Every artist has to start somewhere, which is why one-shot manga projects exist. Aside from providing a platform for your work, great stand-alone stories can sometimes lead to magazines funding additional chapters. Many well-known manga began as one-off projects before the powers that be decided to take a chance on the mangaka.
If you’re in a hurry, reading a one-shot manga is an excellent way to discover great stories!
The accounts are individual stories that can make you laugh, cry, or think about life’s challenges.
Many of them are no more than 50 pages long, making them an excellent way to pass the time.
The following are 13 best one-shot manga for you to partake in this evening.
13. Kon no Ki Konoha
Published: Dec 7, 2007
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Sumomo Yumeka’s Kon no Ki Konoha is a one-shot manga series. It was published serially in Mugen Anthology Series. Akino can only meet the mysterious boy who lives inside the deep blue tree in autumn, when the dead leaves flutter about.
12. Kataude no Amy
Published: Oct 31, 2020
Genre: Drama
Amy is a regular girl who lives with her adoring father. She is, however, a doll made of cloth and cotton, rather than a human. What inspired her creation, and what does her future hold?
11. By Hero
Published: Apr 18, 2007
Genre: Romance
Sendrick is a small bird who has always despised humans the most. He’s spent his entire life running from them out of fear, but one day he meets Kayana, a human tomboy-ish girl. This unexpected encounter may have a significant impact on Sendrick’s mind.
10. Dousoukai
Published: Apr 28, 2015
Genres: Boys Love, Slice of Life
Those flowers will continue to bloom for as long as they are present. Hikaru Kusakabe and Rihito Sajou, two high school students, are as dissimilar as day and night. But opposites attract, and before they know it, they’ve embarked on a journey that neither of them can quite define, but that anyone with eyes can see is called “Love.”
9. Ruri Dragon
Published: Dec 28, 2020
Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Slice of Life
The plot is straightforward. Puberty is strange for many people, but it’s even stranger when your parent is a dragon. Sex-Ed doesn’t teach you what happens when your parents are of different species, but Ruri is here to teach you. In this one-shot, there isn’t much time to establish characters, but I still liked Ruri and her mother. Their chemistry was fantastic. The artwork is breathtaking. There is a great deal of focus on detail. It improves the storey from where it is now.
8. Nante Nasakenai Bokura da.
Published: Jun 10, 2020
Genre: Romance
Yukiya Iiyama, a normal young boy, is fed up with the city’s cacophony. The headphones he wears shield him from the blaring radio that follows him wherever he goes. To be honest, Yukiya has a deep love of music and songwriting. When his best friend and songwriting partner, Natsumi Souda, rose to fame as a new idol, he hit an artistic stumbling block. Her music is now frequently heard on the radio. Although Yukiya admires her music, he is frustrated because he is no longer able to write songs.
Souda shows up at Yukiya’s music store one day and tries to reintroduce herself into his life. She inquires if he has been writing anything new and expresses an interest in singing along to his music as she did in the past. Yukiya appears guarded at first, but deep down he longs to be able to write songs again.
7. Kyoufu no Juusou
Published: Feb 13, 2017
Genre: Horror
A one-shot about a strange curse that befalls a family following an archaeological dig. It’s one of the scariest mangas I’ve read by master writer Junji Ito, which is saying a lot considering he’s one of the best (if not the best) horror manga writers and illustrators of this generation. It’s a truly mesmerising experience to witness the impossible unfold; it’s a creepy surprise box.
And, unlike traditional horror media, the horror in jumpscare is the unknown and not knowing the answers to questions. And when you get the answers to these questions, you get a horrible, horrible image stuck in your head. I’m still shivering from the ending of this storey. As expected, the art is fantastic (in both the amazing and horror senses), and the way the storey unfolds is excellent as well.
6. Light Again
Published: Sep 26, 2021
Genre: Sci-Fi
It was a planet whose moon had been destroyed by a meteorite collision. People craved light in a world shrouded in darkness. An innocent girl and a young researcher meet at a facility researching the luminescent “Lumia” people.
5. Hanazakari no Kimitachi e: Special-hen
Published: Nov 20, 2004
Genre: Romance
It’s a short storey based on the popular manga Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. The gang reunited while attending Seikime’s wedding after a few years apart.
4. Ao no Hako
Published: Aug 3, 2020
Genres: Romance, Sports
Taiki Inomata is a sports-obsessed student who strives to be the first to arrive at his school’s blue-box gymnasium every day. Unfortunately, his morning smile quickly turns to a frown as he continues to lose to the leader of the girl’s basketball team, Chinatsu Kano. Despite this, Taiki has a crush on his senior, and the mere sight of her rekindles his zealous spirit.
Taiki is determined to declare his love for Chinatsu as soon as possible. A love confession, however, is far from easy, given that Chinatsu may have other admirers and Taiki is a complete stranger to her. Can Taiki’s adolescent love thrive inside the blue box?
3. Gokurakugai Sanban-doori no Ken
Published: Jan 27, 2020
Genres:Action, Supernatural
Sister Tao and Al are “trouble-shooters,” or independent odd-jobs men who work in a red light district for whoever can pay. Then a young lady tries to pick Al’s pocket…
The premise of this storey is simple: a young girl seeks assistance from Sister Tao and Alma (nicknamed Al) or the Troubleshooters. It’s straightforward, the art is good, and it’s a great one-shot.
2. Tokidoki
Published: Oct 20, 2016
Genres: Drama, Romance
A person’s heart can only beat so many times in their lifetime. Kokuhaku disease is a rare heart condition that causes fewer heartbeats and a shorter lifespan than normal. The number of heartbeats remaining can be calculated using the appropriate device.
Hato Iijima notices this device attached to Hatsu Takagi’s chest when he inadvertently walks in on her changing her clothes. Hatsu has resigned herself to an uninteresting and isolated existence in order to keep her heart rate from rising. She, on the other hand, expresses her true desire—to freely and wholeheartedly enjoy every second she has left. Recognizing her wish, Hato swears to assist her in living life to the fullest and making her heart race like crazy.
1. Koe no Katachi
Published: Jan 8, 2011
Genre: Drama
Shouya Ishida, an elementary school student, is creeped out when Shouko Nishimiya, a meek girl born with impaired hearing, transfers into his class. Shouya and his friends begin to torment Shouko after her arrival, making her the hapless target of ridicule and assault.
The constant bullying makes school a living hell for Shouko, and even the teachers are unconcerned about the situation. Koe no Katachi tells the heartbreaking storey of Shouko’s bullying, as well as one of hope, remorse, and redemption.
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