Japan's Bookstore Employees Rank Top Manga of 2018

posted on by Karen Ressler
Also: top 5 isekai manga

The Honya Club website announced the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2018" on Friday. The results, collected from surveys given to 1,100 professional bookstore employees in Japan. The awards also listed the employees' picks for the top five isekai (sent to another world) genre manga.

Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2018 Results:

1. Jujutsu Kaisen
Gege Akutami
Yuji is a genius at track and field. But he has zero interest running around in circles, he's happy as a haunted clam in the Occult Research Club. Although he's only in the club for kicks, things get serious when a REAL spirit shows up at school! Life's about to get really strange in Sugisawa Town #3 High School! (Via Viz Media)

2. Gokushufudo
Kōsuke Oono
The manga follows a retired yakuza member known as "Immortal Tatsu" who is living out his post-crime career as a house husband. He still manages to find his way into trouble from time to time, except it's in the grocery aisle instead of some back alley.

3. act-age
Story by Tatsuya Matsuki, art by Shiro Usazaki
Being a famous actress or an actor is a dream millions of people all over the world have. While it's not impossible to achieve, it's ridiculously hard to make in the biz, no matter what country you're in. But Kei Yonagi's not like the other actresses, she has "super acting" powers. Her skills are off the chart, but that doesn't mean she'll make it. In fact, she may be too good at what she does. (Via Viz Media)

4. Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku
Yūji Kaku
The manga centers on Gabimaru, once exalted as the strongest ninja, but who has now quit his trade, violating the laws of his village. After being captured, he claims he has nothing left to live for. However, due to his superhuman levels of training, he has inadvertently survived multiple executions, from attempts at beheading to burning at the stake. The executioner Sagiri Asaemon tells him that he has lingering attachment to life, and issues him a mission to win his acquittal: to find the elixir of immortality.

5. Shūmatsu no Valkyrie
Story by Shinya Umemura, art by Ajichika, composition by Takumi Fukui

6. Detective Conan: Zero's Tea Time
Takahiro Arai, original story by Gosho Aoyama

7. Oji-sama to Neko
Umi Sakurai
The story follows the day-to-day life of an elderly man who adopts a fat kitty that no one else wanted.

8. Fūto Tantei
Scripts by Riku Sanjo, art by Masaki Satou, supervision by Hideaki Tsukada, creature design by Katsuya Terada
This sequel to Kamen Rider W is once again set in Fūto city and will focus on the characters Shōtarō Hidari and Philip.

9. Mystery to Iu Nakare
Yumi Tamura
The manga follows mystery-solving college student Totonō Kunō. At the beginning of the story, the police bring him in for questioning on suspicion of the murder of his classmate.

10. Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai
Megumi Morino
It's winter of the first year of high school, and Hotaru casually lends her umbrella to an attractive classmate. With only that, Hananoi asks out in the open if Hotaru will go out with him. Hananoi is willing to do anything for the girl he likes. Hotaru is overwhelmed, but the pair start to build a relationship.

11. Raise wa Tanin ga Ii
Asuka Konishi
The story follows a mafia boss' granddaughter, Yoshino, whose pedigree has left her without a boyfriend because everyone is terrified of her. Her love life takes a different turn when her grandfather sets her up with the grandson of another mafia boss named Kirishima. Yoshino goes to live with him, but his kind and intelligent demeanor hides a dark side.

12. Magus of the Library
Mitsu Izumi
The whole village mocks the poor little elf boy, calling him "Knife-Ears." His only solace is in sneaking into the small branch library to read. Then one day, he meets Sedona, a librarian at the magical central library, who will sweep him away into a world of new knowledge and adventures! (Via Kodansha Comics)

13. Inu to Neko Docchi mo Katteru to Mainichi Tanoshii
Hidekichi Matsumoto
The essay manga tells stories about the artist's carefree dog and conniving cat.

14. Detective Conan: Hannin no Hanzawa-san
Mayuko Kanba, original story by Gosho Aoyama
The manga stars the black-silhouetted "criminal" that appears in Detective Conan chapters to represent the mystery culprits.

15. Nobunaga o Kuroshita Otoko ~The truth of Honnouji incident found after 431 years~
Art by Yutaka Todo, planning by Kenzaburo Akechi
The manga follows Akechi Mitsuhide, a general who served under Oda Nobunaga until he led the rebellion that led to Nobunaga's death in 1582.

Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Top 5 Isekai Manga of 2018:

1. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Art by Taiki Kawakami, story by Fuse, character design by Mitz Vah

2. Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hōrō Meshi
Art by K Akagishi, story by Ren Eguchi, character design by Masa
The manga follows a salaryman who is summoned to another world as a hero, but finds the king's story shady so he flees to travel the world alone. He only has one magic skill: the ability to acquire items he could get at a Japanese supermarket. He uses the skill to cook delicious meals.

3. The Man Picked Up by the Gods
Art by Ranran, story by Roy, character design by Ririnra
The story follows a middle-aged salaryman who dies and, after meeting three gods, is reborn as a child in another world. He lives a carefree life in the woods studying slimes.

4. Shikkakumon no Saikyōkenja
Art by Kancho and Hyoko (Friendly Land), story by Shinkōshotō, character design by Kazahama Hūka
The story follows a magic user who is reborn in the future in order to become the strongest magic user in the world. When he is reincarnated he obtains a magic crest that is best suited for magic combat. He finds out that in the future this crest has been eliminated, and everyone else is a low-level magic user.

5. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!
Art by Nami Hidaka, story by Satoru Yamaguchi, character design by Hidaka
At the age of eight, Katarina, a girl of noble birth in another world, has an accident that unlocks her memories–of playing an otome game that's exactly like the life she's living now. There's one problem: she realizes that she's playing the role of the villainess, and only bad endings await her! What will it take for her to “break the game” and live a happy life? (Via Seven Seas Entertainment)

Source: Honya Club

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