Hey YA Readers!
Back in my time as a librarian, I was pretty on top of manga. I wasn’t reading it much, but I had dedicated teen readers who were great about telling me what was popular, what I should buy more of, and what they didn’t like. It was super helpful as I navigated the format.
It’s been a long time since, though, and manga is even more popular now than it was then. This deep dive into the history of manga in America highlights the huge uptick in readership during the 2020 COVID lockdowns and the market has continued to grow in the years since.
Because I know YA readers love knowing a wide range of formats and that many subscribers here work with teens directly, I wanted to talk about manga right now and specifically, the manga that is popular with teens right now. I asked around and got some great answers and insight and hope this helps you find some new reading like it did me. (It also made me feel good knowing how many of these are perennial favorites so I am not entirely out of the loop and note, too, it’s still a male-creator dominated landscape).
What Teens Are Reading
Assassination Classroom by Yusei Matsui
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Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama
Boruto by Ukyō Kodachi and Masashi Kishimoto, and illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto
Beastars by Paru Itagaki
Black Butler by Yana Toboso
Blue Exorcist by Kazue Kato
Boys Run the Riot by Keito Gaku
Demon Slayer by Koyoharu Gotouge
Full Metal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa
Handa-Kun by Satsuki Yoshino
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Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi
Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami
My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto
One-Punch Man by ONE and Yusuke Murata
Rising of the Shield Hero by Aneko Yusagi.
Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
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Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Ōima
Soul Eater by Atsushi Okubo
Spy X Family by Tatsuya Endo
Sweetness & Lightning by Gido Amagakure
Tegami Bachi by Hiroyuki Asada
Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Yamazaki
Yona of the Dawn by Mizuho Kusanagi
Trends in Manga Over the Last Couple of Years
“Teeens are really interested in finding the books of new popular series they are watching (example: SpyXFamily).”
“Waaaaay more students are asking for manga than ever before. Basically anything I can get they want.”
“Huge increase in interest for manga books.”
“There has been an increase of students checking out manga versions of famous English novels.”
“They’re coming from streaming anime first so there’s less knowledge of how manga works or even what it’s called (heard a lot of teens call it anime). Also an increasing number of teens wanting queer manga.”
“More students are becoming interested in manga. It is hard to find manga that is “appropriate” for a school setting. These need to be read in order–so it can take awhile to get through holds for the books.”
“They are reading so much more this year because we were virtual all last year and 1. They wanted shorter books and 2. Many watched the shows online and wanted to read the books.”
“It has picked back up in popularity.”
“The trend is towards more heavy action manga.”
“It’s become more mainstream and if it has a popular anime or new seasons are coming, better stock up!”
Essential YA Manga Reads for Newcomers
I picked from the responses a mix of titles, as some suggested going with newer, shorter series to dig into everything all at once. Others suggested going back for classics, even if they’re lengthy, to get a sense of the scope of the stories.
Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya
Full Metal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa
Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi
My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi
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Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto
Orange by Ichigo Takano
Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani
Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Ōima
Silver Spoon by Hiromu Arakawa
Manga Insights and Pro-Tips
“I would recommend when purchasing any series to own multiple copies of vol 1 & 2 (more than your normal), because they always go missing.”
“It is still difficult to figure out if manga is “appropriate” for my young teens – much of what students want is labeled “adult” in our vendor’s lists, but I have no idea why they qualify it that way.”
“We have seen so many more students willing to read and come to our library now that we have a decent amount of manga volumes for them to check out!”
“This has been a fantastic way to grab some of my self proclaimed non readers. They think manga is fantastic and they analyze it which is something we want all readers to do. I am so happy to have been able to feed this need. I only wish I could buy them all!”
“Manga hasn’t really made it to library ebook vendors yet, which is a shame. My hope is that manga starts becoming available for librarians to purchase via OverDrive, cloudLibrary, etc. because I think teens would respond well to being able to read manga on their phones. Physical copies of manga aren’t bound very well and they tend to fall apart fast, and manga is also stolen from the library quite a bit, so it can be hard to keep it on the shelf.”
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
Big thank you to everyone who responded to share their insights into teens and manga right now. I hope this helps everyone find not only good titles for their schools or libraries but for themselves as well.
Until later this week, happy reading!
— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram.