Dousei Jidai

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A selection of titles from the gekiga scene, a short-lived yet influential artistic movement that flourished during the 1960s to the 1970s and maintains a prominent underground presence today. While mostly known as a pioneer of cinematic paneling and close attention to realism, it would be more accurate to consider gekiga as a counterculture. Surrealistic, autobiographical, and experimental works emerged as an alternative to the Tezuka school of aesthetics and paved the way for other artists to different modes of expression.

This is in NO WAY a comprehensive list and should be treated more as a starting point for diving into this movement. There are so many more important artists and titles in the scene that MAL unfortunately does not have entries for, and probably never will. Since I can't speak Japanese, there may also be some titles that I am unfamiliar with. The 50-title limit doesn't help either, but I hope this gets you started in this often-unexplored side of manga.

Note: Not all of these titles are available in English.
11/04/2022 Updated to include more underground artists.

If you enjoyed this interest stack and want to learn more about gekiga, feel free to check these other outlets:
The MAL Gekiga Club
Taniguchi Scanlations
Habanero Scans
Illuminati-Manga
Hox Scanlations
Stinky Scans
Ryan Holmberg's translations
Star Fruit Books
Glacier Bay Books
Koenji Shawn Reviews
The Comics Journal
Breakdown Press
Drawn and Quarterly
New York Review Comics
AX Volume 1: A Collection of Alternative Manga

Manga that I really like. These entries are generally josei and gekiga series that aim to accurately portray contemporary life. I'll update this occasionally, and I'm open to reccomendations. No entry should rely too much on genre tropes or be fantastical.

I'm not opposed to including series published in shonen or seinen magazines, such as Inu wo Kau. But most series from such magazines are genre works, focused on being fantastical and giving an idealized view of the world. Many of these works deal with sexual themes, such as sexual assault or LBGTQ+ characters. I'm also using "contemporary" to mean the last 50 or so years. Not entirely accurate I know, but "not fantastical" doesn't have the same ring to it I feel.

Not all of these are fully translated.

Want to get your monthly dose of toxic relationships? We got everything from hyper obsessive parents to extremely melodramatic couples! This is a relationship guide for everything you 100% SHOULD NOT do in real life.

** The toxicity is one of the focal points of the manga. I have marked why they are toxic. Everything listed appears in the first few chapters. Some manga may have more toxic elements than what is posted, however it'll appear later in the manga and I don't want to spoil!

Please use list view!

Manga which

[1] give off the vibe of winter, or

[2] associated with common themes:
-- cold, darkness, heartbreak
-- sickness, dormancy, survival, death
-- sadness, despair, loneliness
-- fear, personal struggle, introspection
-- family, holiday, escape

Favorite manga

The other half of the Showa Era stack.

This stack is actively under construction and will be updated.

Using the same distinction between Literary and Genre Fiction.
Manga that focus on characters and themes rather than plot, and don't conform to a genre.

Literary manga != Good manga

Please feel free to message me any suggestions or alterations you feel should be made! I plan to regularly update this list.