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Chainsaw Man

Chainsaw Man is what happens when a shonen battle series stops pretending it has any manners. Denji is a broke teenager drowning in debt, kept alive by his chainsaw-devil pet Pochita — until a betrayal fuses them into a creature who can pull a cord in his chest and turn into the Chainsaw Devil. Recruited by a government devil-hunting agency, he discovers his dreams are almost insultingly small: food, sleep, and maybe someone to touch him. The horror around him has other plans. Tatsuki Fujimoto writes it with a manic, unpredictable energy that swings from grotesque body-horror to deadpan comedy to sudden, genuine heartbreak, often in the same chapter. Nothing is safe and no one is protected by plot armor, which is exactly why it hooks so hard. The manga's first arc is complete and its second is ongoing; the anime adaptation covers the early story and is the gentlest way in. Read or watch — just know that Chainsaw Man is at its best when you have no idea what it's about to do next. It rarely does.

To Be Hero X

This is a world where heroes are created by people's trust, and the hero who gains the most trust is known as X. In this world, people's trust can be quantified through data, and these values are reflected on everyone's wrist. As long as one gains enough trust points, an ordinary person can possess superpowers and become a superhero who saves the world. However, the constantly changing trust values make the path of a hero full of uncertainties... (Source: Official To Be Hero X home page)

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.

[Oshi no Ko]

Oshi no Ko opens on a hook you won't see coming and uses it to dissect the entire entertainment industry. A small-town doctor and his patient — a dying fan — are unexpectedly reborn as the twin children of Ai, the radiant idol they both adored, giving them a front-row, insider's view of the beautiful, brutal machine behind Japanese show business. What begins as a dark showbiz drama sharpens, early on, into a mystery driven by a very grown-up desire: revenge. Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari peel back the glamour of idols, acting, and reality TV to show the manufactured images, exploited talent, and online cruelty underneath — all while telling a genuinely gripping story about fame and the lies it's built on. It's glossy, cynical, and emotionally sharper than its pop surface suggests. A note: the first chapter (adapted as the anime's feature-length premiere) is essential setup and best experienced knowing as little as possible. The manga tells the complete story; the anime is a stylish entry point. Come for the idols, stay for a pointed, twist-laden look at the cost of the spotlight.

Death Note

Death Note is a battle of geniuses fought with a notebook that kills. Light Yagami is a brilliant, bored high schooler who finds a shinigami's dropped notebook: write a name in it while picturing the person's face, and they die. Convinced he can cleanse the world of criminals and rule the new order as a god, Light begins a secret killing spree — until a reclusive, eccentric detective known only as L takes the case, and the two lock into one of fiction's great cat-and-mouse duels, each certain he can outthink the other. Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata build the whole series on that mind game: bluffs, traps, and gambits where a single deduction can decide everything, all wrapped around a genuinely unsettling question about power and who gets to play god. There's barely any action — the suspense comes from watching two ruthless intellects try to corner each other. Death Note is a complete, tightly plotted manga, and its anime adaptation is a faithful classic. Twisty, dark, and endlessly discussable, it's one of the best entry points into the medium for anyone who loves a smart thriller.

Pandora Hearts

The air of celebration surrounding fifteen-year-old Oz Vessalius’s coming-of-age ceremony quickly turns to horror when he is condemned for a sin about which he knows nothing. He is thrown into an eternal, inescapable prison known as the Abyss from which there is no escape. There, he meets a young girl named Alice, who is not what she seems. Now that the relentless cogs of fate have begun to turn, do they lead only to crushing despair for Oz, or is there some shred of hope for him to grasp on to? (Source: Yen Press) Note: Includes two extra chapters and the pilot one-shot.

Mob Psycho 100

Do you or someone you know need an exorcist who works cheap? Reigen's your guy! What's his secret to busting ghosts while keeping prices low? Well, first, he's a fraud, and second, he pays the guy who's got the real psychic power—his student assistant Shigeo—less than minimum wage. Shigeo is an awkward but kind boy whose urge to help others and get along with them is bound up with the mental safety locks he's placed on his own emotions. Reigen knows he needs to exploit Shigeo to stay in business, yet for better or worse he's also his mentor and counselor. And he also knows whenever the normally repressed kid's emotions reach level 100, it may unleash more psychic energy than either of them can handle! (Source: Dark Horse) Note: Includes 12 extra chapters.

Bungo Stray Dogs

Having been kicked out of the orphanage, a despairing young man by the name of Atsushi Nakajima rescues a strange man from a suicide attempt--Osamu Dazai. Turns out that Dazai is part of an armed-detective agency staffed by individuals whose supernatural powers take on a literary bent! (Source: Yen Press)

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign

After trumpets of the apocalypse proclaim the fall of humanity, vampires arise from the shadows to rule the earth. Yuichiro wants just one thing—to get revenge by killing each and every vampire. Yuichiro’s dream is near-impossible, given that vampires are seven times stronger than humans, and the only way to kill them is by mastering Cursed Gear, advanced demon-possessed weaponry. Not to mention that humanity’s most elite Vampire Extermination Unit, the Moon Demon Company, wants nothing to do with Yuichiro unless he can prove he’s willing to work in a team—which is the last thing he wants! (Source: VIZ Media) Note: Includes two extra chapters.