The zombie apocalypse isn’t just about mindless flesh-eaters. It is also about the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable horror. Our picks for the best zombie manga will take you on a journey of survival. So, grab your flashlight and get ready for some bloodcurdling encounters!
Hour of the Zombie
Hour of the Zombie by Tsukasa Saimura is set in a high school where the students turn into zombies.
The manga follows Akira, who leads a typical high school life and has an unrequited crush on his childhood friend, Kurumi, who seems more interested in his best friend, Umezawa.
This love triangle soon becomes insignificant compared to the chaos that ensues as students start turning into zombies, attacking and devouring each other.
Just as suddenly, they revert to normal, leaving the school divided between those who turned and those who remained unbitten.
The uneasy peace begs the question: what caused the transformation, and how long will it last?
Tokyo Zombie
Tokyo Zombie is a classic horror and zombie manga released in 1999 by Yusaku Hanakuma.
The manga is about two slackers named Mitsuo and Fujio who hold full-time positions at a fire extinguisher factory.
During their lunch breaks, they dedicate themselves to jujitsu training, nurturing dreams of becoming champions in the sport.
However, their mundane routine takes a dark turn when they kill their boss and throw his body in Black Fuji, a notorious Tokyo toxic waste site.
Their misdeed unleashes a nightmare as the toxic waste triggers an uprising of the undead, unleashing chaos upon the city.
Faced with the apocalypse, Fujio and Mitsuo must rely on their basic jujitsu skills to navigate the onslaught of zombies and survive.
Their journey becomes a test of survival as they must decide whether to help in the battle against the undead or flee the haunted streets of Tokyo.
Magical Girl Apocalypse
Magical Girl Apocalypse offers a twisted take by turning cute magical girls into relentless killing machines.
High-schooler Kii Kogami yearns for excitement to break the monotony of his life. His wish comes true when a gothic Lolita girl arrives at school.
However, her arrival unleashes gruesome chaos when their classmates into murderous zombies.
Trapped in the bloody mayhem, Kii must find a way to survive and confront the horrifying truth lurking behind the madness.
This supernatural and horror manga is written and illustrated by Kentaro Sato.
Corpse Princess
Corpse Princess is all about fighting corpses with corpses.
Shikabane are reanimated corpses that roam the world. But the Kougon Sect of the Grand Marshal School of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism possesses a method to confront them.
They use Corpse Princesses as humanity’s primary shield against the malevolent forces hiding in the darkness. But can humanity deal with the defenders who are corpses in their own right?
Makina, a Corpse Princess, might be the first to uncover the answer.
Corpse Princess has somewhat of a unique spin on the zombie genre by pitting the undead against the undead.
Versailles of the Dead
Versailles of the Dead is set during the French Revolution albeit with zombies, giving history a refreshing and undead twist.
While heading from Austria to marry Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette’s carriage is attacked by ravenous zombies.
The only one to emerge unscathed is Marie’s identical twin, Albert. Donning his sister’s clothes, he gets into Versailles.
Rather than maintaining his own identity, he assumes Marie’s role.
He is now entrenched in the French Royal Court and is confronted by the undead terrors as the unexpected monarch.
Versailles of the Dead is written and illustrated by Kumiko Suekane.
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Zombie-Loan
Zombie-Loan follows Michiru Kita who is a timid girl struggling to voice her thoughts.
One day, she sees peculiar ring-shaped marks on the necks of her classmates, Shito Tachibana and Chika Akatsuki, both of whom survived a tragic accident six months ago.
With the unique ability to perceive these ominous rings, Michiru realizes they signal imminent death.
Determined to intervene and possibly alter their fate, she approaches them, only to discover that the boys have already entered into a sinister pact, entangling themselves in a heavy debt.
This manga series was created by Peach-Pit and was also adapted into an anime that came out in July 2007.
School-Live!
The School-Live! manga is a slice-of-life horror series revolving around Yuki Takeya, a cheerful girl.
Yuki and her friends Yuri Wakasa, Kurumi Ebisuzuwa, and Miki Naoki belong to the School Living Club at a private high school.
While Yuki pursues fun school activities each day, her friends strive to keep her safe, as they are the only survivors at their school following a devastating zombie outbreak that has destroyed the city.
Highschool of the Dead
Highschool of the Dead might look like a straightforward zombie story, but this manga shines because of the characters who drive the plot and make the story interesting.
The story begins when a mysterious illness spreads through the corridors of Fujimi High School, turning the once lively campus into a zombie battleground.
Within hours, the infected students succumb to the sickness and rise as zombies.
Amid the chaos, only a few students manage to escape the initial outbreak, including Takashi Komuro and his childhood friend, Rei.
Takashi protects Rei from the first wave of the zombie horror, but with the entire school, and likely the whole town, now a hunting ground for the undead, how long can they and the other survivors sit tight?
Highschool of the Dead is written by Daisuke Sato and illustrated by Shouji Sato.
I Am a Hero
I Am a Hero is considered one of the best zombie manga ever, and it even bagged the renowned Shogakukan Manga Award.
The story of I Am a Hero revolves around a 35-year-old manga artist who is teetering on the brink of madness as he finds himself at the heart of a zombie uprising in Tokyo.
Stuck in the middle of this undead mess, he becomes a hero as he possesses a rare commodity in Japan – a firearm.
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
Fusing the toxic corporate culture and a zombie uprising, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is a twisted way to motivate someone to live their lives to the fullest.
After enduring grueling years at a dreaded company, Akira finds himself drained mentally and physically.
Just when life seems like a string of disappointments, fate takes an unexpected turn when a zombie apocalypse hits Japan.
In the middle of this undead chaos, Akira has an epiphany that changes his outlook forever.
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata, was also adapted into an anime series that premiered in July 2023.
What is your favorite zombie manga? Let us know your picks in the comments section below.