Great Manga That Are Challenging To Read

Summary

• Death Note features a wordy narrative with characters engaging in complex dialogues.
• One Piece offers a lengthy, essential read with over 1100 chapters full of wacky adventures.
• Fire Punch delves into dark themes like murder and incest, making it a captivating yet disturbing story.

There are tons of manga out there that were made for fans to become enveloped in; where Mangaka invite readers to forget all of their troubles and get lost in whatever world they aim to showcase. Sometimes, though, the worlds that authors are attempting to build are inherently made to test their readers’ minds, stomachs, and, at times, their patience.

If fans can get past many of these series’ barriers to entry, they will often uncover a genuine diamond in the rough. That, of course, is a really big “if,” especially when it comes to some of these incredible but difficult-to-read manga.

10

Death Note

An Extremely Wordy Story

This classic sees the MC, Light Yagami, take the betterment of the world into his own hands with the help of his death note, a tool that will kill anyone whose name is written in it. What follows is an impressively complicated game of cat and mouse between Light, genius detective L, and a solid cast of side characters.

A lot of the major moves carried out throughout Death Note’s 108 chapters require the characters to talk things out between each other, or with themselves. As a result, almost every page is absolutely full of word bubbles. Honestly, there is so much reading here that fans who aren’t into reading full-length novels are probably better off watching the excellent anime.

9

One Piece

Very Long, And Still Not Done

One Piece is the story of Luffy and his quest to become King of the Pirates. As straightforward as that sounds, the manga has been running for nearly three decades at this point, as the Straw Hat Crew gets into all manner of harrowing highjinks.

That’s over 1100 chapters to wade through, and depending on who readers talk to, all of it is essential to get the full experience. Of course, there’s a reason why the series is as popular as it is, so if readers are looking for a wacky but truly heartfelt story that has the potential to take up months of their time, it’s this.

8

Berserk

It’s Sometimes Messed Up Just For The Sake Of It

Berserk is widely regarded as one of the best manga series out there, particularly because of its mature take on the lone swordsman trope. The story takes a bit of time to get going, spending much of its first few arcs establishing its characters and the brutal world they live in.

Sweet moments are few and far between here, with the story otherwise being full of brutality and sexual violence that readers must wade through at nearly every turn. For instance, Guts’ sword is depicted as a massive slab of deadly metal so that it can do the most damage possible, ripping apart his foes in unimaginably gruesome ways. This manga is definitely not for the squeamish.

7

Fire Punch

An Interesting But Sickening World

Before his breakout hit, Chainsaw Man, came Fire Punch, Tatsuki Fujimoto’s excellent foray into a barren wasteland stuck in an eternal winter. After his village is burned to the ground, the lead character, Agni, embarks on a revenge mission to bring the perpetrators to justice.

This story is unafraid to defy readers’ expectations by leaning into some of the most heinous aspects of humanity. Here, nothing is off the table, whether it be murder, cannibalism, or even incest, as proven by the budding romance between Agni and his sister at the beginning of the manga. To be clear, none of this is ok, but it does make for a gripping tale.

6

Akame Ga Kill!

Many Of Your Faves Die

After losing just about everything, including his closest friends, Tatsumi is invited to join a group of warriors called the Night Raid. Their goal is to defeat the ever-oppressive Empire, leading to some shocking and bloody encounters.

Akame Ga Kill! cares little about readers’ allegiances towards its characters. When fans say that no one is safe in this manga, they absolutely mean it. As such, it’s understandable that some readers tend to fall off when their favorite characters unexpectedly bite the dust. This is a shame, because the series as a whole is one of the most heart-pounding experiences fans can get in manga.

5

Chainsaw Man

A Great Read That Is Hard To Continue Into Its Second Arc

Chainsaw Man was an unexpected hit when it burst onto the scene, mixing Fujimoto’s love of film with his clear desire to tell a great story. Main character Denji finds himself in a contract with the chainsaw devil and eventually begins work as a devil hunter, using his powers to protect everyday people.

If readers were following this series weekly, they would have noticed that the story seemed to conclude at the end of chapter 97. While it was announced pretty quickly that the manga would continue after a bit of a hiatus, it was sort of hard to imagine how. Alas, when it came back, the perspective shifted, making the new arc seem more like a sequel manga than the same one fans had come to love. It has since proven itself a worthy successor, but one that some fans surely fell off of at the start.

4

Blood On The Tracks

Harrowing For Readers With Overbearing Parents

There is nothing like the unconditional love of a mother, which is why Blood on the Tracks is such a conflicting read. It’s about a mother who cares for her child more than anything in the world but takes that sentiment to some incredibly scary places.

Over the course of this story, things get more and more intense as Seiko Osabe proves just how far she’ll go to protect her son. It’s something that could, understandably, bring up trauma for those who might have complicated home lives or childhoods. And for others, it could just be a harrowing look at a scary mother-son relationship.

3

Uzumaki

Just Plain Creepy

The best scary stories can take mundane, everyday things and find the horror residing in them, and in Uzumaki‘s case, that things is the spiral. The town of Kurouzu-cho is heavily afflicted by spirals, leading Kirie to see them popping up everywhere, often in some of the most awful places.

Uzumaki is disturbing, often in ways that defy imagination and, like many stories in the genre, there may not always seem to be a point to it. Nevertheless, Uzamaki keeps readers engaged with each horrific piece of imagery, even if they might not be for everyone.

2

Vagabond

So Good, But May Never Be Finished

Miyamoto Musashi was one of the greatest samurai to ever exist. In fact, his skills were so impressive that it’s hard to tell which of his exploits are real or myth. Things get even muddier when a series like Vagabond takes the best Miyamoto stories and infuses them with a hefty amount of fiction to provide readers with an irresistible story.

Unfortunately, series author Takehiko Inoue seems to have lost interest in continuing the story for one reason or another. Chapter 327 was the last chapter to be released just about 10 years ago, and while the series doesn’t leave off on any major cliffhanger, it doesn’t resolve much of anything, either. To get through this one, readers have to be comfortable with the possibility of leaving things unfinished forever.

1

Goodnight Punpun

An Extremely Depressing Time

The story of Goodnight Punpun follows Punpun Onodera from his time in elementary school all the way to young adulthood. Punpun’s life is complicated, as he navigates love, friendships, and the prospect of growing up in a world that rarely goes his way.

It’s hard to express just how depressing this manga can get at times. Punpun is an awkward kid, so his thoughts will often come out cringey, offensive, or at times even scary. But there are also some profound moments of solemnness here that only the mangaka, Inio Asano, can provide.