So it seems like such a long time since I read my first manga volume and I am surprised that it has taken me this long to make a Fave of the Year List! So let’s jump into it!

Frieren
It’s Lonely at the Centre of the World
Yona of the Dawn
Delicious in Dungeon
Home Office Romance

5th Place

Plot: Nokoru has been working brutal overtime at a demanding job when the pandemic lockdown finally gives him the chance to telework from home. This new situation (and the time he saves on his commute) lets him rediscover old passions and new hobbies. The lush garden he creates on his apartment balcony provides a chance to get to know his cute neighbor, Natsu, a graduate student in archeology. How do two adults build a relationship amid “social distancing,” when face-to-face interaction is frown upon, even dangerous? It feels like a tall tale to find an office romance at home, but these are strange times…

If I could put Sweat and Soap on here I would! I love everything that this author creates!

4th Place

Plot: When young adventurer Laios and his company are attacked and soundly thrashed by a dragon deep in a dungeon, the party loses all its money and provisions…and a member! They’re eager to go back and save her, but there is just one problem: If they set out with no food or coin to speak of, they’re sure to starve on the way! But Laios comes up with a brilliant idea: “Let’s eat the monsters!” Slimes, basilisks, and even dragons…none are safe from the appetites of these dungeon-crawling gourmands!

At first I wasn’t sure whether this series was going to connect with me. While I enjoyed it I wanted more from the plot but then I read volume 4 and everything changed. I can’t wait to continue reading this!

3rd Place

Plot: Princess Yona lives an ideal life as the only princess of her kingdom. Doted on by her father, the king, and protected by her faithful guard Hak, she cherishes the time spent with the man she loves, Soo-won. But everything changes on her 16th birthday when she witnesses her father’s murder! Yona reels from the shock of witnessing a loved one’s murder and having to fight for her life. With Hak’s help, she flees the palace and struggles to survive while evading her enemy’s forces. But where will this displaced princess go when all the paths before her are uncertain?

Another series that I was unsure was going to impress me as much as Freiren and Fullmetal did but once the more fantastical element were introduced I was sold!

Plot: Cartoonist Zoe Thorogood records 6 months of her own life as it falls apart in a desperate attempt to put it back together again in the only way she knows how. IT’S LONELY AT THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH is an intimate and metanarrative look into the life of a selfish artist who must create for her own survival.

WOW! What an amazing and cathartic graphic novel!!! Such an interesting and imaginative art style. So captivating!

Plot: Elf mage Frieren and her courageous fellow adventurers have defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land. But Frieren will long outlive the rest of her former party. How will she come to understand what life means to the people around her? Decades after their victory, the funeral of one her friends confronts Frieren with her own near immortality. Frieren sets out to fulfill the last wishes of her comrades and finds herself beginning a new adventure…

Now I did not expect my girl to be back on top of the charts! This was actually a re-read for me before I jumped into vol 6 and I ended up not even getting to vol 6 but LOVING my re-read!!! Honestly alongside Fullmetal Alchemist and The Promised Neverland this is my top all-time ever series!