2020 was a wild year and, though the anime and manga industry saw some unprecedented obstacles, fans were still treated to some fantastic releases. From older titles finally making it to fans outside of Japan to collected volumes of hot new series, there was plenty of worthwhile reading to do throughout the year. 2020's manga offerings, despite the setbacks, were just the top-quality escapism eager readers needed in a time like this.
Tons of great manga came out this year despite the odds and plenty are worth seeking out and reading. However, these ten manga releases, as voted on by CBR's Anime/Manga editorial team, are the cream of the crop of 2020's titles, in a class all their own.
10. Venus in the Blind Spot
Junji Ito's Venus in the Blind Spot is an anthology of short stories penned at various points in the horror master's career. Less surreal than his much-beloved Uzumaki, but no less eerie, the stories range from a tale about a man the becomes a (literal) pillar of his household to one about a face-licking woman that puts an entire town on lockdown. Longtime Ito fans will be pleased to know that Venus also includes the infamous Enigma of Amigara Fault, a story about inexplicable compulsion that the internet briefly made into a meme.
The mark of great horror is its ability to withstand the test of time and stay relevant, no matter the era. If Venus proves anything, it's not that Ito is a psychic for penning stories that're right at home within a global pandemic, it's that he's a horror writer insightful enough to know that it lies in wait everywhere, all the time, not just in 2020.
9. Blood on the Tracks
Shuzo Oshimi first caught widespread attention with his uneasy tale of adolescence, Flowers of Evil. That series was renowned for its realness and especially its tenseness, one that touched everything from the art to the dialogue. Now, take everything that made Flowers a tough read and dial it up to a thousand...and there you have Blood On the Tracks. This series began its official English release in February of this year and quickly gained a reputation of being possibly the most tense, slow-burning manga of all time. Following the intense, toxic relationship between a boy and his mother — and how it changes following a horrific act on the mother's part — the story grips you with its drama and only squeezes tighter as Oshimi forces you to wait tens of chapters for any sort of payoff. And it's great.
Blood itself fosters something of a toxic relationship with its readers, as those following the series have no idea what subtle, domestic horror it's going to throw at them next. The series is dark, oppressive and terrifying simply because of the unpredictability of everything about it. It's a masterclass in pacing, and one that'll instantly get you on the hook to see what's next.
8. Saint Young Men
If you like your manga with a side of casual heresy, Saint Young Men will definitely help you get your kicks. Following the strangest possible timeline, where Jesus and Buddha are roommates, SYM is a comedy series that many thought would never cross over for fear of backlash from religious groups. But, thanks to publisher Kodansha taking the risk, English-speaking fans can now enjoy the series both digitally and in print.
SYM is a cleverly put together comedy that's dedicated to being just that: a comedy. Every panel is jam-packed with jokes and references to Buddhism and Christianity, so much so that every chapter has translation notes at the end. SYM is a story about the Oddest Couple imaginable, but it proves that you can get away with writing about pretty much anything as long as you do it well. And make it hilarious.
7. The Rose of Versailles
Rose of Versailles might be best known as "that series that inspired Revolutionary Girl Utena," but the queen of shojo manga is in a league alone. Dripping with that signature retro sparkle, Rose follows noblewoman Oscar François de Jarjeyes — who was raised as a son by her father — as she commands Marie Antoinette's palace guard during the rising French Revolution, slowly becoming entangled in royal intrigue as she does.
The Rose of Versailles is one of those rare works that're so influential it can't really be quantified. With Rose, Riyoko Ikeda literally wrote the book on gender defiant women forsaking their "princes" that Utena and others benefitted so much from. Add in a touch of history and a heaping helping of melodrama, and you have a shojo masterpiece that begs to be read, even forty-odd years later.
6. Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku
A sleeper hit from Shueisha's Manga Plus app, the story of Yuji Kaku's Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku is one that's as pleasantly surprising as its success. It follows the journey of Gabimaru, a ninja on death row, whose executioner, Sagiri, presents him with the opportunity of a lifetime: if he can secure the Elixir of Life from a mysterious island for the shogun, all of his crimes will be pardoned. The only catch is that he's not the only one being giving this chance. When Gabimaru and Sagiri arrive on the island, it looks to be the perfect set-up for a last-man-standing, tournament-style series, but that's not the case.
Hell's Paradise shines because of the story it chooses not to tell. Where, as a Shonen Jump (albeit Jump+) title, Kaku could've easily spun a tale laser-focused on escalating displays of power. But, he instead chose to tell one about coming to terms with weakness and not being too proud to feel what you feel, culminating in a story about a man trying desperately to get back to his loving wife. Of course, there are some amazing fights and a great power system rooted in real-world concepts, but Hell's Paradise does enough right that it's difficult to pick just one thing to talk about.
5. Kaiju No. 8
Kaiju No.8 is still fairly early on in its run, but the Shonen Jump manga has already made an impact, brushing shoulders with the magazine's other cult hits despite its youth. The series follows Kafka Hibino, a 32-year-old worker that scrubs Tokyo of kaiju corpses for a living — a job he settled for after failing the exams for his dream job (several times) at the anti-kaiju Japanese Defense Force. However, as Kafka decides to try the exams one last time before he ages out, a strange creature flies into his mouth and turns him into a kaiju!
Despite his newfound power as a humanoid kaiju, Kafka's struggle to contribute to the JDF as a human is a compelling one, bolstered by a good number of high-octane action scenes and fun humor. Kafka is a likeable protagonist, and an older one, to boot. Watching him slowly realize his life's not over just because he hit 30 is a satisfying one, as Kafka sees for himself all the things he has to offer as a person and as a monster. And, while the series certainly is Kafkaesque, it somehow manages to not be a bummer in any way, and that upbeat energy was certainly needed this past year.
4. Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono
Created by the same team behind The Promised Neverland, Spirit Photographer is an instant classic, despite being a one-shot. It follows a young boy, Sota, who comes into contact with the eponymous Saburo Kono, a ghost photographer that moves into the supposedly haunted empty apartment next door. A simple premise and, as Sota and Kono spend time together in the apartment to draw out the ghost, readers will find they're ill-prepared for the absolute gut punch that is this story.
Spirit Photographer packs a lot of story and a lot of feeling into just a few pages, and manages to do so by rooting itself in a situation that is unflinchingly real, upsettingly cruel and likely a reality for many. Stories at the intersection of brutal realism and fantastic whimsy, even the spooky kind, are tough to pull off, but Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu make it look impossibly easy to tell a story this affecting.
3. BL Metamorphosis
BL Metamorphosis is an unexpected but welcome release — and one much needed in a world that could use some more empathy. The story follows 75-year-old Ichinoi, a calligraphy teacher to falls into the Boys Love fandom by chance one rainy afternoon in a bookstore. She's quickly taken in by Urara, a veteran fangirl, who introduces her to the wider world of Boys Love. What follows is a quiet tale of intergenerational friendship where two women are safe to enjoy what they enjoy together.
BL Metamorphosis is surprisingly empathetic towards its subjects, and that's its greatest strength. Of course, there are some jokes, but the writing never paints either woman as being less than for their interests. Ichinoi in particular is thoughtfully rendered, not only being a rare example of an older woman being allowed to show sexual desire in fiction (without ridicule), but also in how she's drawn. Ichinoi isn't a supermodel and she isn't a hag, but she is a fujoshi — and that's okay.
2. Spy x Family
A spy, an assassin and a psychic all sharing a roof sounds like the set-up for a story about political intrigue and superpowered shenanigans, but Spy x Family only gets up to one of those thigs. Following master spy, Agent Twilight, as he cobbles together a family for a long-term mission, Spy x Family is instead the most wholesome kind of farce, as no one in his new family — including Twilight himself — knows the true nature of anyone else.
Spy x Family is about just that: a family. Comedy though it may be, the series is at its absolute best when it shows its main trio inching closer and closer to becoming a real family unit that cares for each other. It'd be sweet in any genre, but it's the series' premise that truly makes the idea pop. Spy x Family is just the type of story that feels safe — there are stakes and you care (deeply) about what happens, but anyone looking to read will immediately realize that the series isn't simply looking to give readers a good time, thoughtfully planned out.
1. Chainsaw Man
Shonen Jump's cult hit made even more waves once it finally made it to print this year. Chainsaw Man had all the gore-ridden action and nihilistic doom-saying one could possibly want from a series with a name like its own, and yet it still manages to be so much fun. The series follows Denji, a destitute young man that fuses with his Chainsaw Devil dog and gains the ability to sprout chainsaws from hi s limbs. He's picked up by the government to become an official Devil Hunter, though he gives up all of his rights in the process.
Chainsaw Man is the definition "didn't see that coming." Between all the high-energy, somewhat ridiculous battles and terrifying Devils, Tatsuki Fujimoto constantly blindsides readers with a never ending stream of surprises. Anyone can die permanently, and you'll never see it coming because the death flags don't fly until they're already gone. Beyond that, Denji himself is a rogue agent in his own story, as much a mystery to fans as he is to himself, a welcome relief from the typical unchanging idealist of shonen yore. Everything about Chainsaw Man is a welcome breath of fresh air, and makes it one to catch up on ahead of its anime debut.
All entries written by Kiara Halls
