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worm-death · 11 days ago

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Manga I Started in 2024

I read a lot of manga last year, and a lot of them deserve more attention, so I wanna talk about them. But I'll mention everything, the good and the bad

Claymore

I guess I am technically cheating with this since I started it in very late December of 2023, but the bulk of it was read in January, and I think it'd be a shame not to talk about it anyway. This was given to me as a "Secret Santa present" for MyAnimeList, and I'm really glad I got a seemingly random suggestion

Clare is part of an organization comprised of female fighters with half Yoma blood. The Yoma are beasts that ravage villages, and they're tasked with defeating the Yoma. But as the story goes on, Clare starts to discover the shady underbelly of the organization and life she's always known.

This was the first of what can be considered the fantasy genre for me, so this was a cool setting to explore. The story is mysterious and always kept me on edge. The fight choreography is impressive, and the whole visual style is unique and cool. There aren't many purely good or evil characters, making the manga complex and makes you more invested in each character. Clare and Raki of course, are the duo I always root for. Their older sister-younger-brother dynamic is charming.

Super Psychic Policeman Chojo

This is probably the biggest reason I wanted to make this list because I think this manga deserves a lot more love. I only decided to check it out because the character designs looked cool and flashy. I really like police/detective manga and anime, so this was perfect for me. Mix in psychic powers and silly humor and it's got everything I need.

Chojo is a police officer who's scared away all his work partners with his powers, except for when Ippongi is assigned to him; sometimes, Chojo's more scared of her than she is of him. Each chapter focuses on a new crazy case the two are faced with in the insane district of Chinjuku.

I love ensemble casts, and the manga is constantly adding a new character that leads to a fun story all the time. Chojo is a complete loser and obsessed with his model kits and tokusatsu heroes, which I love about him. The characters are all stupid to a degree, and it's extremely entertaining. The robot, Cop Bot, is probably the only straight man, but there's not a single character in this I consider truly serious. Goofy police antics are great, and I really encourage anyone to check it out. It recently had a cancelation scare, so I think it deserves way more love.

The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins

I first heard of this manga because Chainsaw Man's mangaka recommended it, but this quickly surpassed Chainsaw Man and became my favorite manga of the year.

The Ichinose family all wake up in the hospital to find out they all have amnesia, and although they don't know each other, they're all able to bond, and they know as long as they have each other, that's all that matters! But after they return home from the hospital, they've all left clues behind to hint at a much sinister past...

This manga seriously is the biggest roller coaster I've ever been on. Since it's short, it doesn't let you breathe for a second, which some people definitely don't like about the constant trauma, but as a psychological thriller fanatic, I was fully engrossed. There are a few stories that make me this emotionally invested, and this was one of them. I recommended this manga to a friend, and they told me they were actually yelling while reading this, it's definitely an emotional ride. The characters are interesting and mysterious, and I'm a massive fan of the art style, and I want to study it more. I will warn you, I'd only recommend this to those who can stand it, it's heavy and deals with a lot of dark subject matter that may not be suited for a lot of people.

Star: Strike it Rich

My friend pestered me for a while to read this, and I wasn't really sure I'd like it. I don't like sports manga of any kind, so it seemed like it wouldn't be for me. But man, I'm glad I checked it out anyway. This manga is INTENSE, fights are crazy and super impactful.

Nozomi Tenma has to give up her dreams of becoming a professional fighter when she severely injures her eye. So, she decides to create her own underground fighting facility with her best friends, a yakuza and a corrupt cop. One of the first fighters they hire is a mysterious and terrifying girl named Hina.

I guess it comes with the territory, but why is fighting manga so insane. Like, I can't even explain to people what's going on with Baki. And this has death cults and women built like actual beasts. It's awesome and insane in all the best ways. The fights feel explosive and impactful, and the underlying story is just as intriguing. It's kind of nice to let loose for once; there aren't many characters you can call "good". They're all vulgar and crazy, and sometimes it's just fun to watch people destroy each other with a bit of grounded fighting logic.

Witch Hat Atelier

This one probably doesn't need any introduction since it's about to get an anime adaptation, but that just gives me all the more reason to push people to check this manga out before it releases.

Coco has always wanted to learn how to do magic, but that's kept secret from anyone not born into a family of witches. But after she discretely catches a glimpse at how spells are cast, she unknowingly endangers her mother's life and now must be apprenticed to a witch in order to save her.

This manga's entire vibe and visual style feel straight out of a fairy tale children's book, so it stands out with a strong sense of nostalgia. The world is beautifully crafted and feels like one of the most lived-in worlds I've had the treat to experience. At the end of every volume, it details the different creatures, herbs, locations, different kinds of witch hats, etc. Every aspect is thought out carefully. The characters are all great and leave me warm as you see Coco's bond with her teacher and fellow apprentices. There's a certain magical connection you can easily form with the story and characters because of how in-depth the world is, you don't have to passively watch the characters go through experiences, you can come up with your own solutions to these witchy problems because the rules and casting system are explained well enough. So, this manga really sends you directly into the story, certainly something everyone should experience.

Ghost Fixers

By the same mangaka as Summertime Rendering, I was excited to see another work by him. It's pretty much just SCP Foundation: the manga, which is pretty awesome.

Hifumin has recently been made a Ghost Fixer and is partnered with Kirarazaka. Together, the are tasked with fixing the messes paranormal phenomena cause in Mikurigaoka.

It's hard to give this one much summary outside of that. There's been a lot of world-building to separate this world's versions of ghosts from the typical definition. As I said, it's more of an SCP-type thing, where it's not so much about busting ghouls but more like finding the source of strange and dangerous phenomena. The manga already has a lot of lore established and too many new terms to talk about in-depth here. The stakes keep escalating with each new case, and more of the story is unraveling, I'd highly encourage checking it out.

Gift of Poison

This is the only outright bad manga I read all year, and it's really bad...

After Gift steals paint from a friend, his classmate, Kadomi, records it and sends him further into despair, blackmailing him into doing worse and worse things.

And that's the basic premise, it's not all too exciting. I started reading this manga the day the first chapter dropped, so I kept expecting Gift to snap and do something crazy. this is where the plot would really get going, but it just doesn't. Kadomi is a loser who blackmails Gifts to steal from a local art store, asks out his crush, but then kisses Kadomi in front of her, stuff like that. It's pretty petty. Eventually, Gift's friends ask him why he's always acting so weird, and he confesses to only stealing from the art store. And they have his back entirely, so what's the big deal? Well, fast forward a bit, and he eventually confesses to having stolen his friend's paints as well. And now they've been sent into a fit of rage. Taima's been betrayed, and his girlfriend Kokomi thought they would never hide secrets from each other. It's basically just petty drama only teenagers would get so emotionally invested in. As an artist, I simply cannot understand why the reactions. I get it; art supplies are expensive; if my friend needed to borrow a little bit of something from me, I'd understand. I wouldn't punch my best friend. And the cherry on top of this whole stupid fiasco is the manga ends with a "HE SAID IT! HE SAID THE THING!!" moment where they say, "I was the gift of poison." Something like that, anyway, it's very stupid.

Some people argued with me on my stance on this manga, saying that these characters have some sort of mental problem, but that's never something mentioned in the manga or really even alluded to. The characters just seem petty, and either way, it's just a bad story because there's basically no payoff. I don't think poor writing should be excused with headcanons. The only lore we get into why Gift seems so unhinged is that his parents divorced, and for Kadomi, her supposed friends stole a sticker from her that meant a lot to her as a kid. As a child of divorced parents, I can confirm that it would not bring someone to the point of murder.,,

And one thing this manga has received some praise for is the art, but it's also not good? I think the color spreads look cool, but the panels themselves are rouuuugh. I swear a lot of these look like the mangaka just used 3d model bases and traced over them and slapped hair and clothes on them. A lot of the posing looks really stiff and awkward, and again, hair and clothes look thrown on at the last second. It's just not good at all.

Centuria

Another one I just decided to check out since I saw its first chapter release. But the art style is very unique and it's already paid off in the story.

Julian is a boy sold into slavery after his mother abandons him. He's able to form a found family with a woman who wants to be his new mother but also feels comforted by the other enslaved people on a ship. However, the crewmates go on a killing massacre, killing most of the slaves, but a god of the ocean disrupts the voyage and kills everyone except for the woman and Julian, one must sacrifice themselves in order for the other to survive, the woman, Mira, gives birth and then sacrifices herself, asking Julian to promise to take care of her. When she sacrifices herself, Julian is given the powers of the sea and the strength of the hundred slaves that were killed that day. Julian promises to live his life to the fullest for not only his sake but for his new baby sister, Diana, and the lives of all the other slaves.

Sometimes, I forget this manga is only 38 chapters so far because I feel like I've seen the characters struggle through so much. With how awful Julian's situation has been and still is, it's hard not to have an immediate connection with him. This has a similar vibe to Claymore in some ways, so I've been really enjoying myself with it so far. I really like the art style, I've never seen anything like it. And I'm honestly glad this series doesn't have any color spreads, it looks way better in black and white, it just speaks really well to the overall style. I think this manga has a large story to tell, and we'll see these characters go through a lot throughout their lives. It's too early to say a whole lot about this manga, but I think it's been great so far and has a promising future.

Yokai Buster Murakami

This was a genuine shame it got canceled so early, I really enjoyed this manga a lot for only ending up being 24 chapters. I love yokai, and that's all it needed to sell me.

Kuin is a low-level yokai hunter who's too afraid of the yokai to even do his job, but his friend Murakami logics his way out of any situation and can defeat any yokai on a battle of wits.

This is one of the few comedy manga I found really funny. It was fun seeing these ancient monsters have 21st-century logic applied to them. But it's certainly an acquired taste, this manga never got enough readership to stay afloat, unfortunately. There were definitely a lot of directions this manga wanted to go and a lot of characters that were waiting to get more development. But I'm still glad I got to experience it at all, and I hope to hear more from Daiki Ihara in future manga stories.

Magus of the Library

Theo has been bullied his whole life for his looks, and after some librarians come to town, he decides from then on he'll work hard to become a librarian and work in the Central Library, the biggest library in the world with the biggest collection of books.

A really sweet and refreshing story into fantasy with a real love for books. The manga handles a lot of real-world topics with so much dignity and honesty that it's a real treat. Racism, classism, and the erasure of history are all major conflicts within the manga, and we see the pretty grim world in which Theo lives. But what I love is this manga shows the unity of a simple love for books that brings people together. It embraces differences of all sorts and shows how everyone has value and how we'd never know other perspectives if we didn't give everyone the chance to shine. Theo has the ability to form such great connections with all sorts of people, and I really do love the light he shines on everyone. As a massive book fan myself, there's a lot I can appreciate in a passion for books.

Similar to Witch Hat Atelier, it has a vibrant fantasy setting with so much thought and care put into each of the main races, their culture, religions, regions, languages, and everything. Another world so well crafted that it feels like you're truly exploring a new world as Theo does.

Smother Me

Akio is given away to an assassin and is raised and trained to become one of Detroit's best killers, but after meeting a blind woman who shows him kindness, he suddenly feels the desire to put an end to the crime bosses ruling the city.

This was a surprisingly short read since it just ended today, a total of 15 chapters. Unfortunately, because of its incredibly short run, I didn't get a whole lot of time to attach myself to anything. It was definitely enjoyable, and the characters had a lot of intrigue, but it could have used a bit more fleshing out. Anyway, what originally drew me to the manga was the visual style of it. The color spreads look beautiful and trippy, and the art of the actual manga is just as unique. It goes for a sort of ink brush-type look with its lines, so it's a cool manga to look at. It's not a bad story, and you can get through the entire thing super quickly, so why not check it out?

Yattara

Now we're really getting into new, new manga territory so it'll be harder to talk about these. This one, as of writing this, only has 8 chapters out.

Yattara is a demon or monster-like creature who only wants to eat humans but decides it decides to treat itself. Children already have a better taste, but once it forms a connection with 3 kids, it realizes that the more it can form a connection, the better the taste. However, Yattara doesn't talk, so the 3 children don't know its motive, and the oldest sister, Setomi, and youngest brother, Yuma, see it as a savior. While the middle brother, Nanato, is very wary.

There are a lot of places I think this manga plans to go, and after the most recent chapter, I think it's going in another direction as well. The manga makes a lot of commentary about the hypocritical world of immigration politics, and we get to see this through the perspective of three immigrant children on the brink of death. The manga has mainly been confined to an apartment, but there's a lot I think the story wants to say. And Yattara has certainly formed a strange relationship with the kids, I still hope deep down it learns to love them instead of just wanting to eat them, but we shall have to wait and see!!

Bug Ego

Well, this one kind of speaks for itself; it was written by One; how can I not read this? But I can't believe I was sad that One wasn't the artist as well, because Kiyoto Shitara is an amazing artist able to convey the most viseral of emotions.

Kokudou introduces his friend, Hitsujiya, to the world of hacking in the real world. By performing a certain set of rituals, one can make anything happen. Getting to write your own dreams, grow taller, you name it. But while Kokudou has perfected these, Hitsujiya manages to mess it up in some way, leading him to some of the most terrifying fates.

One's never written anything this dark before and I'm all here for it. And it still sprinkles in that distinctly One sense of humor. The manga updates monthly, but it's worth the wait. Each chapter goes through an entire story, which would all be appropriate episode length. These hacks are fun but can always be twisted in the worst ways possible. It makes you feel bad for Hitsujiya, but these are the risks he takes if he wants to try these hacks. The unsettling stuff always hits you when you least expect it. Oh, cool, they're having a fun dream together, and then it's just "ah sweet, man-made horrors beyond my comprehension" type moments. It gives you whiplash in the most fun way possible; it's a wild ride I encourage people to read if you like a bit of comedy sprinkled into your existential dread.

Ryouta Killed His Brother

Man, I realize these are getting really dark, but that's the kinda stuff I like, lol. Another really recent one, so it's hard to say too much, but I'm very interested to see where it heads.

Hayato realizes his best friend, Ryouta, has progressively looked unwell and tries to look into it. Ryouta has to take care of his little brother since his mom died giving birth to him, but it's not so simple. Chi is harming him. Ryouta has killed him so many times to stop the torture, but no matter what he does, he always comes back, seemingly unaware anything even happened.

I wonder where this is planning to go. It subverted me after the 2nd chapter so I always look forward to where it's headed. I was almost worried it would fall into showing a terrifying death or Chi is a monster visual in each chapter, but the story is progressing, and I need to cut it a little slack since it's only 4 chapters in so far. But I'm interested and would say it's worth checking out, too.

Asura's Verdict

Asura's mother always told him that those who do bad deeds will always receive divine punishment, but he quickly realizes his problems can't just be wished away. A mysterious old man hands him a key that, when placed into someone's head, will send that person directly to Hell. So, Asura takes it upon himself to punish those that deserve it.

This manga gripped me instantly, I think the character designs are really good, and there's something very cute yet extremely unnerving about Asura's face and his perpetual smile. One complaint this manga has received so far is that all the bad guys over the top evil people. It makes it easy for Asura to make these decisions, but I'm hoping this is just in the beginning and Asura will come across more moral dilemmas in the future. But it is very satisfying to see awful people get what they asked for. The manga has been compared to Death Note, but I like this approach more. Asura is a naive kid who wants the world to be happy, he doesn't have a god complex (not yet anyway) and doesn't have higher ambitions, he just hates to see the people around him get bullied. But this manga seems a lot more interesting. Asura meets several kids on hard times and we can sympathize with them more. Plus, Asura can't sit there in the comfort of his own room writing names down on a notebook, he has to put himself in danger in order to stick the key in people's heads. Anyway, I like where this manga's going, and it recently got endorsed by Hirohiko Araki, so take his word for it.

Hirayasumi

Last but certainly not least, I started reading Hirayasumi last month for the latest MAL Secret Santa, and I was gifted another amazing manga.

Hirayasumi follows the daily lives of many people going through their ups and downs. Hiroto works part-time and spends the rest of his days doing what he enjoys, while his cousin Natsumi frets over debuting as a mangaka while attending art school. But there are a lot of other characters like the clumsy yet dedicated Yomogi and stressed new dad Hideki.

There are a lot more characters, but I won't get into that here. At some point, if a character gets introduced, you'll learn about them, which is nice. While Hiroto would probably be called the main character, there really aren't any. Everyone has their own equally stressful problems, and they can only bring themselves up with the help of everyone around them. It's a really sweet manga. I asked for an iyashikei manga, and it was more than delivered for me. The art style is really simple and welcoming, and all the characters are relatable in some way. For me, that would especially be Natsumi. As an art student myself fretting about a future career in the industry, there's a lot that whirls around my head, so I get Natsumi on a very personal level. And I even look like her too lol. But then there are many times when I relate to characters like Yomogi or Hiroto. There's a lot here for anyone to enjoy, and I think anyone should read this manga because I think it adds just a little bit of comfort to our daily stresses.

Misc Mentions

Alongside everything else I've started I've been continuing to read Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and this year I completed Parts 3, 4, and 5 and started 6, it's on the back burning till I catch up to Hirayasumi. I don't really feel like I need to make an entry for these though since it's y'know Jojo.

Only in 2024 did I start One Piece. I'm caught up with the anime but I'm extremely late to the manga party. And again, since it's literally One Piece, it needs no promotion.

There were a couple of new manga I tried out but decided not to keep following after the first chapter.

The Urban Legend Files: I was still coming off my Yokai Buster Murakami depression and so I really didn't have it in me to start a fairly similar premise. And it didn't hook me nearly as much so I just decided I didn't need want to read it. I've been open to checking it out again, maybe if I hear more good things about it, but as it stands, I'm not very interested.

Syd Craft: Love is a Mystery: The art style looked cute and one of my absolute favorite genres is mystery. However, romance is not. I think this would appeal to a lot of people. And if romance wasn't extremely integral to the plot, I'd probably enjoy it more since it seems like something a Detective Conan fan would be all over. This one simply isn't for me, but I think plenty of people could enjoy it.

Drama Queen: This immediately got hit by controversy because of the awful protagonist, and I have to say I'm in that camp. She's written to be awful, sure, but I draw the line at not respecting pronouns. In one of the first pages, she gets mad because someone refers to their partner as their partner instead of boyfriend or girlfriend. This draws the line for me between likably bad and just bad. I also felt like the politics of it are a bit morally grey. Some say it's more of a critique of imperialism, while others say it's anti-immigration. I have a feeling, or at least I'd like to think it's more about imperialism, but you never know. Anyway, this manga just made me feel icky and I dropped it real quickly.

Anyway, that's it. I just thought I'd spread the word on all the cool manga I read this year and hopefully get some much deserved eyes on these titles. I'd like to make this an annual thing even if no one else cares lol.

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