25 Greatest New-Gen Manga To Read In 2026
Unlike the world of anime, where it is easy to identify the standout titles of any given season by checking the catalogs of streaming platforms, the manga landscape, with its multitude of publishers, makes it far more challenging to decide which new series to add to your reading list. While it can sometimes be helpful to search for manga based on target demographics, such as shonen, seinen, or shojo, or by preferred genres, like action, slice-of-life, or science fiction, discovering hidden gems among the new-gen manga series is an entirely different experience.
From the hottest Shonen Jump titles currently generating buzz in the industry and on their way to becoming massive hits with anime adaptations already in the works, to new-gen manga that have only recently become available to Western readers, there is a wide range of good series to choose from. Nevertheless, the best new-gen manga are those that excel in most areas, whether through their artistic quality, well-developed world-building, or intriguing stories with the potential to become true masterpieces, making them, in short, perfect choices for anyone looking for a new series to follow.
Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi
Unlike many manga featuring underdog characters, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi begins with an overpowered protagonist who lacks the self-confidence to match his abilities. The manga is packed with comedy but is also full of action, featuring large-scale battles with high-ranking demons where the strength and coolness of the other exorcists sometimes shine even brighter than Kiyoshi’s own.
Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi received a recommendation from the creator of One Piece, carrying a similar essence to battle manga from the 2000s, with the heart of the story lying in friendship and the bonds shared with comrades. Although Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi doesn’t reinvent the shonen formula, which led to many readers doubting it would survive Shonen Jump’s ruthless structure, Kiyoshi’s story has gradually built a dedicated fanbase.
War of the Adults
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War of the Adults is a dystopian manga that is truly chilling, given how plausible its scenario seems in today’s society. The story begins with a former delinquent who resolves to turn his life around and mature into a responsible adult, only to end up in a coma for 15 years. However, the narrative evolves into a tale of social control that feels like something straight out of dystopian novels like George Orwell’s 1984.
This excruciating society, in which people constantly watch and evaluate one another, combined with a protagonist who feels like an outsider after his good intentions got twisted, makes the story intriguing from the very first chapter. Filled with satire, it also prompts reflection on what it means to be an adult, making War of the Adults a shonen series well worth following.
Phantom Busters
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Although it seems like a typical shonen manga about supernatural phenomena and exorcisms in the style of Dandadan or Jujutsu Kaisen, Phantom Busters also blends in the relatively laid-back daily lives of a quirky group of friends. The story of Phantom Busters centers on an ordinary high school boy who becomes entangled with someone capable of purifying spirits by eating them, a situation that leads him from not believing in ghosts to forming a paranormal research society.
Phantom Busters doesn’t aim for glamour. While it has serious moments, it’s packed with gags and zany situations, also offering solid character development that keeps the reader engaged, in addition to featuring incredible artwork that complements everything perfectly. This balance of lightheartedness and pure action makes it easy to see why Phantom Busters was one of the most highly requested titles in Japan for an anime adaptation.
She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat
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A stellar reminder of yuri’s application to all audiences, She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat from Kadokawa Shoten is a perfectly cozy josei read showcasing companionship and kinship over slow-burn sexual tension. It has struck a chord, too, with fans not just in the lesbian, asexual, and aromantic community, but across a broader readership for several reasons.
Initially focusing on Yuki Nomoto, a single woman in Tokyo with a love for cooking yet a small appetite, the story explores Nomoto’s slow discovery of her sexuality as she shrugs off the notion that she must live to please the men in her life. When she meets Totoko Kasuga, a big eater who appreciates Nomoto’s company, everything changes.
Each chapter is episodic in nature but features a spectrum of food porn based on home cooking, social media-inspired dishes, eating out, and convenience store treats, as Nomoto, Kasuga, and more discover themselves through cuisine. It’s sweet, wholesome, and one of the most authentic, LGBT-focused stories, comforting general audiences while being enlightening for its target readership.
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Versus is one of the most recent works by ONE, the creator of One-Punch Man, and perhaps one of his most unpredictable series. The story begins in a magical, medieval setting, a kingdom at war with demonic forces, but it quickly takes a radical turn, showing the collision of different worlds. In it, Hallow is one of 47 heroes summoned to defeat the Demon King; however, the mission doesn’t go as planned, leaving humanity on the brink of extinction and turning to other realms for help.
ONE, who is also the creator of Mob Psycho 100, currently has another series running on MangaPlus titled Bug Ego.
While it shares the action-packed nature of other works by ONE, the charm of Versus doesn’t lie in being a parody filled with jokes. Rather, it has a more serious approach to deconstructing many manga tropes, such as the overpowered, heroic protagonist or the conventions of the isekai genre, depicting a chaotic battle and focusing on the desperate struggle of Hallow and humanity to survive. Versus also maintains a highly polished visual style that perfectly captures the clash between different genres, making it an exciting series to follow.
WITCHRIV
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While Jump has recently concluded some of its longer-running series, such as Black Clover, newer titles like WITCHRIV introduce an expansive world to dive into. The story follows Nona, a mage in a world where they are persecuted and forced to live in hiding, who, after a single misstep, loses those she held most dear and finds herself embarking on a perilous adventure. Not only is it rare to find a shonen manga with two strong, well-developed female leads, but WITCHRIV also features one of the most fascinating power systems among new-generation battle series.
In WITCHRIV, each mage possesses unique attributes, distinct from the common elemental powers seen in other series, which leads to highly creative battles. Furthermore, it features an organization with no qualms, one that will stop at nothing to eliminate its targets, along with horrific monsters that seem to have sprung straight from nightmares. This makes the manga significantly darker than it might initially appear, proving to be quite brutal from the very first chapter.
Spacewalking With You
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What makes slice-of-life manga so beloved is that they allow readers to experience life through someone else’s lens, and Spacewalking With You, which centers on neurodivergent characters, does this magnificently. The series revolves around a high school delinquent named Kobayashi, whose perspective on life (and his own self-perception), shifts after he meets a transfer student named Uno, for whom something as simple as a notebook feels like a lifeline.
Spacewalking With You is an endearing story about resilience, focusing on the friendship between two people who, at first glance, appear to be polar opposites. Both struggle to do things in a “normal” way, yet they support one another and develop their own strategies for navigating life. Beyond addressing the autism spectrum and ADHD with great sensitivity, which also gives it educational value, Spacewalking With You is a moving story that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt adrift in the world and really makes clear why it’s an award-winning manga.
After God
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After God is perfect for fans of dark fantasy series like Chainsaw Man. Set in an unforgiving, dystopian future, the series begins when a large portion of Japan is designated a danger zone following the appearance of unidentified life forms known as “gods.” While they are far from being worthy of worship, these eldritch monsters that defy human comprehension also spark interest among the population.
The series follows Kouyuki Tokinaga, a member of an organization that seeks to eradicate the gods, and his encounter with Waka Kamikura, a mysterious girl connected to these beings. Although After God is a slow-paced story and takes its time developing its world, the manga also stands out remarkably for its action and its impressive artwork. After God is a visual marvel, featuring a realistic and detailed art style with absolutely mesmerizing panels. This, combined with an intriguing plot, makes After God a fascinating manga to explore.
Centuria
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Similar to Dandadan, Centuria is a manga by a former assistant of the creator of Chainsaw Man. However, while it is also a dark fantasy, it is defined by a grim atmosphere and horror elements, making it more reminiscent of Berserk. The story begins with a young boy, Julian, sold by his mother who finds a ray of hope amidst misery and abandonment in a pregnant fellow slave. Yet, a single event instantly alters his destiny.
With its sinister, god-like beings; Lovecraftian-style monsters; mysterious prophecies; and supernatural powers, Centuria conveys a sense of epic adventure. While not devoid of tragedy, Centuria stands out by showing how to move forward despite humanity’s cruelty, presenting all kinds of adversities and trials but also how Julian forges alliances, safeguards the future entrusted to him, and wages desperate battles, which makes it easy to binge-read.
Fool Night
Fool Night by Kasumi Yasuda is one of the most thought-provoking seinen manga of the 2020s, bringing the same sense of existential dread found in works like Tokyo Ghoul. Set on a dystopian, oxygen-deprived Earth, the story presents a chilling and rationalized system of institutionalized death, where technology transforms people into plants to sustain society, offering the volunteers enough money for comfortable final days in exchange for the gradual loss of their humanity.
In Fool Night, the absence of sunlight (which causes this oxygen shortage) imbues the manga with an unsettling atmosphere heavy with body horror, starting with streets overrun by grotesque plants that were once human beings. The manga is also layered on social critique, exploring inequality and the depths of the human condition and sacrifice while incorporating mystery elements that give Fool Night the feel of a police thriller.
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