10 Best Seinen Sci-Fi Manga, Ranked

Highlights

• Science fiction manga offers compelling stories with dream-like technology and post-apocalyptic futures. These stories are captivating for all audiences.
• Seinen manga allows science fiction stories to explore darker and more complex premises, making them appealing to older readers.
• The best science fiction seinen manga, including Planetes, Blame!, and Parasyte, are ranked based on their MyAnimeList score.

Science fiction is a popular genre of fiction, and anime and manga are no different. Stories about dream-like technology, bizarre scientific phenomena, and hypothetical post-apocalyptic futures are some of the most common elements in science fiction, and they’re some of the most interesting stories in manga.

Science fiction manga are popular no matter what the audience, but seinen manga offers science fiction stories an opportunity to explore darker, more complicated premises due to their older demographic. Here are the best science fiction seinen manga, ranked by their MyAnimeList score.

10 Planetes

MAL Score: 8.27

• Written & illustrated by Makoto Yukimura
• Published in Morning
• 4 volumes

In a world where space travel is common and frequent, the DS-12 “Toy Box” works as a part of the Space Debris Section, clearing debris in space to keep it from accidentally colliding with space stations or satellites. The four members that crew the Toy Box each have their reasons for being in space, reasons that ultimately take them on different paths.

Planetes was written by Makoto Yukimura of Vinland Saga fame and was his first serialized work. It already showcases his strengths and writing style, focusing heavily on character development and interpersonal relationships.

9 Blame!

MAL Score: 8.30

• Written & illustrated by Tsutomu Nihei
• Published in Monthly Afternoon
• 10 volumes

In a giant artificial environment known only as “The City,” a mysterious traveler named Killy wanders the metallic structure looking for Net Terminal Genes. Armed with a powerful weapon called a Gravitational Beam Emitter, Killy braves the dangers of The City, facing off against post-human existences and cybernetic beings all the while.

Blame! is a dark science fiction adventure story with worldbuilding that is both highly imaginative and incredibly harrowing. The world of The City is light-years away from current society, and this post-apocalyptic imagining of a post-human future is both intriguing and horrific.

8 Parasyte

MAL Score: 8.38

• Written & illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki
• Published in Monthly Afternoon
• 10 volumes

One night, strange extraterrestrial creatures start invading Earth, entering people’s bodies and controlling them by infecting their brains. One boy, Shinichi Izumi, is one targeted by these aliens, but by chance he wakes up, forcing the alien to possess his arm instead. Forced to work together to survive, Shinichi decides to use his new partner to save as many people from the invading Parasites as he can.

Parasyte is a classic sci-fi thriller manga from the 80s. The story is quite philosophical despite its horror-like premise, with the Parasites’ sentience and desire to live being just as important as humanity’s desperate attempts to survive their invasion.

7 Battle Angel Alita

MAL Score: 8.40

• Written & illustrated by Yukito Kishiro
• Published in Business Jump
• 9 volumes

While exploring a local garbage dump, Daisuke Ido discovers a dismembered female cyborg with only her head and chest intact. He repairs her and names her Alita, and she soon realizes that she cannot remember anything except the ability to use Panzer Kunst, a martial art utilized by cyborgs. As Alita moves on with her new life, she slowly starts to uncover her mysterious past.

Battle Angel Alita (known as Gunnm in Japan) is a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk manga from the 90s. Its unique world full of cyborgs is classic sci-fi, and its action sequences can stand among some of the best in the business.

6 Neon Genesis Evangelion

MAL Score: 8.58

• Written & illustrated by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
• Published in Monthly Shonen Ace and Young Ace
• 14 volumes

In the near future, Tokyo-3 finds itself under attack by strange existences known only as angels. Gendo Ikari, the director in charge of the organization combating these angels, NERV, brings in his son Shinji Ikari to pilot the biomechanical Eva Unit 01, which is one of the few things capable of stopping these angels. Shinji has a difficult relationship with his father, but reluctantly becomes Unit 01’s pilot, becoming one of humanity’s last defenders.

Neon Genesis Evangelion‘s manga is an adaptation of the original anime, though it initially started publishing before the anime started airing. The author Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is the character designer for the anime, making him a suitable pick for adapting such a legendary show.

5 Pluto

MAL Score: 8.63

• Original concept by Osamu Tezuka; adapted by Naoki Urasawa & Takashi Nagasaki, illustrated by Naoki Urasawa
• Published in Big Comic Original
• 8 volumes

Robot detective Gesicht is investigating a strange series of robot-human murders, where the victims have objects shoved into their heads like horns. The targets of the murders seem to be robots that number among the Seven Greatest Robots in the World, as well as humans that are connected to the International Robot Laws.

Pluto is a manga by the legendary Naoki Urasawa, adapting a storyline from Osamu Tezuka’s legendary Astro Boy series. Urasawa puts a unique spin on the story, making it all his own while never forgetting the charm that made Tezuka’s works stand out so well.

4 Akira

MAL Score: 8.68

• Written & illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo
• Published in Young Magazine
• 6 volumes

In the far future, a post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo is riddled with gangs, terrorism, and violence. Tetsuo Shima, a member of Shotaro Kaneda’s biker gang, gains powers after an encounter with a psychic. When Tetsuo disappears and starts building up another gang, Kaneda decides to go after him.

Akira is one of the most famous manga and anime franchises of all time, with its movie adaptation being one of the biggest reasons why anime became popular in the West. The manga is just as good, if not better, and is one of the most iconic post-apocalyptic stories around.

3 Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

MAL Score: 8.68

• Written & illustrated by Hitoshi Ashinano
• Published in Monthly Afternoon
• 14 volumes

After a cataclysmic environmental disaster, humanity has declined as rising sea levels and rapidly changing climates irreparably change the world. As humans regress to simpler lives while waiting for the end of humanity’s era, the android Alpha Hatsuseno runs a quiet little coffee house while waiting quietly for her owner to return.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is a strange mix of post-apocalyptic and slice-of-life, as despite the wretched state of humanity, the story is lighthearted, calming, and soothing. The manga has a perfect mix of melancholy and warmth, making the best of a sorrowful situation.

2 Space Brothers

MAL Score: 8.77

• Written & illustrated by Chuya Koyama
• Published in Morning
• 43+ volumes

Mutta and Hibito Nanba make a promise as children to one day make it to space as astronauts. Years later, Hibito is about to achieve his dream, but Mutta is nowhere near it, stuck working for a car company instead of as an astronaut. After losing his job and receiving a letter from JAXA in the mail, Mutta suddenly becomes motivated to achieve his once-lapsed dream of becoming an astronaut.

Space Brothers is a manga about astronauts and space travel. While much of the manga’s focus on space technology is true to life, there are some aspects to it that are slightly fictional, especially since it takes place in the very near future.

1 20th Century Boys

MAL Score: 8.95

• Written & illustrated by Naoki Urasawa
• Published in Big Comic Spirits
• 22 volumes

Kenji Endo is an aspiring musician who is stuck taking care of his family’s liquor store and watching his baby niece Kanna. One day, he stumbles on a cult worshipping a figure known only as “Friend,” and is shocked to find that the symbol Friend uses is the one he and his friends used for their secret base during their childhood.

20th Century Boys is one of Naoki Urasawa’s best works, and one of his most successful as well. It features incredibly well-developed characters, bizarre conspiracies, and one of the most intriguing mysteries in manga history.