In these dark, trying times when there seems to be more bad news each day, people have to appreciate the brief moments of levity they get. A funny joke, well-timed pratfall, or pompous clown getting shown up can’t fix everything, but it can ease the burden. One way to get a regular dose of laughs is to check out a comedy manga.
Older works like Excel Saga and Azumanga Daioh are great, but easier to find in anime form than print. While newer works like Sakamoto Days and the manga adaptation of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU are still running and thus prone to leaving the reader in suspense. So, for any readers who want a full dose of comic hilarity, these are the best comedy manga they should read now they’re complete.
8 We Never Learn
Taishi Tsutsui’s romcom harem manga ran in Shonen Jump until December 2020 but the tankobons kept on coming until March 2021. It was about Yuiga Nariyuki, a high school senior at Ichinose Academy who’s about to move on to university. He’s on the verge of achieving a scholarship to pay for it. But to get it, he has to help three female colleagues pass their worse subjects.
Fumino is great at literature but terrible at math, while Rizu is a mathematical genius yet hopeless at literature. Then Uruka is an athletic prodigy and a dunce at anything academic. They all develop feelings for Yuiga across the series, as does teacher Mafuyu and dropout Asumi. But who did Yuiga end up with? Readers get to take their pick as there are five endings and a final chapter to go through.
7 Horimiya
This modern, slice-of-life classic is Schrödinger’s manga; it’s both over and still running at the same time until people look into it. Hiroki “Hero” Adachi originally produced Hori-san to Miyamura-kun as a webcomic on Dokkai Ahen before Square-Enix published it through Gangan Online from 2008 to 2011. From then on, Daisuke Hagiwara adapted it to print as Horimiya in Monthly G Fantasy until March 2021. The anime caught on well with fans too.
But Hero still publishes its bonus strips, Hori-san to Miyamura-kun Omake, via Gangan Online. It’s not quite as in-depth as the main story, but it still has Kyoko Hori (popular girl by day, dowdy homebody by night) and Izumi Miyamura (nerd by day, tattooed alt-boy by night) becoming friends and more as they protect each other’s secret life outside school. It just means they have to come up with an excuse for why the preppy girl is hanging out with the otaku.
6 Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku
Another popular romcom published its last chapter on July 2021, with its last tankobon in October 2021, and its last official English translation in June 2022. It was a pretty big deal, with Lapin Track’s OVA getting released on the same day as the last volume. That’s after it got an anime series and a live-action movie in 2018 with Alice in Borderland’s Kento Yamazaki as Hirotaka.
Hirotaka is the friend-turned-boyfriend of Narumi, an office lady who hides her nerdy interests in fear of it affecting her career. Few people know she loves pop idols, dating games, and yaoi manga, but she blames it for all her setbacks in life. As opposed to her open video game nerd boyfriend, her cosplay-loving senpai Hanako, and her superhero & bishōjo enthusiast husband Tarō. Love may be hard for otaku, though maybe it’d be easier if Narumi was honest with herself.
5 Kimi to Boku
Most of the recommendations are at least somewhat romantic, which perhaps makes Kīchi Hotta’s work all the more special. Bouncing across Square-Enix’s Gangan imprint from 2003 until ending in March 2022, it was a slice-of-life tale about four guys who grew up together as friends making a 5th friend: Germano-Japanese exchange student Chizuru Tachibana.
Kimi to Boku (“You and Me”) didn’t really have a big dramatic, overarching plot. It was more about how the characters bounced off of each other. There are crushes and other matters of the heart, just as there are gags about Yūki being good at sports while not enjoying them, or his twin brother Yūta giving others a hard time. It’s a gentler, more realistic take on comedy than more madcap offerings.
4 Blend S
Miyuki Nakayama’s Blend S was a 4-panel gag comic from Manga Time Kirara Carat that ran from 2013 to June 2022. It was about Maika, a high schooler whose search for part-time work keeps getting foiled by her scary smile. However, she gets her chance when Dino, the owner of Café Stile hires her to be his “sadistic waitress”. The café works by giving each waitress their own trait to appeal to customers, like the tsundere Kaho, “big sister” Miu, and cross-dressing idol Hideri.
Now the otherwise bubbly Maika has to learn to fit in at work by being as sadistic as her scary smile suggests. Sol Press initially licensed an English translation in 2020, but they only managed to release one official English volume before they went out of business. So it's likely readers will have to look for scanslations or learn Japanese to check it out.
3 A Delinquent’s Life Hacks
If Kimi to Boku sounds too slow, and Blend S too odd, Otsuji’s A Delinquent’s Life Hacks should hit a nice balance between slice-of-life and big laughs. Running on Gangan Pixiv until July 2022, it told a story about how people can’t always judge a book by its cover, or people by their looks.
On the outside, Kyō Sakurai is a typical modern-day Yankī, a delinquent with bleach-blonde hair looking for trouble. However, he’s actually quite easy-going and eager to help by offering passing advice to people. The more he shares his lifehacks, the more people learn to look past his intimidating looks. Even if it takes some finagling to get there.
2 Kaguya-Sama: Love is War
This one doesn’t need an introduction. Aka Akasaka’s manga originally debuted in Miracle Jump in 2015 before switching to Weekly Young Jump. From then on, it inspired a 3-season anime, an animated movie, and two live-action movies until the strip ended in November 2022. Though the official English translations will continue to be released throughout 2023.
For anyone who missed the hype, the premise is in the title. Rich conglomerate heiress Kaguya and genius student Miyuki love each other, but the two are too prideful to confess their feelings to the other. They each see such open declarations as “losing”, so they try to force each other into situations where they’d have to express their love and affection, all to the consternation of their friends and family.
1 Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie
In early 2023, Keigo Maki’s comic about an accident-prone man and his multi-faceted girlfriend finished its run in Magazine Pocket. Its last tankobon appeared on Japanese shelves in April 2023, with Kodansha’s official English volumes continuing through the rest of the year.
Yūki Izumi is a passive but upbeat guy who hit the big time when he won the heart of Miyaki Shikimori. Usually, she’s a sweet and sensitive girl; however, whenever Izumi gets into trouble, which is often, she becomes a cool heroine who helps him out each time. They actually have a sweet relationship going on when they're not dealing with one mishap or another.