This is the Edo-era samurai guts. Controversial, tough, angry, highly skilled and lost in a time of peace, the characters of Satsuma Gishiden tell a quasi-historical tale of social caste and brutal reprisal.
Readers with a taste for Kazuo Koike's gritty Lone Wolf & Cub will go nuts for master gekiga artist Hiroshi Hirata's tome of samurai struggle. Hirata's art and calligraphy leap off the page during scenes of action, only to unfold upon a full bleed that looks like a fine plate print. It's art at is most expressive, accentuating the classic stoic samurai characters you've come to know, only with a little more true society thrown in to help the reader understand what it was really like to be a warrior without a war.
Satsuma Gishiden has finished publishing and it has 35 Chapters. It is also Known as: 薩摩義士伝, Satsuma Gishiden
Genres: Historical
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Top 5 Manga Like Satsuma Gishiden [2026 List]
5. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run
America, 1890. The longest and most significant race ever, the Steel Ball Run, is about to start. It's a race from San Diego, California, to New York City, New York, and while horses are the traditional racing medium, anything can be used. The winner is the one with the most points, via checkpoint placement, when they reach New York—the prize: $2,000,000.
Gyro Zeppelli, a mysterious man with an equally mysterious steel ball, is planning on winning the race. Johnny Joestar (JoJo) is a former jockey who's cockiness got him paralyzed from the legs down. An accidental contact with the steel ball made his leg twitch, so he's in the race the learn about Gyro's steel ball. But the challenges of Diego Brando, a popular European jockey, Pocoloco, a slave with the Devil's Luck, Sandman, a native american who is sprinting all the way to NYC, and others will make it hard for Gyro and JoJo to win.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run has finished publishing and it has 95 Chapters. It is also Known as: JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 7: Steel Ball Run, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 Part7 STEEL BALL RUN, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run, SBR
4. Fullmetal Alchemist
Somewhere between magic, art and science exists a world of alchemy. And into this world travel Edward and Alphonse Elric—two brothers in search of the Philosopher's Stone, the ultimate alchemical treasure!
Fullmetal Alchemist has finished publishing and it has 35 Chapters. It is also Known as: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, 鋼の錬金術師, FMA, HagaRen Novel, Fullmetal Alchemist Novel, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Land of Sand, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Abducted Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Valley of White Petals, Fullmetal Alchemist: Under the Faraway Sky, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Ties That Bind, Fullmetal Alchemist: A New Beginning
3. Vinland Saga
As a child, Thorfinn sat at the feet of the great Leif Ericson and thrilled to wild tales of a land far to the west. But his youthful fantasies were shattered by a mercenary raid. Raised by the Vikings who murdered his father, Thorfinn became a terrifying warrior, forever seeking to kill the band's leader, Askeladd, and avenge his father. Sustaining Thorfinn through his ordeal are his pride in his family and his dreams of a fertile westward land, a land without war or slavery … the land Leif called Vinland.
Notes:
- Won the Grand Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2009.
- Winner of the 36th Kodansha Manga Award in the General category in 2012.
Vinland Saga has finished publishing and it has 220 Chapters. It is also Known as: ヴィンランド・サガ, Vinland Saga
2. Vagabond
In 16th century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man, in both his appearance and his actions. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory—but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive.
After the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the "devil child," secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto.
Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the "Sword Saint" Musashi Miyamoto—his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become "Invincible Under the Heavens" to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself.
Vagabond has finished publishing and it has 327 Chapters. It is also Known as: バガボンド, Vagabond
1. Kimetsu no Yaiba
Since ancient times, rumors have abounded of man-eating demons lurking in the woods. Because of this, the local townsfolk never venture outside at night. Legend has it that a demon slayer also roams the night, hunting down these bloodthirsty demons. For young Tanjirou, these rumors will soon to become his harsh reality...
Ever since the death of his father, Tanjirou has taken it upon himself to support his family. Although their lives may be hardened by tragedy, they've found happiness. But that ephemeral warmth is shattered one day when Tanjirou finds his family slaughtered and the lone survivor, his sister Nezuko, turned into a demon. To his surprise, however, Nezuko still shows signs of human emotion and thought...
Thus begins Tanjirou's quest to fight demons and turn his sister human again.
Volume 7 contains a bonus chapter about Kanao Tsuyuri.
Volume 10 contains a bonus chapter about Inosuke Hashibira.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has finished publishing and it has 207 Chapters. It is also Known as: 鬼滅の刃, Blade of Demon Destruction
