Sailor Moon

I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day

At the mysterious orphanage where Sheena lives, death is nothing new to its residents—girls who no longer have families of their own, who are raised as weapons of war, taught to kill and take the lives of others without batting an eye. Everyone, that is, except Sheena, who wishes for nothing more than the growing conflict around her to end. On the night of her roommate's death, Sheena meets a strange girl covered in blood, who smiles despite the turmoil surrounding them. The next day, the girl appears as a new student in Sheena's class and introduces herself as Mimi. Initially thought to be a school myth, there are now whispers in the orphanage's halls that Mimi is their secret weapon—an immortal who cannot die. When Mimi is later assigned as Sheena's new roommate, Sheena's world grows even more complicated when she begins living with someone who loves and welcomes death, when all Sheena wants to do is stop it… (Source: Kodansha USA)

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.

Cardcaptor Sakura

Fourth grader Sakura Kinomoto finds a strange book in her father's library -- a book made by the wizard Clow to store dangerous spirits sealed within a set of magical cards. But when Sakura opens it up, there is nothing left inside but Kero-chan, the book's cute little guardian beast... who informs Sakura that since the Clow cards seem to have escaped while he was asleep, it's now her job to capture them! (Source: Dark Horse)

Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE

"The world is a very small place, but for those who know it...it is very, very large. And the world, when it is viewed by those who 'know'— is far larger than just one world can hold!" The famous CLAMP brings back the characters from all their creations for an ultimate showdown in this multi-dimensional tale. This is the story of four travelers, bound by fate and by prophesied future. Sakura is the princess of Clow Country, and possessor of a strange power that promises to change the world. Syaoran is an aspiring archaeologist and her childhood friend. When Sakura is endangered by the plan a certain man has for the future, the princess' memories are scattered across dimensions in the form of feathers, and Syaoran is forced to go on a desperate journey to retrieve them. They are accompanied by Fay D. Flourite, a magician running from the horrible truth of his past, and Kurogane, a rough-mannered ninja trying to get back to his world. However, the ability to cross worlds demands a great price, and each of them must pay the Dimensional Witch with what he or she values most. In order to save his princess, Syaoran must give up his relationship with her. Even if he gathers all of Sakura's memories, she will never remember their past together... But the world is not so simple. The very moment these four made this decision, their destinies are sealed into a tragic course...as everyone in the group has their own secrets. Visions of the future are seen, and prophesies are made. The cruel future which lies ahead reads only of betrayal, abandonment, devastation and anguish.

WITCH WATCH

Morihito, a boy with the strength of an ogre, is about to start living together with his childhood friend Nico, who is training to be a witch. Nico's magic leads to all sorts of unpredictable trouble, and with two teens under one roof... Let the fantastical antics begin! Magical comedy series by Kenta Shinohara creator of SKET DANCE and Astra Lost in Space. (Source: MANGA Plus) Notes: - Ranked 2nd place for the Next Manga Award in the Print Category in 2022.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

When a new girl joins her class, Madoka Kaname thinks she recognizes the mysterious, dark-haired transfer student from one of her dreams…a dream where she is approached by a catlike creature who offers Madoka an opportunity to change destiny. Madoka had always thought magic was the stuff of fantasy…until she sees the transfer student fighting with the very cat being from her dream! And just like in Madoka’s dream, the cat gives her a choice. Will Madoka become a magical girl in exchange for her dearest desire? What will be the cost of having her wish come true? (Source: Yen Press)

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.

Berserk

Berserk is the towering dark-fantasy epic that half of modern manga is quietly built on. It follows Guts, a lone mercenary raised by the sword, and his fraught bond with the charismatic, ambitious Griffith, leader of the mercenary band Guts calls home. What begins as a story of brotherhood and battlefield glory curdles, across one of the most devastating turns in the medium, into a lifelong hunt for revenge against forces far larger than any human army. Kentaro Miura's artwork is the stuff of legend — pages so dense with detail they can stop you cold — and the story pairs that beauty with genuine horror and hard-won tenderness. It's a meditation on ambition, trauma, and the sheer stubbornness it takes to keep walking when the world has given you every reason to lie down. A word for newcomers: Berserk is long, unflinching, and firmly for adult readers. Following Miura's passing, the manga continues under his studio and closest friend. Start from the beginning and give the early arcs room to breathe — few stories reward patience like this one, and none quite feel the same afterward.

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan begins behind three enormous walls, the last refuge of humanity in a world where giant humanoid Titans devour people for reasons no one understands. When the outermost wall is breached and his hometown destroyed, young Eren Yeager swears to kill every Titan alive — a vow that drags him, and the reader, toward truths far stranger and darker than a monster story lets on. What makes it landmark is how completely it transforms. What looks like straightforward survival horror steadily peels back into political intrigue, historical tragedy, and one of the most fiercely debated endings in modern fiction. Hajime Isayama planted clues from the very first chapter, and part of the series' legend is how many of them only make sense on a second pass. The manga is complete and the anime adaptation is widely regarded as one of the finest ever produced — either is a definitive way to experience it. Go in knowing as little as possible; Attack on Titan is a series that rewards being surprised, and its willingness to follow its own ideas to the bitter end is exactly why it left a mark the genre is still measuring itself against.