[Top 11] Best High School Mangas of All Time
By Chris Park
One of the most popular settings in mangas is highschool, as it allows the reader to either look back or forward to experiences created with friends or loved ones. At the same time, there are some that tell a thrilling tale in a much darker reality than one would hope for. Here are the 11 best highschool mangas of all time.
11. Senryu Girl
By: Masakuni Igarashi
Nanako Yukishiro is a high school girl who can only communicate by writing 5-7-5 senryu. She befriends a boy named Eiji Busujima who is an ex-delinquent trying to write his own senryu. Following her unique adventures, as she goes around with Eiji, talking to him and others through the form of poetry, this romantic comedy is definitely a fantastic read for those who enjoy high school manga.
10. Magical Girls Site
By: Kentarō Satō
After an abused and bullied school girl named Aya encounters something called the Magical Girl Site, she is granted a magical stick with supernatural capabilities. After using it to defend herself, resulting in two of her bullies being placed in front of a moving train, the traumatized Aya is introduced to a much larger and darker world where there are many girls like her with magical sticks with various forms and abilities. This is a much darker manga than most of this list, but most definitely deserves an entry for the amazing story that it tells.
9. Komi Can’t Communicate
By: Tomohito Oda
Shouko Komi is an introverted high school girl who has a hard time talking with others and expressing her emotions. However, that doesn’t stop her goal of making friends throughout her time at high school. Hitohito Tadano arrives, promising to help Komi overcome her quiet nature and be able to express her true wishes and pursuits of making many friends. This high school manga tells an amazing coming-of-age story filled with romantic-comedy and dramatic development.
8. Assassination Classroom
By: Yūsei Matsui
After a powerful being reshaped the moon into a crescent shape, they threaten to do the same to Earth unless certain conditions are met. Teaching a high school class in not only academics but the way of assassination, the Japanese Government offers a reward to anyone who can kill him, including his students. The only problem? Killing him is not nearly as easy as many make it out to be.
7. Toradora!
Written by: Yuyuko Takemiya
Illustrated by: Yasu
Ryuji Takasu is a gentle high school boy with the appearance of a delinquent, causing many to stray away from him. However, after an encounter with the rowdy and feared Taiga Aisaka, the two realize they are neighbors and form an unlikely friendship, where they promise to help each other grow closer to their crushes. As time continues to pass, the two slowly begin to realize their changing emotions, especially towards each other.
6. Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro
By: Nanashi
An introverted high school student named Naoto Hachioji finds himself subject to endless teasing from a girl named Hayase Nagatoro. This romantic comedy details the daily lives of these two and how dealing with Nagatoro’s verbal teases and annoyances might have been the one thing Naoto needed to break out of his former shell.
5. ReLIFE
By: Yayoiso
As the name suggests, ReLIFE prompts the idea of what one would do if they were able to relive a part of their past life. Arata Kaizaki is a 27-year-old shut-in who is one day given a job offer by a man named Ryō Yoake. However, before he can accept, he must partake in the ReLIFE program, which makes Arata appear ten years younger before he is sent to relive his high school years. This webtoon style manga tells a wonderful story of reliving the past and the main character choosing what decisions to change or keep the same.
4. Hibi Chouchou
By: Suu Morishita
Suiren Shibazeki is a high school girl often described as an ‘unattainable flower’ due to her quiet nature and little to no visible emotion. Running into Taichi Kawasumi, Suiren takes interest in him after he is the first boy to fall in love with her at first sight. As they begin to spend more time with each other, romantic feelings start to bloom between them, which they show to each other in their own special ways.
3. A Silent Voice
By: Yoshitoki Ōima
In order to make his amends for bullying Shoko Nishimiya, his elementary school classmate with hearing impairments, Shoya Ishida sets out to make amends and right his wrongs. A story of two high school students moving past their past mistakes to create a new relationship together, A Silent Voice is one of the greatest mangas you’ll find in this genre, with an amazing dramatic storyline.
2. Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie
By: Keigo Maki
Yuu Izumi is a kind-hearted boy who seems to always find himself in misfortune or dangerous situations. Thankfully his cute and cool girlfriend, Micchon Shikimori, is by his side to help. This fluffy slice of life manga details the daily lives of this high school couple and their friends, with cute and detailed art as well as many likable characters.
1. Horimiya
By: Hiroki Adachi
Horimiya tells a funny and romantic story about high school students Kyoko Hori and Izumi Miyamura. In an unexpected turn of events, the popular Kyoko and loner Miyamura run into each other, before changing each other’s lives for the better. This popular high school manga series is bound to give readers many laughs, tears, and heartwarming moments throughout the course of the story.
