Updated May 12, 2024 by testing

Greetings! I am back once again, your personal guide in the world of anime and manga! Today I’ll take into 12 Manga about depression.

Depression can take on many forms like a meal. It can be served as a grotesque plate that will make you tear and barf, it can also be a sweet looking poisonous pie or bland bread. Nevertheless the path of torment and suffering lies ahead.

This is a maze that only the strongest will could enter! There are no Ace donuts here nor Shou Tucker’s experiments, but I guarantee that you’ll experience what depression is as you read my recommendation list!

Are you prepared to face the void? Well then, let me open a portal for you!

 

MANGA THAT TALKS ABOUT DEPRESSION

 

12. Peephole

Title	Peephole
Author	Larsson (Story & Art)
Genre	Horror and Romance
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Manga Box
Published	Dec 6, 2013 to Sep 23, 2016
Chapters	135 Chapters
Volumes	8

In this depressing world, sometimes all we need is Yandere to give us ray of hope and loads of suffering~

-From yours Truly 

Starting off with Peephole! Where you’ll meet Etsurou Kurosu who has been depressed in his life and decided, “You know what? Maybe I should yeeeeeet.” However, our main character thought he could end his life by hanging himself through a wall hook, hanging the rope on the hook then wrapping it around his neck .

The failed attempt had led him to a hole in the wall where it gave him a ray of hope in life as he observed the life of his beautiful neighbor Rio Miyachi. What was supposed to be a glory hole of sight turned out to be a horrible nightmare when he finds out that Rio’s hobby was murder.

Upon Rio’s finding out about the peephole, Etsurou was spared in exchange for accepting who she is as a person and becoming her boyfriend. HELL YEAH! WE’D ACCEPT THAT. Now, our depressed main character has no choice but to go deep in the world of killers, in order to survive.       

Looking for another Future Diary like manga? Peephole or Ana Satsujin is manga that promises you a yandere that you might love or hate.

 

11. Limit

Title	Limit
Author	Suenobu Keiko (Story & Art)
Genre	Drama
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Bessatsu Friend
Published	Oct 13, 2009 to Sep 13, 2011
Chapters	23
Volumes	6

 How far can you push your limits and overcome the depressing reality? Can you survive in a“perfect world”? Or would you fall into the hands of despair?

This is the case of Mizuki Konno, a high school student who was fortunate enough to be friends with class idols. One day, their school decided to have a field trip. What was supposed to be a fun and joyous adventure for them, however, turned into an experience that they will never forget.

Just like any school trip an accident happens. This claimed the lives of everyone in the bus except for Mizuki and four of her classmates. Injured and lost in the wilderness, the remaining students must work together in order to survive.

But can they? When all of them seem to hate each other.

Limit explores depression in high school students trapped in the hands of tragedy. With a strong theme towards bullying and the emphasis on karma. The question to be asked is, would you be safe, when the bullied becomes the oppressor?

 

10. Himizu

Title	Himizu
Author	Furuya, Minoru (Story & Art)
Genre	Drama,
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Young Magazine (Weekly)
Published	Jan 29, 2001 to Mar 11, 2002
Chapters	43
Volumes	4

 Death is like a gacha roll every day. You’ll never know what you’ll  draw! According to the manga, every day in Japan there are 2500 people who die from multiple number of causes.

But why should we worry? That’s how our main character named Sumida thinks. Live a normal life, job and kids. To be content with peace is what he desires. Those who disagree are foolish and bound to fall.

But how long can he keep his perspective? Life seems to throw him a lot of problems. Losing his father because his mother kicked him out, his mom leaves him to live with her new boyfriend, and demons just whisper to him.

Can our main character keep his lifestyle or will he fall into depression? Will you attain something a dream or fantasy from the manga, or will you learn the cold hard truth of reality?

9. A Silent Voice

Title	A Silent Voice
Author	Ooima, Yoshitoki (Story & Art)
Genre	Drama
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Shounen Magazine (Weekly)
Published	Aug 7, 2013 to Nov 19, 2014
Chapters	64
Volumes	7

 To meet the person who gave you a hard time as a child. How will you react?

 A silent voice introduces you to Shouya Ishida and Shouko Nishimiya. The bully and the victim who will meet each other again years later. Shouya used to be the kid who gave Shouko a hard time, when her life was already difficult because of her hearing disability.

Every day was constant taunts and assaults. However, the bullying ended when Shouko transferred school. That was when Shouya realized his actions went too far and hurt the poor kid. This led to him being blamed and turning his world upside down. From Bully to being bullied.

It wouldn’t be complete without me recommending this award-winning manga! This masterpiece is a tear jerker that you should give a chance because you are really missing out if you haven’t read it before.

 

8. Song for Apollo

Title	Song for Apollo
Author	Tezuka, Osamu (Story & Art)
Genre	Drama, Fantasy
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Shounen King
Published	Apr 13, 1970 to Nov 9, 1970
Chapters	6
Volumes	3

This is a manga that you probably never heard about, because this manga was made long before you were born. A classic age drink for those who desire!

Our main character is Shougo, a young man who has no love for any human and even animal. You could say that he is a psychopath due to his remarks on killing poor animals. Shougo was sent to the mental hospital where he had a vision.

It was said that he would fall in love with the same girl over and over again, but there’s a twist. They will always die before they can be truly together (Now we know where Meliodas and Elizabeth from 7 deadly sins was based from XD).

Apollo’s song nailed the main character in portraying how a person can be a psychopath due to the lack of love and attention a child needs at a young age. Depression is cultivated at a young age and it grows into a mental disorder.

 

 7. Welcome to the N.H.K.

       

Title	Welcome to the N.H.K.
Author	Ooiwa Kenji (Art), Takimoto Tatsuhiko (Story)
Genre	Comedy, Drama, Romance
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Shounen Ace
Published	Dec 26, 2003 to Apr 26, 2007
Chapters	40
Volumes	8

This is a Manga that centers on overcoming being a “hikikomori” (a japanese term for people who avoid social contact) , shut-in or NEET. Personally, I do think there’s nothing wrong with being a hikimori, but in Japan they are seen as pitiful. However, it is an undeniable truth that most of them struggle mentally, since to shut yourself away from society is drawn by a strong reason.

Welcome to the N.H.K. is a story of Tasuhiro Satou, our 22-year-old main character who has been unemployed for four years. He is a shut-in who struggles with basic interaction with others. One day he encountered a girl named Misaki Nakahara, who offered him help to cure his Hikimori lifestyle.

This manga follows the comedic story of a Hikimori who desires to overcome his problems. Will he succeed? Or will he revert back to his old ways. Find out!  If you’re interested in a dose of happiness rather than gaining depression then you should definitely check this out!

 

 6. Suicide Island

Title	Suicide Island
Author	Mori, Kouji (Story & Art)
Genre	Drama, Mystery
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Young Animal
Published	Nov 14, 2008 to Aug 26, 2016
Chapters	168
Volumes	17

I would like to introduce you to a survival drama that answers the question of how we can save money since mental health takes a lot of budgets in our country? The answer is Suicide Island!

Ah yes! Just throwing all the depressed people into one big island is the perfect solution. Suicide Island is a project made because of low budget and personal respect argumentation. As morally unethical it sounds, the question lies on what if it’s effective?

The answer is for you to find out once you check the manga!

 

5. Cross of the Six People

Title	Cross of the Six People
Author	Nakatake Shiryuu (Story & Art)
Genre	Mystery, Suspense
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Magazine pocket
Published	Mar 9, 2020 –
Chapters	On-going (92 chapters)
Volumes	7 (So Far)

IF YOU WANT TO SUFFER THEN THIS MANGA IS FOR YOU! HEHE~

Cross of the Six People or Juujika No Rokunin is a story that will make any empath rage and cry.  How far can a person take in order to become a killer?

Follow the story Shun Uruma, a poor boy subjected to torment by his five classmates who labeled him as Experiment A, probably due to the psychological experiments that they tried on him in the past. He has been through a lot, but the last straw that broke the camel’s back was when his bullies caused the death of his precious family.

Left with nothing, he had no choice but to live with his grandfather who was part of the Kitayama Corps. Shun swore to have his revenge on the children who murdered his family.

Cross of the Six People builds up a strong mix of emotion as you read the first chapter. It will make you question whether the action of taking one’s life is justifiable to those who deserve it. It’s a well-made manga that explores the actions of murder, ethically, philosophically and psychologically.

If you are interested in revenge theme manga, then this series was made for you!

 

4. I.S

Title	I.S
Author	Rokuhana, Chiyo (Story & Art)
Genre	Drama, Romance
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Kiss
Published	Jul 8, 2003 to Jul 25, 2009
Chapters	82
Volumes	17

Determining your own gender identity is already a struggle. But what if it’s your own sexual orientation? Am I a man or woman? What am I?

This is the struggle of an intersex which was explored through the life of Hiromi. Read the manga and you’ll see how they go through a lot of problems, whether growing up as a certain gender or hiding who they really are.

The amazing thing about this manga is that it’s not one sided, but rather explores different cases. It’s an award-winning manga that carries a heavy drama, and presents the reality of intersexual people.

 

3. Takopii no Genzai

Title	Takopi’s Original Sin
Author	Taizan 5 (Story & Art)
Genre	Drama, Sci-fi
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Shounen Jump+
Published	Dec 10, 2021 to Mar 25, 2022
Chapters	16
Volumes	2

There’s a lot of bullying themed mangas that I recommend because bullying is one of the reasons why depression exists in the first place. Innocent boys and girls fall into despair, because of people who love to bully, which is not cool!

Our cute main character is a squid-like creature from another planet known as Happian. The adorable creature has a main purpose to spread happiness. Upon arriving on earth, the small being encountered a little girl named Shizuka Kuze.

The young girl named him Takopii and fed him from time to time, in return the Happian decided to make the girl smile. Little did he know the girl constantly suffers from severe bullying from her classmates.

This is another well-made manga, following the story with the essence of innocence and despair. This cute and depressing story will make you say kawaii, wholesome at one moment and then will escalate to what the heck!

This is a manga that’s not made for those who barfs at roller-coasters! If you can survive the ups and downs then I know this manga will make you stronger my friend!

 

2. I am Hero

Title	I am Hero
Author	Hanazawa, Kengo (Story & Art)
Genre	Gore, Psychological
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Big Comic Spirits
Published	Apr 20, 2009 to Feb 27, 2017
Chapters	264
Volumes	22

 Boy you’re in for a treat in this award-winning manga. You’ll be introduced to our 35-year-old Hideo Suzuki, and follow the depressing life of our mangaka assistant! A failure in his series due to low sales, the problem of keeping his relationship all thanks to his anxieties of possible cheating, and not to mention the constant hallucinations.

Jeez, could his life get any worse? Well, the answer is yes! Our Depressed schizophrenic main character soon experiences something that turned the world upside down, an apocalypse.

This is a well-written story that starts off presenting realism, a main character that anyone could be, or at least someone we might know. It tackles schizophrenia in non-cliché matter, or not the usual depressing way.

One thing that you might appreciate is how well formed the main character is to be love, cringed and it draws you to dive in the story more!

The more realistic a manga is, the more depressing it feels to read. Because depression co-exists in real life.  

 

1. Suicide Girl

Title	Suicide Girl
Author	Nakayama Atsushi (Story & Art)
Genre	Action, Horror
Type	Manga
Publishing House	Ultra-Jump
Published	Apr 17, 2020 –
Chapters	On-going (27 translated chapters currently)
Volumes	6 (So Far)

And now for our final act! Let me introduce you to manga that focuses on depression but is written in a creative way!

Just as what’s implied in the title, this anime is strongly centered in the act of killing oneself. However, instead of the gloomy and weary vibe, this is a manga about a Magical Girl that helps people overcome depression and prevent them from committing suicide.

Kirai Aokigahara is a girl that gives you the “She looks happy, she can’t be depressed!” Aokigahara was one the four people who visited Sucide Café/Seaside Cafe, in hopes that they would get isekai’d. But it turns out to be a program to save people from depression.

Aokigahara was the only person that wasn’t affected by the concoction that cures depression. Turns out that she was the chosen one to save people from depression and that she herself couldn’t end her life no matter what she does.

Reading the first few chapters would take you on a roller coaster ride of emotion. This manga is a concoction of hope and despair.

 

 Conclusion

That concludes our tour for the Top 12 Manga about Depression! Have you enjoyed our trip? Don’t cry, don’t lose hope! There are more manga and anime that we’ll explore.

If you enjoyed this recommendation list, feel free to comment on what’s your favorite manga about depression! And if you missed any of your favorites, don’t worry cause there’s a lot to recommend!

But until then, Imma yeet out like Etsurou Kurosu! Kidding!