One shot manga

In the translation from a successful one-shot to an eventual full manga adaptation, a lot of things can change, meaning that the original story can still be worth reading in its own rights. Gokurakugai is a manga series that started publication in 2022 but originally debuted as a one-shot in 2020.

One-shots typically appear in contests held by publishers or magazines to test ideas of mangakas who are looking to create more significant projects. An obvious example can be seen with mangaka Gege Akutami and his one-shot “Nikai Bongai Barabarujura”, which possesses a protagonist with a striking resemblance to Yuji Itadori, the main character of his later successful manga “Jujutsu Kaisen”.

These one-shot contests also allow aspiring mangakas to get their foot in the door. Tatsuki Fujimoto, the author of “Chainsaw Man”, entered the “Jump Square” manga competition at the age of 17, and showcased promising talent with his extremely creative and extraordinary ideas through his one-shot “Niwa ni wa Niwa Niwatori ga ita”. Many, if not all, of the thousands of aspiring mangaka attempt this path to stardom, but most never reach fame. Because of this, there are a variety of one-shots from mangaka whose names aren’t particularly popular, but the depth at which these exceptional stories are scattered around seems almost endless.

Seemingly endless manga series are great—have we mentioned we love ?—but sometimes you just want a good story that ends before you wade through 12 or 60 or 80 volumes (again, we’re looking at you, One Piece). Enter the one-shot manga, a format that probably doesn’t get as much attention as it should—because there are no cliffhangers, no lengthy suspense-building arcs, no need to speculate breathlessly about what will happen in the next volume. Just a good, solid story. Here’s a look at some of our favorite one-shots from the past year.

This adorable story follows Fukase, a high school girl pretending to be familiar with love and relationships around her friends. Like many teen girls, Fukase is actually very inexperienced—and although she puts up that act, she too wants to experience dating and falling in love! This one shot romance manga is super cute and fluffy, and finishes with a satisfying ending.