[Top 10] Manga With Child Protagonist
Chris Park
There are many mangas focusing on a younger character, though that doesn’t always mean it is catered towards a younger audience. Regardless, an amazing story is told which is sure to be remembered years after it is finished. Here are the ten best manga with children as the protagonist.
10. Dragon Ball
By: Akira Toriyama
Dragon Ball tells the story of young Son Goku as he lands on Earth after his home planet is destroyed. Detailing his adventures as a young child all the way up to his teenage years, the Dragon Ball manga tells the exciting story of the original characters leading up to the events of the world-renowned series.
9. Case Closed
By: Gosho Aoyama
Jimmy Kudo is a detective who is turned into a child after he is kidnapped by the Black Organization and injected with poison. In order to keep his identity a secret, Jimmy takes on the name Conan Edogawa. From here, Conan goes on to help discover and solve cases with both real detectives as well as the junior detective club at an elementary school in which he enrolls.
8. Mahou Sensei Negima
By: Ken Akamatsu
Negi Springfield is a childhood magician who is on the search for his father, Nagi. In the process, he finds himself becoming the English and homeroom teacher for a class of girls learning to become magicians like him.
7. Ran And The Gray World
By: Aki Irie
Ran Uruma is an elementary schooler with magical potential. After she loses her pair of shoes that allow her to transform into an adult by putting them on, she goes on a search to recover them. With her parents constantly away for work, the only other family member present to watch over Ran is her brother Jin. Due to the lack of parental control, Ran goes around, exploring the limits of her magic while causing mischief.
6. Ascendance Of A Bookworm
Written by: Miya Kazuki
Illustrated by: Suzuka
Urano Mototsu is a student studying to become a librarian, only to be crushed to death by books as a result of an earthquake. Wishing to be reincarnated so that she can keep reading books, she awakens as a five-year-old girl named Myne, in a world where books are only available to those on the highest of the social ladder. Despite knowing this, she begins her adventure to start printing books of her own so that she can continue reading.
5. Teasing Master Takagi San
By: Sōichirō Yamamoto
Teasing Master Takagi San follows the daily lives of middle schoolers Nishikata and Takagi. Nishikata makes it his goal to try and catch Takagi off guard with pranks, as revenge for her constant teases. However, every time he only finds himself playing right into her hands, as she seems to always catch on early and prepares in advance.
4. Sweetness And Lightning
By: Gido Amagakure
Kōhei Inuzuka is a widower who raises his daughter Tsumugi, doing his best to support both of them while maintaining a happy lifestyle as well. However, after wanting to make healthier home-cooked meals rather than buying pre-made bentos, Inuzuka happens to run across Kotori Iida. Inviting him and Tsumugi to her mother’s restaurant, they begin to cook meals and learning new recipes in this heartwarming slice of life.
3. Yotsuba &!
By: Kiyohiko Azuma
Yotsuba Koiwai is a five-year-old girl who embarks on adventures where her naive and ignorant nature allows for many comedic situations to unfold. As she and her father move to a new city, Yotsuba meets new friends with who she interacts from time to time, as she continues to go on her daily voyages to explore new things.
2. Erased
Satoru Fujinuma is an average man who discovers an ability called Revival, which sends him back in time to when he was an elementary schooler. Why did this happen? To prevent the kidnapping and murders of three girls, and eventually others around him. As he is sent back and forth between his adult form at present time and back in time as his elementary schooler self, Satoru must uncover and stop the murderer before history repeats itself over again.
1. The Promised Neverland
Written by: Kaiu Shirai
Illustrated by: Posuka Demizu
The Promised Neverland tells the story of a group of orphans that live at the Grace Field House, where their lives and happy and full of content. However, after Emma and Norman discover the horrifying truth that they are merely being raised to be consumed by monsters, they realize that they must gather all of the children at the orphanage and escape. This dart tale tells the story of a group of children raised to die, doing their best to survive.
