Manga

The 40k part of /tg/ reimagined as a manga. And yes that is the spiritual liege in the top left.

"Manga is virtual. Manga is sentiment. Manga is resistance. Manga is bizarre. Manga is pathos. Manga is destruction. Manga is arrogance. Manga is love. Manga is kitsch. Manga is sense of wonder. Manga is … there is no conclusion yet."

– Osamu Tezuka, the old man nailed it.

Manga are like comics, except Japanese, and read from right to left. Alongside anime, manga are one of the hardcore otaku's favourite things. It is very common for popular manga series to receive animated adaptations and vice versa, prompting endless debate amongst fans about which version is better. Manga are sometimes referred to as mangos by both detractors and fans.

For the list of /tg/-approved anime, go here.

Notable and/or /tg/ Related Manga

(To those complaining about manga/anime by saying it’s all teenagers fighting, harem and fanservice. Take note, like European Comics/Albums(Yes, Western Comics aren’t just capeshit or from the USA), there are multiple demographics and genres. Some of the manga listed below are Seinen and NOT Shounen, as in for men NOT boys. So switch “magazines” and you will find stuff you don’t hate.)

• Berserk - A guy called Guts solves his problem with a really big sword. He's huge, therefore he has HUGE GUTS. Sadly, chapters are often months if not years apart due to hiatus, to the point that it seems unlikely the series will even get finished before the author, Kentarou Miura, dies of old age. And now he’s dead, leaving the story's future uncertain... fuck. About a year later, it was announced the series would resume under Studio Gaga (which was set up initially to help Miura with publishing it) and his close colleague, Koji Mori.
• Blame! - Silent cyberapocalypse goodness.
• Claymore - What if witcher/berserk/demon-slayer/bastard!! was a (monster)girl set on a mythological european-themed island? MC looks like a heroic fantasy version of a battle sister.
• Coppelion - In 2036 AD, Tokyo has turned into wasteland after a nuclear reactor explosion. Coppelion, a group of genetically engineered girls in school uniforms, has to find a way to restore Japan from the fallout while fighting off a rebellious faction of the Death Korps of Krieg. It's basically the same thing happened on Krieg, but in Japan.
• Death Note - A Japanese kid obtains a book that kills whoever has their name written in it. He proceeds to use this to slaughter thousands and become the god of the new world. Contains massive amounts of plotting and scheming between him and his nemesis, the detective L. Had a live-action Western adaptation made about it: it sucked. Rated J for Just As Planned.
• Demon Detective Neuro - A Tzeetchian demon named Neuro who one day decided that demon world has no challenge for him left that he forcefully break into the mortal realm to find his own "food". There he "enslaved" a young Japanese girl and had her forcefully taking the identity of a detective idol, where she will be used by Neuro as a puppet while doing detective murder case in order to drag out the murder's "puzzle" (the murder's plan and emotions for murder), the food Neuro wants to eat. Later on they encountered a bunch of bizarre enemies like a super insane AI, a super metahuman shape shifter and a very edgy evil man named sicks (6). Still, Neuro always came out on top, displaying his brilliant use of just as planned and his use of "demon tools" to defeat his opponent sadistically. Also since Neuro is unlike other demons who needs to be connected to their realm while requires vessel to survive, he will have to stay in the mortal realm without breathing the air from the demon world (called miasma) as well as other necessity a demon would require in order to survive, he would get weaker as chapters goes on yet he persisted for the hunt for puzzles. Pretty badass.
• Devilman: (If there is a lack of Information on what this series is about, then you are free to remove this sentence when you add more) To make a long story short, a school kid manages to survive a Slaaneshi Death Orgy by becoming a Daemon-possessed hybrid (the namesake of the series) and has to hunt the resurgent monsters from hell, who lived on Earth after the Dinosaurs and were frozen in the North Pole until Climate Change. This is one of Go Nagai's best works and he himself admitted that it was his favourite. Just like Mazinger Z, it has spawned many crossovers and sequels but, unlike the above entry, is actually popular in the US and abroad. WARNING: Is both grimdark and is pretty much what would happen if Big E wasn't around to keep the Daemons away, but no Dark Gods to worry about.

• Dungeon Meshi - A relative newcomer to the scene of /tg/-related manga, this delightful little series chronicles the escapades of a small adventuring party exploring a dungeon while butchering, cooking, and eating the monsters within for sustenance. Detailed recipes for the lavish dishes are provided, sadly unaccompanied by advice regarding the procurement of the required ingredients. Reading this comic on an empty stomach is not advised.
• Fist of the North Star - Manly enough to cause you to grow a penis if you don't already have one, or to cause your penis to grow a penis if you do.
• The Five Star Stories - Basically mechwarrior but with swords. Giant mechs piloted by nobility, with genetically engineered bioandroid copilots that are always Leiji-esque stickfigure women. Staggering number of characters and nations, but the big focus is on the AKD and their knights, consisting of the First Easter Mirage Corps, and its Green Left Wing.
• Franken Fran - "Dude...what?!" Body horror story that looks like a particularly nasty acid trip. You cannot turn these into good campfire stories no matter how hard you try. The gist: Imagine Fabius Bile as a cute Frankenstein's monster-esque anime girl who wants to help people, but she does it through surgery and has no concept of restraint.
• Fullmetal Alchemist - The industrial revolution, but with magic. An alchemist embarks on a quest to find the Philosopher's Stone, an artifact that he believes can recover his brother's body and his own missing limbs. Really, how could you not have heard of this?
• Gantz: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! Sci fi alternate future(?) where random people are put into a horrific death game where horrific shit goes down and many aliens are purged. Has a LOT of taboo themes baked in, but has actual meaning buried in there. Skubby, but purging the Xeno will appeal to /tg/ no matter the context.
• Getter Robo - 3 jets combine into 3 different robots. Whole new type of mecha ensues. The progenitor of the ‘combiner’, 3 delinquents are chosen to pilot a machine powered by the mysterious, evolution-accelerating Getter Rays against sentient dinosaurs wanting to retake the Earth after being driven underground. Takes a left turn into existentialism when it’s revealed Getter may eventually become a universe-destroying entity known as Getter Emperor, which favors humanity and is feared by other species so much they’d send things back in time to just destroy the possibility of it being created. Unfortunately unfinished due to the author passing away, but many anime authors have taken up the torch, believing in Getter. Popular enough in Japan to have at least one of it’s incarnations in every Super Robot Wars game since the beginning.
  • Getter Robo Devolution - Getter Robo’s Mazinger Zero. An alternate version of the Getter Team has to harness the power of a compacted Getter Emperor to fight abominations known as the Devolved. Recently got a hit in popularity with its showcase in Super Robot Wars.
• Goblin Slayer - I'm goblin slayer, I hunt goblins. A manga about the goblin slayer that won't kill anything that's not goblin. In order to hunt goblins, GS would use many tools like bombs and bows for any kind of situations, but the most important tool at his disposal is his undying hatred for goblins due to an old accidents involve goblins raided his village when he was young, and that makes him rip and tear whenever he heard the word "Goblins". GS later allies with a party consisting of a female teenaged priest (who, he saved in the early chapter), a "young" (1000 years old, Tolkien style) female elf, a dwarf and a Lizardman. The manga also portray the importance of wearing armor so that goblins won't pull a sneak attack on you with their toxic feces covered shiv. Though it also shits over that importance with many characters wearing little to no armor with minimal consequence. Also rape.
• Golden Kamuy A Western, though not set in the West. Hokkaido, 1905: a 12-year-old Ainu girl, a Russo-Japanese war veteran and a wolf go in search of a massive treasure of gold stolen from the local tribes. Beautiful art, incredible historical accuracy, and generally speaking a great adventure. You'll come out of this one feeling like you've learned something.
• Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita- Dystopian futuristic cyberpunk martial arts character piece about cyborgs, all drawn beautifully. Also very nineties.
• Hunter X Hunter - In case no one read the anime section: A manga about four major characters: Gon, Killua, Kurta and Leorio who with their own reasons join and become hunters, basically specialized hunter that dealt with their own specific prey in a setting that builds like one piece. The manga also gets recommendation for introduced unique power/class/level system called "nen". The differences with manga version is that the author Togashi is a talented but lazy artist who doesn't really draw every panel with efforts so you might come across doodle tier sketching in some panel. The early chapter is so lazily drawn that it might be better to just watch the anime version. Togashi also put his manga on hiatus (not for laziness this time however, but his past injury) most of the times like the Berserk artist Kentarou Miura, so expects slow updates and daily 4chan /a/ shitposts. As of 2019, HxH is still not reaching its final chapter, but the recent chapter are much well drawn with its story are well written and has not falling out of flavor since its serialization.
• Ii Orc No Hi, Centered around a kinky nymphomaniac elf's attempts to get into an asexual hermit orc's pants. There is a mention of levels so it might take place in a game or something.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - A long-running supernatural action-adventure about people with psychic powers manifested in the form invisible spirit guardian dudes who beat each other up and stir up the same bizarre shit that happens in the warp. As gay as Freddie Mercury and at least as badass. The origin of the WRRRYYY meme, but the only differences is a steamroller.
• Jujutsu Kaisen - What do you get if you combine Yū Yū Hakusho's general theme with Hunter × Hunter power system? you get Jujutsu Kaisen.
• King of RPGs - American "manga" about many things /tg/. Suspend some disbelief, but much better than it sounds.
• Kingdom - Another historical Seinen manga like Vinland Saga, this one is focused on the Warring States Period in China with the focus being on the court intrigue and constant warfare before Qin Shi Huang unified the country by force. Has its fair share of dismemberment, decapitation, pillaging, and betrayals. On the other hand, the author has done a good job portraying all the kingdoms and their characters in a nuanced range from lawful idealists to bloody butchers; oftentimes within the same faction and nearly at each other's throats outside the frontline. Also compared to most action manga's, the plot is more story-driven with focus on each army and their subordinates without too much focus on single characters.
• Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka? (I'm a Spider, So What?) A shutin Japanese RPG fan is blown up in a mysterious explosion and finds herself reincarnated as a low-level spider enemy in a universe that follows RPG levelling and experience rules. Originally started as a light novel, but now a manga that's still ongoing. An anime adaption is also on the way. A well-written tutorial on the importance of basic skill use in any tabletop game.
• Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou - Boy meets girl. Girl is part snake. Boy meets other girl. Girl is part bird. Boy meets another girl. Girl is part horse. And so on and so forth. Interesting worldbuilding for worlds with monstergirls if you don't like the rape of the Monster Girl Encyclopedia.
• Made in Abyss - Essentially Berserk if it was directed by Studio Ghibli. Starts off as a whimsical loli/shota-bait before descending (Both figuratively and literally) into eldritch hell. Expect a metric shit ton of body horror, child experimentation and 'loli spilling noises' from the series. Definitely not safe for minors, seeing as how later volumes was forced to put in a warning label to tell parents that yes, the cutesy art style hides a copious amount of gore and despair that can give Berserk a run for its money.
• Mazinger Z: Not the oldest member of the so-called Super Robot Franchise that has massive robots battling all forms of monsters, but it's up there as being one of the most memorable. Long story short, a bunch of scientists travel to an island somewhere in around southern Europe after they get proof that the Greeks were somehow more advanced than they actually were. Leader turns evil, obtains army of mechanical warriors, then tries to conquer Japan to get the very power that made them invincible because the MC's Grandfather ran off with the metal that could generate that power. Famous for the main character being an overconfident Schmuck who yelled his attacks before he used them. It's creator, Go Nagai, was also responsible for the creation of many of the more famous series of the anime world for the 1970s onwards, this one being popular enough to appear in the franchise Super Robot Wars in Every Single Entry. More Popular in Europe than it is in the USA, mainly in Italy for some reason...
  • Mazinger Zero - the edgy unofficial meta spinoff that has Mazinger Z turned into an absolute monster that wishes to be the only mecha franchise in existence, destroying multiple Earths to get its way. Composed of two manga series, Shin Mazinger Zero and Shin Mazinger Zero vs. Great General of Darkness. Popular enough to make it into Super Robot Wars more than once, and inspired several other meta spin-offs for other series.
• One Piece - Your average retarded shounen characters, with motivations that make about as much sense as those of the most mediocrely roleplayed of D&D characters. The real meat of this series is the setting, which is basically an entire planet of high seas, with uncharted islands beyond number, ripe for exploration. Despite the cheerful and colorful atmosphere this series presents to its reader, it's got highly 40k-esque politics going on behind the scenes: A corrupt worldwide government is known to obliterate islands for treason, revise documented history, and enforce its unjust laws with an elite band of superpowered assassins with stupidly OP martial arts. They are also the only thing between the average opressed citizen and superpowered pirate crews that can counter the entire planet's military. About half the monarchs represented are sociopathic assholes, and the cake is taken by 7 privateers called Shichibukai, two of which are known to lead dictatorial regimes, and most of them being overall an unbalancing force for world stability (contrary to their role). The privateers are supposed to tip the balance in the favor of the military, which already has admirals that have the power to shit volcano fists, become lasers, and freeze the fucking ocean in half to deal with pirates. Later chapter introduce the new world, where every island there is either a Death World or dictatorial regime (or both) ruled by either a cruel tyrant or one of the four pirate emperors.
• Ookami no Kuchi: Wolfsmund - A true grimdark tale of a sadistic creed set in 14th century of Europe. It describes the formation of Switzerland with the three original cantons overthrowing despotic rulers from the Hapsburgs back when they and the other nobles like the House of Luxembourg were squabbling over the HRE’s throne. It has violence, sex and basically everything Berserk has minus the fantasy elements. Like Warhammer, it has no happy ending.
• Otoyomegatari A romance/slice-of-life story set near rural Turkey on the north shore of the Caspian Sea in the early 1800s, following the lives of a young couple forced into an arranged marriage that neither of them are entirely comfortable with. Also provides a first person view of life among the Central Steppe nomads and rural towns as Britain and Russia compete with each other in the Great Game for control of central Eurasia. Gorgeous artwork and character-building, as well as a very well-researched look into the world of a fairly obscure and unknown culture.
• Quick Start!! - Affectionately called "My Little Neckbeard", this series is about a group of teenage girls traveling through the world of traditional gaming.
• Shadowrun(the manga) - Yes, Shadowrun has a frigging manga because it is popular enough in Japan that someone decides to draw it. It has 5 volume and unfortunately not a whole lot of chapters translated.
• Uzumaki - Goddamncreepyasfuck supernatural/cosmic horror story about spirals. Author Junji Ito was originally in dentistry, which explains a lot.
• Vinland Saga - One of Berserk's spiritual successors, though more rooted in reality. This one is about historical Vikings. Set during the time of the Anglo-Scandinavian Empire under Danish rule. Viking are being vikings, travelling the seas (and sometimes the land) in ships, kicking England's ass, their rival's ass, and their own asses back and forth, burning stuff, looting (and sometimes raping) everything beneath the sky, everybody's name is a variation of Thor, and everyone has a beard, and living in a frozen tundra like it's the middle of summer. A worthy read. Warning: After a good chunk into the series, the story stops (or at least takes a break from (I dropped the series because of this)) showing battles.
• Witch Hat Atelier - Thematically the direct opposite of Made in Abyss. A very small manga with a tiny but active fanbase within /tg/ itself. While not as well known as the rest listed here, what IS known is that it has one of the prettiest and gorgeous art styles known to date which could rival the Seinen big four, especially when it comes to the manga's panelling which is god-tier (The madlass of an author literally created a functional boardgame within a manga). It is essentially the lovechild of Harry Potter with a better magic system and a readable Studio Ghibli film. Also, despite looking like a Shoujo series, it is actually a Seinen, which means yes, it is aimed for adult men, funnily enough.
• Wizard's Soul: Jihad of Love - A drama centered around a fictional collectible card game, based closely off Magic: The Gathering. Like Yu-Gi-Oh, the card game is SERIOUS BUSINESS in the setting to an unreasonable degree, but unlike Yu-Gi-Oh, the story does a decent job of depicting what it's like to play MtG. This is because in this setting the game is the go-to way of measuring someone's combination of luck, intelligence, and ability. Wealth isn't explicitly stated as being evaluated in this assessment, even though if you can buy better cards to go in your deck, you will probably do better at the game (it is a TCG after all). There's less of a focus on the cards themselves and more of a focus on the general strategy used by the players. Now concluded. As this review will tell you, being a TCG player is not necessary to enjoy WS [1] and as many other short reviews will tell you, being a MTG player is not an obstacle to enjoying it.
• Yotsuba - A comedy manga about a single father and his 6-year-old, adorably ignorant of the ways of the world, named Yotsuba. She is the de facto mascot of 4chan.

The portion of /tg/ that doesn't immediately shout "weeaboo!" whenever anything remotely Asian is mentioned generally agrees that Berserk (at least, early Berserk) and Blame! are very good reads. Although Blame! might be more accurately described as a "look" since it has very little dialogue.

If any of you have noticed a disproportionate number of notable titles over at the /tg/-Approved anime page, this comes from two main factors. First, the number of good manga that don't have an anime adaptation or overshadow their anime adaptation is very small these days. Usually this restricts "manga-only" stories to older manga or quirky manga. The second reason is simply a culture issue: few /tg/ neckbreards are also /a/ or /jp/ enough to know and recommend good, /tg/-related manga.

See Also

• Super Genki Wallhammer Faulty-Kai