Before the Pirate King was executed, he dared the many pirates of the world to seek out the fortune that he left behind in one piece.
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again! Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of nakama, is setting off in search of "One Piece", said to be the greatest treasure in the world.

Note: The best-selling series in manga history.

Was a finalist for the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize from 2000 to 2002. The German translation of Vol 44 won the Sondermann audience award at the Frankfurt Book Fair Comics Centre in 2005.
Won the 41st Japan Cartoonists Association Award Grand Prize alongside Neko Darake in 2012.

From ANN:

Guts, known as the Black Swordsman, seeks sanctuary from the demonic forces attracted to him and his woman because of a demonic mark on their necks, and also vengeance against the man who branded him as an unholy sacrifice. Aided only by his titanic strength gained from a harsh childhood lived with mercenaries, a gigantic sword, and an iron prosthetic left hand, Guts must struggle against his bleak destiny, all the while fighting with a rage that might strip him of his humanity.

Warning: This manga is for mature audiences only, since it has sexual content and graphic violence (gore, blood, rape, etc). Definitely not for the weak hearted.

The 1988 Prototype chapter won a prize at the Comi Manga School Miura attended and the main series won the Tezuka Osamu Award for Excellence in 2002.

A youth named Kiriyama Rei, who lost his family as a child, endures loneliness to become a professional shogi player. Then, through a chance meeting, he develops a relationship with the three Kawamoto sisters (Akari, Hinata, Momo), who hail from a working-class district of the city, and little by little his frozen heart begins to thaw.

Note: Nominated for the 2nd Annual Manga Taishou in 2009 and won this award in 2011.
Won the Kodansha Manga Award in the general category (shared with Space Brothers) in 2011 and won the Grand Prize of the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2014.

The story begins with a beautiful girl, her perfectly fake smile, and the people who love her selfishly for it.

What transpires behind the scenes of the glittering showbiz industry? How far would you go for the sake of your beloved idol? What would you do if you found out reincarnation was real? The star of the show is Aquamarine Hoshino and the stage is but a mere facade. Will he manage to reach the climax before the world of glamour swallows him whole?

Note: In August 2021, Oshi no Ko won the Next Manga Award in the print category.

The story begins with Japan's elimination from the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which prompts the Japanese Football Union to start a programme scouting high school players who will begin training in preparation for the 2022 Cup. Isagi Youichi, a forward, receives an invitation to this programme soon after his team loses the chance to go to Nationals because he passed to his less-skilled teammate —who missed— without trying to make the game-changing goal by himself.

Their coach will be Ego Jinpachi, who intends to “destroy Japanese loser football” by introducing a radical new training regimen: isolate 300 young strikers in a prison-like institution called “Blue Lock” and put them through rigorous training aimed at creating “the world's greatest egotist striker.”

Note: Won the 45th Kodansha Manga Award in the shounen category in 2021.

Komi-san is the beautiful and admirable girl that no one can take their eyes off of. Almost the whole school sees her as the cold beauty that's out of their league, but Tadano Hitohito knows the truth: she's just really bad at communicating with others.
Komi-san, who wishes to fix this bad habit of hers, tries to improve herself with the help of Tadano-kun.

Note: In 2022, the manga won the 67th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shounen category.

The adventure is over but life goes on for an elf mage just beginning to learn what living is all about. Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. With the great struggle over, they all go their separate ways to live a quiet life. But as an elf, Frieren, nearly immortal, will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to terms with the mortality of her friends? How can she find fulfillment in her own life, and can she learn to understand what life means to the humans around her? Frieren begins a new journey to find the answer.

Note: Won the 14th Manga Taisho and the New Creator Prize of the 25th annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2021.

Makunochi Ippo is an ordinary high school student in Japan. Since he spends most of his time away from school helping his mother run the family business, he doesn't get to enjoy his younger years like most teenagers. Always a target for bullying at school, Ippo's life is one of hardship. One of these after-school bullying sessions turns Ippo's life around for the better, as he is saved by a boxer named Takamura. He decides to follow in Takamura's footsteps and train to become a boxer, giving his life direction and purpose. Ippo's path to perfecting his pugilistic prowess is just beginning.

Note: Won the 15th Kodansha Manga Award for Best Shounen Manga in 1991.

Seinen sports series, serialized on Big Comic Spirits. Nominated for the 2017 Manga Taisho Award.

In Giant Killing a ragtag bunch from East Tokyo are struggling in Japan's top football league. The team is going through an abysmal spell right now where they are nearing the bottom of the table and have lost 5 matches in a row. The losses haven't done much to team morale, because it was already low. Fan support, on the other hand, is looking bleak. In the world of football, once the fans turn on a team the end is near. Teams don't recover. Coaches are fired, players are sold, and teams drop to lower divisions where profits often prevent them from ever being successful against even mediocre top division teams. East Tokyo United, ETU, can only blame their coach right now. And Coach is ready to give up this next game to prove to his team and fans, that against the biggest club in the nation he can make this team win.

Note: Won the 34th Annual Kodansha Manga Award (2010) in the General category.

In Teirin High School, you are either part of a gang or an elite sports player. Sousuke Youki, called 'the predator,' is an undefeated master at fighting. One morning, as he finishes up a fight, Kazumi, a prodigy amateur golf player, took a look at Sousuke, ignored him, and walked right by. Infuriated, Sousuke sets out to get revenge on Kazumi for dissing him but Sousuke's revenge takes a detour as he gets himself involved in playing golf by the thuggish golf coach. Will this delinquent break legends and become "the King of Golf"?

King Golf also won the 56th Shogakukan Manga Award in January 2011 in the boys category.

Hong Lyon, a pitiful young princess with only a title, but no power nor authority, meets a young boy named Dowun who offers to help her become a true royal princess… but at what cost?

Winner of the 2019 Tory Comics Award.

"So, Hikaru is no more... If that's true then..."

Yoshiki and Hikaru are two boys who live in a certain village. They're the same age and have always been together growing up. But one day, Yoshiki noticed that "something else" has taken Hikaru's place. Even after learning of this, Yoshiki still wants them to be together. And so, his life with the "something" that looks like his friend begins.

At the same time, strange incidents keep occurring in the village...

Note: Won the Traditional Chinese Global Special Prize at the eighth Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Awards in 2022.

Japan is hit by a series of monumental natural disasters that leave the country fragmented and its people devastated. Follow the lives of its citizens as they deal with massive emigration to refugee camps on the Asian mainland and try to solve the political task of rebuilding their nation.

A Spirit of the Sun is also a retelling and melding of two well-known stories in Japan. The setting is directly lifted from the early '70s disaster science-fiction book and movie "Nippon Chinbotsu," (Japan Sinks) while many of the characters are allegorical to the key players in the Eastern classic "Sangokushi" (The Three Kingdoms). Sangokushi aficionados may discover greater entertainment by watching the characters in A Spirit of the Sun closely to spot these resemblances.

From Kaiji Kawaguchi, the author of Silent Service, Eagle and Zipang (as well as the artist for Confession).

A Spirit of The Sun received the 2006 Shogakukan Manga Award for the seinen/general category along with Rainbow by Masasumi Kakizaki and George Abe.

Winner of LINE Manga Award: I don't have the normal kind of communication problem! If it's kids, I can get along with them just fine - my communication problems are limited! Nashikawa, a high school student with this kind of troublesome disposition, enters a "Volunteering Club", in which he watches kids!? Will Nashikawa be able to overcome his communication problems while being surrounded by quirky club members and little kids!?

Doraemon, a cat shaped robot which came from the 22nd century in the future, goes back in time in order to help Nobita, a below average lazy kid, to make his life less miserable and improve his descendent's life. With many of Doreamon's gadgets from the future, Nobita's life will never be the same.

Note: It was awarded the first Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga in 1982 and also won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Grand Prize in 1997.

Iwakura Mitsumi always had big dreams, of leaving her small town, advancing to the top tier university, and then contributing to the country before retiring back to her home town. So focused is she to her goal that she is oblivious to all the other ways she comes up short, much to the chagrin and concern of her friends and family. Can a naive country girl make it in Tokyo?

Note: In 2023, this manga won the 47th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category.

-from Baka-Updates: A manga that revolves around an old-fashioned all-night food stall, the various dishes that the stall owner prepares to suit the tastes of different customers, and the joys, griefs, trials and tribulations of his faithful patrons. Nominated for the 2nd Manga Taisho Award (2009). Won the 39th Japan Cartoonist Awards Grand Prize (2010).

The story of a crossdresser who receives a confession from a junior.

Azumi focuses upon the life of the titular young female assassin. The manga begins an indeterminate number of years after the Battle of Sekigahara.
As Azumi begins her duty, the manga introduces its characters into mainstream history. Many of the early missions that Azumi undertakes are the assassinations of the prominent supporters and generals of the Toyotomi Clan, against whom Tokugawa Ieyasu expected to again go to war. The manga 'reveals' that many of the Toyotomi leaders who conveniently died of diseases or accidents prior to the final confrontation between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa were actually victims of assassinations by Azumi and her comrades, thus indicating to the reader when the events were taking place.

Note: Won an Excellence Prize at the 1997 Japan Media Arts Festival and the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1998.