20 Best Manga Like Solo Leveling You Need to Read
Solo Leveling is a South Korean novel series written by Chugong and published online at KakaoPage, before being published by D&C Media under its Papyrus publishing imprint. The series consists of 14 volumes and 270 chapters. A webtoon adaptation, illustrated by Dubu (Redice Studio), has been published on the KakaoPage website since March 4, 2018 in South Korea. Comprising 179 chapters, it was completed on December 29, 2021.
To honor the legacy of Solo Leveling, we will list the best manga series like Solo Leveling that every fan needs to read. The list is going to include a total of 20 different titles which resemble the Solo Leveling manga in one way or the other.
1. Hunter × Hunter
Original Run: March 16, 1998 – present (on hiatus)
Number of Volumes: 36
Twelve years before the start of the story, Ging Freecss abandoned his son Gon in the hands of his aunt Mito on Whale Island. Gon, who always believed that his parents were dead, discovers one day thanks to his father’s apprentice, Kite, that he is still alive and has become one of the best hunters, elite individuals and accredited for tracking of secret treasures, exotic beasts, and even other individuals.
Motivated by this revelation, Gon decides to leave his home and take the Hunter Exam, a series of challenges that seek to test the skills, survival, and teamwork of its participants.
2. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Original Run: May 30, 2014 – present
Number of Volumes: 19 + 2 extras
Satoru Mikami is a 37-year-old single salaryman living in Tōkyō: he would be almost satisfied with his monotonous life, if he could have had a girlfriend. As he meets his younger brother in the street, who introduces him to his fiancée, panic spreads to the sidewalk when a lunatic armed with a knife rushes through the crowd: Satoru is mortally wounded in the back by interposing to protect the couple.
As he briefly reflects on himself during his agony, a “voice” listens to him and interprets his “last words”. After regaining consciousness inside a cave, Satoru discovers that he has been reincarnated as a Slime in another world: he, therefore, acquires new special skills, in particular Predator which allows him to absorb anything and to acquire at leisure its appearance, properties, and skills.
Later, he comes across Veldra Tempest, the Catastrophe-level Hurricane Dragon who was sealed away for three centuries for burning a city to ashes. Compassionate for him, Satoru befriends the dragon through a pact, promising to help him destroy the seal: in return, Veldra bestows on him the name Rimuru Tempest to grant him divine protection.
3. Darker than Black
Original Run: February 24, 2007 – November 24, 2007
Number of Volumes: 2
Ten years ago, an inscrutable and anomalous territory known as Hell’s Gate appeared in Tokyo, altering its sky and disfiguring its landscape. The sky disappeared, replaced by false stars. At the same time, people with paranormal powers appeared. Kept secret from the masses, these individuals, known as Contractors, are capable of killing in cold blood thanks to their deadly powers.
Although trade unions hide their purpose from them, various nations around the world use them as spies or agents, often resulting in violent battles for information. The false stars each correspond to the different Contractors, and, whenever the latter use their power, they vibrate. Therefore, the Contracting Parties can be identified through the Messier Catalog.
4. CLAYMORE
Original Run: June 6, 2001 – October 4, 2014
Number of Volumes: 27
Claymore takes place in a fictional world co-inhabited by the human species and by a species of demons known as Yōma, which are natural predators of human beings (in the manga they are also known as Specters). An innate ability of the Yōma is to take human form, which allows them to live hidden among humans.
The only beings capable of identifying these creatures and eliminating them are the female warriors known among humans as Claymores, who are beings created by a secret organization from humans. The name given to these warriors is due to the large sword they carry, known as a claymore. Although their appearance is very similar to humans, they have some peculiarities. The most outstanding physical feature is their silver eyes, which has also earned them the name “silver-eyed witches”.
5. My Hero Academia
Original Run: July 7, 2014 – present
Number of Volumes: 33
Izuku Midoriya, a middle school student fascinated by Heroes from an early age, has always dreamed of one day becoming part of this circle, inspired above all by the deeds of the fearless All Might, the most powerful hero ever to exist and considered. by all as the symbol of peace. However Izuku is now a rare human being born without Quirk, which is why he is continually mocked by his peers who call him contemptuously Deku following Bakugo’s example.
Izuku, however, does not give up and, although not endowed with powers, still tries to always follow his ideal of justice, so much so that one day his ardor will be noticed by All Might himself, who will decide to give him his Quirk: the One For All. This will allow him after a long time to concretely pursue his dream and enter, always under the protective wing of All Might, who has become his mentor, in the prestigious school for superheroes: the Yuuei High School.
Here Midoriya will meet many precious friends and numerous rivals, learn to manage his power, and understand what it really means to be a superhero. The twin nemesis of his Quirk, All For One, as well as the leader of the enemy faction along with Shigaraki Tomura, aims to eliminate the superhero society, often questioning what divides the ideal of a hero from that of a villain.
6. Black Clover
Original Run: February 16, 2015 – present
Number of Volumes: 31
Asta is a determined young boy who lives with his childhood friend, Yuno, in an orphanage in the kingdom of Clover. Since childhood, Asta has had ambitions to become the most powerful magician in the kingdom, “the Mage-Emperor”, which also inspired Yuno to want the same. But unfortunately, Asta was born without any magical talent, while Yuno has spectacular predispositions.
When they turn 15, all the young people of the kingdom are invited to a ceremony where they are given their grimoire: while Yuno receives the legendary grimoire with a four-leaf clover, considered a myth since legend claims that the first Emperor-Mage was also using a grimoire bearing a four-leaf clover, Asta receives nothing. After the ceremony, Yuno is attacked by a brigand who wants to steal his grimoire and then try to sell it.
7. Fairy Tail
Original Run: August 2, 2006 – July 26, 2017
Number of Volumes: 63
The story mainly focuses on the missions carried out by one of the teams of the Fairy Tail guild, composed of Natsu Dragneel (fire dragon hunter), Lucy Heartfilia (constellationist), and Happy (an Exceed, blue cat that can be appear wings, fly and talk), who will soon be joined by Erza Scarlett (Knight Mage) and Gray Fullbuster (Ice Mage then later Ice Demon Hunter), two other members of the famous guild. They are joined during the adventure by Carla (an Exceed white cat, like Happy), Wendy (a celestial dragon slayer), and many others.
8. The Seven Deadly Sins
Original Run: October 10, 2012 – March 25, 2020
Number of Volumes: 41
Liones, Kingdom of Britannia. The Grand Master of the Holy Knights Zaratras was brutally murdered, and the culprits are said to be an order of seven legendary knights in the service of the king who wanted to overthrow the throne.
Ten years later, a young girl named Elizabeth Liones goes in search of these mysterious knights who were once the pride of Liones: the Seven Deadly Sins, a group bringing together seven major criminals chosen by the king himself, to thwart a conspiracy engineered by the holy knights against royalty. It was then that she ended up at the Boar Hat, a tavern whose owner is a little boy accompanied by his pig Hawk.
But what was her surprise when she discovers that the child at the head of the tavern is none other than the Sin of the Dragon of Wrath, leader of the Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas. It is then that their adventures begin in search of the other six Deadly Sins, in order to save Liones.
9. Jujutsu Kaisen
Original Run: March 5, 2018 – present
Number of Volumes: 18
Yuji Itadori is an out-of-the-ordinary high school student who lives in Sendai with his grandfather. Despite his innate talent for sports, he refuses to join the sports team due to his aversion to athletics. Instead, he chooses to join the occult research club, where he can relax and leave school by 5 pm to visit his grandfather in the hospital.
While on his deathbed, his grandfather invites him to “always help others” and recommends that he “die surrounded by people”. After his grandfather’s death, he meets Megumi Fushiguro, a sorcerer who informs him of the existence of a high-level cursed talisman in the school Yuji attended. Meanwhile, his friends from the occult club, in possession of the talisman, open the seal placed on it and attract all the curses in the school on them.
Reaching the school but unable to defeat the curses due to her lack of magical powers, Yuji swallows the finger (the true form of the talisman) to protect Megumi and her friends, becoming the host of Ryomen Sukuna, a very powerful curse. Despite being possessed, Yuji is still able to maintain control of his body.
As a curse, Yuji should have been executed, but thanks to Gojo Satoru (the most powerful and responsible sorcerer of the first-year alumni at the Tokyo Institute of Occult Arts), the upper echelons of the world of witchcraft agree to postpone the execution. until he has absorbed all 20 fragments of Sukuna’s soul (i.e., her 20 fingers), so as to definitively exorcise the curse.
10. Aria
Original Run: November 2002 – April 2008
Number of Volumes: 12
Earth year 2301: It has now been 150 years since Mars was terraformed. The planet was given the new name of Aqua due to the melting of almost all of its ice, which also gave it the nickname “planet of water”, while the Earth was given the new name of Man-Home. Akari Mizunashi is a young terrestrial who moves to Aqua to learn the trade of Undine, the gondoliers who act as a tourist guide in Neo Venice, a reproduction of the ancient terrestrial Venice now completely submerged.
In the “city on the water”, which still does not present the technological innovations now part of everyday life on the mother planet, the stories of Akari, who became an apprentice at the Aria Company, and the people she meets on her path towards professionalism intertwine.
11. Fushigi Yûgi
Original Run: December 1991 – May 1996
Number of Volumes: 18
Miaka Yuki is a cheerful and carefree girl who, however, to enter high school Jonan has to pass very difficult exams. Every day she goes to the library with her friend Yui (who unlike her is good at school) to study. One day Miaka and Yui while they are in the library find an old book on the floor that has fallen off a library shelf.
The book is titled Shijintenchisho (“The Book of the Universe of the Four Gods”) and tells stories set in a fictional country very similar to feudal China. It tells of a girl, who by collecting the seven stars she acquired powers with which she could fulfill any wish. As Miaka reads the first page of the book as a result of a spell, she enters the book with Yui.
The girls are attacked by bandits but are saved by Tamahome, one of the seven stars of Suzaku. After saving, Yui exits the book. While Miaka searches for Tamahome, to find out where Yui has gone. When Miaka finds Tamahome, they have an encounter with the emperor, who locks them up. Later Miaka discovers that she is “Suzaku no miko” (“Priestess of the phoenix”), or the priestess of Suzaku (one of the four gods) represented by a red phoenix, who evokes a deity to avert a war between Konan and Kutou.
Later Miaka along with Tamahome, Hotohori, and Nuriko find a way back home. During the transport, an exchange takes place between Miaka and Yui, which ends up in Kutou. She discovers that she is the priestess of “Seiryū no miko” (“Dragon Priestess”).
12. Fate/Zero
Original Run: December 29, 2006 – December 29, 2007
Number of Volumes: 4
The Einzbern, one of the three founding families, after three unsuccessful attempts, wish at all costs to seize the Holy Grail, thus deciding to enlist the hated killer of wizards, Kiritsugu Emiya, despite his controversial methods of action are not welcomed. and his long-established reputation as a mercenary and ruthless assassin: he is said to employ whatever means necessary to achieve his goals.
However, in the eight years of preparation for the war, Kiritsugu falls in love with Irisviel von Einzbern, the one who by her nature from Homunculus will become the grail cup, with whom he has a daughter: Ilyasviel von Einzbern. At that point, the killer will soon find himself deeply torn between the love he feels for his new family and what he will have to do to get the Holy Grail.
13. GOBLIN SLAYER!
Original Run: February 15, 2016 – present (light novel)
Number of Volumes: 15
In a whimsical universe where everyone’s fate is ruled by dice rolls by the destiny rolls of deities, adventurers in search of wealth and glory come from all over the world to join the Adventurers’ Guild. An inexperienced young priestess who has joined the Guild joins a group of rookie adventurers, but her first quest turns into a nightmare when the rest of her team is slaughtered by Goblins: she owes her salvation only to a mysterious man in armor, the “Goblin Slayer” (in the original version, Goblin Slayer), an adventurer knight whose one and only objective is the eradication of these creatures.
14. InuYasha
Original Run: November 13, 1996 – June 18, 2008
Number of Volumes: 56
Inu-Yasha is a hanyô, that is to say, a half-demon, half-human being. One day, he attacks the village protecting the Shikon Pearl, then steals it and runs away. The Pearl of Shikon (its real name is Shikon No Tama) is said to possess unimaginable powers, including greatly increasing the powers of the demon who possesses it. Inu-Yasha, meanwhile, wants to use this power to transform into a full-fledged demon.
The priestess Kikyo, who was responsible for watching over the pearl, then sets out to hunt the thief and manages to cast a powerful spell on him using an arrow, sealing him to a tree for eternity. Kikyō dies soon after from his injuries. Before dying, she expresses her last wish to her little sister Kaede, that of being cremated with the pearl of Shikon so that no one can use it for dangerous purposes.
15. Grimoire of Zero
Original Run: February 8, 2014 – December 10, 2017
Number of Volumes: 11
In the year 526 of the liturgical calendar, witches and their sorcery are infamous throughout the country, although knowledge of the existence of magic remains complicated. A half-beast, half-man mercenary, his race despised by the population, dreams day and night of becoming human. His fateful encounter one day with a witch named Zero, however, makes his dreams come true.
She offers to transform him into a human if he escorts her as his bodyguard for his search for a magic book because possessed in the wrong hands, this powerful knowledge could cause havoc or even the end of the world. The two begin their journey with this agreement binding them together, with the mercenary serving as a protector for Zero despite despising witches.
16. Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya
Original Run: September 26, 2007 – November 26, 2008
Number of Volumes: 2
Illyasviel von Einzbern was an ordinary schoolgirl until she became a Magical-girl when the magical Kaleidostick Ruby deemed her a more suitable mistress than the mage, Rin Tohsaka.
Rin, who had been tasked by the mage Zelretch to collect the seven class cards containing the souls of the heroic Spirits of legend, finds that she is unable to change Ruby’s mind and must oversee Illya having to complete the task of collecting Class Cards. During her adventures, Illya makes a new friend and rival named Miyu, the Kaleidostick Sapphire’s contracted mistress, who also abandoned her original mistress and Rin’s rival, Luvia Edelfelt.
17. So I’m a Spider, So What?
Original Run: December 10, 2015 – January 8, 2022
Number of Volumes: 16
During a long fierce fight between the hero and the demon king of a fantasy world, their magic power was so intense that it crossed another world and formed a gigantic explosion in a classroom, killing the students inside. inside. The latter are immediately reincarnated in this world, while some became princes or prodigies, others were not so lucky.
The protagonist, who was the most antisocial of the group, discovers that she has reincarnated as a spider within a dungeon filled with vicious creatures. Currently at the bottom of the food chain, she must adapt to this new situation with great determination in order to survive in a world that is unknown to her. She thus goes through extreme trials, with only her human knowledge and her overwhelming positivity, to continue to persevere against creatures much stronger than her.
18. Fate/Apocrypha
Original Run: December 29, 2012 – December 28, 2014
Number of Volumes: 5
The story takes place in a world parallel to the original Fate/stay night, where the House of Einzbern have summoned Ruler rather than Avenger in the Third Holy Grail War, and the Holy Grail has been removed from the city Fuyuki to send him to Romania after the war. Thus, the events of Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night never happened.
The story focuses on the conflict between the two opposing factions, the Reds and the Blacks, each calling on seven Servants and the Grail itself calling on a special Ruler-class servant to mediate the Holy War. Members of the Red faction are mages sent by the Clock Tower Mages Association, while members of the Black faction are part of a Romanian family of mages, the Yggdmillennia.
19. Fate/strange fake
Original Run: January 10, 2015 – present
Number of Volumes: 6
The events take place in a parallel universe with respect to the main Fate/stay night saga, more precisely 70 years after the third Holy Grail War. An organization of wizards opposed to the Association of Wizards of London decides to try the impossible: to plan and implement their own Holy Grail War, taking as a model the wars previously occurred in the city of Fuyuki.
The city set up for the event is Snowfield in California, but from an easy prediction something goes wrong, and in addition to the initial absence of the Saber class, all the other Servants summoned turn out to be characters with a distorted disposition and far from being considered “heroes. “in the classical sense of the term.
20. Sword Art Online
Original Run: April 10, 2009 – present
Number of Volumes: 26
Sword Art Online (SAO) is a massively multiplayer virtual reality networked role-playing game (VRMMORPG) released in 2022: thanks to NerveGear, a helmet capable of stimulating the user’s five senses through direct manipulation of the brain, the players can impersonate and control their own character in the game directly with their mind. SAO officially opens on November 6, 2022, but logged-in users realize it is impossible to log out.
