It's been another banner year for manga. With the industry proving itself to be the world's most popular medium for sequential storytelling, manga has a reasonable claim to be the future of comics. While much of manga's popularity is rightfully attributed to 2022's best continuing manga like Jujutsu Kaisen, Spy x Family, One Piece, and Chainsaw Man, even the most popular manga title was once the new kid on the block.
However, in such a massively diverse industry, the question becomes what is the best new title that will, or has the potential to one day, become the series that help manga continue to dominate the entertainment world. Commonly held hallmarks of a good manga include having an interesting story, engaging characters, top-level art, being popular with fandom, and being accessible to the public - because if fans can't read a manga, it's unlikely to attract the attention needed to be an influencer.
Gachiakuta - One World's Trash Is Another World's Savior
While Kei Urana's dark fantasy Gachiakuta is not a household name yet, it should be. The story follows Rudo, the son of a murderer who is born on the wrong side of the tracks as a tribefolk. The tribefolk are either descended from criminals or otherwise thought of as unclean by society at large. The tribefolk live a hard and unstable life at the bottom of society. Picked on and exploited by the powerful, to simply live another day is a win for a tribefolk. Framed for the killing of his stepfather/mentor, Rudo is cast into the Abyss - an even dirtier garbage heap where he must fend for himself. Given his circumstances, Rudo vows to return and bring down all who harmed him and his people. Befriended by a fellow Abyss-dweller named Engine, Rudo agrees to help him in his quest to pacify the Abyss, as long as he can gain the skills and knowledge that will allow him to return to and get his own revenge.
Gachiakuta has all the elements to be a huge manga such as interesting characters that readers will want to invest time in exploring. Take its lead character Rudo, for example. Besides the mystery of his background and the similarities between his and his father's circumstances, there's also the question of whether he will fulfill his vow to return and get revenge on the society which has hurt him so much. In addition, the manga's artwork is top-level with an attention to detail and expressive emotion that tells the story even when no dialogue is present. Gachiakuta truly has the potential to become huge.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm (Yomi no Tsugai) - Sibling Rivalries Will End The World
Written and illustrated by Fullmetal Alchemist author Hiromu Arakawa, Daemons of the Shadow Realm starts in an idyllic country village where Yuru takes care of his twin sister Asa, who for reasons unknown is under house detention. Unfortunately, the lives of Yuru, Asa, and the villagers are thrown into disarray when the outside world attacks for no apparent reason, using weapons Yuru has never seen before. During the attack, Yuru learns his Asa and not his sister, but rather his real sister is one of the people attacking the village. Desperate to understand what is happening, Yuru teams up with Dera, a traveling salesman who turns out to know more about Yuru than he initially lets on.
If the fact that Daemons of the Shadow Realm is being penned by Hiromu Arakwa is not enough to qualify it as a top new manga, the series itself does more than enough to justify the hype surrounding it. Daemons has an opening that is instantly attention-grabbing. Yuru's life has completely changed in days. Almost everyone he knows is dead. His sister might be someone else, and now he is one of the most powerful people in the world. Working through these issues throughout the series will be interesting. Second, the diversity of characters and creatures never makes for a dull moment. Hiromu Arakawa is widely considered a master of the craft for a reason, and Daemons is undeniably a worthy successor to Fullmetal Alchemist.
Akane-banashi - All The World Is A Stage
In Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue's Akane-banashi, teenager Akane Osaki wants revenge but not in the classic manga manner or for traditional manga reasons. After Akane's father is kicked out of his rakugo entertainers' organization just as he approached achieving Rakugo's highest rank, Akane takes it upon herself to learn her father's craft and perform it at such a high level that the organization that expelled her father most not only accept her into its ranks, but also award her with the same lofty position that they refused to award her father so many years ago.
What makes Akane-banashi one of the year's best is that it's far from typical shonen. There are no special powers or fantastic creatures. There's just one teenage girl trying to navigate a closed society largely run by adults. The series' fights are done metaphorically through rakugo competitions and performances. Akane-banashi definitely offers a new take on classic shonen manga that will be sure to please fans of the genre looking for something fresh.
RuriDragon - Teenage Angst and Dragon's Fire
In Masaoki Shindo's RuriDragon, middle school student Ruri Aoki one day wakes up to discover that she's grown two dragon horns. When she asks her mother what's going on, she learns that her father, who she's never met, is a dragon. While her Mom knew of the potential for her to exhibit her dragon tendencies, she always hoped that wasn't the case. Now confronted with the fact that she is indeed half human-half dragon, Ruri must navigate the stresses of school, her Mom's failure to prepare her for dragon-hood, and bonding with her father, the dragon, whom she barely has a relationship with.
RuriDragon is one of the most unique manga to come out in years. There are plenty of "slice of life" and "coming of age" manga available to read, but RuriDragon turns both genres on their head by making Ruri part dragon. So even the most mundane aspects of a teenage girl's life such as liking a boy or being self-conscious about one's looks are transformed into an altogether new experience for Ruri. Fandom seems to agree. Since its debut in June 2022, RuriDragon has been one of the hottest-selling manga of the year - despite it being on indefinite hiatus since August.