I Had That Same Dream Again


Yoru Sumino - 2016
    (And don't miss the manga adaptation, also available from Seven Seas.)An unhappy girl who engages in self-harm, a high schooler ostracized by her classmates, and an old woman looking to live out her twilight years in peace–what could three such different people have in common? That’s what grade schooler Nanoka Koyanagi is trying to find out. Assigned by her teacher to define what “happiness” means to her, Nanoka tries to find her place in the world by exploring her relationships with these three strangers, and through them, comes to know herself.

Ibitsu Vol. 1


Ryou Haruto - 2010
    She asked if he had a little sister, and he answered her, hurrying afterwards back to his apartment. When he looked out the window, she was gone. Who is the strange woman, and why does she give him such a bad feeling?(Source: MangaUpdates.com)

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Vol. 1: Chapter 1: A Day in the Capital (manga)


Tappei Nagatsuki - 2016
    He encounters the usual things--life-threatening situations, silver haired beauties, cat fairies--you know, normal stuff. All that would be bad enough, but he's also gained the most inconvenient magical ability of all--time travel, but he's got to die to use it. How do you repay someone who saved your life when all you can do is die?

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.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 1 Volume 1


Miya Kazuki - 2015
    She is now Myne, the sickly five-year-old daughter of a poor soldier. To make things worse, the world she's been reborn in has a very low literacy rate and books mostly don't exist. She'd have to pay an enormous amount of money to buy one.Myne resolves herself: If there aren't any books, she'll just have to make them! Her goal is to become a librarian. This story begins with her quest to make books so she can live surrounded by them!Dive into this biblio-fantasy written for book lovers and bookworms!

Mao, Vol. 1


Rumiko Takahashi - 2019
    What is the thread of fate that connects them? Together, they seek answers...and kick some demon butt along the way!Nanako passes through a portal into Taisho-era Japan, a world populated by phantom people, monstrous yokai and a surly young exorcist named Mao. When Nanako returns to the present, she discovers she has some new, unusual abilities. So she goes back to the past looking for answers, only to get caught up in Mao’s investigation of a demon crime. As her questions about herself multiply, she learns that Mao is cursed by a cat demon called Byouki—and so is his sword. If anyone but Mao attempts to wield it, they are doomed. But when Mao’s life is in jeopardy, Nanako picks up his blade and swings...!

Touched


Cyn Balog - 2012
    Because if he doesn't? Things can go really, really wrong. Like the day he decided to go off script and saved a girl from being run over . . . and let another one drown. Trying to change the future doesn't work.But this summer at the Jersey Shore, something's about to happen that Nick never could have predicted. He meets a girl named Taryn and finds out about the Book of Touch. Now the path that he thought he was on begins to shift . . . and there's no way to stop things from happening. Or is there?In a life where there are no surprises, nothing has prepared Nick for what he's about to discover--or the choice he will be forced to make. . . .

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF: The Button of Hope and the Tragic Warriors of Despair


Ryōgo Narita - 2012
    This light novel explores what would have happened in the video game "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc", if Makoto Naegi had received the Escape Button from the MonoMono Machine in the beginning of the game, which helps him slowly regain his memories.

One Piece: Ace's Story, Vol. 1


Shō Hinata - 2020
    Washed up on the shores of a deserted island at the edge of the East Blue Sea, two men from different backgrounds unite in their shared thirst for adventure. One of them, Portgaz G. Ace, will follow in his infamous father’s footsteps as the fearless captain of a pirate crew. The other, Masked Deuce, becomes the reluctant first member of Ace’s Spade Pirates. Survival is not enough for these seafaring buccaneers, as together they seek treasure, excitement, and a route to the New World.

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.

Three Days of Happiness


Sugaru Miaki - 2013
    Ostracized as a child, he held on to a belief that a good life was waiting for him in the years ahead. Now approaching the age of twenty, he's a completely mediocre college student with no motivation, no dreams, and no money. After learning he can sell his remaining years-and just how little they're worth-he chooses to divest himself of all but his last three months. Has Kusunoki truly destroyed his last chance to find happiness...or has he somehow found it?

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya


Nagaru Tanigawa - 2003
    His fate is now tied to hers.Meet the S.O.S. Brigade—an after-school club organized by Haruhi with a mission to seek out the extraordinary. Oh, and their second mission? Keeping Haruhi happy—because even though she doesn't know it, Haruhi has the power to destroy the universe. Seriously.

Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind


Hayao Miyazaki - 1989
    

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! (Light Novel) Vol. 1


Kiki - 2018
    Despite zero stats across the board and a power she can’t even use, she somehow finds herself included in a party of heroes. But Flum’s life hits rock bottom when the party’s renowned sage, Jean Inteige, decides that the useless girl is dead weight, and arranges to have her sold into slavery.Tossed to monsters to be feasted upon for her master’s entertainment, Flum makes the desperate choice to reach for a cursed weapon…and something new awakens within her. A grimdark tale about one woman’s blood-soaked quest to reclaim her life!

The Voices of a Distant Star


Makoto Shinkai - 2002
    She ventures out into space, leaving behind Noboru, the one young man she loves. As she travels deeper into this new frontier, her only connection with her boyfriend is through cell-phone text messages. But the years pass, and Mikako barely ages in the timelessness of space--while Noboru grows older and considers moving on with his life...In this timeless romance between star-crossed lovers in the most tragic of settings, there are some places man may not be ready to go.