Nakahara, Aya

When the taller than average 172 cm Risa Koizumi learns that her occasional nemesis, the shorter than average 156 cm Atsushi Ootani, is romantically interested in her friend, she decides to team up with him. After all, she also has feelings for his friend. Unluckily, however, their respective crushes fall for each other instead. Determined to find new love after their recent misfortunes, the pair decide to cheer each other on while maintaining their usual dynamic of constant bickering. 

Although they continually deny it, Risa and Ootani are more similar than they like to admit: they both have unusual heights, failing grades, identical tastes in food, and a tendency to act extremely childish. Together, they inspire laughter among their peers as a so-called comedic duo. Could the love that these two are looking for be closer than they think?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]


Included one-shots:
Volume 12: Hoshi ni Nattemo Aishiteru
Volume 16: Bokura no Ibasho

Lovely★Complex

Love★Com

ラブ★コン

Obana, Miho

Sana Kurata, a child actress, faces many problems in her classroom, including a major one - her bullying classmate, Akito Hayama. Sana's outgoing and friendly nature leads her to work towards correcting all of the problems around her. Her 'meddling' irritates Hayama but at the same time captivates him, just as Hayama's gloomy nature irritates Sana and compels her to change him. As these two opposites attract each other, they face many hardships which bring them closer to a mutual understanding.

(Source: ANN)

Kodomo no Omocha

Kodocha: Sana's Stage

こどものおもちゃ

Anno, Moyoco

The queen of the Magical World is selected through a competition in which two young witches travel to the Human World to gather the hearts of boys who fall in love with them. This time, best friends Chocolat Meilleure and Vanilla Mieux, the daughters of the previous queen candidates, enroll in a human school in order to commence the challenge. Aided by their familiar spirits and mentor Rockin Robin, the young witches learn to adjust to human life as each aims to become the next queen.

Chocolat, who is popular with boys in the Magical World, finds that her strategies do not work well for capturing human hearts. In contrast, Vanilla's quiet and shy personality seems to make her the center of attraction. To make matters more complicated, a mysterious boy by the name of Pierre Tempête de Neige seems to be after Chocolat's heart. The two witches' friendship is put to the test as the competition intensifies.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sugar Sugar Rune

シュガシュガルーン

Shinozuka, Hiromu

Kaede is a cheerful and energetic eighth grader. When it comes to boys, however, she is hopelessly shy.

One day, on her way home from school, Kaede walks into a mysterious shop and buys a colorful cocoa mug. When she reaches home, she casually peeks into the bottom of the mug and discovers an engraved note, which says, "If you read this message aloud while pouring hot cocoa into the mug, a love fairy ("muglox") will appear and grant your every wish." The skeptical but curious Kaede follows the directions and announces her wish to date Yuuki, the class heartthrob. Suddenly, the adorable blue Mirumo appears! We soon find out, however, that this cute little muglox would rather eat chocolate and create mischief than help Kaede.

Mirumo, it seems, is prince of the muglox world. Horrified at the prospect of having to marry Rirumu, his princess bride-to-be, Mirumo has escaped the muglox world. Hot on his heels, however, are Rirumu, Yashichi the bounty hunter, and a cast of hundreds of muglox ranging from the good to the bad to the nutty. This gang of adorable troublemakers will see to it that school life for Kaede and her friends is never the same...

(Source: Mirmo-Zibang)

Mirumo de Pon!

ミルモでポン!

Watanabe, Taeko

Hajime Okano is an ordinary—or maybe below ordinary—girl who has been forced to take care of everything in her family since she was young because the Okanos are very poor. Hajime has five younger brothers who are quintuplets, and they are scouted by a music company. Thus, this realistic yet dreamy older sister has to try harder to watch over her restless brothers and to pursue her own idol, who works for the same company.

(Source MU, edited)

Hajime-chan ga Ichiban!

はじめちゃんが一番！

Ousaka, Mieko

The story follows a fantasy writer and her dog.

Eien no Nohara

永遠の野原

Adachi, Mitsuru

Kou Kitamura is a fifth grader whose family runs a sporting goods store. One of the regular customers of his family's store is the Tsukishima Batting Center, and so he gets to know the four daughters of the Tsukishima family (Ichiyo, Wakaba, Aoba, and Momiji) very well. Since Kou has spent so much time practicing in their batting cages, he has become a genius hitter, but has no knowledge of any other aspect of baseball. This is in contrast to Aoba, who, despite being a year younger, is an adept pitcher and hitter. Wakaba is a classmate of Kou's, and she seems fully intent on marrying him when she grows up. All seems idyllic in their world, until tragedy strikes. The story then skips ahead to four years later, as Kou has continued the training he began four years ago, but has not played in a baseball game since. As he finally begins playing again, it remains to be seen whether or not he will live up to the expectations of those who know the true talent he has been hiding all this time.

(Source: ANN)

Cross Game

クロスゲーム

Touch is a shounen story about two twin brothers, a pretty girl next door, and that good old pastime of baseball. The manga was written by one of the most well known manga-ka out there, Adachi Mitsuru in the early 80's (1981-1986). He's a wonderful writer who tends to write stories that are related to baseball and Koshien, the stadium where the All High School Baseball Tournament is held.

(Source: MangaProject)

Touch

タッチ

Umino, Chica

Takemoto lives in a run down student apartment, where his greatest worry is when he'll next be able to afford to eat meat and whether he'll get to class on time. Although he's away from home and living on his own, Takemoto is far from finished growing up. Along with his crazy cast of friends, Morita, Mayama, Yamada, and Hagumi, Takemoto sets out to discover life and his true self.

(Source: VIZ Media)

Included one-shots:
Volume 10: Sora no Kotori, Hoshi no Opera

Hachimitsu to Clover

Honey and Clover

ハチミツとクローバー

Ogawa, Yayoi

Fed-up with a life of being under-appreciated and disrespected, Sumire Iwaya decides to change things when she picks up a young boy off the street and brings him into her house. Despite being total opposites, the two seem to complement one another as they try to carve out an ordinary life for themselves.

(Source: TokyoPop)

Kimi wa Pet

Tramps Like Us

きみはペット

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

Wakamatsu Masato lives with his step-sister, Miyuki, whom he does not have blood relationship with. Their father is always working overseas and left the two of them living by themselves in Tokyo. Miyuki is cute, nice, sensitive and very popular among guys around Masato. Masato has a girlfriend at school whose name is Kajima Miyuki, who is pretty and gentle, the ideal dream of every high school boy. It took years for Masato and his sister to realize whom they love and care the most.

(Source: The Ultimate Manga Guide)

12 Manga Like Bara no Tame ni