Masterpieces and lil-masterpieces (manga)
Guts, a former mercenary now known as the Black Swordsman, is out for revenge. After a tumultuous childhood, he finally finds someone he respects and believes he can trust, only to have everything fall apart when this person takes away everything important to Guts for the purpose of fulfilling his own desires. Now marked for death, Guts becomes condemned to a fate in which he is relentlessly pursued by demonic beings. Setting out on a dreadful quest riddled with misfortune, Guts, armed with a massive sword and monstrous strength, will let nothing stop him, not even death itself, until he is finally able to take the head of the one who stripped him—and his loved one—of their humanity. [Written by MAL Rewrite] Included one-shot: Volume 14: Berserk: The Prototype
In 16th-century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man, in both his appearance and his actions. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory—but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive. After the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the "devil child," secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto. Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the "Sword Saint" Musashi Miyamoto—his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become "Invincible Under the Heavens" to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Susumu Nakoshi is a middle-aged man who spends his days between a lavish first-class hotel and a park full of homeless people. One day, an eccentric young man approaches Nakoshi in search of subjects willing to partake in trepanation—the procedure of drilling a hole in the skull. This mysterious person claims that Nakoshi is the perfect man for the experiment. Initially rejecting the offer, he doubles back on his decision after his car gets towed off. Nakoshi agrees to let Manabu Ito, a 22-year-old medical student, drill a hole in his skull in exchange for 700,000 yen. The procedure bears no results at first, with Nakoshi showing no abnormalities. This normalcy comes to an abrupt end, however, when Nakoshi begins seeing the homunculus in every person. With his perception distorted, how will Nakoshi face these homunculi? [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Through pain and arduous effort, one can reach the top of the world. Standing where no man has ever set foot before, there is an exhilarating feeling of success. This is what Mori Buntarou trains, works, and lives for. His climb to the top starts when he transfers to a new high school. Despite his lonesome and solitary nature, Mori's classmates persuade him to climb the school building. Without a harness or hesitation, he begins his scale to reach the top. Edging past the point of no return, he halts when he is faced with a final intimidating obstacle—a horizontal overhang. Adrenaline courses through him, and Mori jumps for the final hold at the summit. From there, he casts his eyes upon something that he normally would not have seen—another peak, another goal. With an awakened passion and newfound purpose in life, Mori explores the breathtaking sport of rock climbing. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Seiichi Osabe is an only child living a mundane life. Just like any middle schooler, he has friends, a crush on a girl, and loving parents. However, Seiichi's mother is extremely overprotective, which causes others to view him as a mama's boy. Although he does not consider her behavior to be unusual, a certain incident starts to open his eyes to just how dangerous her affection is. As Seiichi tries to break free from her grasp, he learns that his life is not as normal as he thought. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Takao Kasuga is an unsociable middle school student who bears a love for books—in particular, Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal. He also has a crush on his class' idol, the sweet Nanako Saeki. In stark contrast to her, Sawa Nakamura is an insolent and unpleasant girl who lacks any concern for school. One day, Takao forgets to bring his book home with him. He returns to school to retrieve it, but is stopped in his tracks when he finds Nanako's freshly worn gym clothes lying on the floor. A strange desire consumes Takao, and like a wicked pervert, he steals them. With the guilt of his crime weighing on him, Takao tries his best to live a normal life. Sawa, however, who witnessed Takao's thievery, has other plans in store for him... [Written by MAL Rewrite]
For as long as he can remember, high school student Ichigo Kurosaki has been able to see the spirits of the dead, but that has not stopped him from leading an ordinary life. One day, Ichigo returns home to find an intruder in his room who introduces herself as Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper tasked with helping souls pass over. Suddenly, the two are jolted from their conversation when a Hollow—an evil spirit known for consuming souls—attacks. As Ichigo makes a brash attempt to stop the Hollow, Rukia steps in and shields him from a counterattack. Injured and unable to keep fighting, Rukia suggests a risky plan—transfer half of her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo. He accepts and, to Rukia's surprise, ends up absorbing her powers entirely, allowing him to easily dispatch the Hollow. Now a Soul Reaper himself, Ichigo must take up Rukia's duties of exterminating Hollows and protecting spirits, both living and dead. Along with his friends Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado—who later discover spiritual abilities of their own—Ichigo soon learns that the consequences of becoming a Soul Reaper and dealing with the world of spirits are far greater than he ever imagined. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Among the seaside town of Izu's ocean waves and rays of shining sun, Iori Kitahara is just beginning his freshman year at Izu University. As he moves into his uncle's scuba diving shop, Grand Blue, he eagerly anticipates his dream college life, filled with beautiful girls and good friends. But things don't exactly go according to plan. Upon entering the shop, he encounters a group of rowdy, naked upperclassmen, who immediately coerce him into participating in their alcoholic activities. Though unwilling at first, Iori quickly gives in and becomes the heart and soul of the party. Unfortunately, this earns him the scorn of his cousin, Chisa Kotegawa, who walks in at precisely the wrong time. Undeterred, Iori still vows to realize his ideal college life, but will things go according to plan this time, or will his situation take yet another dive? [Written by MAL Rewrite]
After reflecting on the current state of Japanese soccer, the Japanese Football Association decides to hire the enigmatic and eccentric coach Jinpachi Ego to achieve their dream of winning the World Cup. Believing that Japan has lacked an egoistic striker hungry for goals, Jinpachi initiates the Blue Lock—a prison-like facility where three hundred talented strikers from high schools all over Japan are isolated and pitted against each other. The sole survivor of Blue Lock will earn the right to become the national team's striker, and those who are defeated shall be banned from joining the team forever. Selected to join this risky project is Yoichi Isagi, a striker who failed to bring his high school soccer team to the national tournament. After choosing to pass to a teammate who missed instead of scoring on his own, he could not help but wonder if the results would have been different had he been more selfish. Using this golden opportunity given by the Blue Lock Project, Yoichi aims to clear his doubts and chase his ultimate desire—to become the greatest striker in the world and lead Japan to World Cup glory. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Hachimitsu Private Academy, an elite all-girls high school, opens its grandiose doors to male students for the first time in its history. The five males who enroll, however, are a merry band of perverts who are unable to communicate with girls! This cluster of misfits is composed of the foreign delinquent Shingo, the strange and sickly "Jo," the overweight "Andrei," the intelligent "Gakuto," and Kiyoshi, the most normal person of the bunch. Feeling troubled due to their lack of female interaction, the five boys embark on a dangerous mission to peek on several girls while they are bathing. However, owing to a series of mishaps, their operation ultimately fails, resulting in the boys' actions being exposed to the entire school. For their crimes, the boys are sentenced to one month of imprisonment by the menacing Underground Student Council. Little do the unforgiving beauties of the council know, the boys' perverted and unusual antics are just going to worsen. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Lonely high school student Kei Kurono isolates himself out of a growing cynicism toward his fellow man and the cruelty they are capable of enacting. One day, while waiting to take the subway to school, Kei's classmate Masaru Katou leaps onto the tracks in an effort to save a drunk man. Driven by an uncharacteristic desire to rescue someone else, Kei follows Katou down into danger. While successful in saving him, the two boys are killed by the train. Kei wakes up beside Katou in an apartment full of strangers and furnished by a giant black orb with a glass-like outer surface. After finding out that everyone in the room has recently died, words appear on the black ball tasking them with killing a strange creature. The ball equips Kei and the others with power suits and mysterious guns before sending them off to collect this bizarre bounty. Although Kei discovers the mission to be far more deadly than originally suspected, he manages to survive. He is teleported back to the apartment where he and the other survivors are rewarded point values according to their actions in battle by the black sphere, which a fellow survivor says is called "Gantz." Despite his death earlier that day, Kei is granted the ability to return to his daily life with one condition: he can be uprooted from his day at any time and summoned back to the apartment, where Gantz will task him and other recently deceased with the assassination of another target. While Katou dreads the inevitable return to Gantz, Kei finds himself living for the sole purpose of carrying out these missions. Thriving in the heat of battle and learning to care about himself and his comrades, Kei faces escalating monstrous threats that begin to bleed out into his normal life outside of Gantz. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
The story revolves around Ken, a man from an upper-class family that was orphaned young due to his family's involvement with the Yakuza; he became a high school delinquent known for fighting. The only thing that motivates him to take action is through his romantic affections for a classmate, Yumi. After learning she decided to move to Korea to become a police officer, Ken leaves his life in Japan behind and tries to follow in Yumi's footsteps; due to unforeseen circumstances, he incidentally becomes the head of a local gang and tries to hide it from Yumi. As the leader, the gang is renamed the Sun-Ken Rock Group. (Source: Wikipedia) Included one-shot: Volume 12: Trigun: The Lost Plant
At Grace Field House, life could not be better for the orphans! Though they have no parents, together with the other kids and a kind "Mama" who cares for them, they form one big happy family. No child is ever overlooked, especially since they are all adopted by the age of 12. Their daily lives involve rigorous tests, but afterward, they are allowed to play outside. There is only one rule they must obey: do not leave the orphanage. But one day, two top-scoring orphans, Emma and Norman, venture past the gate and unearth the harrowing secret behind their entire existence. Utilizing their quick-wittedness, the children must work together to somehow change their predetermined fate. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Thorfinn, son of one of the Vikings' greatest warriors, is among the finest fighters in the merry band of mercenaries run by the cunning Askeladd, an impressive feat for a person his age. However, Thorfinn is not part of the group for the plunder it entails—instead, for having caused his family great tragedy, the boy has vowed to kill Askeladd in a fair duel. Not yet skilled enough to defeat him, but unable to abandon his vengeance, Thorfinn spends his boyhood with the mercenary crew, honing his skills on the battlefield among the war-loving Danes, where killing is just another pleasure of life. One day, when Askeladd receives word that Danish prince Canute has been taken hostage, he hatches an ambitious plot—one that will decide the next King of England and drastically alter the lives of Thorfinn, Canute, and himself. Set in 11th-century Europe, Vinland Saga tells a bloody epic in an era where violence, madness, and injustice are inescapable, providing a paradise for the battle-crazed and utter hell for the rest who live in it. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
In the town of Kurouzu-cho, Kirie Goshima lives a fairly normal life with her family. As she walks to the train station one day to meet her boyfriend, Shuuichi Saito, she sees his father staring at a snail shell in an alley. Thinking nothing of it, she mentions the incident to Shuuichi, who says that his father has been acting weird lately. Shuuichi reveals his rising desire to leave the town with Kirie, saying that the town is infected with spirals. But his father's obsession with the shape soon proves deadly, beginning a chain of horrific and unexplainable events that causes the residents of Kurouzu-cho to spiral into madness. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Twenty-Fifth Bam had been alone his whole life until he met Rachel. Now, however, Rachel is set on climbing the Tower, and she is willing to leave Bam behind to do so. After Rachel disappears in a veil of light, Bam follows her, vowing to ascend the Tower in hopes of meeting her again. But the Tower is a dangerous place full of ancient secrets, fearsome monsters, and nefarious humans. Each floor is protected by an Administrator who puts the daring challengers through grueling tests that will push them to their limits. As he confronts Headon, the Administrator of the first floor, Bam learns that he is an ''Irregular,'' someone who was not chosen by the Tower but was able to enter it on his own, an extremely rare event inside the Tower. Regardless of this revelation, however, his path forward is clear. Be it wealth, power, glory, or even reuniting with Rachel, all desires will be realized at the top of the Tower. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Whether it's appearance, grades, or social life, Dongtae's at the bottom of the barrel. When popular transfer student Taebin gives him an opportunity to change all of that, Dongtae heads down a path to make things right. This is the world of DICE, where a single roll can change your fate. (Source: Webtoon Entertainment)
In this world, every child is born under a god. Some gods are weaker than others. Some gods are stronger than others. Children born under weaker gods become defunct in society, and cannot attend high school. Instead, they must get jobs after middle school. High school in this world is a place that trains students to use their stronger gods. They have one thing in common: They can grant wishes if the correct price is paid. Leerang turns back time a day, and pays dearly for it. To reverse his wish, he must attend high school and try to use the powers of his cat god once again. (Source: MU)