# The 30 Greatest Classic Manga of All Time

> Postwar pioneers sit beside the bubble-era blockbusters that went global, with samurai epics, shojo melodramas and gag strips all fighting for the same shelf.

*By YPB Team · Published October 28, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-30-greatest-classic-manga-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Dragon Ball** — score 1000/1000
   Akira Toriyama's 1984 martial-arts adventure that became one of the best-selling manga ever.
2. **Akira** — score 861/1000
   Katsuhiro Otomo's 1982 cyberpunk epic set in a ruined, psychic-haunted Neo-Tokyo.
3. **Barefoot Gen** — score 797/1000
   Keiji Nakazawa's semi-autobiographical account of surviving the Hiroshima bombing.
4. **Buddha** — score 765/1000
   Tezuka's sweeping, irreverent retelling of the life of Siddhartha Gautama.
5. **Berserk** — score 647/1000
   Kentaro Miura's 1989 dark fantasy epic following the swordsman Guts.
6. **Slam Dunk** — score 647/1000
   Takehiko Inoue's 1990 basketball manga that sparked a basketball boom across Asia.
7. **Touch** — score 542/1000
   Mitsuru Adachi's 1981 baseball and romance drama about twin brothers and the girl next door.
8. **Devilman** — score 542/1000
   Go Nagai's 1972 apocalyptic horror manga about a boy merged with a demon.
9. **Golgo 13** — score 542/1000
   Takao Saito's long-running 1968 series about a cold, flawless professional sniper.
10. **GeGeGe no Kitaro** — score 542/1000
   Shigeru Mizuki's yokai classic that brought Japanese folklore monsters into pop culture.
11. **Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind** — score 478/1000
   Hayao Miyazaki's 1982 post-apocalyptic manga, far deeper and darker than the film it inspired.
12. **Captain Tsubasa** — score 478/1000
   Yoichi Takahashi's 1981 soccer manga that inspired a generation of real-world footballers.
13. **City Hunter** — score 478/1000
   Tsukasa Hojo's 1985 action-comedy about a skilled, skirt-chasing Tokyo sweeper.
14. **Ghost in the Shell** — score 478/1000
   Masamune Shirow's 1989 cyberpunk police thriller about the cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi.
15. **Maison Ikkoku** — score 404/1000
   Rumiko Takahashi's 1980 slow-burn romance set in a run-down Tokyo boarding house.
16. **Lone Wolf and Cub** — score 404/1000
   Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's 1970 samurai epic about an assassin wandering with his infant son.
17. **Rurouni Kenshin** — score 404/1000
   Nobuhiro Watsuki's 1994 Meiji-era samurai story of a wandering swordsman sworn never to kill.
18. **Doraemon** — score 319/1000
   Fujiko F. Fujio's beloved 1969 series about a robot cat from the future and his gadget pocket.
19. **Astro Boy** — score 319/1000
   Osamu Tezuka's 1952 robot-boy series that helped define the look and storytelling of modern manga.
20. **Yu Yu Hakusho** — score 319/1000
   Yoshihiro Togashi's 1990 supernatural action series about a teen turned spirit detective.
21. **Fist of the North Star** — score 217/1000
   Buronson and Tetsuo Hara's 1983 post-apocalyptic martial-arts saga of Kenshiro.
22. **Kinnikuman** — score 217/1000
   Yudetamago's 1979 wrestling comedy about a clumsy superhero prince.
23. **Black Jack** — score 217/1000
   Tezuka's 1973 medical drama about an unlicensed genius surgeon with a scarred face.
24. **The Rose of Versailles** — score 217/1000
   Riyoko Ikeda's 1972 shojo epic set at the court of Marie Antoinette before the French Revolution.
25. **Dr. Slump** — score 217/1000
   Akira Toriyama's 1980 gag manga about the inventor Senbei and the super-strong robot girl Arale.
26. **JoJo's Bizarre Adventure** — score 217/1000
   Hirohiko Araki's 1987 generational saga of the Joestar family and their supernatural battles.
27. **Monster** — score 217/1000
   Naoki Urasawa's 1994 psychological thriller about a surgeon hunting the killer he once saved.
28. **Ashita no Joe** — score 0/1000
   The 1968 boxing saga by Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba about a slum kid who fights his way to the top.
29. **Ranma 1/2** — score 0/1000
   Rumiko Takahashi's 1987 martial-arts comedy about a boy who turns into a girl when splashed with cold water.
30. **Sailor Moon** — score 0/1000
   Naoko Takeuchi's 1991 magical-girl series that became a worldwide shojo phenomenon.

Tags: comics, japan, classics, manga