🔗 Share this article The 10 Best Manga I Enjoyed in 2025 (Flying Under the Radar). With the world of manga growing more vast by the day, it's increasingly difficult to keep up with every significant new series. Predictably, the most popular series get all the attention, but there's a plethora of hidden gems waiting to be discovered. A key pleasure for a dedicated reader is finding a hidden series in the sea of new chapters and spreading the word to friends. This list highlights of the finest under-the-radar manga I've discovered recently, along with reasons why they're deserving of your time prior to a potential boom. Several entries here are still awaiting a large audience, especially as they all lack anime adaptations. Others may be harder to access due to where they're available. However, suggesting any of these provides some serious bragging rights. 10. An Unassuming Salaryman Revealed as a Hero Art from the series Creators: Ghost Mikawa, Yuki Imano, Akira Yuki, Raika Mizuiro Released by: Shueisha Available on: Manga Plus This may seem like a strange choice, but bear with me. The medium embraces absurdity, and it's part of the charm. I'll acknowledge that transported-to-another-world stories relax me. While The Plain Salary Man isn't strictly an isekai, it follows many of the same tropes, including an overpowered main character and a video-game-inspired fantasy framework. The appeal, however, lies in the protagonist. Keita Sato is an archetypal exhausted salaryman who unwinds by exploring strange labyrinths that emerged suddenly, armed only with a baseball bat, to defeat foes. He doesn't care about treasures, power, or ranking; he only wants to maintain his double life, protect his family, and leave the office on time for a change. There might be better isekai series, but this is one of the few released by a leading publisher, and thus conveniently readable to international audiences via a free service. For easy reading, this publisher is still dominant, and if you're in need of a few minutes of silly fun, The Plain Salary Man is highly recommended. 9. The Nito Exorcists Illustration Artist: Iromi Ichikawa Publisher: Shueisha Find it on: Manga Plus Typically, the word "exorcist" in a manga title is enough to deter me due to the saturated market, but two series changed my mind this year. The Nito Exorcists evokes the finest elements of Jujutsu Kaisen, with its eerie vibe, unique visuals, and shocking ferocity. I started reading it by chance and became engrossed at once. Gotsuji is a powerful exorcist who eliminates cursed beings in the hope of avenging his teacher's death. He's accompanied by his mentor's sister, Uruka, who is more interested in protecting Gotsuji than aiding his quest for revenge. The premise sounds simple, but the portrayal of the cast is as delicate as the art, and the artistic dichotomy between the comedic design of foes and the bloody fights is an effective bonus. This is a series with the capacity to become a hit — provided it survives. 8. Gokurakugai Manga panel Artist: Yuto Sano Publisher: Shueisha Available on: Manga Plus; Viz For readers who value visual splendor, then this is it. Yuto Sano's work on this manga is stunning, intricate, and unique. The story doesn't stray far to traditional battle manga tropes, with superpowered people fighting evil spirits (though they're not officially called "exorcists"), but the cast is wonderfully eccentric and the world is fascinating. The protagonists, Alma and Tao Saotome, operate the Gokurakugai Troubleshooter agency, solving problems in a low-income area where two species live side-by-side. The villains, called Maga, are created from human or animal corpses. For those from people, the Maga wields magic reflecting the way the human died: a hanging victim manifests as a choking force, one who perished by suicide causes blood loss, and so on. It's a disturbing but creative twist that adds depth to these antagonists. It has potential for massive popularity, but it's held back by its slower publication rate. Starting in 2022, only a handful of volumes have been released, which can test a reader's patience. 7. The Call of War: A Bugle's Song Manga panel Creators: Mozuku Sora, Higoro Toumori Publisher: Shueisha Available on: Viz This dark fantasy manga approaches the ubiquitous battle trope from a novel angle for shonen. Instead of centering on individual duels, it presents massive army conflicts. The protagonist, Luca, is one of the Branched—individuals possessing a unique special power. Luca's ability lets him transform noise into illumination, which helps him command armies on the battlefield, leveraging his musical skill and past in a cruel mercenary band to become a skilled strategist, fighting with the hope of one day stepping away. The backdrop is a little plain, and the addition of advanced concepts can seem jarring, but this series still provided grim twists and shocking story pivots. It's a grown-up battle manga with a collection of odd personalities, an interesting power system, and an interesting combination of warfare and grim fantasy. 6. Taro Miyao Becomes a Cat Parent?! Art from the series Artist: Sho Yamazaki Released by: Shueisha Available on: Manga Plus A calculating main character who idolizes Renaissance thinker Niccolò Machiavelli and subscribes to ends-justify-the-means becomes the owner of a cute cat named Nicolo—allegedly because a massage from its little feet is the only thing that relieves his stiff shoulders. {If that premise isn't enough|Should that not convince you|If the setup doesn't grab you
With the world of manga growing more vast by the day, it's increasingly difficult to keep up with every significant new series. Predictably, the most popular series get all the attention, but there's a plethora of hidden gems waiting to be discovered. A key pleasure for a dedicated reader is finding a hidden series in the sea of new chapters and spreading the word to friends. This list highlights of the finest under-the-radar manga I've discovered recently, along with reasons why they're deserving of your time prior to a potential boom. Several entries here are still awaiting a large audience, especially as they all lack anime adaptations. Others may be harder to access due to where they're available. However, suggesting any of these provides some serious bragging rights. 10. An Unassuming Salaryman Revealed as a Hero Art from the series Creators: Ghost Mikawa, Yuki Imano, Akira Yuki, Raika Mizuiro Released by: Shueisha Available on: Manga Plus This may seem like a strange choice, but bear with me. The medium embraces absurdity, and it's part of the charm. I'll acknowledge that transported-to-another-world stories relax me. While The Plain Salary Man isn't strictly an isekai, it follows many of the same tropes, including an overpowered main character and a video-game-inspired fantasy framework. The appeal, however, lies in the protagonist. Keita Sato is an archetypal exhausted salaryman who unwinds by exploring strange labyrinths that emerged suddenly, armed only with a baseball bat, to defeat foes. He doesn't care about treasures, power, or ranking; he only wants to maintain his double life, protect his family, and leave the office on time for a change. There might be better isekai series, but this is one of the few released by a leading publisher, and thus conveniently readable to international audiences via a free service. For easy reading, this publisher is still dominant, and if you're in need of a few minutes of silly fun, The Plain Salary Man is highly recommended. 9. The Nito Exorcists Illustration Artist: Iromi Ichikawa Publisher: Shueisha Find it on: Manga Plus Typically, the word "exorcist" in a manga title is enough to deter me due to the saturated market, but two series changed my mind this year. The Nito Exorcists evokes the finest elements of Jujutsu Kaisen, with its eerie vibe, unique visuals, and shocking ferocity. I started reading it by chance and became engrossed at once. Gotsuji is a powerful exorcist who eliminates cursed beings in the hope of avenging his teacher's death. He's accompanied by his mentor's sister, Uruka, who is more interested in protecting Gotsuji than aiding his quest for revenge. The premise sounds simple, but the portrayal of the cast is as delicate as the art, and the artistic dichotomy between the comedic design of foes and the bloody fights is an effective bonus. This is a series with the capacity to become a hit — provided it survives. 8. Gokurakugai Manga panel Artist: Yuto Sano Publisher: Shueisha Available on: Manga Plus; Viz For readers who value visual splendor, then this is it. Yuto Sano's work on this manga is stunning, intricate, and unique. The story doesn't stray far to traditional battle manga tropes, with superpowered people fighting evil spirits (though they're not officially called "exorcists"), but the cast is wonderfully eccentric and the world is fascinating. The protagonists, Alma and Tao Saotome, operate the Gokurakugai Troubleshooter agency, solving problems in a low-income area where two species live side-by-side. The villains, called Maga, are created from human or animal corpses. For those from people, the Maga wields magic reflecting the way the human died: a hanging victim manifests as a choking force, one who perished by suicide causes blood loss, and so on. It's a disturbing but creative twist that adds depth to these antagonists. It has potential for massive popularity, but it's held back by its slower publication rate. Starting in 2022, only a handful of volumes have been released, which can test a reader's patience. 7. The Call of War: A Bugle's Song Manga panel Creators: Mozuku Sora, Higoro Toumori Publisher: Shueisha Available on: Viz This dark fantasy manga approaches the ubiquitous battle trope from a novel angle for shonen. Instead of centering on individual duels, it presents massive army conflicts. The protagonist, Luca, is one of the Branched—individuals possessing a unique special power. Luca's ability lets him transform noise into illumination, which helps him command armies on the battlefield, leveraging his musical skill and past in a cruel mercenary band to become a skilled strategist, fighting with the hope of one day stepping away. The backdrop is a little plain, and the addition of advanced concepts can seem jarring, but this series still provided grim twists and shocking story pivots. It's a grown-up battle manga with a collection of odd personalities, an interesting power system, and an interesting combination of warfare and grim fantasy. 6. Taro Miyao Becomes a Cat Parent?! Art from the series Artist: Sho Yamazaki Released by: Shueisha Available on: Manga Plus A calculating main character who idolizes Renaissance thinker Niccolò Machiavelli and subscribes to ends-justify-the-means becomes the owner of a cute cat named Nicolo—allegedly because a massage from its little feet is the only thing that relieves his stiff shoulders. {If that premise isn't enough|Should that not convince you|If the setup doesn't grab you