Kariya, Tetsu

Hanasaki, Akira

Around the offices of Tozai News, Shiro Yamaoka has a reputation for being over-blunt, under-ambitious, and generally an all-around slacker. So why has he been given the important job of coming up with the "Ultimate Menu" to celebrate the newspaper's 100th anniversary? Because he possesses qualities his other colleagues don't: an exquisitely discerning palate, an encyclopedic knowledge of food and drink, and a masterful touch in the kitchen.

(Source: VIZ Media)

Oishinbo

Oishinbo: À la Carte

美味しんぼ

Abe, Zenta

Kurata, Yoshimi

The series chronicles the lives of the staff and customers of a restaurant called Fujimura, owned by veteran chef Kumano.

Aji Ichi Monme

味いちもんめ

Yukimura, Makoto

Haunted by a space flight accident that claimed the life of his beloved wife, Yuri finds himself six years later as part of a team of debris cleaners on a vessel called the Toy Box charged with clearing space junk from space flight paths. The team consists of Hachimaki, a hot shot debris-man with a sailor's affinity for the orbital ocean; Fee, a chain-smoking tomboy beauty with an abrasive edge; and Pops, a veteran orbital mechanic whose avuncular presence soothes the stress of the job.

(Source: TokyoPop)

Planetes

プラネテス ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ

Taniguchi, Jiro

Fourty-eight-year-old salaryman Hiroshi Nakahara accidentally takes the wrong train to Tokyo after a business trip in Kyoto. He decides to accept his situation and sit back when he learns that the train is headed toward his hometown in Kurayoshi.

As he walks the streets of his childhood neighborhood, Hiroshi realizes how significantly the place has changed in the 20 years since his mother died. While visiting her grave in the Genzen Temple, he is transported back into the body of his 14-year-old self. Retaining the memories and wisdom of his middle-aged mind, he is now an eighth grader in junior high school.

Hiroshi's regained youth enables him to escape the reality of being an adult man with a wife and two daughters. Unaware how to return to his original time, he begins to relive his adolescence. During his time travel, Hiroshi attempts to uncover the reasons for his father's abandonment of the family in hopes of understanding him and his actions.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Haruka na Machi e

A Distant Neighborhood

遥かな町へ

Tatsumi, Yoshihiro

Over four decades ago, Yoshihiro Tatsumi expanded the horizons of comics storytelling by using the visual language of manga to tell gritty, literary stories about the private lives of everyday people. He has been called "the grandfather of Japanese alternative comics" and has influenced generations of cartoonists around the world. Now the visionary creator of "The Push Man and Other Stories" and "Good-bye" has turned his incisive, unflinching gaze upon himself. Over ten years in the making, "A Drifting Life" is Tatsumis' most ambitious, personal, and heart felt work: an autobiographical bildungsroman in comics form. Using his life long obsession with comics as a frame work, Tatsumi weaves a complex story that encompasses family dynamics, Japanese culture and history, first love, the intricacies of the manga industry, and most importantly, what it means to be an artist. Alternately humorous, enlightening, and haunting, this is the masterful summartion of a fascinating life and a historic career.

(Source: Drawn &amp; Quarterly)

Gekiga Hyouryuu

A Drifting Life

劇画漂流

Abe, Yarou

A manga that revolves around an old-fashioned all-night food stall, the various dishes that the stall owner prepares to suit the tastes of different customers, and the joys, griefs, trials and tribulations of his faithful patrons.

(Source: MU)

Shinya Shokudou

深夜食堂

Tezuka, Osamu

The story of friendship between a samurai and a doctor in the final days of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Hidamari no Ki

陽だまりの樹

Ishikawa, Masayuki

Tadayasu Sawaki has a gift: he can see all kinds of microbes, from the ones that ferment sake to everyday bathroom mold. Not only that, but they're not scientifically accurate but instead cute chibi creatures. When he enters an agricultural university and a professor finds out about his gift, he begins to meet new people that help him discover more about his abilities and himself.

Moyashimon

Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture

もやしもん

Yoshinaga, Fumi

Shirou Kakei, a straitlaced lawyer, cooks gourmet dinners for himself and his longtime gay lover, Kenji Yabuki, a carefree, hippie-ish hairdresser. The story is told through the lens of dinner preparation.

(Source: Entropy)

Kinou Nani Tabeta?

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

きのう何食べた?

Yamada, Takatoshi

After making a serious mistake in his work in Tokyo, talented surgeon Goto Kensuke is invited to take charge of the only clinic on the small island of Yonaguni, Okinawa. It is difficult to get competent doctors to serve on this remote island, and the islanders are now used to traveling for hours via boat for proper medical care. Despite seeming weak and unreliable (he gets very seasick, and does not have a driving license), he wins over the skeptical islanders with his skill and dedication. Some children of the island make a flag for his clinic, but get his name wrong. Thereafter he is known by all as Koto.

Dr. Kotou Shinryoujo

Dr.コトー診療所

Mita, Norifusa

Kenji Sakuragi is a poor lawyer and ex-motorcycle gang member looking for an opportunity to boost his career. His chance finally comes with the nearly bankrupt and notorious Ryuuzan High School, referred to as "baka gakkou" (stupid school) by some. There, he sets up a special class that aims to prepare five students to take and pass the entrance exam of Toudai.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Dragon Zakura

ドラゴン桜

Kuroda, Iou

The story is about the adventures of a 14-year-old girl named Nico Hayashi who uses her talents of changing and altering her voice to manipulate men over the phone who want to participate in Enjo kōsai. Through this she learns a lot about human nature, and gains a keen understanding of peoples through their voices. An aging gangster notices her talents and decides to hire her to solve various cases. While Nico is on her first case, she meets with a geeky man named Iichiro Sudo, who has an obsession with robot toy models. This obsession that leads Nico to call him "Robo," and the two become an unlikely team. After completing her first case Nico proclaims herself "Sexy Voice" and a variety of short loosely linked character-driven adventures ensue.

12 Manga Like Bambino!