Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Best Manga, Ranked

Before some of his most popular manga, Tatsuki Fujimoto made his name through quirky but successful one-shots (the manga equivalent of a short film). Many of these are now available in compilations cataloguing his early work.

One such example is Love is Blind, which was his first professionally-published work in 2014.

A romantic comedy, Love is Blind follows a high school boy who desperately tries to tell his crush how he feels, but can’t find the words. However, even when crazy things start happening around him, including a knife-wielding homeless man and an alien invasion, he won’t take his eyes off his goal.

Love is Blind certainly has a different aesthetic from what many expect from Tatsuki Fujimoto. However, you can see already Fujimoto’s ability to drive a story, even a simple one, through characters with one or two screws loose – in this case for comedic effect.

Sasaki-kun ga Juudan Tometa was our first look at what would become a trademark of Fujimoto’s stories – unbalanced and unhealthy romantic relationships.

In this one-shot, Sasaki idolises his teacher Kawaguchi to the point of considering her a god. So, when her past comes back to bite her, he takes it upon himself to save her from a grizzly fate.

While Sasaki-kun Has Stopped the Bullet is quite a simple story, it’s a clear sign of what’s to come from the prestigious talent, winning a newcomers award in 2013 before being published later in 2016.

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Yogen No Nayuta was Fujimoto’s final one-shot before he made his big break with the serialised Fire Punch. While much of his early work explores different genres and themes, there are many striking similarities between this and his later works, particularly Chainsaw Man.

The story revolves around Nayuta, a young girl with horns who fanatics believe will bring about the end of the world through her magical powers. When her father is killed, Nayuta’s older brother helps both of them escape.

However, as Nayuta grows up on the run, she starts becoming more violent and powerful, making it harder for her brother to keep her safe.

The one-shot has been officially released for free online as a Japanese manga dub and audio drama:

Many fan theories tried to canonically connect this story to Chainsaw Man even before she appeared at the end of Part 1 due to her resemblance to multiple characters and similar abilities to some devils.

Perhaps this is just a first attempt at some of the themes that would go on to dominate his iconic work, and Nayuta's role in Chainsaw Man Part 2 is a nod to this story's importance to Fujimoto.

Between Chainsaw Man Part 1 and Part 2, Fujimoto returned to the one-shot format with some more experimental stories. One of these was Goodbye, Eri, released online worldwide in April 2022, just before Chainsaw Man Part 2’s debut.

Primarily framed through a smartphone camera, the story follows Yuta Ito, a high school boy tasked with filming the final moments of his terminally-ill mother’s life. However, when the film is met with derision, he decides to take his own life, only to be stopped by the mysterious Eri.

One of the only fans of his film, Eri convinces Yuta to make another one, with her as the star.

Goodbye, Eri’s storyline gets more complex as the story goes along, which pleased and confused fans in equal measure. What makes this interesting, though, is how most of the story appears as if shot through a smartphone camera, including motion blur.

While the plot for Goodbye, Eri feels a little distracted, this one-shot is a great example of the confidence with which Fujimoto now approaches manga, especially when held in contrast to some of his early, searching works.

First serialised in 2016, Fire Punch was for many years a bit of a cult favourite amongst manga readers. However, as Fujimoto’s only other published multiple-chapter work, it’s getting much more attention now, particularly for its dark story.

Fire Punch occurs on a frozen Earth where certain people are blessed with special powers. Agni, blessed with the power of regeneration, is the food source of his small village, dismembering himself for the people.

However, when Doma, blessed with never-ending fire, discovers their village, he burns it down, killing everyone except Agni. Stuck between a regenerating body and never-ending fire, Agni learns to control his anguish and sets off on a journey to get revenge.

While Fire Punch wasn’t as successful as many popular manga, it ran for two years and was critically well-received. It’s also widely believed that Fire Punch will eventually receive an anime adaptation considering the success of Chainsaw Man and MAPPA’s comments on wanting to adapt all of Fujimoto’s works.

Fujimoto’s most-acclaimed one-shot is Look Back. Released in 2021, long after the conclusion of Chainsaw Man Part 1, the 143-page story won a swathe of fan awards and was read by millions upon its release.

Similar to Goodby, Eri, Look Back is a more realist story following the early life of a young, aspiring manga creator Ayumu Fujino.

Fujino loves creating manga for her school paper and considers herself a talent, but finds herself challenged by another student named Kyomoto. The rivalry causes Fujino to throw herself into her art like never before, alienating those around her, but she still can’t catch up to Kyomoto.

Upon graduation, Fujino is tasked with delivering Kyomoto’s diploma, discovering that her rival is a quiet shut-in that doesn’t attend school. Their fateful meeting sparks a relationship that inspires them through good times and bad.

As you would expect from a Fujimoto story, Look Back becomes increasingly complex and psychological as the story progresses. However, this manga has a more grounded story which appealed to a huge audience, including those that weren’t particularly interested in Fujimoto’s headline act.

Whether Chainsaw Man will be Tatsuki Fujimoto’s magnum opus remains to be seen – he is only around his early-30s, after all. However, it’s fair to say that he will have to do something extraordinary to stop himself from being known forevermore as ‘Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujiimoto’.

Chainsaw Man takes place in a world where dangerous devils, manifested from the populace’s fears, roam the Earth. Devil Hunters, both civilian and governmental, work to kill them wherever they appear.

Denji is a young, homeless boy forced to work for the Yakuza to pay off his dead father’s debts with the help of Pochita, his pet dog who is also the Chainsaw Devil. When the Yakuza double-crosses Denji and leaves him for dead, Pochita offers the boy his heart, leading him to become Chainsaw Man.

Found by a government force led by Makima, Denji joins the mysterious woman’s makeshift Devil Hunting team.

Chainsaw Man has been well received critically, but it's the series’ commercial success that has turned so many heads.

One of the fastest-selling manga series of the last few years, the series has sold millions of copies globally, while it is currently both the most popular airing anime and serialised manga on most global services.