Book picks similar to
switch, Vol. 1 by Otoh Saki
manga
yaoi
mystery
crime
Gravitation, Volume 01
Maki Murakami - 1995
He has no experience, no talent, and no band. After finding a charismatic guitarist and getting a gig, he's ready to show the world what a genius he is with his powerful lyrics. However, Eiri Yuki overhears his amateurish verse and puts the young musician in his place. Unable to get the harsh criticism out of his mind Shuichi forces himself into Yuki's life and the two find their futures inexorably linked. The force that brings them together is like gravity and there is nothing they can do to stop it.
BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 1
Kaori Tsurutani - 2018
When she returns to the bookstore to buy the next volume, the high school girl working there--Urara, a seasoned BL fan--notices a budding fangirl when she sees one. When Urara offers to help Ichinoi explore this whole new world of fiction, the two dive into BL fandom together, and form an unlikely friendship along the way.
Future Diary, Volume 01
Sakae Esuno - 2006
He thinks of himself as a bystander and will always write down everything he sees in a cell phone diary. Tormented by solitude, Yukiteru began to imagine things like a friend called Deus Ex Machina who is apparently the Lord of Time & Space. Seeing Yukiteru's miserable state, Deus gives him a new ability. His diary will now record events that will happen in the near future. Yukiteru is then forced to participate in a game which the winner will become Deus's successor.
The Flowers of Evil, Vol. 1
Shūzō Oshimi - 2009
And his favorite book right now is Baudelaire's Flowers of Evil. While the young man may often be seen lost in thought as he rabidly consumes page after page, Takao is not much of a student. Actually when we are first introduced to the middle school teen, we find him sneaking some reading as he receives and F on a recent language exam. Nakagawa is known as the class bully. When she is not receiving zeros she is usually muttering profanities to those around her. While she doesn't care for books or their readers, she does have a thing for troublemakers. Takao may not be one, but having read over his shoulder a few times, she knows he is not very innocent. If anything he is bored and aware of it. Together, by chance, they shake up their entire rural community as Takao tries to break out of his shell in a random moment of passion and affection...not directed towards Nakamura. And contrary to Takao's predictions, the girl he was falling for, Nanako Saeki, responds by eventually accepting the bibliophile for who he is. Or at least, who she thinks he is.And therein lies the conflict. Takao is not a hero. He is not trouble-maker, either. He is a regular teen who through equal moments of cowardice and chivalry takes a long step towards adulthood as he desperately tries to cover up a dark secret. Takao Kusuga has stolen an item precious to someone he is attracted to, and if he doesn't form a "contract" with his new best friend, she is going to tell.
X/1999, Volume 01: Prelude
CLAMP - 1992
When Kamui returns to Tokyo, he learns that his childhood girlfriend Kotori and psychic Princess Hinoto are having strange dreams about his role in a coming apocalypse! Is he the angel of salvation, or the devil of destruction?
I Hear the Sunspot
Yuki Fumino - 2014
That is until he meets the outspoken and cheerful Taichi. He tells Kohei that his hearing loss is not his fault. Taichi's words cut through Kohei's usual defense mechanisms and open his heart. More than friends, less than lovers, their relationship changes Kohei forever.
Nijigahara Holograph
Inio Asano - 2006
To appease its wrath, they decide to offer it a sacrifice--a human one. But this is only the beginning of Nijigahara Holograph, which takes place in two separate timelines and involves the suicidal Amahiko; Kohta, the lovestruck bully; their teacher Miss Sakaki, whose heavily bandaged face remains a mystery; and many more brothers, sisters, parents, co-workers, teachers, aggressors, and victims who are all inextricably linked to one another. Ten years later, all will have to face what they've done or suffered through--and maybe the end of the world. Nijigahara Holograph--complex, challenging, and elliptical--was named one of the most anticipated new manga at Comic-Con International: San Diego. Hailed as a voice of the current generation in Japan, Inio Asano, whose Solanin was nominated for Eisner and Harvey awards (and was made into a feature film), delves into David Lynchian territory with this psychological horror story.
No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!, Vol. 1
Nico Tanigawa - 2012
Tomoko Kuroki naturally assumed she'd be popular when she got to high school...but then cold, hard reality swooped in for the attack! Turns out all the popularity points she's racked up in her video game dating sims are worth squat in real life, and Tomoko's far from prepared to navigate high school! How can she possibly hope to impress her classmates when she can't even talk to them?! A new high-school heroine is born (maybe?)!
Erased, Volume 1
Kei Sanbe - 2017
Amid his daily drudgery, he finds himself in the grip of an incredible, inexplicable, and uncontrollable phenomenon that rewinds time, a condition that seems to only make his drab life worse. But then, one day, everything changes. A terrible incident forever changes Satoru's life as he knows it...and with it, comes a "Revival" that sends Satoru eighteen years into the past! In the body of his boyhood self, Satoru encounters sights he never imagined he would see again--the smile of his mother, alive and well, his old friends, and Kayo Hinazuki, the girl who was kidnapped and murdered when he was a boy the first time around. To return to the present and prevent the tragedy that brought him back to his childhood in the first place, Satoru begins plotting a way to change Hinazuki's fate...But up against the clock and a faceless evil, does eleven-year-old Satoru even stand a chance?
Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Volume 1: Herr Dr. Tenma
Naoki Urasawa - 1995
Kenzo Tenma is the only one who can stop him! Conspiracies, serial murders, and a scathing indictment of hospital politics are all masterfully woven together in this compelling manga thriller. Tenma risks his promising medical career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy. Unbeknownst to him, this child is destined for a terrible fate. Who could have known that Tenma would create a monster!
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 1
Yuto Tsukuda - 2013
Aiming to one day surpass his father's culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a school that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?!
Parasyte, Volume 8
Hitoshi Iwaaki - 1994
But at the moment of truth, Shinichi discovers something unexpected in his heart: sympathy for the monster. Soon Shinichi, who harbors his own alien parasite, will come to a stunning realization about the dark side of human nature-and his own soul. This is the final volume of Parasyte. Includes special extras after the story!
Devils' Line, Vol. 1
Ryo Hanada - 2013
Anzai, her savior, is a half-devil who exploits his supernatural gifts as a member of a shadowy police task force that specializes in devil-related crime in Tokyo. As Anzai continues to keep guard over Tsukasa, the two quickly forge a tentative bond—one that Anzai fears will test his iron-clad rule of never drinking human blood...
Rurouni Kenshin, Volume 01
Nobuhiro Watsuki - 1994
Set against the backdrop of the Meiji Restoration, it tells the saga of Himura Kenshin, once an assassin of ferocious power, now a humble rurouni, a wandering swordsman fighting to protect the honor of those in need. A hundred and fifty years ago in Kyoto, amid the flames of revolution, there arose a warrior, an assassin of such ferocious power he was given the title Hitokiri: Manslayer. With his bloodstained blade, Hitokiri Battosai helped close the turbulent Bakumatsu period and end the reign of the shoguns, slashing open the way toward the progressive Meiji Era. Then he vanished, and with the flow of years became legend. In the 11th year of Meiji, in the middle of Tokyo, the tale begins. Himura Kenshin, a humble rurouni, or wandering swordsman, comes to the aid of Kamiya Kaoru, a young woman struggling to defend her father's school of swordsmanship against attacks by the infamous Hitokiri Battosai. But neither Kenshin nor Battosai are quite what they seem...