April 22, 2015

10 Manga for Thriller, Fantasy and Sci-Fi Lovers

A few days earlier I posted a list with 10 Manga for Romance and Comedy Lovers and as I've already told you I prepared another one which covers other genres, such as fantasy, thriller and science fiction. In this list, there are both well known and popular series, as well as some of my personal favourites.


Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba


manga death note cover

This series, which is illustrated by Takeshi Obata, is without a doubt one of the most popular and perhaps one of the best manga ever published. The story is thrilling with great twists and it has some iconic characters. Both Light and L are intoxicating and their intellectual battle throughout the series is fascinating. 


Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki


Manga Rurouni Kenshin cover

Rurouni Kenshin is a historical series. Himura Kenshin is an ex-assassin, who is now working as a rurouni, a wandering swordsman. Set in the Meiji period in Japan, is an excellent example of a samurai story. It also has a little romance. 


Fullmetal Alchemist by Himoru Arakawa

Manga Fullmetal Alchemist cover

From the historical, samurai story, here we have a story full of alchemy. Two brothers, one who have lost a leg and an arm and another who his soul is trapped in a suit of armor. So, begins their journey to find the philosopher's stone, in order to regain their bodies. Another series very popular among the fantasy fans. 

Black Butler by Yana Toboso

Manga Black Butler cover

Black Butler is an ongoing series. Set in Victorian England it manages to build an eerie atmosphere. Indeed, this series is purely a horror one. Young Ciel Phantomhive sells his soul to a demon, who he names Sebastian Michaelis. The demon takes his place beside Ciel as his butler in order help him take revenge for all his misfortunes. Interesting, right?


Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo

Manga Akira cover

The first Sci-Fi manga on this list is Akira. We are transferred in Neo-Tokyo, in the year 2019, when Tetsuo, a young biker, releases from cryo-stasis Akira who possesses a destructive psychic ability. The story is filled with high-speed action, intriguing story and well-developed characters, making it one of the most impressive manga you'll come across. 


Berserk by Kentaro Miura


Manga Berserk cover

If you want to read a pure medieval, fantasy manga, with excellent sword fighting then you needn't search anymore. Berserk is an epic manga and it has everything, intrigue, betrayal, nude, sword fights and a lot of violence. The story is a little slow, have in mind that the series started being published in 1989 and it's still ongoing.


Nausicaรค of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki

Manga Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind cover

Another epic fantasy series, this time from the legendary Studio Gibli director Hayao Miyazaki. This manga might seem more familiar to you because it was turned into a movie in 1984 by Miyazaki himself. The manga isn't one of the most popular ones possibly due to the film, but it's sure a magical adventure.


Monster by Naoki Urasawa

Manga Monster cover

Monster in a profound series. Dr. Tenzo Kenma is a brain surgeon and one night he has to come into an important decision, whether to sacrifice the life of the town's Mayor or the one of a young child. He decides to perform the surgery on the young boy, thus saving him, but he has no way of knowing that he let loose a future serial killer. A great psychological thriller to give you the creeps.


Planetes by Makoto Yukimura

Manga Planetes cover

What is life like in outer space? This manga is about a team, whose job is to clean space debris from Earth's orbit. The feel is realistic, the characters are unique and it's a story based on people. Plus the art is amazing. 


Eden: It's an Endless World!

Manga Eden: It's an Endless World cover

This list ends with a dystopian series. A new virus has killed the 15% of Earth's population and has crippled many more. It's based strongly on Gnostic mythology and all the major character have names of gnostic deities and have analogous roles.


Have you read any of those mangas? Would you add other to the list? 

4 comments:

  1. I've recently discovered the wonderful world of comics/graphic novels, but manga is a medium I've never experienced. I actually know a good few of these, like Death Note, Berserk, Akira and a few others, from anime (even though I've only actually watched half of Death Note) but I had no idea they were manga. This list has been really helpful seeing as fantasy and SF are of my favourite genres, and manga is something I'd like to explore. I don't have any money at the moment, I actually just did a post on the stuff I spent all the money I had on, but when I get some I'll definitely consider some of these.

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    1. How could you not finish Death Note? I mean, the ending is amazing!
      Many anime are based on manga and I have found myself many times searching the manga version after watching an anime, because in the animated version there is only a fragment of the story compared to the manga.

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  2. I don't read manga anymore but I still watch the anime. Among this list, I'm done watching Death Note, Rurouni Kenshin (that's where my blog name came from), and Black Butler, S1. I'll bookmark this page to check out the other anime titles later!

    Jennilyn @ RurouniJenniReads

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    1. That's a great name, Rurouni is an amazing manga/anime! It's definitely worth a while to discover some new titles! :)

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