It almost goes without saying that The Beat staff love manga just as much as we love comics. Our team’s diverse tastes shine through in our picks for the Best Manga of 2024, offering something for everyone—from mainstream hits to indie treasures. No matter your demographic or favorite genre, you’re bound to find a title that resonates with you.
How did we choose these manga series and one-shots? The process was straightforward: our writers selected their favorite titles published in 2024. For ongoing series, at least one new volume had to be released during the year. With that, we proudly present The Beat’s Best Manga of 2024! Happy reading!
Best New Manga of 2024
Flash Point
Writer/Artist: Imai Arata
Translator: Ryan Holmberg
Lettering: Lauren Eldon
Editor(s): Ryan Holmberg and emuh ruh
Publisher: Glacier Bay Books
With Imai Arata’s reputation as a bleeding-edge political satirist interested in pushing the envelope, I was surprised and delighted to find this indie manga to be about the mundane lives of two perfectly normal idiots. An unlikely pair, blundering into a web of deep political intrigue and broad social misunderstanding, all because being silly on Instagram felt better than being bored all the time. This one hit me like Kurt Vonnegut. They don’t even know they’re caught up in secret society machinations until the hot air balloon shows up to abduct them. Drawn and Quarterly and Fantagraphics have been publishing historically significant alternative manga; the contemporary artists doing that kind of work are found at Glacier Bay. A poignant friendship story interrupted by an attempted coup. Jovial and absurd, excellent at capturing moments typically outside the narrative of life, Arata finds the poetry in the real/the Reel. – Arpad Okay
The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All
Writer/Artist: Sumiko Arai
Translator: Ajani Oloye
Lettering:
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Publisher: Yen Press
[Buy The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All from Bookstore.org]
So you didn’t realize the girl who sits next to you in class is also the shop clerk you’ve been very vocally totally crushed out over. Every moment not spent lurking in the import CD shop, or listening to the music she’s picked up, she’s thinking about him. Only… “The green yuri” has an adorable premise of secret identity romance, the Spider-Man of lesbian comics. Nana comparisons are unavoidable given the mixed prep/punk aesthetic of the girls in Sumiko Arai’s work, and their coming together because of a mutual interest in ’90s American grunge and alternative rock like Nirvana and Beck. While many signs in this manga point toward the past, you could not ask for a more modern approach. A romance where two girls who know what they want learn to listen to their hearts. – Arpad Okay
Knapsack Vol. 1: Cassette
Writer/Artists: Amanda Castillo, Sunmi, Theo Stultz, Reetz, Inder, Pa Luis, Nichole Shinn, Mogumu, Kelly Ficarra, Janet Sung, Gica Tam, BOXERBUN, Em Allen, Diansakhu Banton-Perry, Chelsea Akpan, Billie Snippet, Angie Hewitt, Ally Gonzalez, and Lyle Lynde
Translator:
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Editor(s): Sara Hagstrom and Steph Bulante
Publisher: Lucky Pocket Press
Maybe I’m cheating by including this Lucky Pocket Press anthology, but you need to know about it. A throwback to early 2000s shojo anthologies, as in it’s a big pink and blue phonebook. Cassette is the music issue, which means comics about making karaoke friends and unexpected moronics at the classical concert, CD Walkman memories with magazine features and fashion spreads for fake bands. A love letter to the time and culture these cartoonists all came up from. A wildly successful, earnest homage to these cartoonists’ manga roots rather than a pastiche of a look. Zeroes in on what made shojo grab the attention of all these artists when they were young, curious, in voracious discovery mode. And it shows how that influence has blossomed over the years into a new kind of comics that no longer fit into traditional categories- even when paying tribute to them. – Arpad Okay
Igaguri: Young Judo Master
Writer/Artist: Eiichi Fukui
Translator: Ryan Holmberg
Lettering:
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Publisher: Bubbles Zine
This early 1950s series about competitive hand-to-hand combat fighters is exactly as foundational to shonen manga as it sounds. The “Mountain Storm Vanquished” arc is every bit the John Woo movie, but it gets there via the gentle path of Frank King and Gasoline Alley. Our hero is an everyday kind of person, befriending those he defeats out of a sportsmanlike mutual respect. Lofty ideals relatable to the pedestrian grabbing a magazine from the newsstand. During Japan’s postwar military occupation, stories where readers saw themselves as empowered were largely suppressed. It was both familiar and fresh. Eiichi Fukui’s animation experience brought dynamic framing to a medium previously informed by more archaic depictions. Illustrated stories before manga were full figures in detailed, specific settings. Like Tish Tash introducing Hollywood zip to early animation, Igaguri brought filmic storytelling to manga. Imagine a sports manga without match-cut close-ups. Its story is also about the tragedy of industrialized overwork, a warning against prioritizing deadlines over health. – Arpad Okay
Tokyo These Days, Vol. 1-3
Writer/Artist: Taiyo Matsumoto
Translator: Ryan Holmberg
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Publisher: VIZ Media
[Buy Tokyo These Days from Bookstore.org]
Earlier this year I reviewed Volume 1 of Taiyo Matsumoto’s low-key series that follows the creation of a manga anthology by a retired editor, but I wanted to take a moment to remind readers that the full series is now out, with VIZ publishing the hardcover volumes at a steady clip. Volumes 2 and 3 didn’t disappoint, with plenty of quirky characters, bittersweet encounters, and the occasional moment of magical realism. Though this series is very much ensconced in the particularities of the Japanese manga industry, anyone who loves comics (and the creative arts more broadly) will find much to connect with here. A peaceful and powerful read that will inspire you to do what you can to make the world a better place, one book at a time. – François Vigneault
Steel of the Celestial Shadows
Writer/Artist: Daruma Matsuura
Translator: Caleb Cook
Lettering:
Editor(s):
Publisher: VIZ Media
[Buy Steel of Celestial Shadows from Bookstore.org]
I’m surprised I don’t see anyone talking about this comic, because it’s just gorgeous. Look at that cover! Matsuura’s cartooning style feels almost European in how she exaggerates expressions and poses in this Edo-period supernatural story of lost loves and mysterious powers. I like how Matsuura dives deep into Edo history and really highlights lesser-known professions and situations of that time period, and the character gimmicks are likewise both classic and creative. We’ve seen bug-controlling villains and blind fortune-tellers before, but not quite like this. And the protagonists are really likeable too. I want Konosuke to get his wife back! – Masha Zhdanova
Thunder 3
Writer/Artist: Yuki Ikeda
Translator: Cat Anderson
Lettering:
Editor(s): Daniel Joseph
Publisher: Vertical Comics
[Buy Thunder 3 from Bookstore.org]
Thunder 3 has a premise that sounds tired. Three friends find themselves in an alternate universe looking to rescue a little sister captured by sinister forces. What makes Yuki Ikeda’s story so good is how it doesn’t take itself seriously at all. For example, our heroes, the Small Three, look like they should be protagonists in a ’70s manga. The alternate world they enter looks ultra-detailed, straight out of a modern hard sci-fi manga. Imagine Osamu Tezuka inserting figures into a Hiroya Oku manga. When they get there, it becomes a running gag when onlookers comment that our heroes look like manga characters. Our heroes can defy gravity and have to be careful that they don’t destroy the world around them because they’re super strong. Essentially they have the physics of cartoon characters in a realistic world. This opens up a lot of storytelling possibilities and it’s going to be a lot of fun to see them open up in future volumes. – D. Morris
My Lovesick Life as ’90s Otaku
Writer/Artist: Nico Nicholson
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Publisher: Kodansha
[Buy My Lovesick Life as a ’90s Otaku from Bookstore.org]
It’s hard to convey to a younger generation who grew up with anime and manga in the mainstream how niche it was to enjoy it. The idea of Goku being in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade would sound insane to someone in the ’90s. What it was like having to look for anime in tiny sections of bookstores, printing out images from Geocities websites, or ordering fansubs out of the back of magazines. Try explaining the deep sense of shame that came with liking something so niche back then. My Lovesick Life as ’90s Otaku perfectly captures that sense of nostalgia for an older fan culture and today’s cultural divide. The 40-year-old heroine Megumi looks back at her high school days. She tries to figure out where she went wrong in her life while envying her daughter’s open love of all things anime and manga. Writer/artist Nico Nicholson imbues her story and the ’90s time period with such specificity. Her heroine loves Slayers, Trials of Mana, and of course, gets wrapped up in the release of a little show called Neon Genesis Evangelion. But it’s the struggles with her sense of identity and boys that truly makes Megumi’s story so compelling. This book may lure you in with its look at ’90s fan culture but it’s the struggles of a woman defining who she is that truly stick with you. – D. Morris
Panorama of Hell
Writer/Artist: Hideshi Hino
Translator: Dan Luffey
Lettering: Meg Argyriou
Editor(s):
Publisher: Star Fruit Books
It’s a small miracle that this book is once again back in print. Long out of print, Hideshi Hino’s masterpiece of horror retains its power to shock 40 years after its original publication date. A painter leads the reader on a tour of the various horrors of his life and shares his grisly perspective on the world around him. As the story progresses, it’s clear that this man’s grip on sanity has eroded. Hino renders all of this in his trademark ink-drenched, horrifying style of cartooning. Few works of comics capture the terror of being in hell like this one. – D. Morris
My Name is Shingo
Writer/Artist: Kazuo Umezz
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Publisher: VIZ Media
[Buy My Name is Shingo from Bookstore.org]
The last few years have seen works by the late, great Kazuo Umezz either come back into print or come to these shores for the first time. Among those works finally seeing print in the English language is Umezz’s science fiction masterpiece My Name is Shingo. The series follows the birth of an artificial intelligence that at one point will name itself Shingo. Umezz opens the series with the cosmic visual of the birth of a sentient being before zooming into the circuit board housing this intelligence. Umezz has a unique take on fears of artificial intelligence, industrialization, and the future of Japan. The fear of youth becomes a thing of truly cosmic proportions. – D. Morris
Kagurabachi
Writer/Artist: Takeru Hokazono
Translator: Camellia Nieh
Lettering: Phil Christie
Editor(s):
Publisher: VIZ Media
[Buy Kagurabachi from Bookstore.org]
What do John Wick and Batman have in common? They’d kill to be as badass as Chihiro Rokuhira. Kagurabachi follows Chihiro, a cold-blooded swordsman on a quest for revenge against the Hishaku, a shadowy sorcerer organization that murdered his father and stole the six enchanted swords his father crafted. Just how powerful are these swords? Powerful enough to end an all-out war between sorcerers. The story delves into the morality of killing and the burdens carried by both the sword bearers and the craftsmen who create such weapons. While the premise may not be groundbreaking, the manga compensates with its incredible artistic flair and Tarantino-like fight sequences and choreography. What sets Kagurabachi apart this year is its masterful storytelling. Kagurabachi reads like a movie! The manga effortlessly balances enthralling fights, engaging dialogue, and a steadily escalating sense of anticipation. Each chapter raises the stakes and leaves you wondering just how Chihiro and company will recover one of the stolen enchanted blades—let alone survive. The relentless action and suspense make Kagurabachi a thrilling, addictive read that keeps you craving more every week. – Matias De la Piedra
Hero Organization
Writer: Kei Saikawa
Artist: Akira Takahashi
Translator:
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Publisher: MANGA Plus
Hero Organization has one of the best opening chapters I’ve read in recent years. At its heart of this sci-fi mecha manga is Ryu Tyler, a talentless single father struggling to be a role model for his overachieving kid. Ryu is just an ordinary fella—not even, he’s a nobody—yet, his life took a turn when he was suddenly approached by the Space Force to pilot a mechanical armor and fight Star Beasts in space. It’s the chance he’s been waiting for: an opportunity to make his son proud and earn his admiration. Hero Organization is a story of how you are never too old to pursue your dreams, to break down mental limitations, and to challenge yourself to become the best version of yourself. This is the story of how Ryu, an ordinary man, became a hero and a father his son can be proud of. Except, it is not. Why? Spoilers! So go read it! Packed with tearjerking moments, unexpected plot twists, and breathtaking artwork that brings its inspiring narrative to life, Hero Organization is a must-read. – Matias De la Piedra
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Deluxe Edition vol. 5
Writer/Artist: Hitoshi Ashinano
Translator: Daniel Komen
Lettering: Ludwig Sacramento
Editor(s): Linda Lombardi
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
[Buy Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou from Bookstore.org]
For years, I have railed against the Coffee Shop AU style of storytelling, wherein we have a small group of characters being mundane with one another surrounding a coffee shop they all work/drink at. Aside from being supported by artists like Tamsyn Mur and Lana Wachowski, my main antipathy with it stems from the fact that Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is one of the most beautiful comics I’ve ever read, and any other attempt at this form comes across as suspect in comparison. What aids this manga is Hitoshi Ashinano’s embrace of nature. Simply having small, quiet moments of looking at the world in a post-post apocalypse are truly stunning, especially when delivered by Ashinano’s pen. A heartwarming, tearjerker of a series at long last having its final volume published in English, there truly isn’t anything quite like it. – Sean Dillon
Asadora! Vol. 8
Writer/Artist: Naoki Urasawa
Translator: John Werry
Lettering:
Editor(s): Karla Clark
Publisher: VIZ Media
[Buy Asadora! from Bookstore.org]
Asadora! is one of the most interesting works of long history fiction I’ve read. In many ways comparable to Paul Almond and Michael Apted’s Up series (or, perhaps more aptly, Urasawa’s own Billy Bat, but that series still doesn’t have an official English translation), we follow the lives of a select group of people, most centrally the corrupted titular Asa Asada, as they live their lives in the wake of post-War Japan. While nominally about fighting a kaiju, the story in this volume is more interested in some of the personal matters of our characters. Taking a relatively down-to-earth approach regarding the entertainment industry, we find ourselves in what continues to be an annual pleasure for a trade waiter like myself, paying off one of the earliest motifs running throughout the entire series in a truly beautiful way. – Sean Dillon
Search and Destroy, Vol. 1
Writer/Artist: Atsushi Kaneko (Adapted from Dororo by Osamu Tezuka)
Translator: Ben Applegate
Lettering:
Editor(s): Christopher Woodrow-Butcher
Publisher: Fantagraphics
[Buy Search and Destroy, Vol. 1 from Bookstore.org]
It is always an interesting experience to read a work that radically alters its initial text. Be it moving Romeo and Juliet into the streets of New York, turning a bunch of Westerns and samurai films into a science fiction epic, or even something as small as making Alien into a banal military shoot-em-up. There’s something to the act of transporting a text out of its element that makes for a worthwhile experience. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in Atsushi Kaneko’s adaptation of Tezuka’s Dororo, Search and Destroy. Consisting of its first half, this volume tells a gorgeously brutal tale of revenge and retribution that takes on the lessons learned from the grotesque manga of the ’70s and pushes it towards a direction that is at once more elegant and brutal than those initial manga. I mean, the snow alone is enough to make the argument that this is one of the best manga of the year. – Sean Dillon
Marriage to Kitsune-sama
Writer/Artist: Ken Homerun
Translator: Kat Skarbinec
Lettering: J. Piechowiak
Editor: K McDonald
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
[Buy Marriage to Kitsune-sama from Bookstore.org]
Ken Homerun’s Marriage to Kitsune-sama, published by Seven Seas Entertainment, delivers a one-shot Boys’ Love story about a villager destined to ascend the mountain in Hokutochou and marry one of the fox spirits living there. This time, the villager Inaho takes on the role of the fox bride and comes face-to-face with his future husband, Subaru, who has secretly loved him for a while. However, not everyone celebrates their union, and a curse threatens Subaru, endangering Inaho as well, who risks being devoured whole! As an ardent Boys’ Love reader and a fan of kitsune (they’re just so darn cute), I knew I would love this title going in. The story blends sweetness and wholesomeness with a touch of melancholy (ah, the pain of unrequited love), leaving you wishing for more. – Hayame Kawachi
King in Limbo
Writer/Artist: Ai Tanaka
Translator: Ajani Oloye
Editor(s): Ben Applegate
Lettering: EK Weaver
Publisher: Kodansha
[Buy King in Limbo from Bookstore.org]
Meeting Ai Tanaka’s works was one of the great things that happened to me this year. Apple Children of Aeon was already available in English though I could only read it this year. After reading King in Limbo and reviewing it for The Beat, however, I knew I had to be on the lookout for their future works! The world of King in Limbo is almost identical to ours, except for a disease that’s thought to be eradicated but is back. The only way to fight this “memory cancer” is to dive into the patient’s memories. Tanaka brings an ex-navy officer and a mysterious diver “King” to create a compelling sci-fi setting where they explore what human lives entail at the crossroads of military, medicine, and politics… – Merve Giray
Hirayasumi
Writer/Artist: Keigo Shinzo
Translator: Jan Mitsuko Cash
Editor(s): Holly Fisher
Lettering: Elena Diaz
Publisher: VIZ Media
[Buy Hirayasumi from Bookstore.org]
Hirayasumi is one of those series whose fame precedes their license announcement. It was a work where fans demanded to read it in English, and that’s how I became aware of this acclaimed manga. Having read the first two volumes now, I have to say that Hirayasumi honestly deserves all the praise! The series opens with Hiroto, who is happily drifting through life and his unlikely friendship with a grandma, and then a young cousin Natsumi, moving to Tokyo to study added to Hiroto’s equation. What Hirayasumi seems to be about at heart is shining a light on various people. Not just the ambitious, successful, or whose lives are planned out to a t, but also the lost, the satisfied, the anxious. – Merve Giray
BARBARITIES IV
Writer/Artist: Tsuta Suzuki
Translator: Jacqueline Fung
Lettering: Nicole Roderick
Editor(s): Leighanna DeRouen
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
[Buy Barbarities IV from Bookstore.org]
The periwigs! The lace! The frills! And of course, gorgeous men! Taking inspiration from Renaissance Europe, Tsuta Suzuki invites the reader to a fictional world where Viscount Adam Canning is appointed as a bodyguard to the Minister of Justice, Lord Montague. He is a capable man, so ethereal and charming that no one can resist him—except Montague’s nephew Joel! From there on, a cat-and-mouse game awaits the reader. Tsuta Suzuki has been active for almost 20 years now, and the experience is evident in the artist’s careful eye for detail, beautiful art style, and ability to craft a fun story that also pulls at your heartstrings! Barbarities is completely available in English, and no better time to give this series a chance! – Merve Giray
Fool Night
Writer/Artist: Kasumi Yasuda
Translator: Casey Lowe
Lettering: Snir Aharon
Editor(s): Julia Walchuk
Publisher: VIZ Media
[Buy Fool Night from Bookstore.org]
Capitalism will make you sell your soul to the devil (Chainsaw Man), work a dead-end job until the literal zombie apocalypse (ZOM100: Bucket List of the Dead), or stake your life on life or death gambling games until the system eats you alive (Gambling Apocalypse: KAIJI.) But I’ve never seen anything quite like Fool Night, a manga series in which the poor and destitute agree to become “spiriflora” plants in exchange for money. I didn’t know if I had it in me to read a longform comic about self-inflicted vegetable suicide. Happily, Yasuda’s characters liven up the narrative with their big, apocalyptic feelings. Plus, the first volume pivots in an unexpected direction: the spiriflora can talk, but only the protagonist (and in-progress spiriflora transplant) Toshiro can hear them. What does it mean that the “living dead” are alive after all? What lengths would you go to revenge yourself upon your bad dad if he turned into a tree? I’m curious to see what lessons Fool Night has for our own uncertain present. – Adam Wescott
Sketchy
Writer/Artist: Makihirochi
Translator: Alethea and Athena Nibley
Lettering: Evan Hayden
Editor(s): Tiff Joshua TJ Ferentini
Publisher: Kodansha
[Buy Sketchy from Bookstore.org]
Sketchy really struck a chord with me. It’s about a woman at the end of her 20s who is working in a video rental shop. Life has just kind of happened to her, and it’s not all that great. Her boyfriend is a dud. Her long-time friends have really grown in a direction she’s not interested in. And, of course, she’s getting older — and then one day she sees a skateboarder, who is also a girl. This inspires her to get into skating herself, and our story starts from there. What I find incredibly relatable about Sketchy is the way a hobby can galvanize the other parts of our lives, and also the idea that tackling something new is not only possible as we get older, but incredibly invigorating. It’s a great read, well-drawn and well-told, but the themes and ideas were what really got me. – Zack Quaintance
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth
Writer/Artist: Gou Tanabe
Translator: Zack Davisson
Lettering:
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Publisher: Dark Horse
[Buy H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth from Bookstore.org]
Gou Tanabe’s Lovecraft adaptations stand as some of the best in the field. Few have managed to capture the monstrosities behind Lovecraft’s terrifying visions with such visceral force. The Shadow Over Innsmouth is no exception. The story follows an antiquarian that becomes interested in the settlement of Innsmouth, Massachusetts, a place that surrounding towns fear due to rumors of strange local folk and of amphibian creatures holding court with the living. Tanabe understands the need for creature designs that test the sanity of the story’s main characters, and oh does he deliver. The mass of humanoid sea creatures that slowly descend upon the town for nightmarish rituals are so detailed and textured that they make the act of touching the pages of the manga itself an exercise in bravery. Tanabe knows how to tap into the madness we’ve come to term Lovecraftian, and Innsmouth is perhaps his crowning achievement. – Ricardo Serrano
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Comics and Graphic Novels | Manga | Webtoons | Anime | Movies | Television
In case you missed it, here are The Beat’s best of 2024.
