Due to localization time lag, the top manga printed in the West often closely mirror the biggest anime airing that same year, with readers, like animation studio headhunters, both looking for the best of the best. That's partially true this year as well, but plenty of 2023's top manga are still only manga, and as ever, the ones that have been adapted into anime are just as good if not better as reading material.
We've picked the 10 top manga for 2023 by focusing on (mostly) newer series that saw multiple, excellent English volumes in the past year. Many of these manga were first printed in English this year, some really came into their own, and some others are slightly older but properly blew up this year. (I've also slipped in some honorable mentions because it's the end of the year and there's nobody around to stop me.) That being said, here are our top 10 manga of 2023.
10. The Ancient Magus' Bride
Recent volumes of The Ancient Magus' Bride, a wistful fantasy story about a girl loved by fae and fairies and all things supernatural, most especially her shadowy partner Elias, have felt more like a sequel than a new arc. The manga's initial premise has been mostly paid off, yet it hasn't missed a beat in its newest act, which sends a more mature Chise to school for one of the least school arc-like school arcs I've ever read. Kore Yamazaki continues to dazzle with a wondrous magic system, creatures and characters that can captivate one moment and frighten on a primal level the next, and the root humanity of an increasingly inhuman cast.
9. Call of the Night
It was an amazing year for insomniac representation. Kou Yamori can't sleep worth a damn, nor can he cope with the social pressures of everyday life as a 14-year-old student. After withdrawing from school, he finds escape in nightly excursions, savoring the silence and freedom of his near-empty city. He soon stumbles into a girl named Nazuna – and this next bit is introduced so amusingly casually that it isn't even a spoiler – who turns out to be a vampire after his extra tasty blood. Ko decides he's just fine with that if it means having company. So begins a funny and light-hearted story about people coping with life, from writer and illustrator Kotoyama, who makes incredible use of negative space throughout.
8. The Summer Hikaru Died
Hikaru, you may have gathered, is dead. But his body isn't. Schoolboy Yoshiki is alarmed to one day find his friend's form inhabited by a being of unknowable horror. It insists that Hikaru died in an accident while out hiking and that it simply slipped into his body like a skinwalker. It has Hikaru's memories but lacks human common sense and experience, so its behavior raises some eyebrows as it attempts to emulate Hikaru's old life and personality. Yoshiki's struggle to accept the loss of his friend and the feelings he had for him is punctuated with glimpses into a world that should not be seen, turning Mokumokuren's latest into an unnerving slice of life story that sticks to you like tar.
7. Insomniacs After School
Easily the most accurately named series on this list (so far), Insomniacs After School follows two teens who bond over their shared sleeplessness. This common struggle brings them together, and in their search for rest at the abandoned school observatory, Ganta Nakami and Isaki Magari end up becoming the founders of a new astrology club. Makoto Ojiro's latest is an expressive slice of life about what people find in each other – peace, relief, validation, motivation. Ganta and Isaki are endearing individually and adorable together, and the series' backdrop is split between urban vistas and nighttime stargazing, both striking in their own right.
6. Heavenly Delusion
Immediately unsettling and tirelessly clever, Masakazu Ishiguro's Heavenly Delusion balances two storylines: one inside a cloistered school with robot overseers, and the other in the world somewhere – and seemingly somewhen – outside it. Schoolkids like Tokio and Mimihime battle curiosity and uncertainty in isolation, while Maru and Kiruko wander a ruined world reclaimed by nature and crawling with malformed monsters. Hints at the bigger picture are shared casually and often unceremoniously, giving every chapter an almost scavenger hunt throughline behind the front-facing survival drama. It is incredibly uncomfortable, sometimes skin-crawlingly so, but its world begs to be explored.
5. Chainsaw Man
After a sizable gap between volumes and a similar leap within the story, Chainsaw Man's returned in rare form, dropping two volumes almost back-to-back to prove it's still got plenty of gas in the tank. It's an ugly, unignorable story about fools and screwups and villains, a pulpy, grungy anti-hero devouring light among the sterling ranks of Shonen Jump's shiny golden geese. Let us all be thankful that we are not characters in Tatsuki Fujimoto's world, where cruelty, like blood, comes down like rain. Chainsaw Man remains laugh-out-loud funny, stomach-churningly brutal, and utterly allergic to happy endings.
4. Dandadan
Shonen Jump continues to find some of its greatest modern successes in stories that get away from the classic hero's journey of a young boy. Dandadan is a rip-snortin' blend of the supernatural and extraterrestrial, led by heroine Momo Ayase and her now-nicknamed partner Okarun. An off-the-walls hurricane of aliens and spirits rages around a (so far) refreshingly small cast of likable characters who are constantly evolving. Momo and Okarun lean on each other in the face of ridiculous threats like the genital-stealing Turbo Granny, and underneath the zany veneer, Dandadan – from Yukinobu Tatsu, previously assistant on Chainsaw Man and Fire Punch – delivers incredible horror stills, exhilarating action sequences, and embers of romance.
3. Akane-banashi
Much like the long-running Chihayafuru series, Akane-banashi wins you over with palpable enthusiasm for its central craft – in this case, Rakugo, a sort of one-person play where you act out and narrate an entire story – and with a charismatic spitfire heroine. Inspired by her father's craft and motivated by his unfair dismissal, Akane Osaki throws herself into Rakugo to prove that her family's character-centric acting style can enthrall audiences. Writer Yuki Suenaga and illustrator Takamasa Moue in turn pull readers into a series with the heart of a coming-of-age manga, the fire of a sports anime, and spellbinding delivery for stories within stories.
2. Oshi no Ko
After Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Aka Akasaka has teamed up with Mengo Yokoyari for a blistering modern drama with possibly the best opening chapter of the entire year. Like 2017's The Promised Neverland, it's almost impossible to talk about Oshi no Ko, roughly translated as "idol's children," without spoiling the hook. What I can say is that the breakneck prologue, while sure to leave you reeling, isn't even the best part. Oshi no Ko is a smart, scathing indictment of the entertainment industry, parasocial delusions, idol culture, and much more. It is absurd, ruthless, and impossible to put down, and – at least in the English volumes – still somehow gives the sense that it's only getting started.
1. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
The burden of near-immortality weighs heavily on Frieren, an elf cursed to watch her shorter-lived companions leave her in what feels like no time at all. Frieren's journey is a contemplative examination of time and relationships, set in a novel fantasy world dripping with detail and filled with generations of likable characters. The series' hit anime adaptation is as pretty as it is in large part because the manga is filled with hard-hitting vistas and expressions. Writer Kanehito Yamada and artist Tsukasa Abe manage a powerfully bittersweet tale anchored to a protagonist who actually delivers the emotional depth you'd expect from someone so long-lived.
Honorable mentions
- Witch Hat Atelier - With an imaginative concept of magic and illustrations you could almost fall into, Witch Hat Atelier remains essential reading, even if we did only get one physical volume this year.
- Delicious in Dungeon - This food-powered fantasy romp finds itself in the same situation as Witch Hat Atelier – with a small collection of chapters out this year, and every release being unquestionably unmissable.
- Interviews With Monster Girls - the final volume of one of my all-time favorite slice of life stories was released in 2023, and it ended as it began – with heart, humor, and some of the best line art in manga.
- Shy: As One Punch Man and My Hero Academia bring superhero manga to a roiling boil, Shy uses the space to instead tell a slightly more relaxed and much more relatable story about a young, anxious girl grappling with the burdens of her abilities.
- Spy X Family - Still maybe the strongest comedy manga serializing today, and still getting unbelievable mileage – and some remarkably intense and heartfelt moments – out of an absurd premise.
- Apothecary Diaries - A fabulous period piece drama based on fairly old, but equally fabulous novels about a quick-witted apothecary stumbling into imperial politics.
- Goodbye Eri - If you read a single one-shot this year, make it Goodbye Eri from Tatsuki Fujimoto.
- Is Love The Answer? - The latest from Uta Isaki follows Chika, a girl realizing more and more that she's aromantic and asexual, and who has won me over in just one volume.
