Sick of walking through busy mall parking lots almost getting run over by frantic holiday shoppers? Or spending all day surfing through pages of boring gifts on site after site? Well, we’ve got the answer to your problem—BUY EVERYONE IN YOUR FAMILY MANGA. That’s right, manga! Think of the joy and mirth as your whole family nestles around the fire in comfy sweaters sipping cocoa and reading manga you bought them.

But what in the heck kind of manga would your grumpy Grandpa like? How about dear old Grams? Or that weird Uncle who goes on and on about Star Trek? We’ve got the perfect guide for you to pick the right manga for just about everyone in your family. Shopping has never been easier!

For Your Grumpy Grandpa – Golden Kamuy
by Satoru Noda

Is your Grandpa perpetually annoyed by the fact that “kids have it easy, these days”? Does he get grumpy and start telling you how when he was a kid “men were men” and regale you with tough guy tales about chopping firewood, walking to school in the snow, suffering daily hardships and being “happy about it.”

Then we’ve got the perfect manga for him—Golden Kamuy! Set in the early 1900s, this is a two-fisted tale of a tough guy soldier who escapes death in the Russo-Japanese War so many times he earns the nickname, “Immortal Sugimoto.” He befriends a plucky Ainu (the indigenous, tribal people of Japan) girl and they tough it out in the rugged, frozen mountains of Hokkaido. Plenty of hunting, fighting and a deadly treasure hunt for lost gold too!

Pick up volume 1 right here!

For Your Sweet Old Granny — Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
story by Yuto Tsukuda, art by Shun Saeki, Contributor Yuki Morisaki

Grandma’s love cooking! And nothing excites them like a new and challenging recipe. Food Wars! is filled with intense cooking battles between genius culinary students and delicious-looking food. And many of the volumes have actual recipes for the food. Plus, tons of incredible art of meticulously drawn food and mostly nude young men and women. Grannies love that stuff!

Pick up volume 1 right here!

For Your Picky Parents — The Emperor and I (Digital Only)
by mato

This one’s actually a trick! It’s to show your parents that manga isn’t just people with big eyes and spiky hair yelling at each other. Manga can be about anything, even a whimsical slice of life tale about living with an emperor penguin. An emperor penguin that magically appears in a family’s fridge one day, that is. This perfectly pleasing penguin manga should delight anyone regardless of their feelings about manga or even comics, it’s just that cute.

Pick up volume 1 right here!

For Your Trekkie Uncle/Aunt — Astra Lost in Space
by Kenta Shinohara

Everybody’s got a Trekkie in their family. With so many spin offs of the original show running for so many years, it’s practically impossible not to know somebody with a fondness for pointed ears and phasers. If they like Star Trek, it’s probably because it’s intelligent, well thought out science fiction with lovable characters fighting for survival in life or death scenarios. You know what else is? That's right, Astra Lost in Space. The story of a group of teens who find themselves transported lightyears away from home. They’ve got to use their wits to survive space and the alien life of the planets they forage for food on the way back. Plus, there's a saboteur aboard! Perfect for discerning fans of science fiction. 

Pick up volume 1 right here!

For Your Goth/Emo/Mopey Cousin — Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul: re
by Sui Ishida

The perfect gift for the girl or guy who hates everything. Black hair, black fingernails, black clothes and a black spirit. Earbuds in at all times and eye rolls aplenty. But within the darkness of the soul there can be found pleasure…in the form of kinship. Others who also understand that life = pain. Or at least it’s cool to dress in lots of black and look grim. That’s why Tokyo Ghoul or the followup series, Tokyo Ghoul: Re is perfect, it totally goes with black! And the main character undergoes a harsh realization that he’s been turned into a ghoul who craves human flesh and blood! Plus, he ends up getting a cool, scary mask that would impress anyone who shops at Hot Topic. It doesn't get much more goth or grim than this manga.

Pick up volume 1 of Tokyo Ghoul right here, and Tokyo Ghoul: re here! 

For the Jock in Your Family That You Can’t Relate To — Haikyu!!, Kuroko’s Basketball
Haikyu!! by Haruichi Furudate, Kuroko's Basketball by Tadatoshi Fujimaki 

For the most part, sports people and manga people live in different worlds. Although, when you boil it all down, sports and the typical SJ manga aren’t that different. Both have heroes and villains (hated teams or players). There’s lots of training involved in both and tons of battles or contests. Actually, manga and sports are a lot of like. Maybe that’s why sports manga in Japan is so popular, it’s the perfect match. And if you can get the sports person in your life to sit down and read Haikyu!! or Kuroko’s Basketball, they may find a brand new way to enjoy sports—through the power of manga!

Pick up volume 1 of Haikyu!! right here and Kuroko's Basketball here! 

For The Hyperactive Kids Who Are Always Yelling and Breaking Stuff — Black Clover
by Yûki Tabata

Everyone's got one of these or, heaven help you, a few in their family. They come during the holidays, they run around the house, screaming, fighting and breaking everything in their paths like tiny Godzillas. But it wouldn’t be the the holidays without them! That’s why Black Clover is the perfect manga for them. The main character Asta specializes in yelling and breaking things. He’s a great, positive role model who never gives up and has a sweet anti-magic sword that he uses to put the beat down on evil wizards and the like. The perfect, fun and exciting book for the hyperactive, destructive kid!

Pick up volume 1 right here!

For The Gamer Bro — Dragon Ball Super
story by Akira Toriyama, art by Toyotarou

Gamers come in all types, but there is a certain segment of the population that would qualify as a Gamer Bro. They love shooters, Madden, yelling and getting angry. They’re macho tough guys that play macho tough guy games. And one of the most macho tough guy manga of all time is Dragon Ball. Although it’s got a lot of humor, it’s also filled with huge muscular dudes pounding each other into the ground. And the new sequel, Dragon Ball Super, has upped the ante and power levels of the characters even more. Written by the original mangaka Akira Toriyama and drawn by the very talented Toyotarou, this new series has all the tough guy appeal of the original, plus a ton of humor and crazy cosmic story al well. 

Pick up volume 1 right here!

For The Weird Artsy Aunt/Uncle — JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
by Hirohiko Araki

If you’ve got a offbeat Aunt or Uncle who’s into weird and wacky stuff, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is the perfect manga for them. It may be the most accurately named manga ever. It’s filled with memorable, quirky characters who go on, well, bizarre adventures. Artistically, it’s a masterpiece and unlike any other manga. The fashion, the designs, the inhuman poses and fantastical powers all add up to something that pushes the boundaries of manga or even comics in general. It’s intelligent, funny, eccentric and sure to appeal to those who march to the beat of their own drum.

Pick up volume 1 right here!

For The Marvel/DC America Comic Book Fan – One-Punch Man, My Hero Academia
One-Punch Man story by ONE, art by Yusuke Murata, My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi 

There are sad souls in this world who don’t read manga, only American superhero comics. I know it’s hard to believe, but they’re out there. You may even have one in your family. But there’s hope! Hope in the form of superhero-themed manga that just might break them out of the Marvel/DC world they live in. My Hero Academia is about a whole world of people with super powers called Quirks. It’s overflowing with cool superheroes and thrilling battles that should appeal to comic fans. And One-Punch Man turns the superhero genre on its head, by poking fun at the entire concept while celebrating it at the same time. And it stars a hilarious hero named Saitama who’s so strong, he literally kills everyone in one punch, thus the name. And both titles have incredible art that is on par or rivals anything in the mainstream American comic industry. If this doesn't get someone to put down the Batman comics, nothing will! 

Pick up volume 1 of One-Punch Man right here, and My Hero Academia here!

For You — The Promised Neverland
story by Kaiu Shirai, art by Posuka Demizu 

Don't forget—you need something to read too! Treat yourself. And this manga really is a treat. If you haven’t read it yet, you’re missing out on what very well could be the next big thing. This manga has all the ingredients for a major hit. A unique and compelling setup—little kids living in an orphanage that’s actually a farm to raise them to be eaten by demons! A great main character, a young girl named Emma who will stop at nothing to save all her friends from a cruel fate. A solid cast of supporting characters, including the villains. Gorgeous art that has a storybook quality and does not look like your typical manga. Incredibly tight storytelling. Cliffhanger after cliffhanger after cliffhanger, this manga is impossible to put down! Actually, it’s so good, maybe you could just give everyone this as a gift!

Pick up volume 1 right here!

Hopefully that’s solved all your gift shopping problems. And if you don’t have enough money, you can just direct people to the free manga section, where there are tons of great series that can be read for nothing!

by Urian Brown