Best Manga Series for Western Readers

Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo is the foundational manga for Western readers, a cyberpunk epic set in post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo whose cinematic scope and jaw-dropping art set the template for how manga would be received worldwide.

Berserk by Kentaro Miura is the pinnacle of dark fantasy manga, a relentlessly brutal and gorgeous epic following a lone swordsman through a world of demons and betrayal that is as emotionally rich as it is visually stunning.

Death Note is the perfect manga entry point for thriller readers, a tight cat-and-mouse story between a student who gains the power to kill anyone whose name he writes and the genius detective hunting him down.

Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima is one of the most influential manga ever published, a samurai epic that defined a visual and narrative vocabulary that reverberates through comics to this day.

Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa is one of the best-constructed manga series ever published for Western audiences, a fantasy epic about two brothers seeking redemption that builds with meticulous care to one of the most satisfying endings in the medium.