Finding where to start with manga can feel totally overwhelming, but luckily we here at IGN are ready with nine of the best series to explore as a beginner. Whether you're buying a book for a friend who just doesn't know what they want to read or you're an anime lover who is hoping to move into manga, there's something for everyone here. From the biggest shonen super hits like My Hero Academia and One Punch Man to magical adventures like Witch Hat Atelier, the world of manga is expansive. If you feel like there are some big hitters missing, that's because we're picking the easiest entry points rather than the most legendary titles. Below we’ve outlined some of the very best manga for beginners in 2024 and beyond.
Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama
It's hard to put into words just how stunning the art of Kamome Shirahama is, but it's her subtle melding of classic manga techniques with contemporary comic book illustration that has made this series such a smash. That's also why it's such a brilliant series to start your manga reading journey. The story follows a young girl, Coco, who longs to be a witch in a world where magic is real but the secret of how to do it is kept among a small few. After a chance encounter causes her to cast a dangerous spell, a witch named Qifrey gives her refuge at his atelier for young witches, and Coco begins her journey into magic, making friends and foes in her strange new world. Unlike some other manga, there are only 13 volumes to catch up on, so you can easily get up to date with this magical series.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles by Hajime Kōmoto
Mashle: Magic and Muscles is a masterfully funny parody of a certain boy wizard and his world puts a powerfully strong teen in the sights of an elite magic academy. Living in what is essentially Hogsmeade by any other name, Mash Burnedead is a rare human without magical powers. He's managed to hide it most of life, but when he's enlisted to the Easton Magic Academy, he has to use his immense muscles and physical strength to become a Divine Visionary and disguise the fact that he has no magic at all! This is a great — and already complete — shonen story that has the trappings of recognizable fantasy, making it a great entry point for new readers.
My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi
One of the biggest entry points for modern manga readers is arguably this smash hit take on the superhero genre. Essentially reimagining the X-Men for a manga audience, this gorgeous shonen adventure is set in a world where certain youngsters — about 80% of the entire population — manifest powers known as Quirks. Those who are deemed worthy or useful enough are drafted into the elite U.A. High School. When Izuku Midoriya, a Quirkless kid, has a chance encounter with the most famous hero on Earth, All Might and is chosen to take on his powers he heads to the hallowed halls to learn how to be a superhero alongside a series of powerful and potentially dangerous kids. This is an accessible, fun, and frenetic addition to the Shonen canon and one of the best things is that if you enjoy it there are numerous spin-offs, series, and more that you can explore within the world of My Hero Academia.
Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
Chances are you've at least heard of this landmark manga thanks to its massively popular anime, fan fave Japanese live-action films, or even the controversial Netflix adaptation. For having only a dozen volumes produced over a three-year span, the Death Note manga has reached impressive cultural saturation, with perpetual merch filling Hot Topics everywhere. It's because of the catchy setup that sees Light Yagami, a high school student, find a mysterious black notebook that allows him to become Kira, a judge, jury, and executioner of those who he believes deserve to be punished. Unfortunately, Light's father is a police chief in charge of taking down Kira. And then there's that pesky L, an eccentric teen who's also the world's greatest detective and he's hot on Kira's trail. With the aid of a shinigami named Ryuk, Light begins a cat and mouse game with his pursuers, featuring a healthy helping of twists and turns.
Demon Slayer by Koyoharu Gotouge
While Death Note was a seminal manga for those of us growing up in the '90s and '00s, Demon Slayer is the manga to read in 2024. This massively popular series only began in 2016 and the original series ran for just four years ending in 2020. But the story about the young Tanjiro Kamado who must avenge his family who were killed by demons while fighting to save his sister who has become one has become nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. Since then it has become one of the best selling manga series of all time, along with spawning multiple films and movies. But it all began with the haunting, action-packed shonen manga that, at just 23 volumes, isn't too overwhelming for new readers.
Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi
It was hard to pick just one of Rumiko Takahashi's legendary manga to put on this list as she's the woman behind so many of our favorite stories both on page and on screen. But for a new reader, the fantasy world of Inuyasha is likely the most welcoming. This beloved adventure begins when a teenage girl falls down a well at her family's shrine. When she awakens, she finds herself in Feudal Japan where monsters and demons run rampant. She quickly runs into the titular dog-demon Inuyasha and the unlikely pair have to team up to save the day, regularly defeating wild beasts and slowly falling for each other as they do it.
Tekkonkinkreet by Taiyo Matsumoto
Tekokinkreet, also known as Black & White, wasn't a beloved release when it first arrived 30 years ago. But since then the story of two young boys surviving in a thriving futuristic city of Takaramachi where they're pitted against alien gangsters and other criminal elements in their strange world has become a cult fave. Matsumoto's gorgeous sci-fi crime adventure was originally serialized in Big Comic Spirits, but is now better known as one of the best one-and-done manga collections of all time. Viz recently reprinted the series to celebrate its 30th anniversary, so there's a great new version that you can easily grab at your local comic shop or bookshop.
Tombs by Junji Ito
This really goes for any of Ito's fantastic reprinted short story collections that Viz have been so faithfully delivering for the last few years. But seeing as Tombs is one of the most recent, we're recommending that here as it'll be easy to find. Tombs collects some of the most notorious Junji Ito stories including Slug Girl, the art from which has adorned many Hot Topic t-shirts, as well as lesser read tales. A town filled with gravestones, a car crash leads siblings to a town of the dead, and a newcomer to a town finds his neighbor to be a strange bedfellow. These gorgeous short story collections are the perfect gift for anyone — yourself included — who might have never read manga but loves nothing more than to stay up late watching horror movies.
One Punch Man by One
This meta-text on the superhero genre is also one of the great shonen manga of all time. As the title suggests, it follows a powerful superhero, Saitama, who wields the power to beat any enemy with a single punch. While that does lead to plenty of impressive action, it also takes Saitama down a path of boredom and malaise because there is no real challenge in his fights. Hilarious, engaging, and one of the biggest smash hit manga of the last decade, One Punch Man is a great place to begin for people who've only ever read Marvel or DC comics. If you understand the trappings and tropes of superhero comics you'll have a lot of fun with One Punch Man.
Common Manga FAQs
Can You Read Manga in English?
Although manga is originally printed in Japanese, there are plenty of outlets where you can get printed versions translated for english. Many of the manga box sets you will find on retailers like Amazon will be printed in English for example. There are also various manga apps that include english translations if you're planning on reading online.
Are Places to Read Manga for Free Online?
Although a lot of newer manga isn't available to read for free, there are quite a few free manga sites and apps that have decent collections you can peruse. There's Hoopla, Viz, and Shonen Jump just to name a few. These websites either have free first chapters or entire volumes available to read at no cost.
Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more. Rosie is a published comics author who has written titles including Godzilla Rivals vs. Battra and The Haunted High-Tops. She co-hosts the weekly Crooked Media pop-culture podcast X-Ray Vision. When she's not writing, you can find her playing Dragon Ball FighterZ or rewatching weird old horror and martial movies in her free time. She loves making comics and zines as well as collecting VHS and reading much manga as humanly possible. You can find her on social at @rosiemarx.
