Even though I have been with The Outerhaven since 2014, I never did a Manga of the Year. At first, I may not have been reading enough to even make a Top 5 list, but now that I’ve kind of become a manga collector, I’ve read plenty of series to compile a list of my Top 5.
Since this is an inaugural award, let’s lay down some ground rules because manga is a bit different than anime. With anime, I always try to go for new series, rather than sequels. With manga, sequels are, in fact, on the table. The only rule is that a manga must START in 2022. It does not have to finish. It can still be ongoing, but it just means that it’s eliminated from next year’s award if it’s still continuing on to 2023 and beyond. No manga that started before 2022 and continued on or finished this year is eligible. I’m only looking at new publications.
Also, I will not be including things such as Solo Leveling or The Beginning After the End. Those are, technically, comics and not manga even though they are being distributed by a manga publisher
With the ground rules established, let’s look at the list of contenders for this inaugural award!
2022 NOMINEES
The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic
Usotoki Rhetoric
Grey: Hello Winter
Look Back
Chitose is in the Ramune Bottle
Sensei’s Pious Lie
I Want to Be A Wall
I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Become Unrivaled in the Real World, Too
Re:ZERO The Frozen Bond
A Galaxy Next Door
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible
The Music of Marie
Shino Can’t Say Her Name
The Girl in the Arcade
Rainbow Days
Going through and looking at this list, I was surprised that I picked up as many new series as I did. I already know I’m picking up a few new ones in 2023 like Choujin X, Honey Lemon Soda, and a few others, but I didn’t think I had started this many new series this year! Well, we have to narrow them down anyway so let’s get to it!
5. Look Back
How about that? My number 5 for anime and manga ended up being by the same creator! Tatsuki Fujimoto, also responsible for Chainsaw Man, painted a bit of a realistic picture about two girls… one dazzled her class with her manga… and one was a shut-in that just happened to be better than her. It was quite a profound piece that I wished was more than just a one-shot. While I didn’t really like the art style, as I felt Fujimoto’s art was better suited for something like Chainsaw Man or Fire Punch, it didn’t really stop the story from being extremely interesting. This one-shot really shows off Fujimoto’s versatility, and I really enjoyed this one!
4. Rainbow Days
I wanted to put this one higher because it made such a huge impression on me from the first volume, but that’s just the thing… this was a latecomer to 2022 as there was only one volume and it came out just a few weeks before this article. I haven’t had a chance to really get to know this series, but I included it anyway because that’s how much the first volume left an impression on me. It takes your typical teenage romance story and spices it up with incredible characters that have their own unique and diverse personalities that, on the surface, look to mix like oil and water but they gel together so nicely. It’s a risk putting it here because there is a LOT more to go and which means there is plenty of time for me to stick my foot in my mouth but with a first volume as strong as that… I have faith that the excellent quality will hold!
3. Usotoki Rhetoric
A girl can hear lies… and that gets her exiled from her hometown! Well… she chooses to be exiled so that her parents don’t have to be. Then, she’s picked up by a detective and the mysteries begin. Mystery Detective series are few and far between, and there have been times when Japan has tried to mix it up (like with Psychic Detective Yakumo or ID:Invaded). While it’s hit or miss, I believe this one is a big hit. While the premise is rather simplistic, the way everything is laid out, grips you, entertains you, and makes you feel that connection to its characters! Definitely a series worthy of being in my Top 5 for this year!
2. Chitose is in the Ramune Bottle
Just like with my anime picks, this one wrestled with my choice for the top spot and my top choice may just surprise you as it’s not a full series like this one is. Still, this series is one of the ones I keep looking forward to each time a new volume is released. Bringing a shut-in back to school and trying to make him fit in is an interesting premise and then you learn that our main cast is more two-faced than they appear to be. It really sets things up in a really interesting way and puts a much-needed spin on the high school genre. Just with simple twists, it grips you and makes you want to read more. You experience a myriad of emotions which is what a good story should make you do. Had my number one spot not done that more than this one, this would have won.
But one did grip me more than Chitose is in the Ramune Bottle did and it belongs to a single omnibus.
1. The Music of Marie
Once in a while, I get a bit misty-eyed when watching anime, but I have never shed a tear over a manga until read this one. This one mixes a bit of slice-of-life and drama into a world steeped with religion and fantasy. The twist towards the end is what really got me, and the aftermath of that twist put a lot of things into perspective. You take a journey through an island nation and how they all interact and support each other. Then you learn the truth behind it all, and then it hits you across the face even harder after learning the truth. It was one of the wildest and most emotionally-charged journeys I took all year and the one and only series that made me think and daydream about it for over a week after reading it. While I read a lot of good series this year, this was the one that hit me the most, and it proves that you don’t have to be long-running to leave an impact. Heck, the very fact that there are two single-volume series on this list is proof of that!
So, that’s it! Those are my Top 5 Manga of 2022. Again, if you have something different, feel free to toss it down below!
Until then,
Ja ne!
