Recommend me a 'journey' manga

[pesimus]

manga about a long voyage, trip, or adventuring. I believe there should be a lot of manga about this. but I'm looking for something a little bit more specific

I'm looking for those kinds of manga that:
- doesn't involve a lot of battle. one not-example, One Piece. that's a group of pirate going on a long journey, but it focuses a lot on its battles and power. that's not what I'm looking for
- invokes a feeling of far from home. two prime examples: Made in Abyss and Girl's Last Tour. the looming feeling of a one way trip to the deadly unknown in Made in Abyss. a hopeful adventure in a bleak vast empty world in Girl's Last Tour. I love those. another example I can think of is Otoyomegatari, but only in several parts, when the characters do travel to a far place. I like that too because it's a realistic insight into how real people travel and survive.

 

[ABCsOfLife]

@pesimus Oof... those titles you mention looks like a great story but also sounds really depressing, not exactly my cup of tea..
So I don't have much to share for you, but I'm gonna try gave you the best one I read that looks like a quite sad journey...
Try this:

Majo no Kaigashuu | https://mangadex.org/title/22705/majo-no-kaigashuu
It's about.. a guy on a quite a long quest to fulfill his friend's wish which is to destroy numerous cursed painting that his friend has created.
It's a bit actiony but I feel like it's not really focused on that (but then again, that how far as it seems since the current translation only got 2 chapter translated, maybe it's more actiony later on.. so, sorry in advance if that's ended being the case).
Now I would elaborate more about this manga but I feel like it'll spoil the actual first impression, so I will refrain doing so in the case you're actually interested in checking this manga.
And again I should mention (in the case you're interested ) it currently only has 2 chapter translated. so there's that to think about.

So sorry if it's not what you're looking for.

 

[421cookies]

Something like Gakkou Gurashi or Hakumei to Mikochi maybe?

I'm sure I did read quite a bit of such types of manga but nothing much really comes to mind

 

[pesimus]

@ABCsOfLife
it doesn't have to have a sad tone though. it's just that my examples coincidentally have a sad tone. Otoyomegatari isn't on the sad spectrum anyway
and I think I'll check your recommendation. a low number of chapter means it's easy to start for me.

@421cookies
hey, I like Gakkou Gurashi. I've already read close to the latest chapter but I've been putting that on hold for now. in the context of my request, it fits in some part but mostly not, as far as I remember.
and Hakumei to Mikochi is on my plan to read list. I think I have read one chapter and it feels like a SoL series around their house/forest town? or something. kinda forgot. I plan to read that regardless

Thanks both of you!

 

[ununseti]

To You, The Immortal. From the same mangaka as Koe no Katachi. Very fantasy-like atmosphere world. Get ready for feels.

Shut Hell. There's some fighting, but there's also some politics, with a touch of time travel. It's primarily set in the 13th century, and focuses on a small group of characters who are trying to take a Jade stone with Tangut writing on it to Xingqong, to prevent the language from being destroyed by the Mongols.

Memories of Emanon. Has sort of that bleak/tranquil atmosphere to it. It focuses on a girl who has memories dating 3 billion years back to when life first emerged on Earth. When she gives birth, her memories transfer into her child.

Sekai Maou. A really cute lighthearted 4koma set in your typical demon lord/hero fantasy world. The current demon lord is a young girl who has no interest in being evil, and the hero is a really weak timid guy. She joins him on his journey, not revealing that she's a demon lord.

 

[PantsMan]

@pesimus
Gonna get the obvious two out of the way first: Mushishi and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou.

For less well-known but still good series, here's a few more. I'll try to cover a few different tones.

Tengoku Daimakyou: surprisingly good post-apoc manga that doesn't skimp on the travel part. From the author of Soredemo Machi and Getenrou.
Heterogenous Linguistics: neat little, lighthearted fantasy manga that focuses on the very underrated concept in fantasy/travel stories of communication between different races.
Nicola's Leisurely Demon World Travelogue: These "big/cynical guy and his loli on a roadtrip" stories are a dime a dozen, but this one's my favorite of the bunch. I quite like its artstyle and monsters.
Astra Lost in Space: short but on-point shounen about space travel, from the author of Sket Dance. Little in the way of fights, more focus on travel, survival and drama without ever getting too gratuitous. Good stuff.

As a general tip, I'd say browse the "Post-Apocalyptic" tag and see if anything catches your eye. A lot of those stories have the tone and plot you're probably looking for.

 

[pesimus]

@ununseti @PantsMan
from both of your list. I've already read To You, The Immortal and Mushishi.
they both kinda fit the context of my request. especially Mushishi. and you mentioning To You, the Immortal has reminded me of another manga i've read that also fits in this context and also have weird similarity to To You, The Immortal, which is Fire Punch, though FIre Punch is more absurd as a whole

and for the rest, it's a sweet list. I've never heard any one of them. I'll check them out

and I want to point out the description of Heterogenous Linguistics. it's actually something else that I've been looking for: the theme of communicaton between different language. you see, I've read several isekai and most of the time, there is always a convenient magic/system that translate language. nothing I've read so far capitalized the potential problem of different language. I'm not looking for that theme currently but it's a nice little addition.

and thanks to the two of you for your list!

 

[krewed]

@pesimus check this titles
warning: some of them dropped/licensed
Killing me, killing you
Kino's journey
Kino's journey alt
Genjuu chousain
Mononoke
Suiiki
Neko ga nishi mukya
Blame
Paranoia street
Majo no tabitabi - The journey of Elaina
Spice and wolf
Kaze no tani no nausicaa

 

[shouldsleep]

Ame to Hare no Kaze no Tabi. It's about two people who bring the weather with them (rain and sunshine respectively). It's short though, only 2 volumes.

Somali to Mori no Kami-sama. Kinda similar feel to Made in Abyss minus the conspiracy feel.

Fumetsu no Anata e About a homunculus~ish that learns about life.

 

[Bainhardt]

I'm simultaneously disappointed and thrilled to see that the one I was going to recommend hasn't been mentioned yet:
Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro is about a traveler who carries a coffin and is looking for a witch, accompanied on their journey by 1000 bats and two very strange "children." Trying to describe it any more would be kind of a disservice to the way the manga introduces you to information and the overall fairy tale atmosphere.

It's by the author of "GA - Geijutsuka Art Design Class" which I think is pretty popular, but I've never read it (I can't imagine liking it more than Kuro, but hey, maybe that will encourage some people to read Kuro). It's one of my favorite manga of all time, and I've been reading it for close to a decade, because the official releases are so sporadic (and the author takes hiatuses that sometimes last as long as 4 years).

Now... unfortunately, you can't read SaC Kuro here on MangaDex, and I'm not sure if there are places to read it online, so if that was what you were hoping for, I'm really sorry. But if you do like these kinds of manga, I would strongly recommend checking out however you can! The books are really nice, with some color pages, and the series is ending soon with volume 7, so it's not super long either.

Spoiler

 

[PantsMan]

@krewed

Kino's Journey
Mononoke

Frankly, I'd recommend watching the anime for these two instead of the manga, since they're really well-directed (especially in Mononoke's case). I also wouldn't say Mononoke really qualifies as a travel story as much as a supernatural detective/doctor procedural.

@Bainhardt
Kuro's great. Most of it's been licensed, but the physicals aren't too hard to find in the UK/US. I'm sure there's some scans of the official translation somewhere, but I don't mind forking over some money for it, since they're a surprisingly nice-looking edition.

 

[pesimus]

@krewed
nice list! from that list, I've read Blame and have watched Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa. I've heard about Kino's Journey, Mononoke, and Spice and Wolf. maybe I'll look for the anime instead as @PantsMan said. the rest is new to me!

@shouldsleep
Fumetsu no Anata e is To You, The Immortal, the ones I've already read. Ame to Hare no Kaze no Tabi seems to have a similar premise to one episode of Mushishi about a woman who always brings rains with her so she has to travel so no places are flooded by her staying. seems pretty interesting. never heard of that two manga though.

@Bainhardt
looks pretty interesting. maybe that'll be one of the manga that I'll look for its Japanese physical one after I've learned enough jp.

Thanks to all you of u great people!

 

[zalagires]

Asebi to Sora Sekai no Boukensha
Magico (IWAMOTO Naoki)
Sekai Maou
Fushigi no kuni no bird
Dungeon meshi

if you don't mind shoujo :
- 7 Seeds
- Majo no shinzou
- Plus anima

 

[pesimus]

@zalagires
I don't mind shoujo, it's nice to see all different kinds of art and writing styles

from that list, since Sekai Maou is one of the suggested above, it's one that I've already tried reading as of now. I would say that it's a cute journey that has several subversion elements that I liked, pretty nice
the rest is totally new to me tho

many thanks!

 

[MadeOfMagicAndWires]

Yotsukoto is a fairly recent one that's still ongoing and in the vein of what you're looking for.

Then the following are in the vein of what you're looking for but unfortunately only partly translated, they do have (more) complete adaptations so these depend on how hell-bent you are on the manga format.
[ul]
[li]Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita [1][2][/li]
[li]Kemono no Souja [1][2][/li]
[/ul]

YMMV on this one but maybe Golden Kamuy It features a lot of "fighting", but not in the traditional shonen sense, and if you were to ask where the FOCUS of the series lies it's really more of a rat race/cooking manga. Similarly Dungeon Meshi is Made in Abyss without all the overt fetish pandering; unless your fetish is food.

Really thinking out of the box you might one to try 20th Century Boys, Monster, or really anything Urasawa produced. His works are more thrillers than anything, but they do take you on a trip throughout several countries and especially time periods. If you haven't already go check them out!

 

[pesimus]

@MadeOfMagicAndWires
hey, I know Yotsukoto. it's the same author as Sekai Maou. I often try to look up author's other works if I liked a their work enough. I see that I need to check that too

the two next manga is new to me. if manga is not way to go, i'm fine with any alternatives

the rest that you mentioned is something that I've already come across. though, I've only already read 1 vol of both Dungeon Meshi and 20th Century Boys. I think I'll be continuing some of that.

thanks for the recommendation!

 

[MadeOfMagicAndWires]

@pesimus

It doesn't surprise me that you haven't heard of them. Both of those series are quite old by now and especially Kemono no Souja Erin is hardly ever talked about.
Even I hardly remember what actually happened in that series other than that I thought it was quite good so I might have to rewatch it myself at this point.

 

[Ucluk4]

Journey to postapocalyptic earth
Girls last tour
https://mangadex.org/title/12033/girls-last-tour,
Chikyu no houkago
https://mangadex.org/title/14672/chikyuu-no-houkago
Our Lives After the Apocalypse
https://mangadex.org/title/35428/our-lives-after-the-apocalypse

Isekai journey
Isekai Transporter (its thai comic about daily of truck ku
https://mangadex.org/title/26458/isekai-transporter

Fantasy
Marry Grave
https://mangadex.org/title/22916/marry-grave
Mouryou Shoujo
https://mangadex.org/title/34155/mouryou-shoujo
Sekai de Ichiban Warui Majo
https://mangadex.org/title/15989/sekai-de-ichiban-warui-majo
Sekai no Owari no Encore
https://mangadex.org/title/17000/sekai-no-owari-no-encore
Umi no Cradle
https://mangadex.org/title/16346/umi-no-cradle
Yuukyuu no Gusha Asley no, Kenja no Susume
https://mangadex.org/title/23634/yuukyuu-no-gusha-asley-no-kenja-no-susume

 

[pesimus]

hmm seems like you don't get a notification on your own thread unless mentioned

@Ucluk4
I know Girls' Last Tour, and I've heard about Isekai Transporter and Marry Grave. I thought Isekai Transporter is like a one-off story or something, seems like it's still ongoing huh?
the rest are new and it all seems neat!

anyway, thanks for the list!

 

[Sem]

@pesimus

I don't believe it's on Mangadex but you can find it on webtoon. If it looks like your cup of tea, give Aisopos a try! It's partially a journey in the traveling sense, but also a journey in that it covers a good deal of the main chatacter's life.
https://m.webtoons.com/en/drama/aisopos/list?title_no=76&page=1&webtoon-platform-redirect=true

https://mangadex.org/title/593/kabu-no-isaki
Kabu no Isaki's also very good. It's a slower pace manga about a guy who flies around in Japan(?) with his neighbor's Cub. He always returns home, but he goes to a lot of different locations.