Back in the mid-2000s, the West experienced an anime boom. Suddenly, every kid in America was reading Naruto and tuning into Toonami religiously. Anime and manga sales flourished, regularly outselling their comic and cartoon counterparts. But after a time, the fad faded, and anime and manga became niche interests. But trends are cyclical, and it seems as though manga and anime are experiencing a new Western spike. In fact, readers are flocking to manga in such volumes that, accoring to Heidi MacDonald of ComicsBeat, the industry has begun to regularly outsell comics, with manga publisher Viz capturing 23% of the comic market, while DC and Marvel come in at 14% and 10% respectively, at least as of 2017. So just what is it that is leading to this surge in manga popularity?
A new generation of manga creators have begun to emerge, eager to take the medium in bold new directions. For years, manga has been a medium ruled by series chronicling the adventures of plucky protagonists training to become stronger. But a new era of manga authors are refusing to conform to the manga norm, crafting stories that take the medium in a bold new direction. Whether you're looking to break back into manga, or you're just curious as to what this swell in popularity is all about, these are the 15 series you need to know in the manga revolution.
15 MY HERO ACADEMIA
As manga sales continue to rise, there is one series consistently topping the charts: My Hero Academia. Western fans can't get enough of writer Kohei Horikoshi's superhero story, leading to the Shonen Jump title becoming one of the most discussed series to come out of Japan in some time.
Following the exploits of protagonist Katsuki Bakugo as he inherits superpowers from the beloved superhero All-Might and subsequently enrolls in a school for heroes, the series has built a loyal fan following with memorable characters and pulse-pounding battles. With a mega-popular anime adaption and a spin-off companion manga series to its name, the manga world hasn't seen success on My Hero Academia's level in some time, leading many manga enthusiasts confident that My Hero Academia's runaway success signals a revolution in manga.
14 ONE-PUNCH MAN
My Hero Academia isn't the only series using the very-Western concept of cape-clad superheroes to achieve success in the East. With a compelling combination of gag humor, eye-popping art, and white-knuckle fights, One-Punch Man has earned rave reviews and big sales, cementing the series as one of the most popular in mangadom. But it isn't just the content of One-Punch Man that is revolutionizing the manga industry; it's the path the series took to achieving fame.
Beginning life as a poorly drawn webcomic from writer "One," the story of the monstrously strong yet perpetually bored Saitama would be picked up by Young Jump Web Comics, where the preexisting stories would be redrawn by professional artist Yusuke Murata, of Eyeshield 21 fame. From here, the series became a runaway success, leading to a gag comic written by an amateur becoming one of the most popular series in the manga revolution.
13 GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE
While manga has earned a reputation in the West for being a medium filled with chapter-spanning fights and storylines based around powering-up, this isn't always the case. Shonen manga, meaning manga stories aimed at teenage boys, may rule the manga world with an iron fist, but there still exists a demand for quiet, contemplative manga, which is where Girl From The Other Side comes into play.
In this series, author and artist Nagabe whisks readers away to a far away land, in which the kingdoms of Outside and Inside co-exist, but its inhabitants are told to never cross over. Between these kingdoms lies an abandoned village, in which a monstrous humanoid known as "Teacher" and a wide-eyed little girl known as "Shiva" live together. Moody and beautiful, this dark fantasy series is perfectly satisfied leading a quiet revolution in manga.
12 MADE IN ABYSS
The rigors of churning out manga is no joke; as artists and writers often have to create new chapters every week, this time-crunch mentality forces creators to not linger too long on little details. As a result, weekly manga can often lack detail, a victim of the steady march of deadlines. But a new generation of manga creators are refusing to forgo detail to meet deadlines. Case in point: Akihito Tsukushi and his gorgeous series Made In Abyss.
Telling the tale of an adventure-hungry girl and her robot companion as they descend into a dangerous underground labyrinth dubbed "Abyss," Made In Abyss delivers emotionally powerful stories with eye-popping visuals. Tsukushi has earned praise for his keen eye for detail, filling panels with intricate backgrounds and breathtaking art. In a medium that often settles for stark white backgrounds, Made In Abyss is refusing to settle.
11 BLACK CLOVER
For a time, the manga world was abuzz about the "Big Three." One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach reigned supreme, regularly topping the charts with record sales. But then Bleach fizzled out and Naruto eventually concluded, leaving manga fans wondering what series will be next to become king of the hill. Many point to Black Clover as the potential heir to the manga throne.
Set in a fantasy world in which magic is commonplace, protagonist Asta finds himself shunned, as he is unable to utilize magic. That is, until a fateful encounter with a thief leads Asta to discovering he actually possesses "anti-magic," allowing the plucky teen to cancel out the magic of others. While the series has it's detractors, the numbers don't lie: Black Clover is selling well, and seems poised to become the next big thing in the medium.
10 GOLDEN KAMUY
Manga has whisked readers away to pirate filled seas, magical kingdoms, feudal Japan, and even outer space. But Golden Kamuy opts to explore a time period not often seen in the medium: the aftermath of the Russo-Japan War. A time of great hardship for the Japanese, this period saw soldiers returning from war to desperately seek a way to make a living. Pepper in a story about hidden treasure and add in buckets of gore, and you've got Golden Kamuy.
Returning soldier "Immortal" Saichi Sugimoto hears tell of a map to a treasure trove of gold that was tattooed across the backs of dozens of prisoners, and, with the aid of an indigenous Ainu girl, sets out to find his fortune. Unabashed in its depiction of realistic violence, Golden Kamuy sticks out like a sore thumb in a medium choked with series aimed at children, showing that interesting characters and a good story can help even the most out-there mangas find an audience.
9 HAIKYUU!
The trope of "pretty boys playing sports" is as old as manga itself. It's practically a genre in itself, spawning hundreds of series chronicling beautiful men playing a variety of sports in pursuit of victory and friendship. But one mega-popular manga series has taken this age-old trope and used it to build something entirely new: Haikyuu!
Following a plucky pipsqueak and his surly rival as they join a high school volleyball team, Haikyuu! isn't content to focus solely on good looking men. Rather, the series builds a roster of emotionally complex characters and rivals, wrapping the whole story in eye-popping, kinetic art that makes volleyball seem downright cool. Haikyuu! regularly tops the manga sales charts, and with a popular anime to its name, fans are hungry for a new kind of pretty boy sports manga, which is exactly what Haikyuu! delivers.
8 I AM A HERO
Manga is filled to bursting with plucky protagonists that exist solely to extoll the virtues of friendship and constant training. For all of its strengths, the medium of manga often falls short in believable, relatable protagonists. I Am A Hero manages to shake this trend, delivering a manga that is downright uncomfortable in its realism.
Our protagonist, a hapless manga artist named Hideo Suzuki, struggles to connect with others, and often finds himself daydreaming on how his life would be if he could just overcome his awkward tendencies. But then an outbreak of the mysterious virus known as ZQN occurs, turning most of the world into homicidal, cannibalistic maniacs, forcing the aloof and strange Suzuki to adjust to this hellish new world... or perish. Unflinching in its realistic depiction of mental illness and human interaction, I Am A Hero can often be a tough read, but it is absolutely worth it.
7 THE PROMISED NEVERLAND
Shonen Jump is notorious for pumping out series after series in which a young protagonist must train and power-up to defeat increasingly powerful foes in combat. But a new Shonen Jump series is turning this age-old trope on its head in an interesting way.
Set in the not-too-distant future, a group of orphans live an idyllic life in a stately manor under the watchful eye of their caregiver "Mother." But when protagonists Emma, Ray, and Norman discover the orphanage holds a dark secret, they set out to escape. Taking the tried-and-true "train to become stronger" trope and giving it a cerebral spin, the protagonists must study their surroundings and train in subterfuge, turning the story into an edge-of-your-seat cat-and-mouse affair. The Promised Neverland is taking the shonen manga genre in an interesting new direction, and could signal a revolutionary shift in the manga medium.
6 MY LESBIAN EXPERIENCE WITH LONELINESS
Manga hasn't always been a medium that has been great with representation. Oftentimes, manga writers would treat being gay as a punchline, while others in the medium simply opted to treat being gay as a fetish. But a new generation of manga writers are finding ways to incorporate the LGBTQ experience into their work in realistic and often moving ways. One writer managed to create one of the most highly-regarded works of gay representation in the medium on the most unlikely source: the Japanese equivalent of DeviantArt.
In the autobiographical My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, writer Kabi Nagate explores themes such as depression and coming to terms with your sexuality. Initially published on Pixiv, the series was given a physical publication, where it was met with critical acclaim, helping to kickstart a quiet queer revolution in manga.
5 RWBY
"Wait," you might be saying, "RWBY? That Rooster Teeth series my annoying roommate in college loved?" Yes, the very same: this anime-inspired online animated series has been building a devoted fan following since 2013, and has even managed to catch on over in Japan. In fact, RWBY has become so popular in the East that it has spawned a manga adaptation. Yes, an online cartoon created by a bunch of dudes in Austin, Texas has been given the manga treatment.
Author Shirow Miwa pens the series, which serves as a side-story in the RWBY universe. With one collection published and additional series planned, RWBY might be the most popular manga to be based on a Western property in some time, proving that, in the manga revolution, stories can come from any corner of the globe.
4 ORANGE
The slice-of-life romance genre has been a staple in manga for years, leading to plenty of stories involving beautiful, angular-faced men pining after a regular, unassuming high school girl. It was a genre in need of a shake-up, and that is just what writer Ichigo Takano did with Orange.
Taking the tried-and-true story of high school classmates enamored with each other but too nervous to make the first move, Orange adds in a healthy dose of time travel, weaving a tale in which protagonist Naho Takamiya receives a letter from her future self about preventing her biggest regrets. Romance manga might be here to stay, but Orange proves the manga medium is ready for a new take on this age-old genre.
3 SHIBUYA GOLDFISH
There's just no way to say this delicately: Shibuya Goldfish is completely and utterly insane. After all, this is a manga in which the core conflict is that the popular Japanese ward of Shibuya has been overrun with giant, flying, people-eating goldfish. What's weirder than a story about people-eating goldfish is the fact that this series manages to be engaging and downright terrifying.
With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Shibuya Goldfish tells the tale of aspiring high school filmmaker Hajime Tsukiyoda, who is trapped in Shibuya when the area is overrun with killer goldfish. While horror manga tends to be presented in deadly serious terms, Shibuya Goldfish shows that there is a place for the ridiculous in horror, and the story can still be engaging and horrifying.
2 FOOD WARS
Food Wars is what you might call a controversial manga. After all, this is a series that has garnered as many slavishly devoted fans as it has vocal detractors. Just what kind of manga causes this kind of reaction? Well, it's the kind about a world in which good cooking causes clothes to explode off of people, of course.
Yes, Food Wars is strange, but the series' tale of protagonist Soma Yukihira's journey to enroll in the prestigious Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute to become the world's greatest chef has connected with readers around the world. Food Wars may be a contentious series, but this manga has helped to kick start a wave of culinary-focused series, leading to a full-blown cooking revolution in manga.
1 LAND OF THE LUSTROUS
What's that one series about the people that are named after jewels? You know the one, the series with characters named "Amethyst" and "Peridot"? No, not Steven Universe! We're referring to Land Of The Lustrous, which is blazing a trail in the world of manga, even if the series might sound somewhat similar to fans of Cartoon Network's mega-popular cartoon.
In Land Of The Lustrous, readers are introduced to a world in which jewels take the form of people. In this world, low-ranking Phosphophyllite is tasked by her superiors to create an encyclopedia of natural history for their people, setting the young woman on a path to adventure. With gorgeous artwork, a story that emphasizes character growth and the accumulation of knowledge over power, Land of the Lustrous is reinventing what an adventure manga can be.