A Certain Magical Index

Dandadan

Dandadan is what you get when aliens and ghosts crash into the same story and neither backs down. High schooler Momo believes in ghosts but not aliens; her classmate Okarun believes in aliens but not ghosts. To settle the argument they each visit a haunted site — and both are spectacularly proven right, with Momo awakening psychic powers and Okarun getting possessed by a cursed spirit. Now they're stuck chasing UFOs and vengeful yokai together while nursing a very awkward crush. Yukinobu Tatsu draws it at a full sprint, with some of the most kinetic, imaginative art in current manga and a tone that flips from genuine horror to gross-out comedy to sweet teenage romance without missing a beat. It's chaotic on purpose, and that chaos is the point — you never know whether the next page brings a monster, a joke, or a heartfelt confession. The manga is ongoing and the anime adaptation brings its manic energy roaring to life. If you want something loud, weird, funny, and secretly tender all at once, Dandadan is one of the freshest series around.

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball follows the adventures of Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven mystical orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which can summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls for their own desires. Along the way becoming the strongest warrior in the universe. Part II of Dragon Ball is also known as "Dragon Ball Z" in North America. Note: Includes one extra chapter.

Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs

Office worker Leon is reincarnated into a particularly punishing dating sim video game, where women reign supreme and only beautiful men have a seat at the table. But Leon has a secret weapon: he remembers everything from his past life, which includes a complete playthrough of the very game in which he is now trapped. Watch Leon spark a revolution to change this new world in order to fulfill his ultimate desire…of living a quiet, easy life in the countryside! (Source: Seven Seas Entertainment) Note: Includes four extra chapters.

Shangri-La Frontier

Second year high school student Rakuro Hizutome is interested in one thing only: finding "shitty games" and beating the crap out of them. His gaming skills are second to none, and no game is too bad for him to enjoy. So when he's introduced to the new VR game Shangri-La Frontier, he does what he does best—min-maxes and skips the prologue to jump straight into the action. But can even an expert gamer like Rakuro discover all the secrets that Shangri-La Frontier hides...? (Source: Kodansha USA)

EDENS ZERO

Eleven months after the grand finale of Fairy Tail, master mangaka Hiro Mashima is back with a great adventure beyond imagination! All the steadfast friendship, crazy fighting, and blue cats you've come to expect... IN SPACE! A young boy gazes up at the sky and sees a streaming bolt of light. The friendly, armor-clad being at his side tells him gently, "That's a dragon." The fact that he's joking isn't important. What's important is the look of wonder on the boy's face... and the galaxy-spanning adventure that's about to take place! Join Hiro Mashima (Fairy Tail, Rave Master) once more as he takes to the stars for another thrilling saga! (Source: Crunchyroll)

Air Gear

Ikki Minami is a junior high school student with a dream—to become the best Air Trek rider in town. It won’t be easy, as he faces a lot of competition from boys and girls alike. What is Air Trek? Just the latest craze that involves taking a two-wheel inline skate and adding a motor, suspension, and a shock absorber to enable the wearer to execute the wildest, wackiest, most aggressive moves you can imagine. Ikki has a lot to learn as he fights his way to the top in this wild, sexy manga from the creator of Tenjho Tenge! (Source: Kodansha USA)

Sword Art Online

Sword Art Online opens on a nightmare dressed as a dream: ten thousand players log into the world's first full-dive VRMMO, only to find the logout button gone and a single rule waiting for them — die in the game, die in real life. Clearing all hundred floors is the only way out. That premise turned SAO into one of the defining franchises of the "trapped in a game" era, and it still anchors the whole isekai wave that followed. What keeps people coming back isn't just the death-game hook; it's Kirito and Asuna, whose relationship grows up alongside the stakes, and a setting that keeps reinventing itself — Aincrad's floating castle, the fairy-world of ALfheim, the gun-metal arenas of Gun Gale, and the philosophical deep end of Alicization. It's a series that's just as happy staging a sword duel as it is asking what a "real" person even is once minds and machines blur. New here? The light novels came first and run deepest, but the anime is the easiest on-ramp and the reason most fans found the story at all. Start at the beginning — Aincrad earns everything that comes after.

One Piece

One Piece is the biggest pirate saga ever put to manga, and it earns the title. Monkey D. Luffy is a rubber-limbed optimist with one dream: to find the legendary treasure called the One Piece and become King of the Pirates. To get there he builds a crew — a swordsman, a navigator, a cook, a doctor, and a growing family of misfits — and sails a world of impossible islands, corrupt empires, and rivals who each carry a dream as loud as his own. Beneath the cartoon energy is a startlingly deep world and a theme the series never lets go of: freedom, and what people are willing to risk for it. Arcs that start as goofy escapades routinely end in tears, and Eiichiro Oda has been paying off setups two decades in the making. Here's where our franchise view helps: One Piece is both a still-running manga and a massive anime, and this page keeps them grouped in reading order so you always know where one picks up from the other. It's a commitment — but ask any fan, and they'll tell you it's the good kind.

My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia asks a simple question in a world full of superpowers: what does it take to become a hero? In a society where roughly eighty percent of people are born with a "Quirk" — a unique superpower — Izuku Midoriya is one of the powerless few, and he wants to be a hero more than anyone alive. When the world's greatest hero sees that determination and passes his own power to Izuku, he earns a spot at U.A. High, the school that trains the next generation of pros. It's a love letter to superhero comics filtered through shonen sincerity, and its secret weapon is the cast — an entire class of aspiring heroes with distinct powers, dreams, and insecurities, plus villains who force the story to ask what "heroism" really costs. The best fights aren't just about winning; they're about who these kids choose to be under pressure. The manga's story is complete and the anime is the easiest, most energetic entry point. If you grew up on superheroes, this is the series that captures why they mattered — Go Beyond, Plus Ultra, and all.