Manga

Collection of manga images under the text: Manga that should('ve) never be(een) adapted

I read about 95% of these in Japanese. Ones marked Own I have as physical copies, meaning I like them quite a bit.

2025

2024

Occhoko Doji Oneesan
  • Kakukaku ShikajikaKakukaku Shikajika: Reread. Good autobiographical work.
  • Death NoteDeath Note: Own. Reread with /a/
  • Amachin wa Jishou Osu
    • Otokonoko has a crush on a guy.
  • Senpai wa otoko no ko
  • Menhera-chanMenhera-chan
  • Seihantai na Kimi to BokuSeihantai na Kimi to Boku
  • Boku to Issho
  • Occhoko Doji Oneesan:
    • It’s about a boy and his older girlfriend who tries to be cool and adult-like but is cute ditzy
  • Mousou Telepathy:
    • It is a comedy about a girl who can read the thoughts of other people, and the awkwardness caused by one stoic guy who is into her and constantly having super-lewd thoughts about her.
    • But near the end of the manga there’s an unexpected twist: She realizes she is “reading thoughts” that the person could not have known, such as what kind of bra she is wearing in the lewd imagined scenes. So she goes into this paranoia that maybe all the thoughts she was “reading” were actually the production of her own imagination. In the end it turns out that she really can read the thoughts but her mind fills in the “visual gaps” — so the boy was thinking lewd things but so was the girl.
Pages from the manga Mousou Telepathy
Mousou Telepathy

2023

Page from the manga Ano Ko no Ie
Ano Ko no Ie. It reads: “This is nice… yeah, this is fun, but… I know there's some part of me that's dying”
  • ShamoShamo: Evil
  • Katekin:
    • Boy has a sexy but lazy private tutor.
    • It was okay. Definitely my favorite type of story, but maybe lacking in focus too much. Everything is happy on the surface but in the end nothing good ever happens. MC eventually comes to like every girl, but the relationships are doomed by then. There’s a strong feeling of theme/premise here, but couldn’t quite articulate it. Best stories are always like that I think, you can feel the patterns but can’t see or name them, at least not without breaking the immersion or until a “fridge moment”.
  • Kecchin:
    • Shy boy gets interested in motorcycles.
    • Much like I expected after the great Sekitou Elegy from the same author.
    • It was a pretty good read, but in the end “nothing happens”. I don’t really like the slice of life and “life goes on” vibes so many seinen manga leave you with. It’s good when the story has some of that, but I prefer when in the end you feel like the characters got somewhere because of the things they did.
  • Ano Ko no Ie:
    • It’s a one volume long surreal manga about a girl who goes on some kind of adventure.
    • Not bad, although I don’t have the faintest idea what the story was about.
Pages from the manga Katekin, showing a girl perform German Suplex on a boy
Katekin
Panel from the manga Kecchin
Kecchin
  • Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia:
    • Incredibly cute and comfy manga about a boy and a girl both suffering from insomnia, united by sleep.
    • I was excited for this for a long time, waiting for it to finish before starting to read, but I just couldn’t wait anymore. Reading now, seems great. The author also has other manga that I liked a lot, but I have a feeling this will take the cake. This kind of manga is true “iyashikei” for me.
  • Fate/strange fake: Own. Read a few chapters on /a/.
  • Toki (the Saki spin-off): Own
  • Narutaru:
    • Pretty good, I thought it would be more “surreal”.
Pages from the manga Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia, showing a girl standing up and startling a boy after having woken up
Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia

2022

Rentaru Onii-chan. The girl has a bad shut-in older brother, causing her to “hire a new onii-chan” to ease her mind.
Pages from the manga Bakemonogatari
Bakemonogatari. The manga version is intricate and constantly surprising like the Shaft anime, but in a different way. The character design and art style is also markedly different that can give you a new perspective to this masterpiece of a story.

2021

Page from the manga Otoyomegatari showing a young woman in intricate clothing standing on a horse
Otoyomegatari
  • Kenrantaru Grande Scène: Own
    • Excellent sports manga about ballet, very inspiring. It tracks the female MC’s journey from a young Japanese hobbyist, through international studies in Britain, into professional work. Feels more realistic than most sports series. For example it shows how the characters struggle because of language barriers when studying abroad. It even covers the Covid-19 pandemic in a very serious way, yet smartly does not drag it out for too long.
    • It’s slightly infamous for the fact that the (female) mangaka is a prolific hentai author who certainly knows how to draw a scantly clothed human body. Even though this work initially features mainly young girls, it doesn’t come off as particularly erotic in my opinion, at least not any more so than real life ballet dancers do.
  • Otoyomegatari: Own
    • Historical series centered around the Caspian Sea area in the late 19th century, featuring extremely intricate art of traditional art woven by women. The manga shows traditional women and men roles in a very positive way, full of cultural appreciation. A winner of multiple awards.
  • Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta TensaiAkagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai: Watch the anime first
  • Sei So Tsui Dan Sha:
    • Damn, I probably should be reading more hentai.
  • Liar Game
  • Ao no Flag
  • Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai
  • Boku no Namae wa Shounen A:
    • Didn’t like it, but at least it was short with a proper ending.
Kenrantaru Grande Scène. The MC gets a lesson from a foreign ballet performer and teacher.

2020

Page from the manga Medaka Box, showing Kumagawa having been kicked down the stairs
Medaka Box

2019

  • Tsumi to KaiTsumi to Kai: Good
  • Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san: Own
    • The nerdy artist MC gets bullied by a popular and cool underclassman girl, but could it be because she actually kind of likes him?! Well not before he becomes less of a loser. Weirdly, it’s kind of realistic portrayal of high school social dynamics in my opinion. But of course the main point here is just how cute and nasty a girl Nagatoro can be.
  • Nana to Kaoru: S&M manga with male S. Pretty good.
  • Cat Street: It was okay, Quite predictable.
  • Danberu nan kiro moteru?
Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san.

2018

2015 - 2018

These lists are quite comprehensive because I used to track them on MAL. Related entries are sometimes combined on one line with “;”.

Abnormal-kei Joshi. “Hey look, I found a dead body! ☆”
  • Abnormal-kei Joshi
    • It’s about how the male MC dates/hangs with several completely unhinged girls.
    • This is really “edgy” but doesn’t change the fact I like it. The MC is alpha in a very primal sense — I can almost understand all the girls lusting for him. I’m not sure if there’s even any plot.
    • The author also made… Hyakko. What? Well the art is very similar but the story content is so different. I haven’t read Hyakko but I saw the anime adaptation a long time ago, and I thought it was kind of meh. An old friend liked the anime a lot though, so could possibly be attributed to my then undeveloped taste.
    • Anyway, the author hasn’t made anything since this manga which is sad. (“Many such cases”)
  • Ane Doki
  • Asahinagu
  • B-gata H-kei
  • Boku dake ga Inai Machi
  • Bonnouji
  • Can’t See Can’t Hear But Love
  • Cheese in the Trap Season 1
  • Fatalizer
  • Gekiga Hyouryuu
  • Gekka no KishiGekka no Kishi
  • Go-Toubun no HanayomeGo-Toubun no Hanayome
  • Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?: Own
  • Grand Blue
  • Hatsukanezumi no Jikan
  • Hatsukoi Zombie
  • Henjo: Hen na Joshikousei Amaguri Chiko
  • Himegoto 19-sai no SeifukuHimegoto 19-sai no Seifuku: Blown away
  • Hoozuki-san Chi no Aneki
  • Innocent
  • Joshikausei
  • Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen
    • It’s about a boy and a girl in love with each other and kind of know it, but both are also extremely prideful and are doing their everything to make the other one confess first. The manga chronicles their mental battles on this matter, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat to see if the romance will flourish.
    • Has pretty cool side characters that help to explore the premise and have their own romance troubles.
    • I liked this a lot when it was coming out.
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai. The hero and the heroine are both top of the elite school's student council, but also both quite derpy in this manner.
  • Kakukaku ShikajikaKakukaku Shikajika
  • Kanojo no Kagi wo Akeru Houhou
  • Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san: Own
  • Minami-ke
    • Chiaki looks like she is high all the time. “The reason her eyes are always half-open is so that she can avoid seeing things she doesn’t want to.”
    • Going on for over 20 years now, Minami-ke exhibits the odd western cartoon setup where time never advances and any seeming changes to the status quo just get forgotten in the next chapter. Think of The Simpsons for example. Reading and watching Minami-ke, I’m pretty sure there has been like three separate Valentine’s days but the characters are still in the same year of school they were in the beginning.
    • As of 2025 it’s at 28 volumes and I’m still not sure if anything has happened during the whole series. Peak slice of life I guess.
    • Hosaka-senpai is such as a magnificent male sample that it almost makes it painful to read knowing he will never progress on his quest for Haruka’s approval.
Minami-ke. The eldest sister Haruka makes a mental rule to drink her delicious tea after the sister Kana says something, but she doesn't. Haruka then changes it to a rule to drink after the youngest sister Chiaki stops clipping her nails. But will she…?
  • Misumisou
  • Mousou Telepathy
  • Mudazumo naki Kaikaku
  • Mujaki no Rakuen
  • Nana Maru San Batsu
  • Nande Koko ni Sensei ga!?
  • Natsu no Zenjitsu
  • Nichijou
  • Nijigahara Holograph: Own
  • Ninkoi: Kakurenbo Hichou
  • Ochanigosu.
  • Octave
  • Omoide Emanon
  • Ookami Shounen wa Kyou mo Uso wo Kasaneru
  • Orange
  • Ore wa Mada Honki Dashitenai dake
  • P to JK
  • Prism
  • Ran to Haiiro no Sekai: Own
  • RiN
  • Saikyou Densetsu Kurosawa
  • Sakura * Nadeshiko
  • Satougashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai: A Lollypop or A Bullet
  • Sekine-kun no koi
  • Sekitou ElegySekitou Elegy: Good
  • Sen to Man: Great
  • Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai shinai Taikutsu na Sekai: Manmaru-hen
  • Shiota-sensei to Amai-chan
  • Solanin: Own
  • Sora no Shita Yane no Naka
  • Spica
  • Stretch
  • Subarashii Sekai
  • Sun-Ken Rock
  • Sundome
  • Takane to Hana
  • Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!
  • Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san: Own
  • Tsurezure Children: Own
  • Umibe no Onnanoko: Own
  • Undercurrent: Own
  • W x Y
  • Yagate Kimi ni Naru
  • Yasashii Sekai no Tsukurikata
  • Yotsuba to!
  • Yunagi no Machi Sakura no Kuni
  • Yuri Yuri: Own

Before 2015-10

  • Sangatsu no LionSangatsu no Lion: Own
  • 81 Diver
  • Acony
  • Aho Girl
  • Ai Kora
  • Aku no Hana
  • Akumetsu
  • All Rounder Meguru
  • Ane Doki!
  • Angel Densetsu
  • Baka ga Zenra de Yattekuru
  • Baka to Gogh
  • Bakuman.
  • Barakamon
  • Believers
  • Berserk by Miura Kentaro (mangaka)Miura Kentaro (mangaka)
  • Blame!
  • Bleach
  • Bokkou
  • Buddha
  • Cheese in the Trap
  • ChihayafuruChihayafuru
  • Citrus
  • Death NoteDeath Note: Own
  • Detroit Metal City
  • Don’t Cry, Girl♥
  • Doujin WorkDoujin Work: Own
  • Eden no Ori
  • Flat
  • Flying Witch
  • Freesia: Own
  • Fullmetal Alchemist
  • G Senjou Heaven’s Door
  • Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun: Own
  • Genshiken
  • Getenrou
  • Gou-Dere Bishoujo Nagihara Sora♥
  • Hachimitsu to CloverHachimitsu to Clover: Own
  • Haru yo, Koi
  • Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko.Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko.: Own
  • Hikaru no Go
  • Historie
  • Horimiya
  • Hoshi no Samidare
  • Hozuki-san Chi no Aneki
  • Imouto wa Shishunki
  • Iris Zero
  • Kiseijuu
  • Kodomo no Jikan
  • Koe de Oshigoto!
  • Koe no Katachi
  • Koharu no Hibi
  • Kokou no Hito
  • Liar Game
  • Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to
  • Mirai Nikki
  • Monster
  • Mousou Shoujo Otaku-kei
  • Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku: Own. Massively epic
  • Welcome to the NHKWelcome to the NHK
  • Nana Maru San Batsu 7O3X
  • Nazo no Kanojo X
  • New Game!
  • Nozoki Ana
  • Ojojojo
  • Onanie Master Kurosawa: Unique
  • One Punch-Man
  • Ore ga Doutei wo Sutetara Shinu Ken ni Tsuite
  • Oretama
  • Otaku no Musume-san
  • Oyasumi PunpunOyasumi Punpun: Own
  • Ping Pong
  • Prison SchoolPrison School (Kangoku Gakuen): Amazing
  • Prunus Girl
  • Real: Great
  • Rika
  • Rin
  • Sakamoto desu ga?
  • Saki: Own
    • Saki Biyori: Own
    • Saki: Achiga-hen - Episode of Side-A: Own
    • Ritz: Own
    • Shinohayu: the Dawn of Age: Own
  • Sasameki Koto
  • Seitokai Yakuindomo
  • Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai: Manmaru-hen
  • Shokugeki no Souma
  • Sora no Otoshimono
  • Sun-ken Rock
  • Super Oresama Love Story
  • Taiyou no Ie
  • Ten: Tenhou-doori no Kaidanji
  • Teppuu
  • The Breaker; New Waves
  • To LOVE-Ru: Own
  • Tonari no Seki-kun
  • Usagi Drop
  • Uzumaki
  • Vagabond: Great
  • Velvet Kiss
  • Wanitokagegisu
  • Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo
  • Yandere Kanojo
  • Yankee-kun to Megane-chan
  • Yotsubato!
  • Yuru YuriYuru Yuri: Own
    • Oomuro-ke: Own