We're J-Just Childhood Friends

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.

Komi Can't Communicate

Komi Can't Communicate finds enormous warmth in a very small goal: making friends. Shoko Komi is the most admired girl in her high school — elegant, poised, seemingly perfect — and hiding a secret. She has a crippling communication disorder that leaves her unable to speak to people, so the awe of her classmates reads, to her, as an unbreachable wall. When the unremarkable Hitohito Tadano figures out the truth, he vows to help her reach her dream of making one hundred friends. Tomohito Oda builds a rom-com of the gentlest kind, told partly through the notes Komi scribbles when words won't come and the delightfully weird classmates she slowly gathers. It's funny and sweet without ever mocking her anxiety — the humor comes from the cast, the tenderness from watching Komi inch, panel by panel, toward the connection she's terrified she can't have. The manga is ongoing and the anime is a charming, faithful adaptation. If you want something low-stakes, heartfelt, and quietly reassuring — a series about how hard and how worth-it reaching out can be — Komi is a comfort read with real heart.

Grand Blue Dreaming

After moving out on his own to a seaside town, Iori Kitahara makes a college debut he never anticipated. A new chapter of his life unfolds, full of diving with beautiful girls and shenanigans with a gaggle of lovable bastards! Idiot-expert Kenji Inoue and au naturel authority Kimitake Yoshioka bring you a glorious college tale filled with booze-fueled antics! (Source: Kodansha USA)

Nisekoi: False Love

As a child, Raku Ichijou made a secret promise with his childhood sweetheart, keeping a pendant as a memento while his love took the key. He dreams of one day meeting his past love, but years later, reality smashes his hopes when Chitoge Kirisaki accidentally knees him in the face... Though Raku’s a normal high schooler, his family heads the notorious yakuza gang the Shuei-Gumi faction! And he’s dragged into family affairs when he’s forced into a relationship with Chitoge, the daughter of a rival gang’s boss! Despite their constant spats, the two somehow fool everyone with their false relationship. Raku then discovers that Chitoge has a mysterious key from her past, which she can’t remember... Plus, two other girls appear with keys as well—Kosaki Onodera and Marika Tachibana! Caught in the midst of this love maelstrom, even more complications arise for Raku when his class decides on Romeo and Juliet as the class’s play for the school festival. Can the two false lovebirds pull off the impossible and make the play a success? (Source: VIZ Media) Note: Includes 11 extra chapters.

Bakuman。

Average student Moritaka Mashiro enjoys drawing for fun. When his classmate and aspiring writer Akito Takagi discovers his talent, he begs Moritaka to team up with him as a manga-creating duo. But what exactly does it take to make it in the manga-publishing world? (Source: VIZ Media)

Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You

At age forty-five, office worker Sasaki has had enough of the corporate grind. His only solace is smoking-and the friendly smile of supermarket cashier Yamada. When Sasaki can't find Yamada after a particularly trying day, a striking woman invites him to smoke with her. The despondent man thinks he's made a new smoking buddy in the cool, teasing Tayama, but Sasaki doesn't realize he already knows her! (Source: Square Enix) Note: On June 23, 2022 it was announced that the manga got licensed by Square Enix. It started being published in the magazine Big Gangan on August 25, 2022. Winner of the Next Manga Award 2022 in the Web Manga Category.

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You

Aijou Rentaro tried and tried again, but after asking a hundred girls out on a date, he was rejected every single time. In desperation, he prays for guidance…only to be told by a god that his rejections were due to some cosmic error! Now the god is going to set things right by making sure that Aijou gets one hundred dates. Except, as things often do with gods, the dates come with a catch: one hundred girls are destined to be Aijou’s soulmate, and unless he returns their feelings each and every time, they’ll die in horrible accidents! Sure enough, girls start confessing their love to Aijou left and right. But how is he supposed to choose?! He doesn’t want to kill anyone! When he looks at each potential soulmate, it feels like a bolt of lightning. Can someone really love a hundred other people? This hilarious romantic comedy takes the harem concept to a wild extreme! (Source: Seven Seas Entertainment) Note: Won second place of Tsugimanga 2020 Award in the Manga Category

Prison School

On the outskirts of Tokyo stands Hachimitsu Private Academy, an all-girls boarding school for elite young women. But as the new school year rolls around, one tradition is going out the window: For the first time in the school's long history, boys are being allowed to enroll. On the first day of school, though, it turns out only five boys have made the cut. Thrilled by this discovery, these young men's adolescent hearts leap with joy at the thought of being surrounded by all those girls, but little do the five boys suspect the shocking fate that awaits them... (Source: Yen Press) Notes: - Includes 1 extra chapter and the epilogue. - Won the Kodansha Manga Award 2013 for best general manga.

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You

Sawako Kuronuma is the perfect heroine...for a horror movie. With striking similarities to a haunting movie character--jet-black hair, sinister smile and silent demeanor--she's mistakenly called Sadako by those around her. But behind her scary façade is a very misunderstood teenager. Too shy to fit in, all she wants to do is make some friends. But when the most popular boy in class befriends her, she's sure to make more than just that--she's about to make some enemies too! (Source: VIZ Media) Notes: The chapter count includes four extra chapters.