Manga is a Japanese form of art that is slowly gaining popularity in the East and West. What sets the manga apart from comics is its unique art style.
The history of Japanese manga dates back to the 12th century. During that time, they were created in the form of scrolls.
Manga is available in a wide variety of topics, from basketball and football to superheroes, aliens, and magic. So, let’s discuss some of the best bara manga that represents the pinnacle of the Japanese Art Style.
20. Inuyashiki
The story of Inuyashiki takes place after two people, Ichiro Inuyashiki, a 58-year-old man, and Hiro Shishigami, a teenager, are hit with an extraterrestrial blast.
But, after discovering that their bodies are now equipped with alien technology, their lives take a new turn. Two of them walked very different paths after that incident.
One became an extraterrestrial, and the other used his powers to help others. Inuyashiki has a very decent art style and the story is very beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.
If you are a manga fan, then you can’t afford to miss this masterpiece, which follows the story of two different people who were once at the same point, but their approach toward life now places them on very different sides.
19. Gantz
In the world of Grantz, Japan is getting attacked by horrible monstrosities, so to save Japan from such terrible monsters, a strange machine known as Grantz resurrects some people and tells them to fight those monstrosities.
There are a lot of Gore scenes in Grantz, with blood spilling everywhere and a lot of violence. Moreover, the artwork of horrible monstrosities takes the experience of reading the manga to the next level.
Overall, if you are looking for a comic or manga set in a dark or violent setting, the Vinland saga would be our top recommendation.
18. Vinland Saga
Thorfinn is a young Viking boy who wants to prove himself as a warrior in front of his father. Therefore, he sneaks into his warship.
But, their ship is ambushed and now they are put into a difficult situation. So, how will Thorfinn face this difficult situation on his first voyage? Find out in Vinland Saga, an amazing manga with both good art and storyline.
The story becomes engaging after Thorfinn’s father dies, and the man behind his murder runs away, so Thorfinn decides to find him at any cost. This incident changes his personality completely, and in the future, he becomes a cold-blooded killer.
There are many violent and soul-stirring scenes in this series. The creator of the Vinland saga, Makoto Yukimura, has created a masterpiece that will give you a soul-stirring experience with a combination of a mind-blowing story and decent artwork.
17. Goodnight Punpun
This manga revolves around the story of a young man, Onodera Punpun, as he goes through different phases of his life, from being an elementary kid to a man in his twenties.
This is not a story with flashy fight scenes or a romcom, as Mangaka Inio Asano focuses on heartbreaking and devastating times during a young man’s life as he reaches adulthood. But, there are also some short happy moments in this story, which will uplift the character’s mood sometimes.
Goodnight Punpun is an incredibly written story, and coupled with the beautiful illustrations, you can have a perfect imaginative journey of the punpun’s world in your mind that will always be remembered.
16. Vagabond
Vagabond is a typical samurai manga from Mangaka Takehiko Inoue. Moreover, this manga is proof of his ability to create some of the best art scenes in manga.
If we are talking about his experience, then he is drawing manga from 1998. The story is about a young boy named Shinmen Takezo. He is a very violent and moody boy, so most of the villagers stay away from him.
When Takezo was seventeen years old, he left the village with another boy. But, after leaving the village, they got entangled in a battle they were unprepared for.
Another thing to enjoy in this manga is the story of Miyamoto Musashi, who was Japan’s greatest swordsman in history. The art style is beautiful, and all the character designs are also very detailed.
15. Uzumaki
Have you ever read a horrifying story that you had to sleep with lights on? Well, mangaka Junji Ito’s works are known for this due to the terrifying artwork that will make you uneasy.
The story of Uzumaki revolves around Kirie Goshima and Shuichi Saito, her boyfriend. They live in the town of Kurōzu-Cho, which is infected with spirals.
When the spiral curse curses the townspeople, their bodies will transform, and they won’t be able to think of anything else except spirals devouring their world.
The story is disturbing, But what takes it a step further is the artwork by Mangaka. Uzumaki is undoubtedly one of the best manga in this horror genre.
14. Kokou No Hito (Climber)
Kokou No Hito revolves around the story of a young man named Mori Buntarō, who becomes obsessed with solo mountain climbing after he joins the new school.
Buntarō is an introvert by nature, so instead of other social activities, he likes to climb mountains and enjoy the beautiful view from the top. Later, he decides to give his everything to climbing the east of K2, the second-tallest mountain on Earth.
Shinichi Sakamoto created this manga and has done a great job creating wonderful artwork. The Climber has won many awards. Even if you have never climbed a mountain in your entire life, this beautiful artwork combined with perfect storytelling will make you feel the horrors and beauty of mountain climbing.
13. Berserk
If you are looking for a manga filled with violent and soul-stirring elements, Berserk will be a perfect choice. The story is amazing, and the illustrations take this incredible piece of art to a whole new level achieved by only a few manga in history.
The World of Berserk is filled with deep-rooted violence and horrifying monsters. When Guts joins the Griffth and his Band of Hawk, he doesn’t know that he is signing up for such a terrifying battle filled with bloodbaths.
The tale of Berserk is very intricately designed. So, are you ready for a thrilling adventure with protagonist Gust as he faces his biggest life challenge?
12. Akira
Akira is a masterpiece by Katsuhiro Otomo among manga artworks. When mentioning the best manga artworks, we have to talk about Akira. Even though it’s very old and finished in 1990, it still holds a position among the manga with the best artworks.
Katsuhiro sensei has done a wonderful job of illustrating some beautiful, evocative scenes of the massacre. We can see the effort and dedication he has painstakingly put into it to make his artistic vision come true. Sometimes, he even adds scenes with intricate details that we hardly see in most of the manga, even in current times.
11. Mahou Sensei Negima!
Negima! It is a shonen series that packs lots in every frame due to many characters with different skills, magical powers, weapons, and martial arts, but it will never feel cluttered.
Moreover, the attractive and unique artwork throughout the manga shows how much work the creators have put into it.
The characters have a stylized look, which makes them stand out from the realistic backgrounds.
The 38 volumes of the manga are filled with beautiful and detailed backgrounds such as trees and the insides of buildings like temples, etc. Maintaining such consistency is an extremely praiseworthy thing for any creator.
This manga has also got an anime adaptation of it. If you have watched UQ Holder, then this story takes place before the timeline of UQ Holder.
10. All You Need Is Kill
Did you know that one of the popular sci-fi movies, Edge of Tomorrow, was inspired by this manga? Also, many fans argue that the book is better, But we’ll leave that up to you to decide. This manga contains some of the most horrifying and graphic content, which makes it so good.
The story of All You Need Is Kill takes place in an upcoming war against aliens on which humanity’s future depends. Keiji Kiriya is stuck in a time loop, so he returns to the same day whenever he dies.
So he takes advantage of this situation to try various strategies against aliens and find the one that will defeat them.
This series is filled with strange sci-fi secrets, and we see the main character struggling between life and death every day, all of which are depicted in amazing artwork in All You Need Is Kill.
9. Tokyo Ghoul
The anime adaptation of the Tokyo Ghoul series is visually very appealing, but the original manga art by Sui Ishida is also equally amazing. The art style perfectly represents this action-filled horror series, with every drawing filled with bloody or grotesque elements.
The entire series is filled with lush and detailed backgrounds. Moreover, in order to differentiate between humans and ghouls in the city, Ishida has drawn the characters roughly and elegantly. The use of Generous shadows, jagged shapes and twisted expressions brings out the horror element of the story.
8. One-Punch Man
If you are familiar with the One Punch Man webcomic by ONE, you might be surprised to see this one on this list.
However, When artist Yusuke Murata, who has done an incredible job in Eyeshield-21, took the illustrating work for the manga adaption, this series became a hit in the market. The art of One Punch Man has also improved over time.
One of the reasons behind the success of One Punch Man lies in its unique sense of humor and an overpowered main character.
But, when ONE’s wonderful story was combined with Murata’s beautiful art, this took the series to all new heights. Later, this series became one of the definitive superhero comics in Japan.
7. The Way Of The Househusband
Gokushufudou is not a very old manga but also has an anime adaptation available on Netflix. This anime quickly became popular with its unique story filled with comedy and humorous scenes.
You can probably guess from the Name that this manga is focused on the story of a Househusband. But the most interesting thing about the story is the background of the main character, Tacchan, a former yakuza boss. After his marriage with Miku, he becomes a Househusband, and she becomes a working woman.
Even though Tacchan has mastered the domestic household chores and gets along well with neighborhood ladies, the aura of Yakuza can still be seen in his various actions.
It becomes hilariously funny to watch as he uses terms like white powder for wheat flour, dresses as Yakuza and wears an apron while holding a shopping basket with vegetables, and other things in daily life done in a yakuza way.
6. Kakegurui
Hyakkou Academy is a private school for children of Japan’s top businessmen. Here, students learn everything about gambling, like how to evaluate the odds and when to put everything at stake. So, everyday either they return with nothing or double what they have got.
This manga is drawn very well, so everything is designed with intricacy. The characters’ unique facial expressions and postures during the gambling matches are a sight to behold.
It gives a better touch in representing the character’s feelings. This type of storytelling is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s addictive for many.
5. Girls’ Last Tour
This manga takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. The whole story is divided into six volumes in total. Girl’s last tour emphasizes telling the story via visuals rather than filling it with dialogues, so you can enjoy this post-apocalyptic dieselpunk story with beautiful artwork.
If you have seen Tokyo Ghoul, you will find the art style of Girls’ Last Tour familiar, as it also uses the same rough sketches in the drawing. But that doesn’t make it sloppy. Instead, it makes it more stylish and helps with the story’s overall theme.
Two girls are traveling in a Kettenkrad vehicle, and as they struggle to survive, they go through this ruined Dieselpunk city; we can see some amazing drawings of crashed planes, destroyed factories, and empty warehouses.
4. Fist Of The North Star
Fist of the North Star brings some of the best artwork from when it was released in the 1980s. Mangaka Tetsuo Hara does an amazing job of bringing out the utmost potential of this violent story, which is filled with many gore elements, by adding many scenes of mutilated and exploding bodies throughout the entire manga.
The story of North Star revolves around protagonist Kenshiro, who travels around the post-apocalyptic world and saves poor townspeople from raiders by fighting off those tough guys.
This manga is overflowing with the aggressive masculine pride of the 1980s. It is a worthy choice if you want to get a feel of the early days of modern shonen manga.
3. Grand Blue Dreaming
Grand Blue Dreaming, or Grand Blue, is a comedy manga series that focuses on ocean diving and college life. Grand Blue features many beautiful artworks of shallow seas near Japan and Palau.
Even though it’s in black and white, these seaside views are really pleasing to view. Combining top-notch visuals with an engaging storyline gives us a masterpiece that will attract you to this ocean of Grand Blue.
What makes visuals of grand blue dreaming stand out? There are fascinating coral reefs and schools of fish that you might not get to see in many manga. The characters are very lively and illustrated passionately. This contributes to the manga’s rating of PG-13.
2. Aria: The Masterpiece
Aria or in West Aria: The Masterpiece is a science-fiction manga based on the concept of terraforming on Mars. This manga has some amazing scenery that will blow your mind.
The story of Aria takes place in a city named Neo-Venezia on terraformed Mars, which is a replica of Venice from Earth. So, you will see some extraordinary Italian architecture, fluffy white clouds and beautiful water.
The story of Aria revolves around a girl named Akari Mizunashi, a very sweet and energetic girl. She is currently training to be a gondolier in the city of Neo-Venezia in the world of Aqua. She loves to see and hear the amazing scenery and pleasing sounds of the city as she passess through the canals of this city.
1. Planetes
Planetes was drawn by Makoto Yukimara, who also drew the Vinland Saga. But, unlike the Vinland Saga, which was focused on Vikings, this manga is based on science fiction.
So, if you are a fan of science-fiction movies like Martian, Gravity, and Interstellar, then you’ll like this manga, which has very lush artwork similar to the Vinland Saga.
This seinen manga is about an astronaut, Hachirota Hoshino, who cleans up the space debris around the planet Earth. But his dream is to go on an adventure to explore the deepest and furthest parts of space.
However, if this junk is not taken care of properly, then a larger amount of debris will surround the area around Earth, and it will become harder for space shuttles to take off from Earth.
You may think, what’s good about watching an astronaut cleaning the debris? But, amazing artwork of the space environment and a powerful message regarding the issue of junk that’s piling up around our planet, in reality, make this ordinary story into a Chilling tale.
Just like the issue of plastic pollution in the ocean is a big concern, even if most people don’t go there, the issue of space pollution also needs to be considered seriously.
