A little happy girl. A happy mother and father. All seems correct, right? These should be days filled with joy and happiness. However, not everything is as it seems in this world…

Misa-Chan by mangaka Miu Miura isn’t longer than a few dozen pages but the impact is pretty scary. We see within a mother who seems to love her three-year-old child Misa but for some reason, things seem off with this seemingly happy mother and daughter. Then when you reach the ending few pages you learn the dark truth of Misa and it actually plays into a real-life issue with mothers and their children. We won’t spoil what exactly is revealed though. It’s up to you to try out Misa-chan and see how quickly a happy scene can turn dark.

Kindness can be in many ways a double-edged sword. Just ask Recchan for her thoughts on this. Born with a monster-like face, Recchan isn’t treated poorly at school and is actually quite popular being called cute and adorable. However, these kind words are nothing more than pity and Recchan knows it. Then one girl who is jealous of the attention Recchan gets does the unthinkable. She treats Recchan quite differently from the rest of the students.

Quite often the truth hurts and is avoided for that reason. However, many people forget that the truth also is a form of kindness because it’s the ability to say what your heart is feeling. That’s what makes Bakemono Recchan such an excellent story despite the strange theme of a girl with a monster face. It shows readers that honesty sometimes is better than pity kindness and its an element seen in the real world. We here at Honey’s Anime definitely recommend checking out Bakemono Recchan to see a story that isn’t usually seen in seinen one shots.

A writer has decided to buy a new chair for her home. Finding herself guided to a peculiar furniture shop, a man approaches her and quickly seems to want to help the writer out. However, instead of selling her a new chair, the man tells the story of a very special chair he owns and is all too willing to tell the chair’s past. What horrifying past does this char have? The woman is about to find out whether she wants to or not…

Many fans of Junji Ito are all too familiar with his quick one shot stories of horror and seinen content. Recently, with the anime series of Ito’s works being released—called The Junji Ito Collection—many fans are quite interested to see what stories they can read while they wait each week for the next episode. That’s why we here at Honey’s Anime felt the Ningen Isu story was perfect for our Top 10 Seinen one shot Manga list for giving readers a dark story with some truly creepy undertones. Then add to the fact that you get Ito’s traditional creepy manga art and you’re going to find yourself never wanting to buy a used chair ever again.

Some guys are willing to do anything to get the girl. For Shuuhei, he might be a meager pizza delivery boy, but he knows what he wants and for him that’s to date Hitomi who he knew back in high school. When Shuuhei asks Hitomi what makes an ideal man in her eyes, she states that he has to know how to play a musical instrument. Thus, Shuuhei gets to work mastering the trumpet. Unfortunately, Shuuhei is about to learn this won’t be such an easy task and may lead to some trouble for him in numerous ways.

Straight no Chaser is a goofy story but one that many guys probably feel could mirror their own lives. It’s not uncommon to hear a guy jump through hoops to get the girl of his dreams. That’s why Shuuhei’s plight is both comical and all too realistic. With comedic narrative and some truly fun art, Straight no Chaser is one of the seinen one shots that can be read and even re-read for some laughs. If you feel like Shuuhei in the real world let his struggle remind you that sometimes it’s worth fighting for the girl you like.

Many high schoolers hate studying and doing anything tedious. Yamada is no different in that regard. Then one-day, Yamada discovers a special power hiding within him. Yamada is able to jump through time! Now Yamada will try to find the life he wishes to lead but will this task be so simple for the time traveler?

Here at Honey’s Anime many of us were high school students at one time ourselves and can understand Yamada’s pain. There were times we’d rather watch anime or read manga then have to study for an English test or Math quiz. That’s why Skip! Yamada-kun is such an enjoyable short story with some rather interesting twists and turns in narrative. Despite being a short story, Skip! Yamada-kun shows readers the joy of the repetition we go through and makes you realize what you have in life is truly a blessing more often than not. If you need a sci-fi themed seinen work, we know for a fact you’ll enjoy Skip! Yamada-kun by mangaka Ohba Tsugumi.

Forgetting keys, phones and dates isn’t a strange occurrence to most. Typically, most people have one or two things they forget in the course of a few days or a week. However, for one young business man, his forgetfulness is on a whole new level. Constantly forgetting everything—he even forgets a wedding ring he was going to use to propose to his girlfriend—this man is about to truly give up on it all. It’s time to enjoy a story filled with forgetting this and that in A Pocket Full of Holes Forgets Everything.

A Pocket Full of Holes Forgets Everything by mangaka Minoru Someya is one part sad, funny and romantic. We loved the upbeat art that made each scene pop as we read A Pocket Full of Holes Forgets Everything. What’s interesting also is that A Pocket Full of Holes Forgets Everything goes through three major shifts in tone. It starts off comedic then becomes quite sad and ends on a truly happy note despite a dark moment near the end. A Pocket Full of Holes Forgets Everything isn’t a long read by any means—though that’s the beauty of one shot manga—but it offers up enough of a good story to make for one great tale. We whole heartily recommend reading A Pocket Full of Holes Forgets Everything and hope you don’t forget to check it out as soon as you can.

High School student Sei has found his everyday life to be nothing more than repetitive and boring. Thus, Sei decides to end his life prematurely by jumping off a building’s roof. Sei expected death to soon follow but awakens not in heaven or hell but a different world entirely. Here people aren’t bound to the ground as they have large wings and can fly in the sky. Sei then meets Sakura and his new life begins from here.

Typically, most isekai works are about character’s dying but are transported to a new world because of an action taken before death. Some character go about saving the lives of others or some are killed by accident and God grants them a new body to inhabit. We Can Fly! deviates from this theme by showing a suicidal man get the chance of happiness in a new world. With beautiful art and a truly simple but clever narrative, We Can Fly! is a brilliant one shot manga thanks to mangaka Mirin Megane. We only wish that this story could have been longer but for less than a volume of material We Can Fly! does an excellent job of keeping the reader hooked from the beginning to the end.

Misao has decided to enter a forest, take a noose and end his sad life. As Misao is about to go through with it a zombie appears before him claiming she doesn’t want him to die. The zombie girl introduces herself as Maria and tries to convince Misao his life is worth enduring. Can a dead girl convince a living boy to seek life? Find out in Zombie Maria by mangaka Nakayama Atsushi.

Zombie Maria might start off on a dark seinen note but it quickly becomes a comedic tale with hints of romance as the pages go on. The art reminds us of the Nightmare Before Christmas or even Corpse Bride and it’s truly a nice touch to witness. We also loved learning about Maria’s past and how it actually ties in with Misao in a rather surprising way. If you need a quick comedy/seinen one shot manga to read then why not check out Zombie Maria?

Griffith once met with a powerful entity known only as God. Here, God told Griffith things not told to most mortal men. Guided by God’s words Griffith would understand something unknown to most. Griffith would learn what God wanted from him. Here is a tale untold in the Berserk lore called Berserk: Shinen no Kami 2.

Most fans of Berserk consider themselves to be pretty well versed in the narrative. If you ask them when certain incidents in the manga happen they will tell you the exact chapter and sometimes the exact page. However, what if we told you there was a chapter not released by Miura Kentarou the creator of Berserk? That’s right folks, hidden away in the Berserk world is a story called Berserk: Shinen no Kami 2 which reveals an interesting meeting with Griffith and possibly God. Maybe now you’ll understand why Griffith’s mindset is the way it is in the manga upon his return.

Two strangers share one dark but common desire. They wish to die and leave this world far behind them. Yuu and Juri Mutou want to die for two very different reasons. Juri, daughter to the famous pianist, has found her life tortured because she believes she ruined her mother’s life and a specific incident in her teenager years causes her to commit suicide not once but several times. Meanwhile, Yuu is a death row inmate convicted of murdering three people and wishes to die by his own hands. When Juri is forced to meet Yuu under a strange circumstance their two lives will forever be altered.

With beautiful art and a truly gripping narrative, we here at Honey’s Anime give Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan our number one spot on the Top 10 Seinen one shot Manga list. Created by mangaka Yumeka Sumomo, this mature themed story shows how life always has a few surprises in store for those who endure the pain of tragic events. While some of us here at Honey’s Anime have never read the original Korean Novel Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan is adapted from we can tell you that we now 100% want to. Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan is a truly amazing one shot work and will make your emotions hit max levels while reading it. Just be prepared to need some tissues when chapter 8 arrives and ends the this bitter sweet romance seinen…