Here is part two of the Ultimate Sabukaru Guide to Manga.

CLICK HERE FOR PART/PAGE 1 OF OUR GUIDE: CLICK

**MONONOKE [モノノ怪 ] BY YAEKO NINAGAWA**

Mononoke adds a layer of trippiness to the horror manga genre, chronicling the adventures the protagonist simply known as “The Medicine Seller'' encounters on his quest to kill evil spirits called “mononoke”, but not merely slaying them but understanding “their Form, their Truth, and its Reason”.

These mononoke exist in the realm of the living by attaching themselves to negative human emotions such as anger, jealousy, and greed. The Medicine Seller’s desire to understand what motivates the demons he exorcizes, allows the viewer to empathize and identify evil aspects in our own personalities.

Each chapter details a different demonic case that the medicine man seeks to unravel. Mononoke is a spinoff of the manga Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, but stands out on it’s own because of the comic’s intricate psychedelic patterns replicating LSD hallucinations, and unique use of vibrant color despite the horror genre's penchant for black and white panels. Plus, its references to the occult side of Shinto religion and classical Japanese folktales, make the comic a perfect mixture of historical inspired horror plus modern graphics.

KITAROU OF THE GRAVEYARD [墓場鬼太郎] AKA GEGEGE KITAROU [ゲゲゲの鬼太郎] BY SHIGERU MIZUKI

The predecessor to manga-ka such as Junji Ito, Suehiro Maruo, and Hideshi Hino, Shigeru Mizuki, the creator of Kitaro of the Graveyard, defined the aesthetics of Japanese horror comics as early as 1960. GeGeGe Kitaro earned acclaim by combining a coming of age story with Japanese folklore. The plot focuses on young Kitaro, the last surviving member of the “Ghost tribe”, a clan of spirits, who receives guidance from his deceased father who communicates with him through a severed eyeball. Kitaro’s goal is to have yokai and human beings coexist in harmony, rather than resort to violence.

Through GeGeGe Kitaro, not only did Mizuki pave the way for future development of the horror genre by blending more whimsical artistic elements with dead serious topics, but the manga-ka himself is an aspirational figure. In many ways, Kitaro of the Graveyard is the author's coping mechanism to deal with his experiences as a veteran in WWII. At the age of 21, he was drafted into the Japanese imperial army at the onset of the war. Forced to serve in Papua New Guinea, Mizuki returned to Japan from combat with his left arm blown off and being the only survivor of his fleet.

Along with publishing his personal accounts of the horrors of war in a manga titled Onwards Towards Our Deaths, his work Gegege no Kitaro preaches world peace intertwined in illustrations of graveyards and ghosts. In interviews, Shigeru Mizuki expresses his interest in yokai stems from his desire to understand mortality after being so close to death himself during war times. His work exemplifies how death is viewed in Japanese culture, by including folklore from centuries ago while also expressing personal horrors he experienced first hand.

HELTER SKELTER [ヘルタースケルタ]ー BY KYOKO OKAZAKI

Beauty is pain, beauty is everything. That’s the motto that Helter Skelter’s monstrously narcissistic main character Liliko lives by, delving deeper into insanity and depravity as she undergoes increasingly risky plastic surgeries just to hold on to the fleetingness that is fame and youth.

Liliko probably wins the award for the most irredeemable character in manga history, as an unapologetically narcissistic aging supermodel obsessed with maintaining her legendary status in the notoriously fickle fashion industry. Liliko’s beauty won’t last forever, as her body begins to wither and break down due to the risky full-body plastic surgeries she’s undergone.

Soon, Liliko finds herself as person of interest for an investigation on dangerous and illegal plastic surgeries, leading her to take desperate measures for her secret to remain hidden from her fans. To make matters worse, she finds herself in competition with a seemingly perfect younger model, Kozue, leading Liliko down a path of revenge and sabotage to take down her rising star rival. Helter Skelter has a deceptively simple art style that places Liliko and her unraveling front and center. It’s the perfect manga to fit our age of rapid influencer stardom and the cult of youth that cuts deep into our biggest fears.

HIDEOUT BY MASASUMI KAKIZAKI

Hideout by Masasumi Kakizaki chronicles how one man's simple life can collapse in the blink of an eye. On a storm filled night, while on vacation with his wife lead character Seichi Kirishima plans to do the unthinkable: brutally and remorselessly murder her.

Hideout by Masasumi Kakizaki chronicles how one man's simple life can collapse in the blink of an eye. On a storm filled night, while on vacation with his wife lead character Seichi Kirishima plans to do the unthinkable: brutally and remorselessly murder her. Originally a loving father, a contented husband, and a writer with a promising book deal, his path takes a turn for the dark and murderous after the sudden death of his son and the fragmentation of his marriage after he’s blamed for the tragedy. But, Seichi’s cruel intentions are interrupted by even darker forces, a demonic monster, with an unbreakable grudge towards him and a hankering for human flesh.

The narrative through its graphic and noirish pages, retells the plotwist laden events that lead Seichi to his path of desperation, all while delving deep into the psychology of each of its main characters, people who gain our sympathy and our disgust at the same time. Jam packed with poster-worthy artwork blending hyper-grotesque monsters, taking full advantage of shadow, and dramatic shading, Hideout fully delivers on plot and imagery.

XXXHOLIC BY CLAMP

Do you believe in fate? XXXHolic explores the inevitability of tragedy and joy by declaring that there is no such thing as coincidence, only what is meant to be. Known for cheery child friendly smash hits such as Cardcapturer Sakura and Chobits, CLAMP the groundbreaking all-female manga-ka collective, branches out through it’s lesser-known masterpiece XXXHolic, through ornately gothic aesthetic that is as beautiful as it is chilling.

Told as a loosely connected series of short vignettes, XXXHolic tells the tale of Kimihiro Watanuki through 28 chapters, a withdrawn high school student plagued by the curse of seeing spirits when no one else can. Fatefully, Watanuki while escaping a demon finds refuge in a strange shop owned by the sultry witch Yuuko who offers clients any wish their heart desires- as long as they are willing to pay the proper price.

Begging Yuuko to take away his curse, Watanuki becomes a servant to her as he works off the debt to repay her for curing him. XXXHolic is a manga that is all about the journey and less about the narrative, which winds down endlessly enjoyable subplots filled with smoke, art deco homages, and captivating costumes, a decidedly stylish entry into the horror genre.

PURE TRANCE [ピュア・トランス] BY JUNKO MIZUNO

In the aftermath of WWIII Tokyo is in ruins, and society is forced to live underground, surviving on nutrient pills called “Pure Trance” for sustenance. Although complete human annihilation was narrowly avoided, this destruction has led to a new social ill- hyperorexia AKA out of control overeating that has plagued large swaths of the female population.

In the aftermath of WWIII Tokyo is in ruins, and society is forced to live underground, surviving on nutrient pills called “Pure Trance” for sustenance. Although complete human annihilation was narrowly avoided, this destruction has led to a new social ill- hyperorexia AKA out of control overeating that has plagued large swaths of the female population. Kaori Suzuki is a nurse tasked with fixing her patients' eating addictions, under the drug-addled disturbed hospital director Keiko Yamazaki. But Kaori has a dream of becoming a pop idol, and the drive to escape both mentally and physically her bleak world by breaking out into the “other side”.

Junko Mizuo is a legend of the underground comics scene which exploded in the 90s, using Harajuku fashion inspired gothic-kawaii style whose sugary sweetness leaves you with a sense of dark unease and raises questions about the consequences of society's excesses.

FRACTION BY SHINTARO KAGO

Exploding school girls, bursting at the seams with skeletons, gore, and detached eyeballs in mandala like patterns is what Shintaro Kago, ero-guro’s grandmaster is known for. But aside from his ever-expanding myriad of body horror infused illustrations, his manga are legendary in their own right.

Exploding school girls, bursting at the seams with skeletons, gore, and detached eyeballs in mandala like patterns is what Shintaro Kago, ero-guro’s grandmaster is known for. But aside from his ever-expanding myriad of body horror infused illustrations, his manga are legendary in their own right. If you have the stomach to bear his more gruesome concoctions, Fraction is disgustingly bizarre and one of Kago's more plot driven works, telling the sordid tale of "The Slicing Devil” a serial killer and the seemingly mundane details of his life. Seemingly charming on the outside, Fraction fills in the reader in on his twisted killing methodology down to most minute details, as he lures women to their deaths.

The main narrative chronicling a killers brutal series of massacres is followed by an interview between Kago himself and crime writer Ryuchi Kasumi about real life killings and what draws them into their obsessions with them. The volume finishes with shorter stories that are stomach churning by taking body horror to new extremes. Fraction’s medley of psychological horror mixed with more straightforward blood and brains makes it a favorite for horror fans across the spectrum.

A Lollypop or a Bullet by Kazuki Sakuraba and Iqura Sugimoto

If you’ve loved Nana, this one is for you. Two young girls face the violence of life at the edge of puberty. Nagisa is an aloof girl who has difficulty socializing with her peers at school, and her home life reflects her demeanor. With an overworked mother struggling to make ends meet after her husband’s death, Nagisa looks up to her hikikomori [sheltered] brother.

When the pretty and charismatic Mokuzo transfers to her school, the new girl is determined to befriend Nagisa because the latter is too withdrawn to question Mokuzo’s stories about being a mermaid. Bruised on the inside and the outside, Mokuzo and Nagisa’s friendship is like a game of tug-and-war, fighting against loneliness, abuse, and growing up.

A Lollypop or a Bullet by Kazuki Sakuraba and Iqura Sugimoto will leave you with a lump in your throat. Whether it’s the fragile innocence of the girls shattering or the rawness discovered from their scars, the bittersweetness echoes even after finishing the last book.

My girl by Sahara Mizu

Bittersweetness oozes from the story like an unhealthy wound, but My Girl is a cult favorite. The 23-year-old Masamune is passively living his life as any other average young man until he receives a call from the mother of his last ex-girlfriend: she passed away in a car accident, leaving him with a child he had known the existence of.

Masamune is still hooked on his ex although the distance between them will never close, and now he is a single father, out of the blue. Determined to become a responsible parent, he gives everything he has to rebuild his brand-new life.

Less about parenthood and melodrama, My Girl is a tender and aching look at the various forms of grief and love. The happy moments are followed by tear-jerking scenes, harmoniously merging the complexity of human emotions into the art.

I SOLD MY LIFE FOR TEN THOUSAND YEN PER YEAR by Sugaru Miaki

Disguised as a rom-com, I Sold My Life for Ten Thousand Yen per Year takes a much more philosophical turn than marketed. Discussing the meaning of life versus the ephemeral sensations of happiness. If people could sell their remaining lifespan, how would the world look like?

Kusunoki is already desperate at 20 years old and considers selling his life so he can enjoy what’s left with the money obtained. With 300 000 JPY left in his name [around 3k USD], there’s not much he can do, especially since Kusunoki still has 3 months left to live.

Kusunoki is already desperate at 20 years old and considers selling his life so he can enjoy what’s left with the money obtained. With 300 000 JPY left in his name [around 3k USD], there’s not much he can do, especially since Kusunoki still has 3 months left to live. The beginning of the ending of the young man’s life starts when Miyagi, the clerk of the life-exchanging store, shows up out of the blue at his house. She will be his “observer”, therefore she will be in charge of his last three days on Earth. The fleeting value of his life starts to echo, and Kusunoki will have to turn inwards to find peace.

WATASHITACHI NO SHIAWASE NA JIKAN by Mizu sahara

There is no drought for romance shoujo, and Yumeka Sumomo’s work on Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan is remarkable. The sensitive Juri does not have a stable backstory. Born to a prodigious pianist mother, the parent took out her frustrations on her daughter for her downgrading career. Juri sees death as an escape until she meets Yuu under the guidance of her religious aunt Monica.

It turns out Yuu is on death row for murder, but Monica has been sending letters to the incarcerated man in hopes to help him. He declines the support willingly, but Monica is determined and incites Juri to give him a lending hand.

Waltzing with death, passion keeps them on a tightrope, but tragedy follows their trace like a police dog. Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan is an adult romance manga, and it doesn’t hold back from saddening scenes.

SUNDOME by kazuto okada

Nothing is better than a corny, fanservice manga when everything else just doesn’t feel right, or so thought many while picking up the first Sundome volume. As the story goes deeper, the racy jokes fade into something much more emotional.

Forbidding fetishes invade the characters’ minds like a terminal illness. Aiba is just a pitifully plain schoolboy who only dreams about jacking off after school, but a switch is flipped when he falls head over heels for the dark but lusty Kurumi. The plot is difficult, loomed by moral ambiguity and sexual violence, dressed up in an ecchi coming-of-age story.

Aiba slowly changes into a stronger, willful version of himself through the mind games of Kurumi, and the sexiness is achingly far from standard hentai. High and dry is the ending: desperation, frustration, and a sheer feeling of hope, Sundome is an excruciating manga, and consequently, one of the best, though it’s infrequently recognized.

AKU NO HANA by Shūzō Oshimi

Takao Kasuga holds his copy of Baudelaire’s book “Flowers of Evil” very close to his heart. The main character is just an average middle school boy, living a life of complacency and normalcy. However, the story starts when Kasuga steals the gym clothes of his school crush, a brilliant young girl named Nanako Saeki.

Takao Kasuga holds his copy of Baudelaire’s book “Flowers of Evil” very close to his heart. The main character is just an average middle school boy, living a life of complacency and normalcy. However, the story starts when Kasuga steals the gym clothes of his school crush, a brilliant young girl named Nanako Saeki. The next day, he is cornered by the class’ most despised student, Sawa Nakamura, who threatens to throw him under the bus. One thing leads to another and the boy is forced to comply with the girl’s demands, who is as lonely as she is viciously twisted.

In an inhuman story about humane matters, writer Shuzo Oshimi perfectly alludes to the inevitable crash of the ruthless and rebellious. Manipulation reaches its most vile ends but Aku no Hana is consciously and painfully aware of the faults of our most secret desires.

HANSHIN by moto hagio

Hanshin reminisces of Junji Ito’s cursed characters, but this time leaning more on heartache than creepiness. This one-shot is ideal for people who just want a peak of something and the charming retro style of manga in the 80s harmoniously weaves the prose and despair.

When the girls have the opportunity to perform a life-changing surgery to separate them, Yudy recovers into a renewed and gorgeous version of herself, but her sister doesn’t survive. Now that she has everything she ever wanted, Yudy has to face her reality and her grief. It’s short but not sweet, putting the spotlight on disability, privilege, and loneliness.

BITTER VIRGIN by Kei Kusunoki

Bitter Virgin isn’t as saucy as the title suggests, and instead it is cruel. When opposing realities collide, emotions overflow and some people cannot rid themselves of the weight on their shoulders.

The story follows Daisuke, a shy but flirty high school boy in rural Japan. He spends his days chasing girls, except for one girl, Hinako, who’s too reserved and innocent for his taste. However, they meet by chance in a nearby church when the young boy hides in the confessional to escape his love problems. Hinako, who was seated on the other side of the confessional, mistakes him for a priest and confesses her heartbreaking backstory.

This manga discusses taboo topics in Japan, such as abortion, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and teenage pregnancy. Tangled into the grip of blooming passion and strong feelings, Hinako and Daisuke’s compassion for each other deepens. Bitter Virgin is agonizingly sad, but also a beautiful, tender yet mature story.

Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma

Slice of life mangas are pretty dull - nothing ever happens, and that’s the point of this literary genre. When there’s so much space for life-altering creativity and realm-crossing gateways, picking a manga that solely revolves around the normality of an average person’s life seems counter-intuitive. And, though it is true that this kind of book is doomed when executed wrong, slice of life can be exceptional, if not wholly life-changing. The 2003 manga Yotsuba&! is exactly what you always needed, but never knew.

Yotsuba&! is a manga of 15 volumes revolving around the eventful life of Yotsuba, a green-haired five-year-old girl, and her fascination for the mundane. Yotsuba is the adopted daughter of Yousuke Koiwai, a warm and pleasant father, and due to her sheltered beginning of life, the viewer discovers the beauty in the most boring, daily happenings. Jumbo, Yousuke’s best friend, as well as the neighbors, partake in the little girl’s sedentary adventures, creating this picturesque found family in a tranquil Japanese neighborhood.

The manga was a huge success early on: not only is the character of the young girl funny in a wholesome way, but every little story is charming and heartwarming. When you just need a break from adulthood tasks and gaping blues, the perfect escape is a childlike wonder, as symbolized through the lively character of Yotsuba. Though idealized, it reflects the life of an average Japanese father and daughter bonding through familiar moments, and inspires the reader to find joy in everything - after all, every day can be the best day of your life.

Divided into a timeline that respectively follows every episode, it’s easy to get sucked into this manga, with the low stress, easy-to-follow dialogues, and pages. The whole idea sprouted from a one-shot the author Kiyohiko Azuma wrote in 1998, where some of the side characters appear.

It’s hard to describe how lovely Yotsuba&! is; not a single moment is wasted and proves that we don’t need to “have it all” to be happy.

InuYasha by Rumiko Takahashi

Going to the local bookstore and heading immediately to the manga section is a shared experience for many. Particularly in the early-to-tens 2000s, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and Fruits Basket proudly took over the shelves, tidily arranged in order. These giant pillars of manga and anime have been essential to the coming-of-age stories for lots of people and marked us in the best way. The legendary-status manga and anime Inuyasha have received the same amount of praise, and unsurprisingly so; created by the tremendously talented Rumiko Takahashi, Inuyasha is a manga that has brought painful themes in softer light, effortlessly swooning the reader as it plunges into incomparable darkness.

Takahashi started working on Inuyasha right after she completed Ranma ½, another iconic work of hers, and released it in 1996. However, instead of adopting the jovial tone so on-brand of her, Inuyasha is much more somber and serious. The plot follows the young Kagome who accidentally switches timelines and falls into a mythical parallel world of gods and demons. She turns out to be the rebirth of Kikyo, a powerful priestess who fought for peace and purification: great responsibility rests on her faith. Kagome meets the mischievous Inuyasha, an anthropomorphic demon dog, and this meeting marks the beginning of an irreversible chapter in her life.

Titled after him, the character of Inuyasha has been an element of fascination for years. He undoubtedly is a creation of the female gaze but the manga-turned-anime is far from being of the shoujo genre because of the complexity of the story’s structure and especially because of the character depth: though fantastical, the mixing and muddling of masculinity and femininity strongly separate Takahashi’s work to other pieces of that time. In a way, the yin-yang harmony of the entire series is why it makes it so timeless. Consistent, enchanting, and poetic, Inuyasha is perfectly executed.

Himizu by Minoru Furuya

There is a certain shame humans try to repress when confronted with their own negative thoughts - isolation and denial are sure escapes but inevitably crumble down. Vulnerability is praised as a tender and comforting facet of humanity, but it’s so ugly: messy and unwarranted, opening up about abuse and depression and yearning for the bare minimum of unrelenting normalcy is hard to get used to.

Himizu, the manga, captures that wholly. It tells the story of Sumida, a young boy who is a critical pessimist - at least to the reader. His character is possibly the least sympathetic a protagonist could ever be, but Himizu never marketed itself to be a fun manga. Created by Minoru Furuya, the art illustriously depicts the madness: straying at times from realism, expressions become distorted and dramatic, further pushing the limits of the characters.

Sumida’s abusive father walks out of the family home, and so does his mother, in order to chase frivolous thrills with her new boyfriend. But he’s determined to make the best of it, as his dream is the complete antithesis of a dream: he just wants the most average life, with nothing particularly bad and nothing particularly good, just a flat line of a life until he flat lines too. However, neutrality is an illusion, and due to all the love and hope withhold from him, his spiraling is inevitable - especially when the people that are still in his life are caught up in their own frustrations as much as he is.

Himizu was famously adapted into a live-action movie by Sono Sion, this time loosely copying the story over a post-Fukushima nuclear disaster setting, enhancing the desperation for a normal life and emotional stability.

Furuya created a disturbing, heartwrenching manga that dangerously closes up on reality - sometimes a bit too much, and that’s why it’s such an intense experience.

World Apartment Horror by Satoshi Kon

Apartment hunting in Japan as a foreigner with the Japanese linguistic skills of a fetus is a literal nightmare: nothing is more mortifying than to Google Translate every word of every document involved. But, everything turns out alright in the end - in most cases. Renting is a real headache though, and the manga World Apartment Horror knows that, indeed, it can become the worst possible thing, especially if the poltergeists and yakuza disturb your peace on top of not paying rent.

Released in 1991, World Apartment Horror is a bizarre and obscure oeuvre by the film mogul Satoshi Kon, known for his oeuvres Perfect Blue and Paprika. It’s a niche essential for followers of Kon’s abstract and existential paranoia horror, but nonetheless a strange read.

The manga is divided into four short stories, which are all different. The first chapter is based on the comedy-horror movie by Katsuhiro Otomo, the father of Akira and Domu, titled “World Apartment Horror” and is basically the manga adaptation of it: on the menu is eviction, yakuza, and a heinous spirit. Satoshi Kon also worked on the film - the specifications of it are blurry, but it proves how much passion these two geniuses have for their projects.

The three other chapters are respectively titled Visitors, Waira, and Joyful Bell, and though they follow entirely different paths, they are very enjoyable. Consider this a light read, but don’t be surprised by the absurdity and the wide spectrum of emotions: after all, it is a Satoshi Kon creation.

As expected, the art is beautiful and timelessly challenging; Kon would never pick up his pen for something mediocre. Twisted, unsettling, but orchestrally detailed, it’s a must-read for hardcore fans.

Sex by Atsushi Kamijo

Many mangas have never seen the light outside of their country of origin, in the majority due to unavailable translation, which is the case for Sex, a brilliant manga born at the hand of Atsushi Kamijo. Sex only has seven chapters that are available in English, so it’s undoubtedly not talked about enough on this side of the Internet because it was a vital addition to anyone’s manga repertoire during the 80s in Japan.

The title gives an illusion that it’s a steamy story, but Sex is meant to hint at the division of the sexes. A limbo between the shoujo genre [targeted at young women] and the seinen genre [targeted at young men], Sex is a turbulent yet breathtakingly gracious story about delinquency and the path to redemption.

But it’s not your average stale teenage rebellion story. Similarly to the iconic Nana, it poses on self-reflection and the significance of relationships. Sex follows the young Kaho who travels south to Okinawa in search of her long-lost childhood friend, Natsu. But upon her quest, she meets Yuki, a brooding, dark and handsome gangster who runs the neighborhood. Kaho is soon wrapped up in his mob wars, but once Natsu is back in the picture, things straighten up - or so they seem. It’s a little bit of an irresistible love triangle, but Sex made waves when it was released, and though the plot seems soaked in a saccharine mixture of romance tropes, it’s far from the Hallmark-love-story type. Crude and tender, it’s hypocritically heartbreaking which makes it so sweetly addicting.

Moments of silence and absence are captured in the panels, and Kamijo’s stunning use of monochrome and a touch of realism makes the banality of everyday life scream. It’s humane in the ways you least expect it. Sex is a work of art literally lost in translation, but its impact still resonates in today’s industry.

Record of Ragnarok by Shinya Umemura and Takumi Fukui

Many consider religion to be a sensitive topic and for good reason: one wrong word and suddenly an entire faith is misinterpreted and scrutinized. Some manage to toe this line flawlessly, with the likes of Hayao Miyazaki incorporating subtle Shinto ideologies of the kami and environmentalism into his works of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. However, Japan has had a distinct artistic take on portrayals of religion that have either stayed true to their source text or strayed so far off that the narratives have taken on a life of their own.

The manga series and now Netflix anime Record of Ragnarok is one wacky example of Japan’s rendering of gods. The premise sees gods engaging in one-on-one combat to the death with humanity’s greatest minds and figures. The manga series saw its birth in 2017 from the minds of Shinya Umemura, Takumi Furui, and the 4-person mangaka Ajichika before it was adapted into an anime by Graphinica and premiered on Netflix in 2021.

Full of nonstop brawling between the gods and mankind’s best to determine the fate of humanity, the story sees the likes of Nikola Tesla take on Belzebub while Thor brandishes his hammer against ancient China’s Lü Bu. The gods come equipped with vascular muscles, an 8-pack of abs, and the deadliest, holiest weapons imaginable, all while being kitted out in suits and armor befitting their godly stature

From an artistic point of view, the series is pure derisive action with no blasphemy or ill-intent and it has been received by the rest of the world in good spirits. Surely Japan’s eccentrics know no bounds; where else would you see the likes of Adam from the Book of Genesis going punch-for-punch against Zeus, and even the serene Buddha getting his kicks in?