Best Ongoing Manga to Follow Right Now
Quick Answer
Best Ongoing Manga to Follow Right Now: 13 officially available picks, each with why it fits, who it's for, and where to read officially.
Most recommendation lists eventually steer you toward something finished, which is great when you want a clean ending but not much help if what you actually want is a series to follow along with in real time. This list flips that: every pick below is still running, with new chapters coming out on a regular schedule, so you're joining a story instead of just consuming one that's already wrapped.
That comes with a couple of tradeoffs going in. There are no spoilers here about how any of these end, because nobody knows yet — including, in a couple of cases, questions about who's even finishing the story. And "ongoing" covers a real range on this list: decades-deep juggernauts like One Piece, newer breakout hits that are still ahead of their anime like Dandadan and Medalist, and quieter series that have been running for years without ever needing a dramatic escalation. Pick based on the mood and time commitment you actually want, not just whichever name you've heard the most.
Picks at a glance
| # | Pick | Best for | Official route to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berserk | readers who want the series that defined dark fantasy manga, not one of its imitators | Dark Horse Digital |
| 2 | One Piece | readers who want one story to live in for years, not months | VIZ / MANGA Plus |
| 3 | Chainsaw Man | readers who want horror-comedy that doesn't soften its punches | VIZ Media |
| 4 | Kingdom | readers who want large-scale historical war strategy over dungeons and magic | VIZ Media |
| 5 | Spy x Family | readers who want family comedy with a real spy-thriller engine underneath | VIZ Media |
| 6 | Sakamoto Days | readers who want action-comedy with genuine fight-scene craft | VIZ Media |
| 7 | Made in Abyss | readers who want gorgeous art paired with genuinely disturbing world-building | Seven Seas |
| 8 | Dandadan | readers who want aliens, ghosts, and romance thrown into the same blender | VIZ Media |
| 9 | Medalist | readers who want an underdog sports story without the genre's usual power-of-friendship shortcuts | Kodansha |
| 10 | March Comes in Like a Lion | readers who want something emotionally heavy handled with real care, not exploited for drama | Denpa |
| 11 | The Apothecary Diaries | readers who want mystery and court intrigue over combat | Square Enix Manga & Books |
| 12 | Natsume's Book of Friends | readers who want low-stakes supernatural comfort reading | VIZ |
| 13 | Akane-banashi | readers who want a genuinely fresh premise instead of another tournament arc | VIZ / Shonen Jump |
The picks
1. Berserk
Why it belongs here: Kentaro Miura died in 2021, but Studio Gaga has been continuing the story from his notes and storyboards, so this isn't a finished classic you're revisiting cold — new chapters are actually still coming out.
Best for: readers who want the series that defined dark fantasy manga, not one of its imitators
Keep in mind: The post-2021 chapters are closely guided by Miura's own notes, but they aren't drawn by his hand — the art shifts a little.
Read officially: Dark Horse Digital · Full Next Panel review
2. One Piece
Why it belongs here: It's the best-selling manga of all time and it's still building toward its actual ending after nearly 30 years, with recent arcs paying off setup from decades back. You're not late to this one, you're catching a long story mid-climb.
Best for: readers who want one story to live in for years, not months
Keep in mind: Oda's art and pacing have improved massively over the decades — push past the earliest volumes before deciding if it's for you.
Read officially: VIZ / MANGA Plus · Full Next Panel review
3. Chainsaw Man
Why it belongs here: Part 2 is running weekly right now and it's arguably weirder and darker than Part 1 — this isn't a victory-lap sequel, Fujimoto is still taking real risks with where the story goes.
Best for: readers who want horror-comedy that doesn't soften its punches
Keep in mind: It's genuinely gory and unsettling in places — this is not a comfort read.
Read officially: VIZ Media · Full Next Panel review
4. Kingdom
Why it belongs here: After almost 20 years without any official English release, VIZ finally started publishing Kingdom in late 2025 — so for most English readers this sprawling war epic is effectively brand new, even though it's been running in Japan since 2006.
Best for: readers who want large-scale historical war strategy over dungeons and magic
Keep in mind: The cast is enormous from the first volume on — don't worry about tracking every name early, the important ones resurface.
Read officially: VIZ Media · Full Next Panel review
5. Spy x Family
Why it belongs here: The manga is still running new chapters ahead of where the anime has caught up, so reading along means seeing where Loid and Yor's fake family takes its next turn before it hits screens.
Best for: readers who want family comedy with a real spy-thriller engine underneath
Keep in mind: The espionage plot moves slower than the comedy beats — don't expect wall-to-wall action.
Read officially: VIZ Media · Full Next Panel review
6. Sakamoto Days
Why it belongs here: A retired legendary hitman trying to run a convenience store instead of taking contracts is a great hook on its own, and the fight choreography has only gotten more inventive as the story's gone on.
Best for: readers who want action-comedy with genuine fight-scene craft
Keep in mind: The humor is broad early on and the stakes take a handful of chapters to start feeling real.
Read officially: VIZ Media · Full Next Panel review
7. Made in Abyss
Why it belongs here: It came back from a long hiatus and the current arc is digging into some of the darkest, strangest lore the series has had yet — this isn't winding down, it's still escalating.
Best for: readers who want gorgeous art paired with genuinely disturbing world-building
Keep in mind: Don't let the cute character designs fool you — this gets bleak and violent, including toward its child cast.
Read officially: Seven Seas · Full Next Panel review
8. Dandadan
Why it belongs here: It's one of the biggest breakout hits of the last few years, and the manga is still running ahead of the anime — if you only know the show, there's already more story waiting for you.
Best for: readers who want aliens, ghosts, and romance thrown into the same blender
Keep in mind: The tone swings hard between slapstick and genuine horror — that whiplash is the point, but it's not for everyone.
Read officially: VIZ Media · Full Next Panel review
9. Medalist
Why it belongs here: It's a genuinely rare thing: a sports manga about figure skating that respects the sport's technical side instead of hand-waving it, and it's early enough in its run that you're not behind on years of continuity yet.
Best for: readers who want an underdog sports story without the genre's usual power-of-friendship shortcuts
Keep in mind: The coach-athlete bond at the center is intense and some readers read it as more than platonic — the manga plays it as devotion to the sport, not romance.
Read officially: Kodansha · Full Next Panel review
10. March Comes in Like a Lion
Why it belongs here: It's a quiet, patient story about depression, grief, and found family told through the lens of professional shogi, and it's still slowly adding to Rei's climb out of isolation rather than rushing him there.
Best for: readers who want something emotionally heavy handled with real care, not exploited for drama
Keep in mind: The pacing is slow and introspective — this is not a plot-driven read.
Read officially: Denpa · Full Next Panel review
11. The Apothecary Diaries
Why it belongs here: A poison-obsessed apothecary solving palace mysteries through medical deduction is a genuinely unusual hook, and the mostly self-contained mystery-of-the-arc structure means new chapters keep delivering complete, satisfying cases.
Best for: readers who want mystery and court intrigue over combat
Keep in mind: Maomao's total disinterest in romance is played for laughs for a long stretch — patience helps if you're here for the slow burn.
Read officially: Square Enix Manga & Books · Full Next Panel review
12. Natsume's Book of Friends
Why it belongs here: It's one of the gentlest long-running series out there, and it's still quietly adding standalone spirit encounters without ever forcing itself into a bigger 'final villain' plot.
Best for: readers who want low-stakes supernatural comfort reading
Keep in mind: Almost every chapter follows the same gentle rhythm — great for unwinding, less great if you want rising tension.
Read officially: VIZ · Full Next Panel review
13. Akane-banashi
Why it belongs here: A manga about rakugo storytelling sounds like a hard sell, but the way it stages one performer holding a room's attention as an actual competitive skill is one of the most inventive hooks running in Shonen Jump right now.
Best for: readers who want a genuinely fresh premise instead of another tournament arc
Keep in mind: You don't need any prior knowledge of rakugo — the manga teaches you the rules as it goes.
Read officially: VIZ / Shonen Jump · Full Next Panel review
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I get spoiled on where these stories are heading?
No — every pick here is unresolved, so there's nothing to spoil about an ending. Some entries mention how far the story has come or what arc it's currently in, but nothing about where it's going next.
What happens if one of these ends or goes on hiatus?
It happens — long-running manga go on hiatus, and a couple of picks here have already weathered one. Check the official platform link in each entry for the current release status before you start.
