Kuroi Fubuki
Black Blizzard

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A selection of titles from the gekiga scene, a short-lived yet influential artistic movement that flourished during the 1960s to the 1970s and maintains a prominent underground presence today. While mostly known as a pioneer of cinematic paneling and close attention to realism, it would be more accurate to consider gekiga as a counterculture. Surrealistic, autobiographical, and experimental works emerged as an alternative to the Tezuka school of aesthetics and paved the way for other artists to different modes of expression.

This is in NO WAY a comprehensive list and should be treated more as a starting point for diving into this movement. There are so many more important artists and titles in the scene that MAL unfortunately does not have entries for, and probably never will. Since I can't speak Japanese, there may also be some titles that I am unfamiliar with. The 50-title limit doesn't help either, but I hope this gets you started in this often-unexplored side of manga.

Note: Not all of these titles are available in English.
11/04/2022 Updated to include more underground artists.

If you enjoyed this interest stack and want to learn more about gekiga, feel free to check these other outlets:
The MAL Gekiga Club
Taniguchi Scanlations
Habanero Scans
Illuminati-Manga
Hox Scanlations
Stinky Scans
Ryan Holmberg's translations
Star Fruit Books
Glacier Bay Books
Koenji Shawn Reviews
The Comics Journal
Breakdown Press
Drawn and Quarterly
New York Review Comics
AX Volume 1: A Collection of Alternative Manga

* = i had to use the advanced search to find these, possibly not the most accurate result
2001-2050: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/48905
Anime 1951-2050: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/48293
Anime 2001-2050: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/45933

By "Sola Scriptura of manga", I’m not referring to the best mangas of all, but rather to mangas that had an impact and relevance (not necessarily the most popular) on the industry, serving as milestones and references regardless of whether they are good or bad.

"Sola Scriptura" is a reference to the medieval reformist movements that accepted only the Bible as the absolute Christian authority, rejecting any external authority.

By analogy, I’m referring to mangas that are the references and "authorities" within the cultural and market context of the manga industry.

Not everything here is necessarily referring to the manga exactly. For example, we have Gundam, which originated as an anime, but I included the manga on the list just for representation.

No particular order.

Part 1 of a long list of manga mentioned in the book 1001 comics you must read before you die.

Not on myanimelist:

Sennin Buraku (Hermit Village) Kojima, Kou (1956) /// Manga
Gyatoruzu Sonoyama, Shunji (1965) /// Manga
Nagashima, Shinji Wanderer (Futen) (1967) /// Manga

Not on list:

https://myanimelist.net/manga/155698/Terajima-chou_Kidan