20 Best Manga of All Time You Need to Read
Best Manga of All Time
Manga is very old, although most people think it is a relatively new phenomenon. Globally, the popularity of manga peaked in the 1980s and 1990s. The emergence of the “Big Three”; Bleach, One Piece and Naruto in the 2000s cemented that rise, and today, the manga world is very popular.
In order to honor this popularity, here is a list of the 2020 best manga of all time; since it is difficult to rank such works properly, we are just going to list them.
- One Piece
- Dragon Ball
- Naruto
- Bleach
- Hunter x Hunter
- Full-Metal Alchemist
- Attack on Titan
- Demon Slayer
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures
- My Hero Academia
- Vinland Saga
- One Punch Man
- Death Note
- Hajime No Ippo
- Case closed
- Tokyo Ghoul
- Chainsaw Man
- Fruits Basket
- Jujutsu Kaisen
- Banana Fish
1. One Piece
One Piece is the best fantasy manga series that exists for several fans! With more than 500 million copies sold worldwide, it is the best-selling manga of all time. The adaptation of the manga into an anime has the same success with more than 1000 episodes to date.
One Piece is set in a world of pirates and seafaring folk. The pirates, captains, crews, and ships are all carefully designed. The story is equally thrilling and filled with suspense. In this world of pirates, there was a time when Gold Roger the “Pirate King” was the greatest of all pirates.
Upon his death, his priceless treasure known as “One Piece” was hidden somewhere on the Grand Line. Many pirates went in search of this treasure but no one ever got the treasure. Monkey D. Luffy dreams of finding this legendary treasure and becoming the new Pirate King.
After eating a devil fruit, he possesses a power allowing him to fulfill his dream. Now he has to find a crew to go on an adventure!
Related: Ultimate One Piece Watching Guide
2. Dragon Ball
Speaking of the history of manga, you cannot avoid talking about Dragon Ball. It is an epic, multiverse series that you need to read. Centered on a boy named Son Gokū, the story follows him from childhood, as he trains in martial arts before finally setting off on a grand quest.
The aim? Be capable of defeating powerful opponents as his power gradually increases. He also scours the world in search of “Dragon Balls,” which contain the power to summon a wish-granting dragon. The manga has three distinct parts which are Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super.
Related: Dragon Ball Kai vs. Dragon Ball Z: Unveiling the Main Differences
3. Naruto
A huge range of manga fans and otaku agree Naruto is the best Ninja-themed manga. The setting of the manga is the fictional world of Shinobi (Ninja), and it focuses on the main character Naruto, who is a hopeless Ninja in the first place but gradually develops his skill repeatedly suffering setbacks.
He dreams of overcoming adversity and becoming “Hokage”, a title obtained after becoming the most powerful ninja of the village. Naruto and other Ninja characters battle with various Ninja techniques using the chakra energy.
The legendary manga is being followed by the sequel titled “Boruto”, which is the story of Naruto’s son named Boruto. You can also follow Naruto movies as the author delivered more than 10 works revolving around the main characters.
Throughout the manga, some powerful akatsuki members like Itachi or Pain get to teach us how sad and difficult life can be. But Equally, we learn through Itachi’s quotes and Pain’s quotes some tips on how to overcome our pains and fight for what we want.
4. Bleach
Bleach is one of the best manga of all time. It centers around questions of death and souls. We can observe Ichigo Kurosaki, a fifteen-year-old teenager, who has a special gift: that of seeing spirits. One day, he crosses paths with a beautiful shinigami, Kuria, chasing a “lost soul”.
Shinigamis protect the human species and the dead souls from the hollows, the bestial form of lost souls. Put in difficulty by his enemy, Kuria decides to lend some of her powers to Ichigo, but the latter absorbs all the power of the Shinigami.
Forced to assume his new status, Ichigo will have to manage his two lives: that of an ordinary high school student, and that of a demon hunter.
5. Hunter x Hunter
It has been pre-published since March 16, 1998, in Shūeisha publisher’s Weekly Shōnen Jump, and compiled into thirty-seven volumes as of November 4, 2022. Hunter × Hunter is a highly successful manga and has sold more than 84 million copies to date.
The manga contains a wild collection of tournament battles, training sequences, puzzles, trickery, and clever set-ups. Gon Freecss is a young boy who dreams of becoming a Hunter in order to find his father, the greatest Hunter of all.
Following his father’s footsteps, Gon leaves his village to take the difficult exam of the hunters. Along the way, he will make friends but will they survive the first test against particularly dangerous participants? The story expands as new secondary characters appear. We will especially note the mysterious Hisoka whose power seems limitless and whose motivations are unexpected.
6. Full-Metal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist, a manga pre-published between 2001 and 2010 in the monthly magazine Shōnen Gangan, having 27 bound volumes. In Amestris, alchemy has the rank of universal science. In the manga world, alchemy is a respected science, and the only things that are not allowed to be transmuted are humans and gold.
This rule runs so deep that those who attempt to transmute humans not only lose a piece of themselves but also face further punishment from the god-like being of Truth. Two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, live with their mother, Trisha Elric, whose husband left years earlier.
The latter dying from an illness, the two brothers try to bring her back thanks to alchemy, hence defying the law which formally prohibits human transmutation. Edward, the eldest, loses his left leg and his little brother loses his whole body. He sacrifices his right arm by sealing the soul of his little brother Alphonse in armor.
Edward then enlisted in the army at the age of twelve as a State Alchemist, passed the exam and obtained his alchemist name, the Fullmetal Alchemist. With the new status of State alchemists and their research, the two brothers seek the philosopher’s stone which they hope would restore their lost bodies.
7. Attack on Titan
The manga is a worldwide commercial success and it’s normal for it to fall under one of the best manga of all time, with a total circulation of over 110 million copies in September 2022. The story centers on a world where gigantic man-eating creatures known as titans terrify the world.
These creatures nearly exterminated humans and the few percent of them still alive survive by walling themselves behind three enormous walls protecting them from titan attacks. One day, they witness a terrifying scene. A colossal titan made a large entry through the first protective wall and smaller titans passed through to feed on the population.
After his hometown disappeared and his mother killed, Eren Jaeger. He is the main protagonist and decides to join the battle against the Titans by enlisting in the military where he discovers a mysterious ability.
Related: Attack on Titan Anime Locations in the World
8. Demon Slayer
Demon Slayer justifies its presence in this ranking of best manga of all time with more than 150 million manga sold worldwide and currently occupies the ninth position of the best-selling manga of all time. It is a Japanese manga series, following Tanjiro Kamado, a young coal merchant, who lives a peaceful life until the fatal day when he discovers that his village has been decimated by a demon.
His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor but since this terrible tragedy, she seems possessed. No longer controlling herself, she attacks her brother and tries to devour him but he is saved by a powerful demon slayer, Giyū Tomioka. In order to save his sister and avenge his family, Tanjiro begins a long quest, in the footsteps of the mysterious Demon Slayers!
The Demon Slayer manga is a real phenomenon in Japan, also adapted as an anime. Currently, fans are eagerly awaiting a third season. If you count yourself among the fans of the anime, you could try to visit the real-life locations of Demon Slayers in Japan.
9. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures
The manga relates the story of the Joestar family throughout several generations and has a lot of reading material. Considered one of the best manga of all time out there, it’s divided into eight story arcs, each following a member of the Joestar family.
possessing strong psychic powers, enabling them to fight against people trying to dominate the world. The manga received a lot of praise, often for its outstanding artwork and iconic character poses, but also for the careful building of suspense and tension.
The anime begins in the 19th century in England, where Lord Joestar adopts a young boy named Dio Brando. Dio is a sociopath and makes Jonathan’s (the natural son of Lord Joestar) life a living hell. One day Dio finds a stone mask from the ancient Aztec civilization, wears it and gets transformed into a vampire. His evil powers lead to a desire to rule the world and Jonathan tries to stop him.
10. My Hero Academia
Known as one of the most popular manga these recent years, My Hero Academia takes place in a world where around 80% of the world is born with powers or “quirks,” as they call them, making it a society filled with many superheroes and supervillains.
The story follows Midoriya Izuku, one of the unlucky few who go without but dreams of joining the superheroic branch of the big Yūei high school and one day becoming one of the greatest heroes.
It’s a dream come true when “All Might ” passes his Quirk down to Izuku, and the boy enrolls in an elite academy for heroes-in-training. The surprising scenes of the manga have everything superhero fans want and could be one of the best manga of all time you will ever read.
Vinland Saga
This manga is inspired by several Icelandic sagas: the Flateyjarbók, the Saga of the Greenlanders and the Saga of Erik the Red. The title of the series refers to the discovery of North America by the Vikings, who named this land Vinland.
The discovery would probably have been the fact of the Icelandic navigator Leif Erikson around the year 1000, a character who appears precisely in the manga. Vinland Saga is the story of a young Icelander, Thorfinn Thorsson.
Son of an illustrious warrior, he is driven by revenge against his father’s assassin, Askeladd. Thorfinn will follow and then join his gang to gain combat experience and avenge his father’s death. His quest for revenge will lead him in particular to participate in the invasion of England by the Danes, at the beginning of the eleventh century.
This part of the story brilliantly deals with various subjects such as war, politics, and religion, and shows a convincing and human portrait of the daily life of the population victims of the war but also and especially of the warriors, far from the clichés usually conveyed by the Vikings.
One Punch Man
One-Punch Man brings a refreshing new take to the superhero and comedy genres. Lots of superheroes are strong, but only one has the strength to defeat any enemy with just a punch. The story follows Saitama, a bored superhero since no enemy can challenge his strength.
The funniest part of all of this is that Saitama looks nothing like a conventional superhero, so people have difficulty trusting his strength. What makes him look even more conventional is the fact that he doesn’t have any particular origin as the classic superheroes and the great physical capacities he gained is a result of many years of hard training.
But when he scores surprisingly low on the entrance exam for the Hero Association, he may finally be faced with enough fresh challenges to bring some adventure back into his superhero days.
Related: Saitama’s Real Apartment in Japan
Death Note
We cannot talk about the best manga of all time without mentioning Death Note. What if you had the power to dispense ultimate justice upon anyone in the world with seemingly no consequences or any way to trace it back to you?
The story of Light Yagami, a genius teenager, shows us such a situation when he discovers a mysterious book named ”Death Note”. The book provides its user with the supernatural ability to kill anyone just by writing his or her name on any of the pages.
His intentions are noble, as he sets off on a quest to rid the world of criminal activity. But, of course, things get complicated. Not knowing the cause of this massive amount of deaths, an elite Japanese police force has as leader, one of the smartest characters ever seen nicknamed “L”.
His main goal is to investigate the person that could behind all this and how are the murders achieved. A battle between the two Japanese greatest minds then begins!
Hajime No Ippo
Hajime No Ippo is a long-running manga series written and illustrated by Joji Morikawa. It is a classic sports manga that follows the titular Ippo Makunouchi, a hardworking teenager who helps his mother’s business of fishing boat rental.
Ippo’s shy, frail boy, is regularly humiliated and bullied by a gang of thugs at school. After Mamoru Takamura, a professional boxer from the local gym saves him from a violent encounter, he tries to cheer him up by persuading him to release his frustration on a sandbag.
The experience reveals in Ippo a great punching power and he picks up boxing and discovers he has very powerful fits. He gains more self-confidence through boxing and strives to become a legend.
Case closed
The manga traces the journey of Shinichi Kudo aka Conan Edogawa, a high school detective rejuvenated following the ingestion of a mysterious drug that makes him rejuvenate at the stage of a 7-year-old schoolboy.
Hosted with his childhood friend Ran and his father Kogoro Mouri, he will have to secretly seek to get back his original appearance and bring down the Organization responsible for his condition. The agents of the Organization are systematically the subject of a very long investigation by Conan, during which he collects many clues and accumulates thoughts to try to uncover the man or the woman in black who was sent after him.
The biggest mystery is obviously that of the identity of the Boss of the Organization, as well as the objectives of this one. Case Closed is the 24th longest-running manga series with over 1000 chapters released in Japan and there’s no planned end in sight!
Tokyo Ghoul
Tokyo Ghoul is not just one of Japan’s dark fantasy series, but equally one of the best manga of all time created by Sui Ishida. The manga is all about a Tokyo college student named Ken Kaneki. One day he manages to have a date with a hot girl.
Unfortunately, the girl turns out to be a ghoul, a carnivorous and cannibalistic species, nourishing on human flesh and also on other ghouls. The date ends with the girl having Kaneki for a meal and later on being taken to the hospital in critical condition.
There, he has a life-saving operation and Dr. Kano personally transplanted some ghouls’ organs into him, transforming him into a half-ghoul. Recovered from his operation, he gradually realizes that he has become unable to feed himself as before and begins to feel a suspicious appetite towards his congeners. This is the beginning of a descent to hell for Kaneki, who despite himself has become a half-human, half-ghoul hybrid.
Related: Tokyo Ghoul Anime Locations in Japan
Chainsaw Man
The story follows the life of Denji, a man who has to pay off the debt left by his father, who died without leaving a penny. In order to pay off these debts, Denji becomes a demon hunter and with his devil dog, Pochita they engage in death battles.
One day, the yakuza betrayed and nearly killed Denji, so Pochita merged with his heart. Denji became a half-human, half-devil hybrid known as Chainsaw Man and went to work for the federal Devil Hunter Commission.
Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket is one of the funniest, heartwarming, and timeless best manga of all time you can read. The name of the manga comes from a popular game played in Japanese elementary schools, a sequel entitled “Fruits Basket Another”. Fruits Basket has everything you might want from a magical, contemporary comic.
Tohru Honda, a sixteen-year-old orphan who lost her mother in a tragic car accident, lives alone in a tent on a vacant lot. She meets Shigure Soma, owner of the land, who proposes to her to live with her and in return, she will have to do the household chores.
Tohru accepts the proposal and now lives with the Soma family. She is far from imagining the heavy secret that they hide. Indeed the members of this family, in contact with people of the opposite sex, manage to transform themselves into one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. With such strange characters, Tohru’s new life has many surprises in store for her.
Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisen is a more recent work but already one of the best manga of all time. Its publication run started in 2018 and is already one of the best-selling manga series with over 45 million copies. Manga of “dark fantasy” in the tradition of Death Note or The Promised Neverland.
Jujutsu Kaisen follows the adventures of a high school student, Yuji Itadori. He must face a series of monsters in order to lift a curse of which he is the victim after being possessed by the strong Ryomen Sukuna, a two-faced demon. Curses are everywhere on Earth to bring harm to humanity, and only Jujutsu sorcerers can combat them, so that’s what Itadori Yūji does.
The anime is set in Japan and we have spotted some real-life locations for you that you can visit anytime. You may equally like to read Jujutsu Kaisen manga or watch the anime, independent of your choice, you will definitely love it.
Banana Fish
Banana Fish, written and illustrated by Akimi Yoshida, is one of the most influential boys’ love manga and the best manga of all time. A drama-oriented manga in which an infamous mafia boss picks up a young boy in the street named Ash Lynx and raises him.
Arriving at the age of 17, Ash becomes the boss of a street kids gang in New York. One day he came across a man dying in an alley and the last word said by that man before rendering his last breath was “banana fish”, a word often muttered by his brother, Griffin. Where would Ash’s investigations on Banana Fish lead to?? Get the answer by reading one of the best manga of all time.
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