Mushishi, Vol. 1


Yuki Urushibara - 2000
    Some eat silence. Some thoughtlessly kill. Some simply drive men mad. Shortly after life emerged from the primordial ooze, these deadly creatures, mushi, came into terrifying being. And they still exist and wreak havoc in the world today. Ginko, a young man with a sardonic smile, has the knowledge and skill to save those plagued by mushi . . . perhaps.

ES: Eternal Sabbath, #1


Fuyumi Soryo - 2002
    Ryousuke will live to be at least two centuries old and possesses strange mental powers: He can enter people’s minds, discover their darkest secrets, even rearrange their memories so that complete strangers will treat him like family. Ryousuke acts not out of malice but for survival–wandering Tokyo for reasons known only to him. No one recognizes him for what he is . . . until Dr. Mine Kujyou, a determined researcher, meets someone who challenges everything she knows about science–ES, possessor of the Eternal Sabbath gene. But is he the only one?

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.

Seraph of the End, Vol. 1


Takaya Kagami - 2013
    Yuichiro escapes from captivity and joins the Japanese Imperial Demon Army. But before he's allowed to fight vampires, he has to complete his first, terrifying mission-- make new friends with his fellow aspiring monster slayers!Yuichiro and his friends are kept as vampire fodder in a creepy institution masquerading as an orphanage. One day, Yuichiro's dreams of fighting back are realized when the orphans stage a daring escape. But things go horribly wrong, and his dream is kept alive at a cruel price.

Bokurano: Ours, Vol. 1


Mohiro Kitoh - 2004
    Saving yourself is even harder. One summer, 15 kids innocently wander into a nearby seaside cave. There they meet a strange man who invites them to play an exciting new video game. Sounds like fun, right? This game, he explains, pits a lone giant robot against a horde of alien invaders. All they have to do is sign a simple little contract. The game stops being fun when the kids find out the true purpose of their deadly pact.

Oh My Goddess!, Volume 1


Kosuke Fujishima - 1989
    Granted one wish by the charming young goddess Belldandy a wish for anything in the world Keiichi wishes she would stay with him always! Complications are bound to ensue from this; the immediate first being the new couple getting tossed out of the dorm it's males only! As the hapless student and his mysterious "foreign beauty" ride around looking for a new place to stay risking the different dangers of seeking shelter with an otaku convinced Belldandy is an imaginary woman, and a Zen priest convinced she's a sinister witch Keiichi's still got his classes on Monday morning! How is his new "exchange student" companion going to be received on the N.I.T. campus? A little too well for normal life to ever return "

Dorohedoro, Vol. 1


Q. Hayashida - 2002
    A sorcerer cursed him with a reptile head and left him with no memory of his life before the transformation. Adding to the mystery, there's a specter of a man living inside him. But Caiman has one key advantage: he's now completely immune to magic. Along with his best friend, Nikaido, Caiman is hunting down sorcerers in the Hole, searching for the one who can undo his curse and killing the rest. But when En, the head Sorcerer, of the sorcerers, gets word of a lizard-man slaughtering sorcerers, he sends a crew of "cleaners" into the Hole, igniting a war between two worlds.

DRRR!! Durarara!! 1


Akiyo Satorigi - 2009
    A naive stalker girl. The strongest man in Ikebukuro. A shut-in doctor with questionable credentials. A hedonistic informant...and the "headless rider" astride a pitch-black motorcycle!? As their paths cross, this eccentric cast weaves a twisted, cracked love story...

InuYasha: Turning Back Time


Rumiko Takahashi - 1997
    Transported back to Japan's feudal era, high school student Kagome accidentally releases the feral half-demon dog boy Inu-Yasha from his imprisonment for stealing the Jewel of Four Souls.

School-Live!, Vol. 1


Norimitsu Kaihou (Nitroplus) - 2012
    The School Living Club is just your average after-school organization where the girls hang out, have fun...and live at school as the sole survivors of a zombie apocalypse. NBD.

7 Billion Needles, Vol. 1


Nobuaki Tadano - 2010
    In 7 Billion Needles, two lives share one heart as they race to protect each other and what they most cherish.Modern day Japan is the stage for a new form of hard science-fiction, as author Nobuaki Tadano revisits one of the  genre's Grand Masters, Hal Clement, in his debut work 7 Billion Needles.  Loosely inspired by Clement's golden age title Needle, 7 Billion Needles follows the life of a teenage girl whose quiet boring days are dramatically changed when her body is possessed by an alien life form caught up in an intergalactic manhunt.On a clear calm night, while on a class trip to the beach, Hikaru Takabe decides to go for a walk to escape the shackles of school and peer pressure.  While observing the stars above a calm dark sea in an instant she is disintegrated when struck by a meteor.Flash forward one page, and Hikaru awakes, from what seems like a horrible daydream of sorts, sitting amongst classmates in school without a scratch on her.  The meteor dream seemed so real she cannot believe she's alive, but given her relative aloof nature, she soon shrugs off the events and moves on with life.  However, one thing she cannot shake off is the strange buzzing she hears coming from her new pair of headphones...

Children of the Whales, Vol. 1


Abi Umeda - 2013
    In its chambers a small community clings to survival, most dying young from the very powers that sustain them. Chakuro is the Archivist for the Mud Whale, diligently chronicling the lives and deaths of his people. As one of the saimia wielders, whose life spans are cut short by their own magic, he knows his time is limited and is determined to leave a better record than his predecessors. But the steady pace of their isolated existence on the Mud Whale is abruptly shattered when a scouting party discovers a mysterious young girl who seems to know more about their home than they do…

After School Nightmare, Volume 1


Setona Mizushiro - 2004
    But Mashiro's secret is that he’s neither fully male nor female! So far, Mashiro's been able to live his life as a boy, but all this changes when he's informed of a new class he must take in order to graduate from his elite prep school. To pass, he must find the “Key”…and the only way to find it is to enter into a nightmare world where his body and soul are put at the mercy of the worst kind of enemies: his classmates!

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Volume 1


Eiji Otsuka - 2002
    among the living, that is! But all that stuff in college they were told would never pay off - you know, channeling, dowsing, ESP - gives them a direct line to the dead... the dead who are still trapped in their corpses and can't move on to the next reincarnation. The five form the Kurosagi ("Black Heron" - their ominous bird logo) Corpse Delivery Service: whether suicide, murder, accident, or illness, they'll carry your body wherever it needs to go to free your soul! The kids from Kurosagi can smell a customer a mile away - it's a good thing one of the girls majored in embalming!

Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler, Vol. 1


Homura Kawamoto - 2014
    An institution for the privileged with a very peculiar curriculum. You see, when you're the sons and daughters of the wealthiest of the wealthy, it's not athletic prowess or book smarts that keep you ahead. It's reading your opponent-the art of the deal. What better way to hone those skills than with a rigorous curriculum of gambling?At Hyakkaou Private Academy, the winners live like kings, and the losers are put through the wringer. But when Yumeko Jabami enrolls, she's gonna teach these kids what a high roller really looks like!