Quick Answer
Worth reading if you want a sharply written, structurally inventive gag comedy with a self-aware narrator and a huge, likable cast, though there's no official English manga release.
Quick Verdict
“Worth it as one of modern shounen comedy's most inventive entries, complete at 26 volumes. It has no official English manga release, so factor that into your reading plan.”
Best for: Readers who want a sharply written, structurally inventive gag comedy with a huge, likable cast and a self-aware, deadpan narrator.
Not for: Readers who want a currently licensed English manga release, or who need ongoing plot stakes rather than an episodic, gag-driven structure.
| Quick facts | |
|---|---|
| Format | Manga, 26 volumes |
| Run | completed |
| Community score | MangaUpdates 8.0 |
Saiki Kusuo has essentially unlimited psychic powers, telepathy, telekinesis, precognition, teleportation, and plenty more, and would very much like to use exactly none of them in front of other people. All he wants is a quiet, uneventful high school life, ideally one where nobody ever finds out what he can do. Naturally, that's exactly the life he can't have, between the powers themselves, the increasingly bizarre classmates who keep gravitating toward him, and Saiki's own droll, exhausted narration walking readers through exactly how much effort it takes to stay unremarkable.
This is gag comedy built on an unusually strong structural gimmick: Saiki narrates his own story directly to the reader, deadpan and fully self-aware, which lets the manga get away with an enormous amount of fourth-wall-breaking, structural, and format-based jokes that a normal comedy wouldn't have access to. The sketch-like chapter structure keeps the joke density high, and rather than running out of steam, the manga keeps finding new comedic angles on Saiki's powers and his ever-expanding cast of exaggerated, singularly weird classmates across a genuinely long, complete 26-volume run. Asou Shuuichi's character designs lean hard into visual gag logic, exaggerated hair, expressions, and body language doing a huge amount of comedic work on their own. And despite carrying essentially no plot in the traditional sense, the manga's character work is strong enough that its large, oddball cast stays genuinely likable and distinct rather than one-note.
As of this review, there's no official English manga release. Fans have been requesting one for years, but MangaUpdates lists no confirmed English licensor, so English readers currently rely on unofficial scanlations even though the anime adaptation is widely available. The gag-a-chapter, essentially plotless structure means there's little forward momentum to latch onto if you need ongoing stakes or a throughline to stay invested, this is a hangout comedy, not a story. And at 26 volumes, the density of jokes per chapter is high, but the format is fundamentally repetitive by design. Some readers find the structure wears thinner over a long sitting than it does spread out episodically.
If a sharply written, structurally inventive gag comedy with a huge, likable cast and a genuinely funny self-aware narrator sounds appealing, this earns its popularity many times over. The missing official English release is a real practical hurdle worth knowing about going in.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Same absurdist, gag-a-panel comedy structure with minimal traditional plot
Same high-energy, exaggerated-expression gag comedy tradition, in a very different setting
No, not as of this review. There's no confirmed English manga licensor, despite years of fan requests and the anime's popularity.
Yes, it's complete at 26 volumes.
Yes, this manga is the source material for the popular anime, which is available in English even though the manga itself isn't officially licensed.
Not really, in the traditional sense. It's a gag-a-chapter comedy built around Saiki's powers and his classmates rather than a continuous story.
