Reading a first volume of a manga series is make or break for me. I’ll know by the end whether I’d want to invest more time in the rest of the series and they typically hold strong if the storyline, characters, or setting (or all three!) are compelling. Here are some of my favorites:

1. The Girl from the Other Side by Nagabe: A unique relationship between a fantastical creature “from the other side” that the girl calls Teacher.
2. Blue Box by Kouji Miura: A sweet sports romance.
3. The Way of the House Husband by Kousuke Dono: It can’t get more humorous than a reformed gangster taking care of his wife and the household.
4. Cells at Work by Akane Shimizu: I wouldn’t want to learn about the human body any other way.
5. Spy X Family by Tatsuya Endo: A spy, an assassin, a telepath, and a dog with premonitions create a found family for a mission without knowing each others’ true identities.
6. Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama: A magical adventure, a delightful protagonist in Coco, and an atelier that trains witches in sigils and glyphs.