Highlights
- Battle manga has a rich history with influential titles like Saint Seiya, My Hero Academia, and YuYu Hakusho.
- My Hero Academia and Hunter X Hunter subvert expectations and showcase unconventional battles, keeping fans engaged.
- Dragon Ball series is straightforward yet popular, with main character Goku constantly gaining strength and new comrades.
Reading manga is always a fun way to sit back, relax, and enjoy some well-deserved down-time. Whether it entails a sweet romantic comedy, a dark mystery, or an intense sports rivalry, there is certainly a manga for any mood a person may find themselves in. And that's especially true if that reader is interested in witnessing an old-fashioned beat down.
7 Great Card Battle Manga Without Anime
These card battle manga are yet to receive an on-screen adaptation, though they still offer compelling narratives on ink and paper.
Having been around for decades at this point, the genre of battle manga has had ample time to develop an amazingly influential catalog of gripping stories. Many of these have gone on to influence the way that the genre would develop over the years, while some have reached even further into other mediums and even across cultures. Here is a rundown of some of the most influential battle shōnen manga.
Classics like Astro Boy and Devilman are huge influences on shonen in general, but they are not included here since they largely predate the "battle shonen" term. Still, they are two of the most important manga ever, so they warrant an honorable mention. While to a lesser extent, the same can be said for Fist of the North Star .
6 Saint Seiya
MyAnimeList Score: 7.15
Author | Masami Kurumada |
Initial Release Date | December 12, 1985 |
Number of Volumes | 28 |
Status | Complete |
Following the exploits of the Bronze Saints, the original manga saw some of the most epic battles to be inked in the pages of Shōnen Jump. From gods and goddesses to ancient warriors with power-imbuing armor sets all battling for supremacy, the Saint Seiya manga wasn't afraid to put their heroes and villains, through the ringer.
The manga is responsible for popularizing the ancient warrior trope that has been seen in many shōnen manga since. Even legends like Tite Kubo, the creator of Bleach, have sited Saint Seiya as an influence, giving him the idea for his 13 Captains of the Soul Society.
5 My Hero Academia
MyAnimeList Score: 8.04
Author | Kohei Horikoshi |
Initial Release Date | July 7, 2014 |
Number of Volumes | 40 |
Status | Ongoing |
My Hero Academia's popularity seemed to come quickly, but it wasn't without warrant. After all, the manga is a masterclass in how to include tons of interesting and colorful characters, while never taking the focus off its main cast. It also does a great job of subverting expectations in a way that isn't dissatisfying to its many fans, like when the manga shocked fans by turning Deku into a dark antihero for a stint.
My Hero Academia: Strongest Villains Who Have Died, Ranked
Not all villains in My Hero Academia live to see the credits roll. Here are some of the strongest ones who have died.
The manga is responsible for a huge amount of new-age anime fans, which is impressive at a time when it seems like every popular piece of media is being put to the sword for one reason or another. Alas, with its countless inspirational heroes and rousing speeches, MHA confidently stands above it all.
4 YuYu Hakusho
MyAnimeList Score: 8.18
Author | Yoshihiro Togashi |
Initial Release Date | December 3, 1990 |
Number of Volumes | 19 |
Status | Complete |
A premise that starts with tragedy, Yusuke Urameshi is hit by a car and killed while attempting to save a little boy from the same fate. As his death was deemed unexpected by the powers that be, he gets a second chance at life, which he capitalizes on, procuring an admirable profession, as the protector of the spirit realm, in the process.
Yusuke and his comrades go on to face many formidable foes, as well as participate in a number of combat tournaments. In particular, the Dark Tournament is rather famous in the anime and manga world, featuring wildly iconic face-offs between the likes of Kuwabara and Risho, or Yusuke and Toguro. In fact, YuYu Hakusho's tournaments are so well done, that it is often credited with popularizing them in manga, even more so than the World Martial Arts Tournament in Dragon Ball.
3 Naruto
MyAnimeList Score: 8.27
.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=1500&dpr=1)
Author | Masashi Kishimoto |
Initial Release Date | September 21, 1999 |
Number of Volumes | 72 |
Status | Complete |
The Naruto manga very quickly saw a rise to the top of the popularity charts, both in Japan and abroad. In fact, it's one of the properties that can be credited with helping to popularize manga and anime in the west. That's thanks in no small part to its easy-to-understand power systems, and the story's steady ramp up into maturity. Yet, through it all, the manga never lost sight of what it was always about—friendship.
Naruto: 8 God Level Ninjas, Ranked
These ninjas in Naruto and Boruto have reached such a high level that they are comparable to the gods of the verse.
As cheesy as it sounds, huge crises were either averted, reversed, or helped along by the titular character's constant need to understand what makes an opponent tick on a core level, somehow thwarting their evil plans and earning their respect. This is seen in moments like when Naruto essentially talks Pain into bringing the entirety of the Leaf Village back to life after his iconic Almighty Push.
2 Hunter X Hunter
MyAnimeList Score: 8.74
Author | Yoshihiro Togashi |
Initial Release Date | March 3, 1998 |
Number of Volumes | 37 |
Status | Ongoing |
Yoshihiro Togashi seems to work himself to the bone whenever he returns to pen a new set of chapters for this long-running Shōnen Jump manga. As such, Hunter X Hunter is constantly on hiatus due to the mangaka's poor health, leaving fans in a constant state of panic over whether the manga will ever see an end.
They stick with it though, as it's frankly one of the most original works to grace the magazine's pages. For example, the entirety of the Hunter Exams are full of instances of absolutely unconventional "battles" that either end abruptly or have strange win conditions, like the 5th phase, which tasks contestants to win a battle without killing their opponent. Aspects like this have shown that battle manga doesn't have to be a straight forward slug-fest to keep readers thoroughly entertained.
1 Dragon Ball Series
MyAnimeList Score: 8.42 (Dragon Ball)
Author | Akira Toriyama |
Initial Release Date | December 3, 1984 |
Number of Volumes | 63 (DB & DBS) |
Status | Ongoing |
On the surface, the Dragon Ball series is as straightforward as it gets. In a world where aliens and androids are the norm, the Z fighters are caught in a never-ending battle with those of them that want to do it harm. Throughout this, the protagonists are constantly gaining comrades to help them along.
Dragon Ball: The 20 Most Powerful Saiyans, Ranked According To Strength
Saiyans are some of Dragon Ball's strongest characters. Like Goku and Vegeta, these are the most powerful Saiyans of them all.
To combat each new threat, main character, Goku, gets stronger and stronger, seemingly having no real upper limit. Likewise, the same thing can be said about the franchises' popularity. With every iteration of the show, it seems more more fans pop out of the woodwork. If you ask any of them why they find joy in a manga that amounts to a downright slug fest, their answer would probably amount to something like: It's just cool.
8 Shonen Anime & Manga Where the Protagonist Dies
The following shōnen manga and anime protagonists died or were killed, often sparking a change in story direction.