The 8 best manga for Japanese beginners
Last updated: September 20, 2025
There’s nothing quite like manga. Manga isn’t just the source for many of your favorite anime series, it’s a world of characters and stories, and a window into another culture. Maybe you started studying Japanese with the goal of being able to read manga in Japanese, but did you know you can study Japanese by reading manga?
It’s true! In fact, manga is an incredible resource for improving your Japanese.
The first manga you read in Japanese should be one of these ↓
There’s a few key benefits for manga compared with other sources:
- Visuals for context — Compared with a novel or podcast, the combination of words and visuals give context and support your understanding, making reading and understanding them much easier.
- Dialogue focus — Generally, most of the text in a manga is only dialogue, so you don’t have to worry about complicated exposition.
- Approachable language — What’s more, many manga series are intended for younger audiences, keeping the vocabulary and grammar much more approachable.
- Furigana — Given the intended audience, a lot of manga feature furigana, or kana characters above a new kanji to tell you its reading.
- Useful vocabulary — Finally, given the focus on dialogue, a lot of the Japanese used is conversational, rather than the more rigid Japanese you’ll find in textbooks. Of course, be careful with this, too. If you’re reading a manga about yakuza, that’s probably not language you want to emulate. Ditto for deep fantasy or sci-fi series. For this list, I’ve focused on slice-of-life manga, which should be more or less ready to go.
Not sure where to start? Let’s take a look at the 8 best manga for Japanese language beginners to start with.
What manga fits your level
If you’ve never read a manga before, it can be intimidating to find one that fits your level and interests. You don’t want to pick something just because it’s easy if you’re bored by it, and while it’s great to push yourself to read something you love even if it’s a bit above your level, you don’t want it to be a slog.
Besides the guide below, another great resource is Natively. This is a database of materials for Japanese language learners, where users make comparisons on which books were more challenging, which is used to set a relative level.
If you search a book, or look at the browse page, you can see a small tag above the cover. For example, on the first volume of よつばと！ (Yotsuba&!) you’ll see “L17.” This is level 17, and it means that users generally found things L1-L16 easier than よつばと！, and books L18 or above are generally more difficult than よつばと！
Of course, this is subjective, but over a range of users, you can get a good understanding of what’s suited to you.
Where to find manga
Now that we’ve covered difficulty, let’s look at some options for actually reading it. Now, there are tons of digital options, like ShonenJump+ and BookWalker, which allow you to read manga in an app or a browser. Best of all, many of these providers offer the first book or first few books for free (just so you get hooked!) Reading online makes it easy to use Migaku’s OCR tools, so this is a great option.
Of course, you can still get physical copies on places like Amazon Japan or Kinokuniya. You might have to pay a bit extra for shipping, or wait a bit longer, but this is a great option for getting Japanese language manga, no matter where you are in the world.
Finally, if you’re okay with used books, check out local sale sites like Craigslist in the USA, or Jimoty or Mercari in Japan. Oftentimes, people will sell entire series at once, hoping to clear shelf space. This is probably the cheapest way to get manga, so don’t count it out!
A quick guide to reading manga in Japanese
Finally, here's three tips to keep in mind.
- Right to left — This can take some getting used to, but remember that manga (and Japanese books in general!) are read right to left. So if you’re holding the spine away from you, you start at the cover on the right, and read each two-page spread from the top-right corner to the bottom left, starting over from the top-right of the next page.
- Embrace furigana — Furigana isn’t “cheating,” it’s a tool to help you. Remember, manga is meant for native Japanese speakers, not just learners, and they have no issue with it. Even if knowing the reading doesn’t tell you the meaning, it can make looking up words in a dictionary much easier.
- Find a balance — Speaking of dictionaries, try to find a balance. Of course, the goal is understanding, so there’s no shame in looking up a word if you don’t know what it means. But you don’t want to be looking up every word. As a rule of thumb, if you’re looking up more than a few words per page, maybe try something easier. Also, before you reach for a dictionary, try to figure out what a word means on your own! Do you know any of the kanji used, or can you guess based on the context of the sentence?
As a quick note, I’ve organized the list below from roughly easiest to most-difficult. Now without further ado, onto the picks!
My first manga:
1. チーズスイートホーム (Chi's Sweet Home)
The story: An adorable lost kitten named Chi is taken in by the Yamada family, and an adorable story unfolds from there! The series follows her daily discoveries and misadventures from a kitten's perspective.
Why it's great for beginners: This is a perfect "first ever" manga. The sentences are extremely short and simple, often consisting of just a few words. And because it's from a cat's point of view, the grammar is basic, and the concepts are easy to grasp visually. It’s a cute, relaxing read; and can be a huge confidence boost to prove you can read a story in Japanese.
Sticking point: This might be too simple for many. It’s an excellent way to dip your toes into reading manga, but I think most will move past this level fairly quickly.
2. よつばと！ (Yotsuba&!)
The story: A heartwarming slice-of-life series about the daily adventures of a curious and energetic five-year-old girl named Yotsuba. The story opens with her moving into a new house with her single dad, and each chapter centers around Yotsuba and (get it?) her interactions with something new and exciting; from catching cicadas, to using a camera.
Why it's great for beginners: The language is simple and grounded in everyday situations. Since you're seeing the world through a child's eyes, the concepts and dialogue are very easy to follow. It has furigana on every single kanji, making it an excellent tool for learning to read without getting stuck.
Sticking point: Yotsuba, as a child, doesn’t speak with proper grammar. Sometimes she emulates the coarse speech of her dad or his friends, or sometimes she speaks in a child-like way. This is an excellent series, but you probably don’t want to repeat Yotsuba’s lines word-for-word.
3. ふらいんぐうぃっち (Flying Witch)
The story: A charming slice-of-life series about Makoto, a teenage witch-in-training who moves from the bustling city of Yokohama to live with her relatives in rural Aomori to complete her studies. The story follows her gentle adjustment to country life, making friends, and the subtle magic she encounters.
Why it's great for beginners: This is perhaps one of the most relaxed and easy-to-read manga available. The conversations are slow, simple, and focus on everyday topics. The magical elements are introduced gently, so it never feels overwhelming. Full furigana is included, making for a stress-free and delightful reading experience.
Sticking point: As a fantasy series, there’s a small bit of magic-related vocabulary used. If you like fantasy, this is hardly a problem, but you might guess that mahou (魔法, magic) isn’t used very often in everyday speech.
4. のんのんびより (Non Non Biyori)
The story: A relaxing slice-of-life series about a group of students of various ages who attend the only school in their small, rural village. We follow their simple but fulfilling lives as they explore the countryside, invent their own games, and appreciate the quiet beauty around them.
Why it's great for beginners: Possibly the most relaxing manga on this list. The slow pace and focus on simple country life make the dialogue very straightforward and easy to digest. It's a peaceful reading experience with low linguistic difficulty, perfect for when you want to absorb Japanese without feeling overwhelmed by a complex plot.
Sticking point: Occasionally, characters use Touhoku-ben, a dialect of Japanese from the rural setting of the series. If a word feels a little different to you, check and see if it’s dialect or not; most people will want to learn standard Japanese.
5. しろくまカフェ (Shirokuma Cafe / Polar Bear Cafe)
The story: A slice-of-life comedy centered around a group of animals—including a pun-loving polar bear, a lazy panda, and a pragmatic penguin—who frequent a cafe run by the eponymous polar bear. Their days are filled with laid-back conversations, silly misunderstandings — and plenty of coffee.
Why it's great for beginners: The conversations are low-stress, slow-paced, and often very funny. It's a fantastic way to get used to puns and different speech patterns in a simple context. The episodic nature means you can jump in and out without needing to remember a complicated storyline.
Sticking point: This series relies a lot on puns, which is both a benefit and also a sticking point. Sometimes, the jokes aren’t easy for non-native speakers, and might make this one a bit slow, depending on your taste!
A step up:
6. アオのハコ (Ao no Hako / Blue Box)
The story: This series is a high school romance that follows two student athletes: Taiki Inomata, a member of the boys’ badminton team, and his crush Chinatsu Kano, the ace of the girls' basketball team. Chinatsu moves in with the Inomata family while her parents head abroad for work, and the series focuses on the pair’s mutual respect for their respective athletic ambitions and their budding romantic feelings.
Why it's great for (upper) beginners: Perfect for learners who are comfortable with the basics. It's set in a high school, so the dialogue is relatable and full of common vocabulary related to school clubs, sports, and friendships. The story has clear markers around the characters academic and athletic years, making it a compelling read.
Sticking point: The series focuses on the relationship of Taiki and Chinatsu, who is one year older than him. As such, Taiki uses a lot of polite speech and keigo when speaking, especially with Chinatsu. Give our keigo article a read, and don’t fret!
7. SPY×FAMILY
The story: A master spy must create a fake family to complete a mission as he infiltrates enemy territory; not realizing his adopted daughter is a mind reader, and his new wife is a deadly assassin. Together, this unlikely trio tries to maintain the facade of a normal family while navigating high-stakes espionage and elite private school politics.
Why it's great for (upper) beginners: A great "next step" after simpler manga. It has furigana and the plot is very clear, making the dialogue easy to follow. It offers a great mix of simple family-life conversations and more formal, action-related terms, giving you a broad range of useful vocabulary.
Sticking point: Similar to ふらいんぐうぃっち, this series also uses some special language: though in this case, it’s about spies and deception. Your 任務 (ninmu, mission), should you choose to accept it, is to know what’s useful and what’s not. Additionally, Anya, the adopted daughter often uses very ungrammatical language, to comedic effect.
8. かぐや様は告らせたい (Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai / Kaguya-sama: Love Is War)
The story: Two genius high school students, Kaguya and Miyuki, are too proud to confess their love for each other, instead engaging in elaborate schemes to trick the other into confessing first. Each chapter is a new "battle" in their hilarious psychological war of love.
Why it's great for (low-intermediate) learners: While the vocabulary can be more complex, the premise provides strong context for every conversation. The narrator often explains the characters' inner thoughts and strategies, which is a huge help for comprehension. It's a challenging, but very rewarding, read for those ready to push themselves.
Sticking point: Even moreso than アオのハコ, given the fancy academic setting, there’s a lot of formal speech used. Both Miyuki and Kaguya have a unique way of speaking, which is different from their thoughts, which can take a little getting used to.
Why reading manga is your secret weapon for learning Japanese
So there you have it—eight series to kickstart your Japanese manga reading journey. The visual context helps you understand, the focus on dialogue teaches you how people really talk, and features like furigana make even complex-looking text approachable, making manga an excellent resource.
You can’t go wrong with any of the series above, but the most important takeaway is that the best manga for you is one you genuinely enjoy. Your motivation will skyrocket if you're invested in the characters and story. Don’t be afraid to try the first chapter of a few different series to see which one grabs you. Once you find one you love, try to stick with it. Reading multiple volumes of the same series is a fantastic way to build on a core set of vocabulary, and get comfortable with the author's style.
Reading your first manga in Japanese is a huge milestone. It might feel slow at first, and that’s perfectly okay. Be patient with yourself, celebrate your progress, and have fun with it. Pick a series from this list, open that first page, and dive in.