We live in a time where we are forced to rush things. The world is overflowing with content that begs to be noticed, and we oblige, filling our minds with tons of information. Some of it is useful, some of it is dreadful, some is entertaining (which fits into the useful category but is important enough to be on its own), and some feels just like a dead weight. Some of us like to battle informational overload with a short focus change. You know, this moment when you jump from one social network to another? Or just scrolling through your feed after a daunting task at work?
You can use manga as a short focus change, too. And instead of investing time into a huge multichapter series that would leave you hanging with cliffhanger after cliffhanger each chapter, choose a one-shot — a short self-contained story. We made a little list of them specifically for that.
How Pathetic We Are by Hakuri
A wholesome story about a popular star and a songwriter who stopped writing songs and got reacquainted sometime later. The main topic is about believing in yourself, believing others, and following what your heart tells you, casting the doubts aside. Something to ease the mind. It plays a little with the "opposites attract" trope and has a bit of a drama, but overall it's a very warm and fuzzy story — just the one to help deal with the cold world outside.
Coming Home by Go Fujimoto
The life of queer people in Japan is often shown through the lens of regular yuri and yaoi manga which quite often is far from reality. This short story from Go Fujimoto portrays a more realistic take on the life of a gay person: about the prejudices and stereotypes, about life within the expectations of others, about dealing with the social stigma. In this one a man, who was living away from his family after coming out, sees them again — and this meeting is as interesting as it can be.
Love Letter by Ozaki Kaori
This one-shot has a very cute art style but deals with some tragic things. It's based on the concept of reincarnation where souls can choose their mothers, and one of the souls chooses a seemingly delinquent 17-year-old girl. The story is told from the soul's perspective and is pretty tear-jerking, but in a surprisingly wholesome way.
Teary Tantan Ramen by Takahashi Tsutomu
A rollercoaster worthy of an indie drama, this story teaches you how you can lose whatever's important to you in an instant, so sometimes it's better to live in the moment and catch whatever happiness life throws your way.
Love Suicide by Nakayama Atsushi
A wonderful blend of horror, romance, and comedy, this short story deals with a badly socialized and scary-looking cafe manager, his crush, and a narrator in the shape of an employee who somehow gets roped into that as a matchmaker. The art style is hilarious, the story is quite funny, and the implications of the finale are horrifying.
Goodbye Body by Yamamoto Hideo
A short supernatural love story about an extremely ill person who just wants to be able to caress his lover for a while longer, to be able to hold hands with them, to be able to enjoy their presence to the fullest, not in a dying, barely movable body, but in a functional one. It's somber and sweet, and the style is beautiful.
Weirdo by Kosode Kanikita, Kanata Omori, Tatsui Koto
This one is a real rollercoaster. In fifteen pages you'll have nine plot twists that change the perspective of the story in an unimaginable way. It's crazy and funny in its unpredictability, combining comedy and crime drama with what could've been considered a thriller if not for the small size of the story.
13 by Sorachi Hideaki
If you wanted some romance in Gintama but didn't get any and your imagination failed you, you can check out 13 by the same author: it's a blend of comedy, drama, and action with a genuine interpretation of rivals-to-lovers trope in the unique, fully Gintama-esque style. You get assassins, gangs, fights, and a fluffy white-haired dude as a protagonist. Sounds legit, right?
Miss T-Rex Heart by Manabe Jouji, Miyonescy
A reverse isekai, sure, but a very interesting one: it's about a T-Rex who was reincarnated as a modern girl. Sounds silly and insane, and that's exactly how it is. One of the longest one-shots in this list, but it's worth every second: it's hilarious, and cute, with a speckle of romance on top of the overall madness. Truly refreshing and capable of bringing some laughs out of the reader.
Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto
This story by the author of Chainsawman is as much of a mix of things as his most notable works. It's a comedy-drama with bits of thriller and horror, aided by some mind games and tragedy. The story is quite convoluted, about a girl who was drawing comics for the school newspaper and was praised by it but then was replaced by another guy and decided to devote her whole being to beating him in the creation of manga — and ultimately abandoning this goal sometime later. Yet that's not the whole story — as you know Fujimoto, there are some funky twists in it.
A very satisfying nibble.
We live in a time where we are forced to rush things. The world is overflowing with content that begs to be noticed, and we oblige, filling our minds with tons of information. Some of it is useful, some of it is dreadful, some is entertaining (which fits into the useful category but is important enough to be on its own), and some feels just like a dead weight. Some of us like to battle informational overload with a short focus change. You know, this moment when you jump from one social network to another? Or just scrolling through your feed after a daunting task at work?
You can use manga as a short focus change, too. And instead of investing time into a huge multichapter series that would leave you hanging with cliffhanger after cliffhanger each chapter, choose a one-shot — a short self-contained story. We made a little list of them specifically for that.
How Pathetic We Are by Hakuri
A wholesome story about a popular star and a songwriter who stopped writing songs and got reacquainted sometime later. The main topic is about believing in yourself, believing others, and following what your heart tells you, casting the doubts aside. Something to ease the mind. It plays a little with the "opposites attract" trope and has a bit of a drama, but overall it's a very warm and fuzzy story — just the one to help deal with the cold world outside.
Coming Home by Go Fujimoto
The life of queer people in Japan is often shown through the lens of regular yuri and yaoi manga which quite often is far from reality. This short story from Go Fujimoto portrays a more realistic take on the life of a gay person: about the prejudices and stereotypes, about life within the expectations of others, about dealing with the social stigma. In this one a man, who was living away from his family after coming out, sees them again — and this meeting is as interesting as it can be.
Love Letter by Ozaki Kaori
This one-shot has a very cute art style but deals with some tragic things. It's based on the concept of reincarnation where souls can choose their mothers, and one of the souls chooses a seemingly delinquent 17-year-old girl. The story is told from the soul's perspective and is pretty tear-jerking, but in a surprisingly wholesome way.
Teary Tantan Ramen by Takahashi Tsutomu
A rollercoaster worthy of an indie drama, this story teaches you how you can lose whatever's important to you in an instant, so sometimes it's better to live in the moment and catch whatever happiness life throws your way.
Love Suicide by Nakayama Atsushi
A wonderful blend of horror, romance, and comedy, this short story deals with a badly socialized and scary-looking cafe manager, his crush, and a narrator in the shape of an employee who somehow gets roped into that as a matchmaker. The art style is hilarious, the story is quite funny, and the implications of the finale are horrifying.
Goodbye Body by Yamamoto Hideo
A short supernatural love story about an extremely ill person who just wants to be able to caress his lover for a while longer, to be able to hold hands with them, to be able to enjoy their presence to the fullest, not in a dying, barely movable body, but in a functional one. It's somber and sweet, and the style is beautiful.
Weirdo by Kosode Kanikita, Kanata Omori, Tatsui Koto
This one is a real rollercoaster. In fifteen pages you'll have nine plot twists that change the perspective of the story in an unimaginable way. It's crazy and funny in its unpredictability, combining comedy and crime drama with what could've been considered a thriller if not for the small size of the story.
13 by Sorachi Hideaki
If you wanted some romance in Gintama but didn't get any and your imagination failed you, you can check out 13 by the same author: it's a blend of comedy, drama, and action with a genuine interpretation of rivals-to-lovers trope in the unique, fully Gintama-esque style. You get assassins, gangs, fights, and a fluffy white-haired dude as a protagonist. Sounds legit, right?
Miss T-Rex Heart by Manabe Jouji, Miyonescy
A reverse isekai, sure, but a very interesting one: it's about a T-Rex who was reincarnated as a modern girl. Sounds silly and insane, and that's exactly how it is. One of the longest one-shots in this list, but it's worth every second: it's hilarious, and cute, with a speckle of romance on top of the overall madness. Truly refreshing and capable of bringing some laughs out of the reader.
Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto
This story by the author of Chainsawman is as much of a mix of things as his most notable works. It's a comedy-drama with bits of thriller and horror, aided by some mind games and tragedy. The story is quite convoluted, about a girl who was drawing comics for the school newspaper and was praised by it but then was replaced by another guy and decided to devote her whole being to beating him in the creation of manga — and ultimately abandoning this goal sometime later. Yet that's not the whole story — as you know Fujimoto, there are some funky twists in it.
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