Manga Recommendations

Hey! So my last manga rec list was all manga I’ve completed, but I decided to make a list of manga I haven’t finished yet but still would recommend. All three of these manga have a very popular anime adaptation, but I believe their manga deserves to be talked about as well.

Mushishi

Mushishi is the story of Ginko, a traveling ‘mushishi’ who uses his knowledge about ‘mushi’ (small, usually invisible yokai-like beings) to help people in need. It isn’t usually advertised as such, but Mushishi can be very serious and haunting at times. It has really beautiful illustrations that are rarely gory but often disturbing. I tried watching the anime but really wasn’t as into it, it might’ve just been the episode I started on, but unfortunately I found it kind of slow and boring. Out of the three manga I talk about in this post, this is the only one where i actually wouldn’t recommend watching the anime; I believe the story just works better in manga form.

Sangatsu no Lion

Sangatsu no Lion (or March Comes in like a Lion) is a slice of life story about a teenage boy named Rei who plays professional Shogi. As with a lot of the manga I end up reading, I first watched the anime and wanted to see how the story continued after the end of its second season. The mangaka, Chika Umino, has a very unique art style that’s super cute! Her backgrounds are also intricately detailed and help to set the scene of their riverside town.

I’ve already read 12 volumes, and it seems to be ongoing/still publishing, so I’m excited to read more. I’m not actually sure if a third season of the anime is coming, but if not, being able to read the manga filled the void that the end of season 2 left me with. And of course, I would absolutely recommend the anime as well!  (here is my post about the anime)

Chihayafuru

Chihayafuru is about a high school Karuta team, and the story focuses on their captain, Chihaya. The Chihayafuru anime is one of my favorites as well, and while I really enjoy seeing the motions of Karuta in animation form, Yuki Suetsugu’s brilliant illustrations are worth missing out on the action. The anime is what got me into reading the manga, so of course I would recommend it as well (here is my post recommending the anime).

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking