Misaki, Kurehito

Maruto, Fumiaki

Die-hard otaku Tomoya Aki never imagined himself falling for a girl in real life until one of his spring breaks, when he experienced a picturesque encounter with a mysterious beauty. Reminiscing about the brief yet enchanting event, he decides to produce a bishoujo game—a game focused on attractive girls—with the sole purpose of capturing the allure of that idyllic scene.

Days fly by, and Tomoya enters his second year of high school having made no progress on his game. On top of that, he is shocked to discover that the girl he met is his unremarkable classmate, Megumi Katou. Determined to make his game a reality, Tomoya ropes Megumi into the project and sets out to convince his childhood friend Eriri Spencer Sawamura and upperclassman Utaha Kasumigaoka to help with its development. Tomoya soon finds out, however, that working with friends on such an ambitious project is much more difficult than he initially thought.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata

How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend

冴えない彼女〈ヒロイン〉の育てかた

Hatori, Bisco

July 2011 Special
When Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin bail on being models for an upcoming fashion show, Mei Yasumura finds herself scrambling through last-minute replacements. Unfortunately for her, the Hitachiin twins have already sent in their substitute: Ritsu Kasanoda. With all options exhausted and time running out, Mei resolves to train a vexed Kasanoda to become her model.

August 2011 Special
On a hot midsummer night, a few of the Ouran Host Club members begin to share ghost stories to each other. Soon, they are interrupted by a tardy Takashi Morinozuka, who claims to have seen an apparition. Upon arriving at the location of the sighting, the group is surprised to see that the ghost looks similar to Kyouya Ootori—who is very much alive. As they try to identify the mysterious figure, the club encounters a child with a wish to attend a festival.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ouran Koukou Host Club University Special

桜蘭高校ホスト部

Hotaru, Takana

Piro, Shiki

"Irises" are unique abilities most people are said to possess from birth. These powers manifest themselves in the form of visual cues and range from lie detection to danger prediction. Unfortunately, high school student Tooru Mizushima is one of the very few without an Iris. As an "Iris Zero," he is frequently bullied, and therefore, he tries to stand out as little as possible.

However, when the popular schoolgirl Koyuki Sasamori comes crashing into Tooru's life, his motto of minimal exposure is brutally shattered. Koyuki's Iris allows her to identify the most qualified person for a certain task—and she determines Tooru to be the most capable person to help her find the next student council president.

Tooru refuses to become involved in such a public affair, but Koyuki's cheerful persistence ultimately prevails. And so, Tooru's lonely life as an Iris Zero slowly changes as he comes to meet more people and utilize his exceptional deduction skills to solve various mysteries.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Iris Zero

アイリスzero

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

Mikage, Eiji

Tetsuo

Kazuki Hoshino values his everyday life above all else. He spends the days carefree with his friends at school, until the uneventful bliss suddenly comes to a halt with the transfer of the aloof beauty Aya Otonashi into his class and her cold, dramatic statement to him immediately upon arrival:

"I'm here to break you. This is the 13,118th time I've transferred. After so many occasions, I have to say that this is all starting to grate on me, which is why this time I'm spicing things up with a proper declaration of war."

And with those puzzling words, the ordinary days that Kazuki loved so dearly become a cycle of turmoil and fear—Aya's sudden appearance signals the unraveling of unseen mysteries surrounding Kazuki's seemingly normal friends, including the discovery of mysterious devices known as "boxes."

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria

The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria

空ろの箱と零のマリア

Arakawa, Naoshi

At a very young age, Kousei Arima was strictly taught how to play the piano and meticulously follow the score by his mother, to the point where he dominated every competition he entered with ease. He earned the title of "Human Metronome" for performing almost perfectly. Every musician of his age looked up to him. However, after his mother suddenly dies, he became tone-deaf due to the shock and then disappeared, never to be seen onstage since.

Two years later, Kousei lives a monotonous life with his childhood friends Tsubaki Sawabe and Ryouta Watari supporting him. He continues to cling to music, although performing is still an impossibility for him. This is until his unexpected encounter with Kaori Miyazono, a violinist who performs freely without the dictations of a score. A story of friendship, love, music, and a single lie, Kousei's life begins to change and gain color as Kaori helps him to take up music again.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Your Lie in April

四月は君の嘘

Takaya, Natsuki

Tooru Honda is an orphan with nowhere to go but a tent in the woods, until the Souma family takes her in. However, the Souma family is no ordinary family, and they hide a grave secret: when they are hugged by someone of the opposite gender, they turn into animals from the Chinese zodiac!

Now, Tooru must help Kyou and Yuki Souma hide their curse from their classmates, as well as her friends Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima. As she is drawn further into the mysterious world of the Soumas, she meets more of the family, forging friendships along the way.

But this curse has caused much suffering; it has broken many Soumas. Despite this, Tooru may just be able to heal their hearts and soothe their souls.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Fruits Basket

フルーツバスケット

At Ouran High School, an academy where only the children of the rich and powerful attend, there exists a club consisting of the most elite of the student body: the legendary Host Club. Within the club's room, six beautiful, bored boys spend their time entertaining equally beautiful and bored girls.

Haruhi Fujioka, a poor scholarship student, has no interest in the Host Club—until she breaks a valuable vase in their clubroom. After being mistaken for a boy, Haruhi is forced by Kyouya Ootori to work for the Host Club to repay her debt. Tamaki Suou, the princely leader of the club, eagerly takes her under his wing to teach her the ways of the host.

Things, however, are never quite so simple with the Host Club around. Even the most mundane events can turn into huge spectacles with the likes of prankster twins Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, stoic Takashi Morinozuka, and sweet Mitsukuni "Hunny" Haninozuka. The crazy adventures of the Host Club are just beginning, and Haruhi must learn how to survive in the glitzy world of the hosts.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Note: The final volume contains a special bonus chapter where the group travels to Spain.

Ouran Koukou Host Club

Ouran High School Host Club

Kodama, Yuki

Constantly transferring schools since childhood, Kaoru Nishimi has always been seen as a social outcast when he transfers due to his intellectual nature and wealthy background. But after moving to Kyushu for his first year of high school, things begin to change. Kaoru befriends the class president, Ritsuko Mukae, and, unexpectedly, the notorious school delinquent, Sentarou Kawabuchi. While Kaoru is an honors student, Sentarou is constantly getting into fights and skipping class. However, these two opposites find a common ground in one thing—music.

One day, Kaoru is invited by Ritsuko to visit her family's record store, where he finds Sentarou in the basement showcasing his skill in jazz drumming. Kaoru, being a classical pianist, knows nothing about jazz. But inspired by the performance, he begins to open his mind to the genre alongside Sentarou. The duo begin to practice in after-school jazz sessions in the record store's basement. As he spends more time improving his skills in jazz, Kaoru finds a person whom he can truly call his friend and comes to learn the joys of playing music.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sakamichi no Apollon

坂道のアポロン

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

Takeuchi, Tomo

With no particular dreams or plans for the future, third-year middle schooler Tatara Fujita yearns to find something that he can pursue wholeheartedly. Initially often bullied and extorted for his lack of confidence, Tatara's life changes when he is saved from delinquents by a man named Kaname Sengoku. His savior, a motorcycle-riding dance instructor, proceeds to drag Tatara to Ogasawara Dance Studio, mistakenly believing that the boy was looking at the studio's flyer.

Tatara is then partnered with his schoolmate and skilled dancer Shizuku Hanaoka when he agrees to a trial lesson. The next day after being bullied and only to be saved yet again, he asks the studio to teach him dancing in hopes of changing his image. Now entering a bright and fast-paced new world, Tatara dedicates his time to dancing as he sweeps over the dance hall.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ballroom e Youkoso

Welcome to the Ballroom

ボールルームへようこそ

Agasawa, Koucha

Inept at dealing with people, Koyuki Hikawa maintains a wall between herself and others. She spends her time in high school away from others, all alone. At least until she encounters Minato Amamiya who keeps closing the distance between them for some reason. The aloof Koyuki, the popular Miki, the boundary-less Minato, and the easygoing and kind basketball team member Youta. This is the story of these somewhat complicated four and their tantalizing, bumbling youth.

(Source: LINE Digital Frontier, translated)

Manga Like Grisaia no Kajitsu: Sanctuary Fellows