Urasawa, Naoki

As the 20th century approaches its end, people all over the world are anxious that the world is changing. And probably not for the better.

Kenji Endou is a normal convenience store manager who is just trying to get by. But when he learns that one of his old friends going by the name "Donkey" has suddenly committed suicide and that a new cult led by a figure known as "Friend" is becoming more notorious, Kenji starts to feel that something is not right. With a few key clues left behind by his deceased friend, Kenji realizes that this cult is much more than he ever thought it would be—not only is this mysterious organization directly targeting him and his childhood friends, but the whole world also faces a grave danger that only the friends have the key to stop.

Kenji's simple life of barely making ends meet is flipped upside down when he reunites with his childhood friends, and together they must figure out the truth of how their past is connected to the cult, as the turn of the century could mean the possible end of the world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

20th Century Boys

20世紀少年

Koyama, Chuuya

"A big brother must always stay ahead of his younger brother. That is my responsibility as the older sibling"—these are the words that have always motivated Mutta Nanba to try his best when it came to his younger brother, Hibito. So naturally, in the summer of 2006 when the Nanba brothers witness something strange in the night sky, Hibito declared that he would become an astronaut and travel to the Moon, while Mutta countered with the affirmation that he would go to Mars. That was the promise they made to each other.

Now in 2025, while Hibito is working with NASA and preparing to become the first Japanese to land on the moon, Mutta has been fired from his job in an automotive development company. Having difficulty finding another job, Mutta is given a lifetime opportunity when he receives a letter from JAXA—the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency—telling him that he has been accepted to participate in the next astronaut selection. As if fate has given him a chance to fulfill the promise he made all those years ago, Mutta undertakes the difficult challenge of going to space.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Uchuu Kyoudai

Space Brothers

宇宙兄弟

As the conflict between Kenji Endo, his childhood friends, and cult leader "Friend" comes to an end, two mysteries remain—Friend's true identity and whether the threat of an "anti-photon bomb" before his death was legitimate. Hoping to find an answer, Kenji, alongside the United Nations, decides to use a virtual reality program created from Friend's childhood memories in this conclusion to a long journey that will span decades.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

21st Century Boys

21世紀少年

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

Asano, Inio

When you look up at the sky, what do you see? A blue sky? Freedom? A hopeful future? The people of Tokyo see none of these. Instead, an ominous alien mothership looms overhead, engulfing the city skyscape.

Three years ago, they came. The arrival of the "Invaders" sparked the greatest war humanity had ever faced—one that threatened to end the world. The Japanese government scrambled to fight the Invaders. Weapons were mass-produced, sparking controversy and pacifist movements.

That day, everything changed. And yet, nothing has changed. Kadode Koyama and Ouran Nakagawa live their final days like they always have: going to school, playing with friends, and doing what any carefree high school girl would do.

As they grow up, they come to learn what it truly means to be an adult in a world where adults seem to be demons who only deceive and destroy. They come to learn the real threat to humanity is not the Invaders, but humanity itself.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction

デッドデッドデーモンズデデデデデストラクション

Kitoh, Mohiro

Fifteen middle school students are happily attending a summer camp by the sea, until one of the children leads the group into a cave that will drastically alter the course of their lives forever. Inside are several computers, along with a man named Kokopelli who offers the students a chance to play a game: one where they use a gigantic robot to defeat enemies who attack the Earth. The children agree to sign a contract by touching a shield-like object, and Kokopelli transports them to the cockpit of the Zearth—the mecha they are to pilot.

After an enemy mecha rises from the sea, Kokopelli shows them how to mentally control the Zearth, and defeats it. The children are excited by the prospect of defending the Earth, but not everything is as it seems. The Zearth is in fact powered by life energy, and at the end of every battle, the pilots die. After signing their lives away, the children must now use their time left on Earth to defend it.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Bokurano

Bokurano: Ours

ぼくらの

Nihei, Tsutomu

A thousand years into the future, Earth has been destroyed by powerful aliens known as Gauna. Although mankind has fled into space, the giant spaceships they now call home are still constantly being targeted by the strange creatures. Piloting mobile weapon units called "Gardes," humanity is able to take a stand against their adversaries by destroying their cores, preventing the monsters from regenerating their protective shell of placenta.

Within the vessel Sidonia, a boy named Nagate Tanikaze surfaces from its depths for the very first time in his life. With an incredible amount of time clocked into pilot simulators during his isolation deep within the ship, he quickly proves to be an indispensable asset to humanity's defense force. With the opportunity to pilot the legendary Garde Tsugumori, he fights to protect Sidonia from a grim demise.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sidonia no Kishi

Knights of Sidonia

シドニアの騎士

Kawaguchi, Kaiji

In the year 200X, a Japanese fleet consisting of 3 vessels leave on a mission to South America. After encountering a storm, the ship JDS Mirai find themselves without their escorts and in 1942, traveling towards the island of Midway to face the American fleet in one of largest battles in naval history. The crew of Mirai must decide whether or not to change the course of history by involving itself in WWII.

(Source: MU)

Zipang

ジパング

Iwaoka, Hisae

Far in the future, humankind has evacuated the Earth in order to preserve it. Humans now reside in a gigantic structure that forms a ring around the Earth, thirty-five kilometers up in the sky. The society of the ring is highly stratified: the higher the floor, the greater the status. Mitsu, the lowly son of a window washer, has just graduated junior high. When his father disappears and is assumed dead, Mitsu must take on his father's occupation. As he struggles with the transition to working life, Mitsu's job treats him to an outsider's view into the various living-room dioramas of the Saturn Apartments.

(Source: VIZ Media)

Dosei Mansion

Saturn Apartments

土星マンション

Sugimura, Shinichi

1-7. All Nude
8. Snow Blind
9. Carnaval 1999
10. Kobayashi-kun
11. OLDK Chiku 25-sai
12. Bun Bun Bun
13. Taxi Driver
14. Shoujo Camera

All Nude

ALL NUDE

Miyake, Ranjou

The governing race, the Karma froze the planet Roon as a result of war and emigrated to a neighboring planet. Four-thousand years later, the ice covering Roon started melting and the Karma began migrating back to Roon. This is a heroic fantasy that portrays the young boy, Dulk, who gains the power of wonder sealed in the darkness of history, and comes face-to-face with his destiny.

(Source: Japan Media Arts Festival)

12 Manga Like Taiyou no Mokushiroku