In recent years, Japanese manga culture has significantly spread to the West, thanks to various cultural exchange programs. At the recent San Diego Comic Con event, a group of Western comic/manga experts shared their picks for the best and most popular manga of 2016:
Best New Manga for Teens
- Haikyu!! – Haruichi Furudate (Shonen Jump / Viz Media)
- FukuFuku: Kitten Tales – Konami Kanata (Vertical)
- Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun – Izumi Tsubaki (Yen Press)
- Orange – Ichigo Takano (Seven Seas Entertainment, Crunchyroll Manga)
- Ultraman – Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi (Viz Media)
- Handa-kun – Satsuki Yoshino (Yen Press)
Best New Manga for Adults
- Wandering Island – Kenji Tsuruta (Dark Horse)
- I am a Hero – Kengo Hanazawa (Dark Horse)
- Goodnight Punpun – Asano Inio (VIZ Signature / Viz Media)
- Sherlock – Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Jay (Titan Entertainment)
- Cigarette Girl – Masahiko Matsumoto (Top Shelf Productions)
Best Continuing Manga for Teens
- A Silent Voice – Yoshitoki Ōima (Kodansha Comics, Crunchyroll Manga)
- Fruits Basket: Collector’s Edition – Natsuki Takaya (Yen Press)
- Noragami: Stray God – Adachitoka (Kodansha Comics)
- Yotsuba&! – Kiyohiko Azuma (Yen Press)
- Your Lie in April – Naoshi Arakawa (Kodansha Comics)
Best Continuing Manga for Adults
- Tokyo Ghoul – Sui Ishida (Viz Media)
- Princess Jellyfish – Akiko Higashimura (Kodansha Comics, Crunchyroll Manga)
- Vinland Saga – Makoto Yukimura (Kodansha Comics)
- Inuyashiki – Hiroya Oku (Kodansha Comics, Crunchyroll Manga)
- Planetes – Makoto Yukimura (Dark Horse Comics)
Manga for Everyone, Regardless of Age
- Black Clover – Yūki Tabata (Shonen Jump, Viz Media)
- Tomodachi x Monster – Yoshihiko Inui (Seven Seas Entertainment)
- Guardians of the Louvre – Jiro Taniguchi (NBM Graich Novels)
- Ninja Slayer Kills! – Bradley Bond, Phillip Ninj@ Morrez, Koutaro Sekine (Kodansha Comics)
- Servant X Service – Karino Takatsu (Yen Press)
Highly Rated Manga with Low Ratings
- Yowamushi Pedal – Wataru Watanabe (Yen Press)
- Bleach – Tite Kubo (Shonen Jump, Viz Media)
- Kitaro – Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn & Quarterly)
- Kiss Him, Not Me! – Junko (Kodansha Comics, Crunchyroll Manga)
Most Popular New Manga (Released in North America between 2013 – 2014)
- Otherworld Barbara – Moto Hagio (Fantagraphics)
- BLAME! – Tsutomu Nihei (Vertical Comics)
- Flying Witch – Chihiro Ichizuka (Vertical Comics)
- Attack on Titan Anthology – Various (Kodansha Comics)
- Ichi-F: A Worker’s Graphic Memoir of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant – Kazuto Tatsuta (Kodansha Comics)
- ERASED – Kei Sanbe (Yen Press)
Manga That are Most Anticipated (Not Yet Released in English)
- Mob Psycho 100 – ONE (Shogakukan)
- Koshoku Robot (Solitary Dining Robot) – Hisae Iwaoka (Shueisha)
- Hoshi ga Hara Ao Manju no Mori – Hisae Iwaoka (Asahi Sinbunsha)
- Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi) – Ryōko Kui (Enterbrain)
- Giant Killing – Masaya Tsunamoto, Tsujitomo (Kodansha)
According to Crunchyroll
