This is a story about a piano, pitifully abandoned in the woods, and a young boy, Kai, who grew up playing it as his favorite toy. While Kai cannot even read sheet music, one day, he meets Shuhei Amamiya, an aspiring child pianist who transfers schools from Tokyo, and their music teacher, Sosuke Ajino. Ajino was also once a gifted pianist, until a tragic accident stole his promising future from him forever. Each from a different background, the trio's personalities gravitate to one another and rebound. All the while, the piano sits patiently, awaiting a hand to play it.... more>>

Note: Received the Grand Prize for best manga at the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2008. <<less

Ayu, a 17-year-old high-school student, believes neither in a future nor the happiness it could bring her. By selling herself, she tries to justify her... more>> existence, which is as bleak as her heart - it’s devoid of joy, sorrow, love. Not until her encounter with a kind-hearted old lady does Ayu begin to realize the true meaning of happiness… <<less

Souta, a penniless, phoneless, destitute middle schooler, met a high school girl with a stray cat underneath a bridge. The girl laughed at his minuscule... more>> remaining change, and made a surprising proposal with "For this 24 yen of yours, I'll let you buy me," and then? <<less

As a child, Joon-young was always teased because his mother owned a bar that served Americans. When he meets Hae-in, a blind girl, they become... more>> childhood sweethearts and he vows to always protect her. However, Hae-in and her mom take off one night, leaving Joon-young and his promise behind. Hae-in later meets Gun-woo, the rich son of a CEO. Among these three, a tragic love triangle begins to form... <<less

Poppoya: Satou Otomatsu is a lonely station master of a small station in Hokkaido, situated at the end of the line in a small village with an aging population. The station is due to close in the coming spring, and he will retire with it. One night in his last winter manning the station, an encounter with a young girl marks the beginning of the events that will see him reflect on his working life - performing his duty as a railroad man, whilst enduring the pain of its cost to his personal life.... more>>

Love Letter: Goro just got out from jail, but a police officer wants to talk to him right away. He announces to him that Goro's wife is dead and that he has to go to Chiba and take her body. Goro has no recollection of having a wife, but then he remembers he married a Chinese woman a long time ago. He married her for her money, and she married him because she needed a Japanese visa to work. In fact, she's a prostitute who came to Japan hoping to find better life.

At first, Goro can't be bothered by this situation, but he goes to Chiba just because he can earn a lot of money. Later on, during his trip, Goro finds a letter she wrote him and through it he discovers the pure person that lies beneath this common prostitute. She is a woman of such kindness and love that Goro is moved to learn something about the woman he married. With those few words of love and tenderness, he understands her fears, her goals, and her hopes for the future -- a future that he knows will never come. <<less

Being abandoned by his owners, having his mother die of starvation, a puppy who suffered lifelong separation from his siblings wandered around the city. Meeting... more>> and parting with kind people, experiencing brutal treatment from unjust people. Pao, who learned to live within the harshness of reality, awaits even more ordeals... <<less

Rinzy's a famous hard rock musician. His ex-girlfriend, the model Katherine, commits suicide in front of him and he fails to help her. JP, a... more>> 16 year old homeless kid happens to be the only witness. In order to prevent exposure and scandal, Rinzy's manager, Stella, hires JP as Rinzy's assistant. <<less

"If nothing changes whether one laughs or cries, then in this lifetime, I refuse to cry."... more>>

This collection consists of six historical short stories which tragicomically depict people trying to do their best in the city of Edo throughout the seasons:

Chiruhi (Day of Scattering)

Orin is a prostitute who works on a boat near the seashore. She falls in love with a young hairdresser, who is one of her customers, even though she knows it is an impossible love.

Lotus Roots

Upon crossing a lotus pond, two men discover a beautifully dressed figure hanging from the bridge. They pull her up and that night, she teaches them the meaning behind the lotus roots.

One Night Princess

"They 'haunt' this place. The ghosts of prostitutes."

Tenkiku

A little girl meets a kid with weird features, and only she can see him.

Breaking Under the Weight of Snow

A husband wonders, when was the last time he saw her wife's smile?

Sakuhi (Day of Blooming)

"The truth is I... came here to murder someone." <<less

The story is about how and why a guy goes from a worker at a dead-end job to becoming a boxer.

"I am a human, but a doll...... more>>

Feelings are not needed. Physically alive, but not mentally.

I am a painting trapped inside a rusted frame.

The cold skin of a statue.

Like a stuffed bird--

Killed and set for display.

I wonder...

I wonder, on whose display I will be placed..."

Includes extra story, The Dancing Marionette (Vol 3). <<less

Consists of three stories:... more>>

1) Boys Next Door

(Part 1-3) Lawrence is a young male prostitute whose actual aim was to look for his brother. However, his life was about to change when he witnessed one of the biggest serial killers - Dr. Wolfgang Adrian Clay - killing someone. Instead of running away, he searches for the murderer and falls in love with him. Lawrence's brother was not too happy about losing a possible money tree and sends out his gang in search of Lawrence.

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2) Devil Inside

Rick Randool has a dangerous condition which affects a few unfortunate members of his family.

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3) When a Heart Beats

All Ted wanted was a guitar. But the price he paid to get one was a young girl's life. Many years later he meets her again and...

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Ten years ago, there was an explosion at Hisano's apartment building. She would have been there, but she'd been hit by a bike ridden by... more>> a boy in blood-stained clothes. He dropped a fake gem when it happened, and she's been hanging on to it as a good-luck charm ever since. Now Hisano's in high school. One of her teachers was murdered, and the police are investigating. A young man suddenly appears carrying the toy the gem belonged to. And perhaps... can he also see the hallucinations Hisano has always been plagued with? Everything is connected as the pattern slowly rises to the surface. <<less

Why me? It was to be the last thought a young prostitute, Rune Balot, would ever have…as a human anyway. Taken in by a devious... more>> gambler named Shell, she became a slave to his cruel desires and would have been killed by his hand if not for a private investigator and his self-aware Universal Tool, Œufcoque. Now a cyborg, Balot has not only physical powers, but the ability to disrupt social environments. She chases after Shell, his partner-in-crime Boiled, and faces down a variety of insane villains in this pulse-pounding cyberpunk noir adventure. <<less

Set in feudal-era Japan, Yorube Naki Mono centers around prostitutes, assassins, and the grimier sides of city life.... more>>

One night, a mysterious young man named Shikon is introduced as the newest member of Saiga's group of assassins for hire. Shikon is outgoing and flirtatious, but Saiga can sense there's more to Shikon than he lets on...

A chance encounter on a moonlit night leads to two destinies awakening. <<less

Moyoco Anno lifts the veil on life in the Edo period pleasure quarter, Yoshiwara. The story follows Kiyoha, sold into a brothel as a child... more>> and forced to work as a maid and her rise to prominence as one of the top-ranking courtesans in Yoshiwara. The allure of the "flower and willow world," as it was called by artists in the day, is underscored by the very real tragedy, heartbreak and difficult lives led by those seemingly glamourous courtesans. Will Kiyoha’s fox-like wiles give her a chance to break free of her gilded cage? Or will her fighting spirit ruin her chances of ever escaping the brothel? <<less

Rushuna is a blonde and very beautiful senshi (gun expert) that travels through the world with one purpose. This is to make the world a... more>> peaceful place by, instead of fighting with weapons, taking away people´s will to fight by giving them a smile. Although she doesn´t want to fight, she is forced to and shows amazing gun skills. In this journey she meets Yajiro, a mercenary swordsman, who joins her on her journey. <<less

In the dismal backdrop of New York City, Southern-belle-turned-prostitute Sunny meets the college-educated Lou, who makes a living by out-drinking people at bars. What first... more>> starts as a night of drunken passion quickly spirals into unexpected love, as together they begin to search for meaning in a world that has all but deserted them... <<less

First manga by Beastar's author featuring humans. Regarding a white bearded old man and a prostitute.

After the surface of the world succumbed to chaos centuries ago, the city of Novus Aether is kept afloat in the sky solely by the continual prayers offered by the Saint. Years ago, when the Saint’s prayer was interrupted, an incident known as the "Gran Forte" occurred, causing a portion of the land to fall and split the lower city into two, separated by a cliff. Countless lives and property were lost or irreversibly affected in what would be known as the greatest disaster in the city’s history.... more>>

In time, the lowest layer, known as the "Prison", became the home to people who lost much of their former lives during the "Gran Forte". Crime, famine, and disease run rampant, with "The Noncorroding Gold Chains", the ruling organization in the area specializing in the sex trade, keeping what little order that still exists. Meanwhile, a contagious disease which causes the infected to grow wings has spread throughout the city, and a unit commonly known as the "Wing Hunters" has been formed to deal with these people swiftly and often violently.

In this "Prison" resides Caim Astraea, a freelance ex-assassin who does odd jobs for his friend, the head of “The Noncorroding Gold Chains”, for money. During one request, Caim finds Eustia, a winged girl who emits the pale purple light characteristic of the "Gran Forte" incident years ago. His encounter with Eustia will take him on a journey which will involve him with the most influential bodies of the city, including the Church and the royal government. As he searches for the meaning to his cruel, difficult life, he will discover the deepest and darkest secrets of Novus Aether. <<less

Collection of short stories by Kaori Ozaki ("Immortal Rain"), including her debut story. The earliest story in the volume was written when she was sixteen,... more>> and the last one when she was nineteen. <<less

Azayoshi lives in an empty world, there is no hope or happiness, all she wants is a person who will never leave her side. Suddenly... more>> Ai steps into her dark world. To her he was her love. But what will happen when he discovers Azayoshi's past? Why is she keeping secrets from Ai? <<less

Based upon the play of 'The Love Suicides at Sonezaki'.... more>>

Hatsu's father sold her to a brothel when she was young. Her childhood friend Toku tries to earn the money to buy her out of there to marry her. However, many obstacles stand in their way. <<less

Perverto is just a regular 17-year-old...with the unavoidable nickname, "pervert." Unlike his namesake, he's actually quite naïve when it comes to sexual matters; his first... more>> and only youthful romance having ended terribly. To escape his bad reputation, he transfers to a new school for a fresh start. But on his first day there, he's falsely accused of groping a girl named Hongdan on the subway. To make matters worse, she happens to be another new student who has just transferred to his new school, to his very class. <<less

Jet and Chin are friends and gigolos who live together. One day Jet sees a guy at a gallery and falls in love with him. When Chin asks Jet about his day Jet tells him about the guy he fell in love with at a gallery. Out of the blue the guy from the gallery calls up Jet and sets up a time to meet each other. Will Jet's love be enough to keep the two together?... more>>

Based on the movie of the same name written by Fan Yong. <<less

In the fictional Tokyo suburb of Mahoro, Keisuke Tada works as a "benriya" - a general problem solver for hire.... more>>

One day in January, former classmate Haruhiko Gyoten appears unannounced. Back in their schooldays Gyoten was a quiet person who rarely talked. Now, Gyoten won't stop talking. Both men are over 30 years old and divorced. Without giving an explanation, Gyoten suddenly asks to spend the night at Tada's home. Tada turns down Gyoten, but Gyoten is persistent and Tada finally relents and allows him to sleep over for one night. What Tada is unaware of is that Gyoten plans to stay for more than one night. Eventually, Tada accepts Gyoten as his assistant and they become involved in various cases involving an assortment of people from different walks of life. <<less