The 15 Best Underrated Manga

Cult favorites that never got a big anime push or a Jump-sized fanbase, yet quietly win over everyone who finds them.

1. 1
   Witch Hat Atelier

   Kamome Shirahama's richly drawn fantasy about a girl learning magic through drawn spells.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Wandering Son

   Takako Shimura's sensitive story of two transgender middle schoolers coming of age.
   833pts
3. 3
   Dorohedoro

   Q Hayashida's grimy fantasy about a man with a lizard head searching for his identity.
   642pts
4. 4
   Sunny

   Taiyo Matsumoto's autobiographical story of children in a foster home.
   577pts
5. 5
   Undead Unluck

   Yoshifumi Tozuka's action series about a girl who brings misfortune and a man who cannot die.
   500pts
6. 6
   Children of the Sea

   Daisuke Igarashi's luminous ocean fantasy about a girl raised by dugongs.
   500pts
7. 7
   Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

   Haruko Kumota's drama of two rakugo performers across decades of postwar Japan.
   500pts
8. 8
   Kowloon Generic Romance

   Jun Mayuzuki's melancholy romance set in a nostalgic, crumbling Hong Kong district.
   409pts
9. 9
   Ping Pong

   Taiyo Matsumoto's kinetic sports manga about two rival table tennis friends.
   409pts
10. 10
    Dai Dark

    Q Hayashida's gonzo sci-fi action comedy about a wandering mercenary and a crime-ridden galaxy.
    300pts
11. 11
    A Sign of Affection

    Suu Morishita's romance about a Deaf college student and a traveler who learns to sign.
    300pts
12. 12
    Planetes

    Makoto Yukimura's grounded sci-fi series about debris collectors in Earth orbit.
    300pts
13. 13
    Silver Spoon

    Hiromu Arakawa's agricultural school comedy that makes farm life gripping.
    300pts
14. 14
    Mushishi

    Yuki Urushibara's episodic tales of a wanderer who studies mysterious life forms called mushi.
    0pts
15. 15
    Ōoku: The Inner Chambers

    Fumi Yoshinaga's alternate-history epic where a plague has turned Edo-era Japan's gender roles upside down.
    0pts

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