back, with magical girls on the frontline, the world can be a brighter place.

Cosmos ☆

If I was a betting man, which I am not, it would be a hard choice to decide what ongoing manga is likely to end up rating the highest on my list. Of the choices I consider, though, Cosmos is very hard to deny.

There's something just undeniably incredible about the introductory chapter bringing us into a world that we think we have some sort of grip on and then ripping it all away to rebuild it in a way that is interesting to the reader. Every single thing that we think is going to happen seems to go a different direction and it is absolutely captivating. It's especially captivating when the characters doing this are developed and complex enough, even within the first chapter, that we care about the world they live in, and are invested in the upheaval of their status quo.

As they cross into the world of aliens and their job of dealing with their affairs and crimes, the stakes only get higher for our team with each mission, and my love for them only grows. Most of them need a hug. There is still a lot more that this manga has in store for us. Buckle up, because this one is far from over.

Fool Night ☆

Fool Night is an impossibly beautiful manga. I don't think another manga on my recommendations comes close to the consistent, staggeringly high bar of high quality, imaginative art that Fool Night delivers every chapter. It’s also so specific to its story and captures a vibe of both vibrance in organics and the bleakness of the synthetic.

The story of Fool Night takes place at what is essentially the end of the world and the fragile balance of order that remains as things slip deeper and deeper into corruption and chaos. The science fiction elements are detailed but easy to follow, the politics are pervasive, and the ticking clock is loud.

Oh yeah, the story starts with our protagonist essentially getting a two year timer placed on his life, with two years being the generous outcome. Absolute banger.

I recently caught up to the latest chapters after having this on hold for a while, its daunting beauty and complex story keeping me away out of the want to make sure I didn't miss something, but oh boy was I missing this manga. I reread the 100 or so chapters in like 3 work days. It is so insanely well crafted.

Girl Crush

I'm gonna say something a little bold. This is the only good sports manga, and the reason for this is that it's barely about sports.

Part of what makes dance and the idol industry the perfect backdrop for this story is that the performances are incredibly short, barely lasting a couple pages and going maybe a chapter at most, very unlike sports manga which will spend entire arcs in a game. This allows us to spend way more time in the practice and inside the heads of the characters as they navigate the cutthroat world they exist in and what each one wants out of it.

I read this in basically one sitting, and was super not expecting to click with it, but something about the art enticed me to read it and even continue after the first chapter left me feeling a little underwhelmed. In hindsight, hwoever, it is the perfect intro to the story, and the actually well balanced win/loss ratio of our lead makes every win actually feel earned.

A big 'ol thumbs up from me. Read it.

Vinland Saga ✔

So I read Vinland Saga as a book club with my buddy who is way more into it than I am (shoutout ToonD3) and like, yeah, it's a really good manga. It has plenty of arcs that have a wide variety of different depths and plotlines and overall I had a fun time.

While it is ultimately Thorfinns story, I think it's important to point out that the massive ensemble cast was what makes Vinland Saga shine. Having a character to follow along and make the story connect is great and all and ties into a thematic message or whatever but damn I do be loving side chacters. They're just so fun, and there's so many good ones. Askeladd, Throkell, Leaf, Hild, Canute, Bugeyes - literally all heaters.

If you somehow haven't heard of Vinland Saga or are kinda unsure if you want to read it, it's a brisk and easy 220 chapters and if you like stories, you'll probably like it. If you have any interest in history or vikings, you'll probably love it. To me the ending just kinda happens, but otherwise, no notes. A very solid 9/10 the whole way through.

Yona of the Dawn ✔☆

I probably could have put Yona of the Dawn in any one of these categories, but Drama just felt right. This story has action, romance, drama, fantasy, period piece, adventure, and at least two sick as hell pirate arcs. It’s truly insane how much stuff happens in this manga.

Yona, the character, is the perfect character to root for as she grows from a weak, protected princess to a political threat to the man who killed her father. The supporting cast, as it grows, is one of my favorite bands of adventurers I have ever followed, and honestly Hak steals the show. I love him so much he’s so perfect.

If you enjoy reading manga and can actually read on a monthly schedule, I encourage you to try out Yona of the Dawn and really, even if you aren’t great with monthly releases, start it anyway. You will not regret it.

8/17/25 - I am rereading this to catch up with some friends in a psuedo-book-club (psuedo harem reference spotted) and I can in fact confirm that this might actually be the best of all time. The only thing I forgot was that Yun is my perfect woman, and by that I mean he's a man who can cook. This series might be perfect.

12/19/25 - It finished and I sobbed.

Centuria

Centuria might as well be the sparknotes of a longer story with the speed at which it gives you something and then either rips it away, compounds on it, flips it, baits you, or otherwise goes absolutely goofy mode on an idea, character, plot point, whatever.

Whenever I look at the chapter numbers I'm always shocked its not double because so much has occurred and the world feels so lived in and expansive. The amount and depth of characters, the complicated, overlapping power systems, the countries and their relations, the politics within the main kingdom, everything is immaculately crafted.

However, it feels like all of what I’ve read is a prelude to the actual story. While the manga has used some excellent use of foreshadowing chapters and chapters ahead of reveals, everything feels like the inciting incident of our story isn’t even the real inciting incident and merely backstory to real one, approaching us at mach seven.

I love it. Timeskips in the moment feel rushed and lame but in aggregate the story's depth outweighs them in spades. Absolute master class and I can’t wait to hit whatever we’re headed at.

Kindergarten Wars

So back when I started this manga, it had about 12 chapters translated using pretty rough MS Paint skills and Comic Sans so when I say that even from the beginning this shit had me hooked, you know I’m not lying. This is the epitome of over-the-top and flashy combat but commits just as hard to the characters' relationships that creates some of the most gangbuster panels I have ever laid eyes on.

I mean, even the premise is something to behold: The world's strongest killers are given a chance of redemption by guarding a kindergarten of the world's most important children and surviving for a year - and one year is a lot harder than it first looks. The comedy and action that come from the teachers pulling off the most insane stunt to kill a threat while making the children feel like nothing is wrong is nothing short of mental gymnastics that even a conspiracy theorist would have trouble making.

The inventive imagination of the mangaka for fresh action and comedy only heightens the soft romances that take place in the background of a very dark world. It’s great, and it’s in its final arc too.

The Kingdoms of Ruin ☆

The Kingdoms of Ruin might just be the single most overkill story I have ever read, and I know what I already said about Kindergarten Wars. A two person war waged on all of humanity waged by the human apprentice of a witch joined by a witch who hates her specialty magic and whose specific overall goal is the end of all humanity - oh and by the way humanity has Mega Science Tech™ by the way.

The worldbuilding on display is expansive, the fights are incredible, and the two leads are exceedingly lovable. While Doroka is the more obviously lovable one, her charm, even without magic, is able to change our MC Adonis into a much kinder and more interesting character and one I can root for in the more recent chapters of the manga.

I love science versus magic and this manga is that in abundance. It’s beyond edgy but I kinda love how hard it commits to it. I even own this one physically.

MAD ☆

This used to be in the bonus section. I was wrong to ever doubt you, MAD.

If I was to be really reductive, I would just say that if you really like Fujimoto and his work on the good parts of Chainsaw Man, this is like a slightly toned back verison of that. To be less reductive, this shit absolutely rips.

MAD is an absolutely electric time as our main lad John does what he can to survive in a world beyond the end of the world and slowly, very slowly, rises up to face many of the problems that threaten both him and the people slowly gathering around him. It's all well and good to be pesimistic alone, but when you suddenly have the ability to save the ones that reminded you that people can be warm and caring instead of cold and selfish, it gets a lot harder.

John is an incredible lead and his relucatnace and fear make a lot of sense in this awful world, and it takes a long time before going beyond surviving and actually living seems even possible. This ones art is especially fantastic, and I would love to own it physically, but they decided to release in French so I will simply cry instead.

The Witch and the Mercenary

So I usually wouldn't put something like this in my awesome and flawless reccomendations. It's a fantasy world in which there are adventurer guilds with ranks and the main character, a mercenary who weilds a "dual blade" which is just two giant broadswords duct taped together, is traveling with a hot witch who is centuries old and seems to maybe be veering towards yandere territory. It's also based off of a light novel. This should be bad, but it's not.

The problem is that the main character, Zig, is endlessly entertaining as he reacts to all of the insane things as he should in his head, but keeps a cool and level head as his outward expression. This combined with his combat ability as a mercenary that has been built over many years in the business and only just barely keeping above his opponents makes him a much easier character to root for than a random kid gifted overwhelming power.

This also makes his pairing with the hot witch with overwhelming power due to defending herself from witch hunts for 300 years all the more interesting as rather than relishing in the power, we see a lot more of trying to get Siasha to hold back than let loose.

Good dynamic, good action, hot witch. Nice.

I Want To Make The Losing Heroine Win!! /// The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún /// The Voynich Hotel

They could have been so good.

Sorry, but I am still so mad about these. These were both cancelled before their time and I could not be more upset about it. I will never forgive the manga industry for these fatal mistakes they have made. Otr of the Flame's mangaka should have been allowed to write a story without a Sword of Damocles above him at every chapter, and its small band of characters should have been allowed to grow. The art was so good! The story and magic was interesting! Fylgja was perfect!

And oh my god I found NakiNagi like a month before it was canned and I miss it dearly. Reading Otr of the Flame from chapter one and seeing the sword lower closer was painful, yes, but NakiNagi getting canclled is a tradgedy. How am I supposed to live in the world in which a slow burn, soft magic, rom-com about an immortal sea witch slowly learning what love and humanity is by watching and helping an enthusiastic girl try to talk to her classmate she has a crush on was cancelled? This is the end for me.

I'm over it. I'm fine. :(

Otr of the Flame /// NakiNagi

Wait that's not manga!

Brother, I am well aware. I don't quite have enough anime that I truly, unequivocally recommend for its own whole page. It's going to live here and you're going to have to learn to live with that. I wish I did, but I don't have as much time as i used to to watch anime. All of these are complete and theyre all my absolute favorite so don't worry about searching for symbols on this page. Assume I love each one so so so much.

The Big O (and The Big O II)

Have you ever considered how much fun it would be if Batman had a robot maid sidekick and had a giant robot? Because that gets us about 80% of the way to the The Big O. It takes place in Paradigm City, the City of Amnesia and follows (brace yourself) Roger Smith as he detectives his way through negotiating between people, as that’s his job. He’s a negotiator.

This job usually ends up with him in a giant mech suit called the same thing as the shows name and is awesome every single time. While the show's first season is almost entirely episodic as it introduces new characters and we familiarize ourselves with the world, the second season fully commits to a longer scale mystery about why this is the City of Amnesia.

There is endless lore to this show that can be dug up, and some really good youtube videos too, but just consuming the show without the extra homework is rewarding enough as it is. Just like in Batman, the many villains are the star of this show. An impeccable snowstorm marathon show (too specific?).

Gurren Lagann

This one comes with homework. That’s your warning.

Gurren Lagann is the mecha anime by Gainax. No buts. This show is incredible from start to finish and is the purest form of the “power of friendship” shown in the best possible way. People die. The world is bleak. They barely scrape by 90% of the time. But they get back up, and they keep trying, because that is how a fucking drill works baby.

It is such an unbelievably intoxicating ride with hot characters left and right, an emotionally resonant story, and sick as hell giant robots. I am also genuinely worried I might accidentally be cribbing from the homie BREADSWORD as I write this.

The homework, for Gurren Lagann, is to watch this video. It is the best video on YouTube not made by me and I have watched or listened to it probably a dozen times. Does watching it make the show better? I don’t know. Is it important to watch for the greater context and human story of a creator who shows just how good the emotional storytelling in a silly show about fighting robots is for dealing with grief? 100%

Violet Evergarden

I’ll say it. This was the anime that made me cry for the first time in, like, five years. I did not have the most healthy relationship with my own emotional intelligence as a teenager. This show, however, helped to start to change that.

Violet Evergarden is a slow and patient show that delicately portrays a number of heavy topics through the lens of our main girl Violet as she turns from a military tool into a person. We get to watch as Violet, who has gone through so much herself, writes letters for those who cannot write and must imbue the words with feelings she has never known and watch as those feelings slowly begin to wear away at her machine-like personality.

It’s a beautiful story and I personally recommend only watching the one season of anime. The first movie is fine but I haven’t seen the second movie because I don’t like the direction it takes. Lucky for us, though, the anime's one season is a perfect story as is, so that’s that!