Summary
- Adventure manga offers unique, dark narratives with flawed heroes and cautionary tales on human nature.
- Night Light Hounds follows Jimmy navigating a world of vampires, mobsters, and power struggles.
- Drifting Dragons is a gaslamp fantasy about dragon hunting, reflecting humanity's predatory nature.
Adventure Manga is not only about perfect heroes fighting against evil, or overpowered main characters in the middle of a power trip. Some of these stories offer a different, more humane approach to adventure, with less-than-perfect protagonists, worlds falling apart due to different circumstances, and even the refusal to accept the call.
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This list covers some of the best adventure manga that readers might never have heard of, but that are very special in their own way. With dark, gloomy worldbuilding, stories of love lost and friendship found. Some are even cautionary tales about human nature and our endless search for more, despite having it all right in the palm of our hands.
1 Night Light Hounds
Incredible Art, With Urban Dark Fantasy
- Author: Haruhisa Nakata
- Release Date: October 19, 2024
- Status: Ongoing
Night Light Hounds is the story of Jimmy, an errand boy for a band of mobsters in a fictional North American city, where Vampires and the mafia have merged into a powerful, shady organization that treats humans as mere cattle. Jimmy is caught between these lowlifes, the night creatures governing them, and a mysterious organization that attempts to deal with them all using the power of a lycanthropic little girl named Lilli.
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Lilli is the result of human experimentation, or a cursed child, that is not clear yet, but in this merge of adventure, dark fantasy, and urban fantasy, readers will experience the thrill of a good plot and tons of conspiracies, where Jimmy starts to play double agent as part of the mobster vampire family, while assisting the ones hunting them down.
2 Drifting Dragons
Sad, Melancholic, Emotional Deepness At Its Finest
- Author: Taku Kuwabara
- Release Date: June, 2016
- Status: Ongoing
Drifting Dragons is a masterfully narrated adventure manga will take readers on a trip across the skies, telling a tale in the likeness of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, only that instead of whales, the protagonists are harpooning dragons. This gaslamp fantasy adventure is set in an alternate reality where dragon meat, oil, and all products taken from this legendary prey are the sustenance of the whole population.
It is also a deep reflection on how mankind's predatory nature is always on the verge of taking the reins and destroying the world. Both parts adventure manga and cautionary tale, Drifting Dragons is a feast for the sore eyes, tired of so much isekai fantasy.
3 The Arms Peddler
A Rough Western About Choices And Consequences
- Author: Nanatsuki Kyoichi
- Release Date: May 7, 2010
- Status: Hiatus
In this vicious and unapologetic western-like adventure, a boy is about to die when a mysterious woman offers him a choice: To surrender to his fate or be saved and serve her for the rest of his life. A blood-bound debt, in a world where there's no place for the weak, sets in motion a vertiginous plot of revenge, murder, and a wild chase across a post-apocalyptic world.
Nanatsuki Kyoichi knows how to knit a good revenge plot, but since it's well disguised as an adventure shonen loaded with gore and action, many readers might have missed it entirely. Greatly underrated, though sadly, it's currently on a hiatus due to the author's health issues.
4 The Witch And The Beast
A Dark Supernatural Adventure
- Author: Kousuke Satake
- Release Date: October 27, 2020
- Status: Ongoing
A mysterious creature in human flesh, a gloomy and obsessive mage, paired together in the worst possible circumstances. What could go wrong? The Witch And The Beast is a dark fantasy adventure set in a world where magic and technology clash, while people suffer the consequences of chaotic magical phenomena, and nothing is what it seems.
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The deuteragonist, named Guideau looks like a woman, but is in fact a supernatural creature trapped in the body of a witch by another spellcaster. Thirsty for revenge, she is paired with a member of the Order of Magical Resonance named Ashaf, and together they investigate many magically related incidents, in the hopes of finding whoever is responsible for Guideau's curse.
5 Wolfsmund
Like The Chivalric Tales Of Yore
- Author: Kuji Mitsuhisa
- Ran From: 2009 to 2016
- Status: Complete (8 Volumes)
Wolfsmund is a historical epic adventure manga that will surely satisfy those who loved Vinland Saga. The story is set in an alternate version of 14th-century Switzerland, an era of civil unrest, war, and oppressive tyrants. Its main protagonist is the villainous and cruel Duke Wolfram, who rules the lands around Gotthard Pass with an iron fist.
The folks have no choice but to obey or be brutally executed, while unknown heroes fight in the shadows to rebel against the tyrannical government that has drained the peasants to the point of breaking their souls. Its beautiful art and detailed plot are one of the best examples of the potential of a classic chivalry tale adapted to the manga format.
6 Gunka No Baltzar
War Is An Adventure, As Long As You Are On The Winning Side
- Author: Michitsune Nakajima
- First Published: January 21, 2011
- Status: Ongoing (Vol. 19 coming next)
Also known as Batlzar: The Art of War, this manga created by the talented Michitsune Nakajima narrates the adventure of Bernd Baltzar, a successful military officer of Weissen who is abruptly transferred to the Military Academy of Baselland, and ordered to become an instructor. This shadow demotion is the product of a series of conspiracies that have trapped Baltzar, and forced him to put a halt to his successful career.
Those who feared his rise to power have done their best to put him in the crossfire of a power struggle between Weissen and its rival country, Ezreich. To add insult to injury, the poor state of Baselland's military forces and the imminent succession war between the two crown princes of the country put this former prodigy in a delicate position. Despite all odds being against him, Baltzar won't allow any of his students (or himself) to fall prey to this vicious political play. It's a really interesting adventure story, with some airs of kingdom building as well.
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