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

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

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

Higuchi, Tachibana

Mikan Sakura and Hotaru Imai are inseparable best friends, even if it seems like the latter does not reciprocate the same sentiment. Mikan naively believes that her aloof best friend would always be by her side until Hotaru decides to depart for Tokyo to attend Alice Academy. The school is home to gifted children who possess unique abilities known as Alices. Heartbroken and feeling abandoned, Mikan runs away from home in pursuit of her friend, hoping that she too can enroll in the prestigious institution.

As Mikan gets accepted as a student at Alice Academy and reunites with her friend, she quickly learns that the academy is not all fun and games. The school itself is divided into a hierarchy system based on the strength of their Alice, behavior, and academic performance, as well as classifying each student under a specific Alice subgroup for a more personalized education. When she finds herself in the lowest rank, Mikan faces bullying from her classmates who all believe that she does not belong. Natsume Hyuuga, one of the academy's highest-ranking students, is especially vitriolic towards Mikan for seemingly no reason.

The students begin to discover that the special academy has hidden secrets—many of which are a lot darker than one might think. As they unravel these mysteries, Mikan and her friends find themselves entangled in something far bigger than they could imagine.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Gakuen Alice

学園アリス

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

Takano, Ichigo

One morning, Naho Takamiya receives a letter in the mail claiming to be from herself 10 years in the future. The letter reveals a series of events that are supposed to take place that day. At first, Naho thinks it's just a prank; but when the letter mentions a transfer student named Kakeru Naruse, who really ends up transferring into her class later that day, she is forced to believe in its contents.

As Naho continues to read the letter, her future self mentions several regrets, urging Naho to take the right decisions now. Somehow these regrets all seem to be connected to Kakeru, and with the burden of the knowledge that the boy wouldn't be with her and her friends in the future, will Naho be able to make the perfect choices that will alter what seems to be fate?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Also includes Haru-iro Astronaut (Spring-Colored Astronaut) series.

Orange

orange

Nakajo, Hisaya

After seeing Izumi Sano at a high jump competition, Mizuki Ashiya became completely enamored by him—even moving from the United States to Japan and enrolling in the same institute as him. However, Sano's academy is an all-boys school!

Due to her bright personality, Mizuki quickly befriends her class without drawing suspension to her gender. To her surprise, she ends up being not only Sano's classmate but also his roommate. Though she is now able to admire Sano in close proximity, she learns that Sano has quit high jumping and refuses to pick up the sport ever again for unknown reasons. Moreover, the academy's doctor, Hokuto Umeda, might be onto Mizuki's facade. Now, Mizuki has to find a way to reignite Sano's passion—all without revealing her secret.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Included one-shots:
Volume 1: Natsu no Ori (The Cage of Summer)
Volume 4: Kawaki no Tsuki (The Thirsty Moon)

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e

Hana-Kimi: For You in Full Blossom

花ざかりの君たちへ

Gatou, Shouji

Shiki, Douji

Jindai High School was a relatively safe place, right up until Sousuke Sagara transferred there. A total nut, he wreaks havoc on the school's student body and gets into a world of trouble with the teachers! But there's more to Sousuke than meets the eye—not just a hell-raising student, he's actually a member of an elite military unit, on an undercover mission to protect the beautiful schoolgirl Kaname Chidori from the KGB.

(Source: TokyoPop)

Full Metal Panic!

フルメタル・パニック!

Horiguchi, Yukiko

Anda, Sadanatsu

The Cultural Research Club is an eclectic bunch: a pro wrestling fanboy, a goofy ditz, a master of snark, a laid-back jokester, and a total girly-girl. Their peaceful teenage lives are turned upside-down, however, when they suddenly and inexplicably start swapping bodies with each other. At first it's all wacky hijinks... but then things get a little too personal. Boundaries are crossed, and dark secrets come to light—secrets that threaten to destroy the very foundations of their friendship. Who—or what—is causing the body-swap phenomenon? Will it ever stop? But most of all... can their club survive it? Find out in the hit ensemble dramedy light novel from award-winning author Sadanatsu Anda!

(Source: J-Novel Club)

Kokoro Connect

ココロコネクト

Tokiumi, Yui

In the Spring she was 16, Takemiya Naho receives a strange, but detailed letter from herself, ten years in the future. At first she thinks the letter is a prank, but then the things written in the letter actually happen, including the new transfer student that sits next to her in class, Naruse Kakeru. The letter reads just like her diary entries, down to the same characters. It is not till two weeks later, when Kakeru shows back up at school, that Naho finishes the letter...

(Source: Kissmanga)

George, Asakura

Oboreru Knife tells the story of Natsume, a sixth-grade girl who has to move from Tokyo to a decidedly different town in the countryside. Upon meeting a boy named Kouichirou there, "something" stirs inside her. The story depicts a "teen heart on the brink of ruin."

(Source: ANN)

Oboreru Knife

Drowning Love

溺れるナイフ

Takemiya, Yuyuko

Zekkyou

Takasu Ryuuji has learned the hard way that appearances can be deceiving. For despite his inwardly sweet personality, his unintentionally sharp gaze and aggressive features give him the air of a delinquent thug, putting his chances at making new friends, let alone a girlfriend, next to zero.

It's Ryuuji's first day of his second year of high school and it seems as if things are looking up. He gets to sit in between his only friend, Yuusaku, and more importantly, the girl he's secretly crushing on, Kushieda Minori. But just when he thinks the stars are aligned in his favor, he unwittingly crosses the most feared girl in school, Aisaka Taiga, making her into his arch enemy. To top it off, Taiga has moved in right next door to Ryuuji and happens to be Minori's best friend! Can this school year possibly get any worse?!

(Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)

12 Manga Like Toradora!

Fruits Basket

Sakamichi no Apollon

Touch

Gakuen Alice

Kodomo no Omocha

Orange

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e

Full Metal Panic!

Kokoro Connect

Orange

Oboreru Knife

Toradora!