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A selection of titles from the gekiga scene, a short-lived yet influential artistic movement that flourished during the 1960s to the 1970s and maintains a prominent underground presence today. While mostly known as a pioneer of cinematic paneling and close attention to realism, it would be more accurate to consider gekiga as a counterculture. Surrealistic, autobiographical, and experimental works emerged as an alternative to the Tezuka school of aesthetics and paved the way for other artists to different modes of expression.

This is in NO WAY a comprehensive list and should be treated more as a starting point for diving into this movement. There are so many more important artists and titles in the scene that MAL unfortunately does not have entries for, and probably never will. Since I can't speak Japanese, there may also be some titles that I am unfamiliar with. The 50-title limit doesn't help either, but I hope this gets you started in this often-unexplored side of manga.

Note: Not all of these titles are available in English.
11/04/2022 Updated to include more underground artists.

If you enjoyed this interest stack and want to learn more about gekiga, feel free to check these other outlets:
The MAL Gekiga Club
Taniguchi Scanlations
Habanero Scans
Illuminati-Manga
Hox Scanlations
Stinky Scans
Ryan Holmberg's translations
Star Fruit Books
Glacier Bay Books
Koenji Shawn Reviews
The Comics Journal
Breakdown Press
Drawn and Quarterly
New York Review Comics
AX Volume 1: A Collection of Alternative Manga

What is the first thing you think about, when you think of Japan?
Samurai !!

In this stack I’ve listed all the samurai manga that I’ve read so far. Some are philosophical, some are childish, some are dark and some are pure action.

It’s a mixed bag. But they all revolve around samurai.

Again love, the limb-loosener, rattles me
bittersweet,
irresistible,
a crawling beast.

~

A small, subjective, and biased manga selection of lesser-known yuri/GL titles (so one must forgive my self-indulgences as I see these works as such). Some are warm, some are heart-wrenching. All are, in some shape or form, exploring the delicacy, tenderness, eros, tension, and joy of female/female love and bond.

Some of these are mere anthologies or collections of one-shots I find noteworthy to check out. Plenty deserve more attention, in my opinion. Others are not what one might traditionally label as yuri/GL, yet as I do find its sapphic content and sensibilities striking, they are featured here.

There are some titles I know which MAL doesn't have, I will edit some here later on, if I remember.

Honestly, MAL must hate Gekiga - so many great titles are simply non-existing. I struggled a bit and got frustrated over that. Will edit and change some titles at another date (as I always say with my lists, hopefully I will really get to it).

Gekiga knows quite a few different definitions, but one brief explanation that holds most overall clarity, imo, is the one given by scholar Natsume Fusanosuke from the The Comics Journal essay "Taniguchi Jirō and His Gekiga Years" I highly recommend you go check out:

|| Although I just offhandedly wrote the word “gekiga”, it is a term that has experienced many changes in meaning over time. It first referred to (1) a period from the late 1950s when it was became the rallying cry by Tatsumi Yoshihiro and others all the way through the early 1960s, when it was popular in rental manga magazines. It then became (2) a term that includes the works of Sanpei Shirato and Hirata Hiroshi as they were making waves in the mass media. Then, it came to describe (3) the period from the late 1960s through the 1970s - a period during which, while gekiga was becoming the flagship for the anti-Tezuka Osamu style of manga in Weekly Shōnen Magazine, there was also a shift in manga expression towards a more excessive style called “seinen gekiga”, which was often used to describe the postwar generation of artists like Miyaya Kazuhiko and others. Usually “gekiga” is best understood as having these three phases. ||

The history and evolution of gekiga manga is fascinating and very fruitful in its counter and counter-counter polymorphous shifts. Wonderful, awe-striking, weird, erotic, political, harsh, violent. You name it.

Another manga challenge, this time themed around Magazines. We found short stories for magazines starting with each letter of the alphabet (except x since there is no magazine beginning with x, so we substituted a symbol instead). Each magazine is listed with the manga. Rules for picking:
- Short (maximum length 5 volumes)
- Complete
- No erotica
- None of us had read it before

Since none of us have read them, caution is advised with regards to content.

If you enjoy, consider checking out some of our other challenges!

will update

A variety of manga I've enjoyed and would recommend, that are each three volumes long. Give them a try!

Last of the Volumes-Only Trilogy!

Check out the 1-Volume and 2-Volumes Only stacks, as well!

"It's not a matter of good or evil; it's simply not possible to do it any other way."

Noir is characterized by such elements as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying existentialist philosophy.

The isolation from society of the typical noir hero was underscored by the use of stark high-contrast lighting. Classic images of noir included rain-soaked streets in the early morning hours; street lamps with shimmering halos; flashing neon signs on seedy taverns, diners, and apartment buildings; and endless streams of cigarette smoke wafting in and out of shadows.

The inherent subjectivity of Expressionism is also evident in noir’s use of narration and flashback. An omniscient, metaphor-spouting narrator frequently clarifies a characteristically labyrinthine noir plot or offers a subjective, jaded point of view. Tension and suspense are increased by the use of all-knowing narrators and flashbacks, in that the audience is always cognizant of impending doom.

The heroes of noir generally share certain qualities, such as moral ambiguity, a fatalistic outlook, and alienation from society. They also exhibit an existential acceptance of random, arbitrary occurrences as being the determining factors in life. Such compassionless pragmatism is found in the most noble, as well as the most tarnished, of noir heroes. The weakest of such characters exhibit an abundance of tragic flaws.

Noir villains are often characterized as homme fatales or “spiders”; in the words of one critic, they are “comfortable in the world of cheap dives, shadowy doorways, and mysterious settings.” They cunningly and ruthlessly manipulate their counterparts to gain power or wealth.

Nevertheless, the noir villains often evoke sympathy, as they are frequently victims of emotional or physical abuse, with such victimization providing impetus for their vengeance. They are trapped in passionless or violent bonds of contract/servitude and resort to murder as a means of escape, usually destroying their conspirators in the process.

Source: Britannica - list will be kept updated

At least one main female character is physically strong, preferably the protagonist.

Physical strength applies both to hand-to-hand combat and proficiency in wielding weaponry (marksmanship, swordsmanship, archery etc.) as well as ability and talent in a physical sport.

No magical/supernatural power allowed unless it enhances physical strength.


Part 1 is here: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/39375

Compilation of manga that i find interesting, some aren't labelled yuri but I included them for the tension and vibes. I tried to make it as varied as possible :>