Highlights
- Some manga fans prefer intense and dark stories that explore heavier themes without holding back, like 20th Century Boys and Berserk.
- A Silent Voice and Bitter Virgin tackle sensitive subjects such as bullying and trauma with emotional depth and raw storytelling.
- Oyasumi Punpun and MW are examples of manga that delve into the darker aspects of life, portraying complex characters and intense situations.
There’s nothing like settling down, relaxing, and indulging in a little comfort media. For some, it could be something gentle and easy-going, like some light comedy or a little non-fiction about some quirky part of history. Some iyashikei manga may hit the spot for some mind-easing fun, or even a little mystery or drama for some pep. Then again, some may prefer something harder, and not just any old horror story or gritty detective comic.
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They want a manga that treads into heavy territory and stays there. Manga that shows readers how ugly the world can be and doesn’t flinch from it, but still tells a compelling story. Something that'll linger in their mind long after they've put it down for the day. Readers better strap themselves in if they check out these intense manga as they don’t let up.
7 20th Century Boys
- Written & Illustrated by Naoki Urasawa.
The long-awaited anime based on Pluto, Naoki Urasawa’s crime mystery version of Astro Boy, will finally debut on October 26th, 2023, on Netflix. However, Pluto wasn’t his first rodeo. Urasawa made his name with 20th Century Boys, an epic tale about how a group of friends in the 1970s inadvertently led to the formation of a cult that threatens to take over Japan at the turn of the millennium.
It’s a mystery thriller, yet critics like Jason Thompson have compared it to Stephen King’s It, as they both involve grown-ups dealing with a monster borne from their childhoods. It’s just more figurative in 20th Century Boys as ‘Friend’ and his political party spread their influence. The content isn’t necessarily extreme, but the complex storytelling hits hard at its peaks, taking its readers on an emotional rollercoaster.
6 A Silent Voice
- Written & Illustrated by Yoshitoki Ōima.
Likewise, Yoshitoki Ōima’s A Silent Voice isn’t intense due to violence or the like, though it has more of it than its anime adaptation. Yet it may hit home for some, especially if they were bullied at school, or were the bully themselves. When Shōya and his friends bully a deaf transfer student called Shōko, he ends up being the only one caught out by the principal. He tries to take out his frustrations on Shōko, only to end up with her notebook.
Now ostracized as a bully even into high school, he plans on making amends with the people he wronged, including Shōko, before taking his life. But the path to redemption is long and bumpy, as both Shōya and Shōko’s pasts come back to haunt them. It can be hard to apologize and admit when one's in the wrong, and harder to accept apologies based on past trauma. Still, the bitterest pills can be the ones that heal the most.
5 Bitter Virgin
- Written & Illustrated by Kei Kusunoki.
Famous for Blood Reign: Curse of the Yoma and Girls Saurus, Kei Kusunoki suffered a personal tragedy in 2005 that saw her take a hiatus from manga production. When she came back, she expressed her feelings with Bitter Virgin. It saw Daisuke, the school’s womanizer, tell his friends that he doesn’t care for Hinako because she’s too shy and doesn’t interact well with men, which he calls her “sweet virgin” act.
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When he escapes a pair of girls by hiding in a church’s confessional, Hinako enters the other booth and, mistaking him for a priest, explains why she’s so introverted. It turns what could’ve been a rote romance story into a heavy one that covers a sensitive subject tenderly and with respect. That doesn’t stop it being a raw manga that takes some nerves to handle.
4 Oyasumi Punpun
- Written & Illustrated by Inio Asano.
A lot of Inio Asano’s work could go here, from his story of guilt and trauma in Nijigahara Holograph, to the relationship woes in A Girl on the Shore. But his best-known series has to be Oyasumi Punpun, a coming-of-age story that follows the titular Punpun from his elementary school days to his early 20s. He and his dysfunctional family are humans but are drawn as crudely doodled birds.
This is done to contrast them with their intense situations, as Punpun is often isolated physically and emotionally. His mother is depressed and has anger issues, and his love interest Aiko is being abused at home. Punpun tries to seek guidance from “God”, who appears as a photorealistic head that tells Punpun to do bad things. Asano didn't set out to make it intentionally harsh. It's just that sometimes, no matter what they do, people don't get to succeed in life.
3 MW
- Written & Illustrated by Osamu Tezuka.
Osamu Tezuka has done mature-themed works like Black Jack, Phoenix, and the partially-animated adult movie Cleopatra. Even his most iconic hero Astro Boy had its dark moments covering grief and abandonment. But his Disney-inspired art style with its cutesy characters always made his oeuvre seem sweet and fluffy. He might've had his dark moments, but then so could old-school Disney classics like Pinocchio and Fantasia.
MW (‘Moo’) turns that on its head with its tale of extremism, murder, and torture. It followed Michio, a former soldier driven partially insane when exposed to the poisonous MW gas. After returning to Japan, he seeks to use the rest of it to wipe out humanity. Garai, his abuser-turned-lover from his military days, tries to save him from himself, then resolves to save others from what he’s become. It’s perhaps the darkest tale the “godfather of anime” ever made.
2 The Flowers of Evil
- Written & Illustrated by Shūzō Oshimi.
Like Inio Asano, Shūzō Oshimi has made many manga that could fill this list. His domestic horror story, Blood on the Tracks, recently concluded its story about a son trying to deal with his psychotic mother. Then Happiness saw its lead forced to become a vampire against his will, turning his life upside down when he gets sucked into the supernatural world.
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The most famous of his works, The Flowers of Evil, brought things down to earth with a twisted love triangle. Sawa hates humanity, yet sees a kindred spirit in Kasuga, whom she forces into a ‘contract’ to hang out with her when she catches him stealing his crush’s gym clothes. Said crush, Nanako, actually ends up reciprocating Kasuga’s feelings. But all three turn out to be as bad as each other, as they delve into arson, vandalism, and assaulting each other.
1 Berserk
- Originally Written & Illustrated by Kentaro Miura. Continued By Koji Mori and Studio Gaga.
This list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Kentaro Miura’s seminal work Berserk. It’s practically the first manga that comes to mind when people think of “intense” in both drama, action, and content. Originally, it feels like edge for edge’s sake, as its first arc shows Guts as a misanthrope who cares for nothing but killing demons and getting revenge on Femto, a member of the demonic God Hand.
But the subsequent arcs, from the Golden Age onwards, show how he became 'the Black Swordsman', and how he almost found solace until his fate was seemingly sealed by Femto. His story is bloody, violent, complex, and not for the faint of heart. But as traumatic as the events Guts and his colleagues go through, there’s always the hope that they can overcome it and survive. That as broken as they are, they can eventually find peace.