Imagine, one day your sister suddenly is hospitalized with a life threatening illness. Now, after your mother deserted you and your drunkard father spending all of the family funds, you must get a job to support her. The day she is promised a new organ to save her; your father spends all the money you have earned on alcohol for him and his friends, so now you are unable to pay for the surgery.  What do you do when you are surrounded by depression and have no one to rely on? For young Kusakabe Makoto, he runs to the shrine and just prays for time to stop. When his wish was granted, he soon realized it came with a grave cost. Him and his sister are now stuck in a time loop, the day repeats itself and only the two of them feel the effects. As such, his sister’s health deteriorates everyday that they are stuck within the loop. When Makoto finally finds the way to break out of the loop, he is faced with a deadly decision. Should he help his sister or sacrifice another? 

Such is the plot of “Massacre Happy End,” many protagonists in psychological manga face moral dilemmas similar to this. 

In “Momo: The Blood Taker,” suspicious cases are occurring all over Tokyo, Japan. The main characteristics of the victims are those who have had all of their blood drained from their bodies. Mikogami Keiji plays a key role as he is a detective who also wants revenge for his lover who was killed ten years ago. While the culprit, named ‘V’ as in vampire, has gone undiscovered from the police force, a silver haired girl suddenly appears.

For a title that makes one question who the good person in the story is, there exists “Ijimeru Aitsu Ga Waruinoka, Ijimerareta Boku Ga Waruinoka?” (Is the bully bad, or is the bullied me bad?). A teacher named Aizawa was bullied horribly while in school, his bully Suzuki was so fearsome he almost became truant. Now, 20 years later as a teacher, his bully’s daughter is his student. As if full circle, she is being harassed by her classmates and she does not tell her father who looks down on victims of bullying. Aizawa is faced with a dilemma with his pride as a teacher versus his inner child who has been bullied. Does he save the source of his childhood trauma’s offspring or let the harassment continue as revenge?

A similar title is “Happy Sugar Life,” which revolves around high school girl Matsuzaka Satou who has a reputation for sleeping around. However, one day that lifestyle comes to an end, as Satou holds a secret. She meets a child named Shio, and Satou is convinced it is her first true love, thus begins living with the child. The seemingly sweet and innocent Satou will stop at nothing to protect their new life together, including murder. Nevertheless, there are questions that remain unanswered, who is Shio, where is her family if she has one, and how long will their “Happy Sugar Life” together last?

A strangely romantic title includes, “Naraku No Futari” (The Lovers in the Abyss). Sakura Rin, the bullied girl in class, and Komine Yuuya, the honor student who just wants to get by, would normally never speak to each other. Everything changes when off-handedly Komine, who goes with the flow of the classroom, tells Sakura to die. She then jumps out of the window, after escaping death she blames him. The befuddled Komine promises to do anything for her forgiveness, her request? For him to love her. 

Additional titles include, “Seibetsu ‘Mona Lisa’ No Kimi E.,” “Watashi No Tadashii Onii-chan,” “Kon’ya Wa Tsuki Ga Kirei Desu Ga, Toriaezu Shine” (Can you just Die, My Darling?), and “Asu, Watashi Wa Dareka No Kanojo” (Tomorrow I’ll be someone’s girlfriend). Honorable webtoon mention, “Killing Stalking,” a webtoon can only be found online. 

These titles are made to make people think and also may have horror aspects. Please be aware when reading these titles.