Beginning Buyers Guide of manga for school librarians

by Sara Smith 
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First published - 4/18/2021
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Not sure where to start with buying manga for your library? Don't worry, you're not alone.  This is probably the #1 question I get from school librarians.  So, to help you and many others out, here is a list of recommendations to start.

These series have stood the test of time and will hopefully make every scarce budget dollar be well worth it, but I've also linked full reviews so you can check them out for yourself and make sure they're right for your library collection.

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Some Buying Advice:
Depending on your shelf space, you may have to be judicious in how much of a series you buy physically.  Consider buying the first few volumes in a series to see how well your students read and react to it. While I tried to pick titles that will have wide appeal and circulation, titles that have historically done well with my population of students may not do as well as with yours (although I've really tried to limit this list to universally appealing titles). So, before you sink lots of money into it, buy some and see how it goes. If it's popular, THEN you might have to tackle your shelf-space problem.

Some of these series are also quite long, so unless you have a large space to devote to manga, and a large budget, I do not recommend sinking lots of resources into whole series. Variety often is much better, and exposing readers to many series is often preferred to catering to the few readers who will stick with a long-running series until the end.

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Elementary

yotsuba by kiyohiko azuma

Yotsuba moves into a new house with her father, and she gets to explore the house and the neighborhood, meet new friends, and lots more. The series is really cute and wholesome.

​Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 3-8

Review: vol 1

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cardcaptor sakura by clamp

Sakura accidentally set loose a deck of mischievous cards, and now she must use her latent magical ability and the powers bestowed upon her by the Guardian to collect all the cards again before they wreak tons of havoc.
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Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 4-8

Reviews: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6
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SPLATOON BY SANKICHI HINODEYA

Teams of inklings battle against each other to cover an arena in their color ink. This is based on a popular video game with the same premise, so the manga adds character and backstory to the inklings.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 3-8

Read the full review here: vol 1

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pokemon by hidenori kusaka

Illustrated by Mato

​At its core, Pokémon is an adventure story following "trainers" - young people who capture creatures known as Pokémon and train them to compete in various tournaments. While this may sound cruel to rip these animals out of their environments and force them to fight, the trainers actually develop quite a bond with each Pokémon. There is also a lot of camaraderie between trainers, as well as the inevitable rivalries.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
​Suitability: Grades 3-12

Review​

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Witch hat atelier by kamome shirahama

Coco accidentally turns her mother into stone and must train with a witch to build her skills up in order to save her mother.  But, there are sinister workings in the magical community that want to use Coco for their own means.

Up to volume 8 is fine for elementary, though beyond that would be more suitable for junior high and up.
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Sara’s Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

Reviews: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7, vol 8

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Middle School

fullmetal alchemist by hiromu arakawa

Edward and his brother Alphonse travel across Amestris searching for alchemical answers. This story is full of wonderful characters, and is an engaging look into the depths of humanity. 
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Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

Reviews: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7, vol 8, vol 9, vol 10, vol 11, vol 12, vol 13, vol 14, vol 15, vol 16, vol 17, vol 18

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demon slayer by koyoharu gotouge

Tanjiro's family is attacked by demons, and his sister is infected and is becoming a demon.  He seeks out renowned Demon Slayers to help him save his sister, but along the way, decides to join the ranks of Demon Slayers and rid the world of more humans being eaten and turned into demons. 

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Sara’s rating: 9/10
Suitability level: Grades 7-12

​Reviews: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7, vol 8, vol 9, vol 10, vol 11, vol 12, vol 13, vol 14, vol 15, vol 16, vol 17, vol 18, vol 19, vol 20, vol 21, vol 22-23

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my hero academia by kohei horikoshi

Midoriya wants to be a superhero but has no super ability.  He gets a super ability and attends the prestigious U. A. High School for Super Heroes, and this series chronicles his journey through school, navigating classmates, other heroes, and villains. 
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Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12
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​Reviews: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7, vol 8

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Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto is a ninja in a world where elements are important, animals can inhabit people's bodies, and everyone seems to be some sort of ninja fighter.  Naruto wants to become the leader of his village, but, of course, he must go through so many trials and years of training before that can happen.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

​Review: vol 1

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One piece by eiichiro oda

​Luffy D. Monkey yearns to become a pirate and sail the known seas. He collects a motley crew of misfits throughout his adventures, and they sail along the Grand Line in search of a mystical treasure known as the One Piece that will help them become King of the Pirates.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

Reviews: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7, vol 8, vol 9, vol 10, vol 11

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one-punch man by one

Illustrated by Yusuke Murata

Saitama trains to become a superhero, and he does so well that now he can defeat all manner of bad guy with one punch. Superhero work is kinda boring... He joins the Hero Association so he can get jobs saving people, but still, nothing's very challenging. This series is pretty hilarious and puts the superhero genre onto its head.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

Reviews: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7

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sailor moon by naoko takeuchi

Junior high student Usagi Tsukino awakens as the mythical solider, Sailor Moon, who must protect Earth and the Solar System from various threats that want to take over the world and steal the power from the Sailor Soldiers.

Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 7-12​

Reviews: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7

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High School

ouran high school host club by bisco hatori

Haruhi accidentally breaks an expensive vase in the Host Club room and must work off her debt by becoming the errand boy for the Hosts.  The Host Club specializes in entertaining female students with tea and sweets.  This series is pretty funny, and caters to the "shipping" crowd of readers who want to play matchmaker with different characters.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 8-12

Review: vol 1

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death note by tsugumi ohba

Illustrated by Takeshita Obata

​Light discovers the notebook of a death god, where any human whose name is written in the notebook will die. Light decides to use this power to rid the world of terrible people, but this brings him some unwanted attention from the authorities.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12
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Reviews: vol 1, vol 2

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fruits basket by natsuri takaya

Tohru is an orphan who sets up her tent in a "park" that turns out to be the lands of a very special family, the Somas. Tohru finds out their secret -- that they are all members of the Chinese zodiac, and they turn into their animal forms if embraced by a member of the opposite sex! But, the longer Tohru stays, the more she discovers that this might not be the only secret the Sohmas have.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 8-12

Review: vol 1

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dragon ball by akira toriyama

​This series follows Goku as he trains in martial arts and quests to collect all of the seven Dragon Balls, which will summon the dragon Shenlong and provide the user one wish.

For budget-conscious libraries wanting to skip to the more familiar series, collect the single-issue Dragonball Z volumes rather than the 3-in-1s that contain the stories of Son Goku's childhood, which contain more nudity and potty-humor jokes at Bulma's expense.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

Reviews: vol 1, vol 2

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