Most Influential Seinen Manga

Key Takeaways

• Seinen manga is for older audiences seeking mature, complex stories with varied genres and themes.
• Iconic seinen titles like Lupin the 3rd, Golgo 13, and Lone Wolf and Cub have influenced diverse media.
• Seinen series like Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Berserk, Vagabond, and Kingdom are staples in dark fantasy and historical epics.

If shōnen is anime and manga aimed at young boys, and anyone else who likes its stories about fighting, friendship, and fun, seinen is for the older crowd. They’ll often tell more mature stories, with more complex plots and/or extreme content. For example, Holy Land gets into the nitty-gritty of what taking up street fighting for a living is really like compared to, say, Dragon Ball.

There are plenty of great seinen strips out there too, whether they’re heavy historical epics like Vinland Saga or fun, dining-based frolics like Delicious in Dungeon. They may even join the ranks of these iconic and influential seinen manga, as the appeal of these strips went beyond the printed page.

1 Lupin The 3rd

Gentleman Thief Fights Off the Law And His Libido To Swipe Priceless Valuables

• Creator: Kazuhiko ‘Monkey Punch’ Kato.
• Original Run: July 1967-April 1972.
• 14 Volumes, 109 Chapters.
• Available in English via Seven Seas Entertainment.

Seinen is more well-known for its rougher, harder stories and characters, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have fun. For example, despite being more popular for its family-friendly anime adaptations, Lupin the 3rd started as a seinen series. The adventures of the French gentleman thief’s grandson were darker, more sexual, and more self-aware in the original manga, playing out like a pulp novel rather than a Saturday morning cartoon.

Still, it’s more of a fun romp compared to other seinen stories. This might be why it had such a broad appeal, inspiring shōnen strips like One Piece and mature series like Cowboy Bebop with their character dynamics (Spike and Jet’s relationship isn’t a world away from Lupin and Jigen’s). Even Metal Gear took some tips from it, with MGS1’s version of Solid Snake and MGS3’s EVA being based on Lupin and his frenemy Fujiko Mine, respectively.

2 Golgo 13

Hitman Keeps Things Strictly Professional For Over 60 Years

• Creator: Takao Saito.
• Original Run: November 1968-Present.
• 214+ Volumes, 613+ Chapters.
• Available in English via Viz Media.

If Lupin’s mix of James Bond-like charm with Austin Powers-esque yuks didn’t do it for readers, the heavier stories in Golgo 13 likely did. It’s essentially Hitman 30+ years before the games were made, as no one knows who its titular assassin really is. His real name, age, birthplace, etc., are all mysteries. All they know is that he’s one of the best at taking on jobs, big or small.

It’s the oldest manga that’s still being published, and the one with the most volumes. Despite its relative obscurity in the West, it was a hit in Japan, popularizing the darker, more hard-boiled stories in gekiga (an older term for mature manga) over its fluffier manga contemporaries. It popularized stoic antiheroes, with Fist of the North Star‘s Kenshiro and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure‘s Jotaro Kujo being more direct descendants of Golgo 13.

3 Lone Wolf And Cub

Ronin Tries To Bring Up His Child While Killing Rival Samurai

• Creators: Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima.
• Original Run: September 1970-April 1976.
• 28 Volumes, 142 Chapters.
• Available in English via Dark Horse Comics.

Even if people aren’t familiar with Lone Wolf and Cub, they are likely to recognize the projects it inspired. The story of a samurai avenging the death of his family while raising his only surviving son has inspired other similar works directly and indirectly. The comic and movie, Road to Perdition, is a direct example, given it essentially tells the same story with American gangsters. But its DNA can be seen in many more projects.

It’s seen in games like the Yakuza series with Kiryu and Haruka, and The Last of Us through Joel and Ellie. That’s not to mention TV shows like The Mandalorian. There’s just something about a tough person showing their sensitive side that gets people hooked. Yet the closest it’s come to being adapted was via its live-action movies, with one becoming the infamous “video nasty” Shogun Assassin. It’s not every day a strip gets to inspire both an Oscar-nominated picture and a movie that joined the likes of Cannibal Holocaust in upsetting the censors.

4 Violence Jack

Amnesiac Giant Murders Reprehensible Villains After The End Of The World

• Creator: Go Nagai.
• Original Run: July 1973-December 1978 (Part 1), August 1983-1990 (Part 2).
• 18 Volumes, 48 Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

This one might raise a few eyebrows, as Violence Jack technically started as a shōnen series. It wasn’t classified as seinen until it switched publishers in 1983 as Violence Jack: Part 2. Yet its content has always been extremely violent, being on par with its predecessor, Devilman, if not more so. Its OVA adaptation was infamous for depicting its graphic portrayals of murder, abuse, cannibalism, and other cheery topics.

Though its stomach-churning brutality could make even the edgiest edgelords feel queasy, it has its place in manga history as the first big post-apocalyptic action strip. There would likely be no Land of the Lustrous, Fire Force, or Dr. Stone without it. Its most notable influence can be seen in Fist of the North Star, which toned down the extreme content in favor of martial arts action to be a top shōnen strip.

5 Maison Ikkoku

Student’s Love For Grieving Widow Sets New Bar For Romcoms

• Creator: Rumiko Takahashi.
• Original Run: October 1980-April 1987.
• 15 Volumes, 162 Chapters.
• Available in English via Viz Media.

Seinen isn’t all about hitmen, murder, and pervy thieves. After having practically invented the harem manga with Urusei Yatsura, Rumiko Takahashi broke new ground with Maison Ikkoku, where hapless college student Yusaku puts up with his wacky neighbors in his apartment complex to woo Kyoko, its new manager. It showed Takahashi’s talent worked beyond Yatsura‘s sci-fi shenanigans, as Ikkoku’s mix of yuks and genuine tenderness made it a hit.

Yusaku wasn’t seeking to make Kyoko a notch on his belt, but genuinely grew to care for her and consider her feelings, on top of his varying attempts to express himself to her. The series practically became the textbook example of a romcom manga, as successors like Kimagure Orange Road and Stop! Hibari-kun followed its lead with its complex character interactions and funny gags.

6 Akira

Biker Punks In Future Tokyo Revolutionize Sci-Fi Seinen Manga

• Creator: Katsuhiro Otomo.
• Original Run: December 1982-June 1990.
• 6 volumes, 120 Chapters.
• Available in English via Kodansha Comics USA.

Does Akira really need explaining? Younger manga and anime fans might not get the hype behind it nowadays, and even some older ones may prefer its alternatives. Yet even before the movie popularized anime as its own thing in the West, the original manga was a smash hit. It arguably invented Japanese cyberpunk with its dystopian setting and conspiracy-filled plot.

It’s hard to imagine later works like Battle Angel Alita and Serial Experiments Lain happening without Akira catching on. Its characters also inspired strips in other genres, with Masashi Kishimoto and Toru Fujisawa citing Akira as a major inspiration for Naruto and Great Teacher Onizuka, respectively. Their lead characters do share Kaneda’s roguish charm and attitude, as has every series that has shown off his slick bike-sliding skills.

7 Ghost In The Shell

Cyborg Cops Contend With Cyber Crimes And Humanity

• Creator: Shirow Masamune.
• Original Run: March 1989-September 1991.
• 1 Volume, 11 Chapters.
• Available in English via Dark Horse Comics and Kodansha Comics USA.

Akira wasn’t the only name in cyberpunk to inspire swathes of creators over the decades. Ghost in the Shell took the themes of identity and transhumanism from movies like Blade Runner and ran further with them. On the surface, it was a futuristic romp with cyborg cops and AI tanks, especially in the more jokey and outgoing manga, though it didn’t take long to reveal its deeper themes.

The disparity between mind and body, whether sufficiently smart enough AI could count as sentient, independent life or not, the frailty of memories, and more kept readers hooked. They certainly struck a chord with other sci-fi maestros, with the Wachowskis and James Cameron citing the series as a key influence on The Matrix and Avatar, respectively.

8 Berserk

Guts’ Quest Of Revenge And Regret Becomes The Bedrock Of Modern Dark Fantasy

• Creator: Kentaro Miura.
• Original Run: August 1989-Present.
• 42+ Volumes, 391+ Chapters.
• Available in English via Dark Horse Comics.

Like Akira, Berserk doesn’t need an introduction. It took the brutality of Devilman, the vengeance of Fist of the North Star, and the dramatic storytelling of Rose of Versailles (yes, really), and became the premier dark fantasy series in manga and anime. Though it’s not to everyone’s taste (even Miura regretted the number of assault scenes), its influence is undeniable.

Attack on Titan’s Hajime Isayama, Vinland Saga’s Makoto Yukimura, and the crew behind the Castlevania series have all cited Berserk as direct inspirations for their work. People can find its mark in Fullmetal Alchemist, Demon Slayer, the Dark Souls games, and the Final Fantasy series. Wherever there’s a guy with a giant sword, there’s arguably a touch of Berserk in it.

9 Vagabond

Musashi Miyamoto Fights Battles Externally And Internally

• Creator: Takehiko Inoue.
• Original Run: September 1998-May 2015 (on hiatus).
• 37 Volumes, 327 Chapters.
• Available in English via Viz Media.

It’s easy to see the influence Lupin the 3rd had on One Piece, as despite their vastly different plots and settings, their cast have similar archetypes to each other. But Vagabond‘s influence on Eiichiro Oda’s pirate masterpiece is less obvious. At least at first glance, given one’s a realistically-drawn sober seinen series, and the other’s a wacky cartoon adventure.

It follows the life of the famous samurai Musashi Miyamoto, starting from his debut at the Battle of Sekigahara onwards. It touches on the usual bushido topics like honor and duty while examining Musashi’s inner struggles and motivations. Like Oda, anyone going into it expecting just cool sword fights ends up coming away with something more philosophical and intriguing. It made him expand his art and storytelling skills and could inspire other would-be writers and artists to do the same.

10 Kingdom

War Orphans’ Quest To Unite China Inspires Thousands To Draw One Of Its Volumes

• Creator: Yasuhisa Hara.
• Original Run: January 2006-Present.
• 73+ Volumes, 816+ Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

There aren’t many manga out there that inspire fans so much that they end up redrawing it. Artists worldwide recreated the Akira manga with characters from The Simpsons as “Bartkira.” Kingdom went a step further and got everyone to redraw an entire volume for the “Social Kingdom” campaign.

Following Li Xin’s quest to become the greatest military general and unite Ancient China’s warring states, Kingdom is a historical epic that’s impressed some significant figures in the industry. Vagabond’s Inoue, One Piece’s Oda, and Jojo’s Hirohiko Araki were just some of the artists who took part in the “Social Kingdom” campaign, helping it earn a Guinness World Record for most manga authors.