What is Contemporary Fantasy manga?

Contemporary fantasy, also known as modern fantasy or indigenous fantasy, is a sub-genre of fantasy, set in the present day. It is perhaps most popular for its sub-genre, urban fantasy.These terms are used to describe stories set in the putative real world (often referred to as consensus reality) in contemporary times, in which magic and magical creatures exist, either living in the interstices of our world or leaking over from alternate worlds. It thus has much in common with, and sometimes overlaps with secret history; a work of fantasy in which the magic could not remain secret or does not have any known relationship to known history would not fit into this subgenre. Occasionally certain contemporary fantasy novels will make reference to pop culture.Novels in which modern characters travel into alternate worlds, and all the magical action takes place there (except for the portal required to transport them), are not considered contemporary fantasy. Thus, C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where all fantasy events take place in the land of Narnia which is reached via a magic wardrobe, would not count as contemporary fantasy; on the other hand, the part of The Magician's Nephew, where the Empress Jadis gets to London, tries to take over the Earth and clashes with police and a crowd of cockneys, would qualify as such.Contemporary fantasy is also to be distinguished from horror fiction, which also often has contemporary settings. When encountering magical events and creatures, the protagonist of a horror novel is horrified, while the protagonist of a fantasy novel (contemporary or otherwise) is filled with a sense of joy and wonder. Horrifying events may happen, but the fundamental distinction is vital.In his preface to That Hideous Strength, one of the earlier works falling within this sub-genre, C.S. Lewis explained why, when writing a tale about "magicians, devils, pantomime animals and planetary angels", he chose to start it with a detailed depiction of narrow-minded academic politics at a provincial English university and the schemes of crooked real estate developers: "I am following the traditional fairy-tale. We do not always notice its method, because the cottages, castles, woodcutters and petty kings with which a fairy tale opens have become for us as remote as the witches and ogres to which it proceeds. But they were not remote at all to the men who first made and enjoyed the tales". The same is true for many of the later works in the genre, which often begin with a seemingly normal scene of modern daily life to then disclose supernatural and magical beings and events hidden behind the scenes.Source: wiki

Trending Contemporary Fantasy Manga You might like

Berserk

(Berserk)

8.47

Description:

His name is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a feared warrior spoken of only in whispers. Bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand, and the scars of countless battles and tortures, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an unholy symbol that draws the forces of darkness to him and dooms him as their sacrifice. But Guts won't take his fate lying down; he'll cut a crimson swath of carnage through the ranks of the damned—and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more an annoyance than a companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloodstained path that leads only to death...or vengeance. (Source: Dark Horse) Notes: - Volumes 1-5 contain the 16 prequel chapters 0A - 0P. - Chapter 83 was omitted from Volume 13 due to the author’s request. - Volume 14 includes “Berserk: The Prototype”. - Due to the author's passing, starting from Chapter 365, the manga is illustrated by Studio Gaga (Miura's assistants) and supervised by Kouji Mori (a close friend of Miura's).
Type

manga

Volumes

0

Rating

Horror

Status

current

Started

1989-08-25

Jumyou wo Kaitotte Moratta. Ichinen ni Tsuki, Ichimanen de.

(I sold my life for ten thousand yen per year.)

8.28

Description:

A twenty-year-old with little hope for the future discovers a shop that buys lifespan, time, and health. This is a story dealing with the ensuing consequences. (Source: MU) Note: Volume 2 contains the side story "Sonzai no Iu made mo Nai Karusa". Volume 3 contains the side story "Chiisana Negai".
Type

manga

Volumes

3

Chapters

18

Status

finished

Started

2016-08-10

Mob Psycho 100

(Mob Psycho 100)

8.27

Description:

Kageyama Shigeo (a.k.a. "Mob") is a 8th grader with psychic abilities. He could bend spoons and lift objects with his mind from a young age, but he slowly began to withhold from using his abilities in public due to the negative attention he kept receiving. Now, the only thing he wants is to become friends with a girl in his class, Tsubomi. With his psychic "mentor" (who has no psychic powers), he continues his daily life, attempting to realize his purpose in life. (Source: MangaHelpers)
Type

manga

Volumes

16

Chapters

101

Status

finished

Started

2012-04-18

Spice & Wolf

(Spice & Wolf)

8.25

Description:

The life of a traveling merchant is a lonely one, a fact with which Kraft Lawrence is well acquainted. Wandering from town to town with just his horse, cart, and whatever wares have come his way, the peddler has pretty well settled into his routine—that is, until the night Lawrence finds a wolf goddess asleep in his cart. Taking the form of a fetching girl with wolf ears and a tail, Holo has wearied of tending to harvests in the countryside and strikes up a bargain with the merchant to lend him the cunning of “Holo the Wisewolf” to increase his profits in exchange for taking her along on his travels. What kind of businessman could turn down such an offer? Lawrence soon learns, though, that having an ancient goddess as a traveling companion can be a bit of a mixed blessing. Will this wolf girl turn out to be too wild to tame? (Source: Yen Press)
Type

novel

Rating

Status

current

Started

2006-02-10

Fruits Basket

8.25

Description:

Tohru Honda is a high school freshman who is having a serious bout of misfortune. Not only was she recently orphaned with the tragedy of her mother's death, but she also has no where to live and is currently residing in a tent! However, when her luck to seems to be at its worse, she meets the Sohma family - and is invited to stay with them in exchange for taking care of the household chores. But it isn't long before Tohru discovers the Sohmas have deep a secret. The family is cursed by the spirits of the Chinese Zodiac, and some of the children born into the Sohma family are possessed by these spirits. When possessed, they cannot be "huggled" by the opposite sex, or they transform into their respective Zodiac animal! However, this doesn't phase Tohru, who promises to keep their secret. She continues living with them, and her grave humbleness and thankfulness never wanes. As a result, they come to be very important people in her life, and the Sohmas begin to realize how very lucky they are to have her.
Type

manga

Volumes

23

Chapters

136

Status

finished

Started

1998-07-18

Monogatari Series: First Season

8.25

Description:

This entry includes the first season of the Monogatari series: Vol. 1-2: Bakemonogatari Vol. 3: Kizumonogatari Vol. 4-5: Nisemonogatari Vol. 6: Nekomonogatari: Kuro
Type

novel

Volumes

6

Chapters

107

Rating

Status

finished

Started

2006-11-01

Mikkakan no Koufuku

(Three Days of Happiness)

8.26

Description:

Three Days of Happiness is a novel by Sugaru Miaki, also known as Fafoo. It’s a rewritten version of the story originally posted to 2ch. If you haven’t read the original story, the premise revolves around a shop where one can sell away the remaining years of their life, and the consequences of doing so. Also, I Say A Little Prayer is a short related story which was posted along with the novel’s release. It spoils some things about the main story, but nothing major. (Source: Novel Updates)
Type

novel

Volumes

1

Chapters

15

Rating

Status

finished

Started

2013-12-25

Pandora Hearts

(Pandora Hearts)

8.25

Description:

The air of celebration surrounding fifteen-year-old Oz Vessalius’s coming-of-age ceremony quickly turns to horror when he is condemned for a sin about which he knows nothing. He is thrown into the eternal prison known as the Abyss, from which there is no escape. There, he meets a young girl named Alice, who is not what she seems. Now that the relentless cogs of fate have begun to turn, do they lead only to crushing despair for Oz, or is there some shred of hope for him to grasp on to? (Source: Yen Press) Included one-shot: Volume 8: Pandora Hearts (pilot)
Type

manga

Volumes

24

Chapters

107

Rating

Status

finished

Started

2006-05-18

Bakemonogatari

8.24

Description:

One day, high-school student Koyomi Araragi catches a girl named Hitagi Senjougahara when she trips. But—much to his surprise—she doesn’t weigh anything. At all. She says an encounter with a so-called “crab” took away all her weight … Monsters have been here since the beginning. Always. Everywhere. (Source: Kodansha USA)
Type

manga

Volumes

22

Chapters

193

Status

finished

Started

2018-03-14

Mahoutsukai no Yome

(The Ancient Magus' Bride)

8.24

Description:

Hatori Chise has lived a life full of neglect and abuse, devoid of anything resembling love. Far from the warmth of family, she has had her share of troubles and pitfalls. Just when all hope seems lost, a fateful encounter awaits her. When a man with the head of a beast, wielding strange powers, obtains her through a slave auction, Chise's life will never be the same again. The man is a "magus," a sorcerer of great power, who decides to free Chise from the bonds of captivity. The magus then makes a bold statement: Chise will become his apprentice–and his bride! (Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)
Type

manga

Volumes

0

Status

current

Started

2013-11-30

Spice & Wolf

(Spice & Wolf)

8.23

Description:

With his carthorse as his only companion, the young merchant Kraft Lawrence slowly wends his way through dusty back roads in search of profitable trade. But this monotony screeches to a halt when, one night, he encounters a harvest goddess in the guise of a beautiful young girl…with wolf ears and a tail! Longing for the northern lands of her birth, Holo the Wisewolf joins Lawrence as he follows the ebb and flow of trade through the countryside. And when the two come across a compelling but suspicious opportunity for profit, will Lawrence with his mercantile chops and Holo with her ancient instincts be able to separate the truth from the lies — and make some coin while they’re at it?! (Source: Yen Press)
Type

manga

Volumes

0

Chapters

108

Status

finished

Started

2007-09-27

Monogatari Series: Second Season

8.23

Description:

This entry includes the second season of the Monogatari series: Vol. 1: Nekomonogatari: Shiro Vol. 2: Kabukimonogatari Vol. 3: Hanamonogatari Vol. 4: Otorimonogatari Vol. 5: Onimonogatari Vol. 6: Koimonogatari
Type

novel

Volumes

6

Chapters

199

Rating

Status

finished

Started

2010-10-27

Natsume Yuujinchou

(Natsume's Book of Friends)

8.22

Description:

Takashi Natsume can see spirits and demons that hide from the rest of humanity. He has always been set apart from other people because of his gift, drifting from relative to relative, never fitting in. Now he's a troubled high school student who has come to live in a small town where his grandmother, Reiko, grew up. And there he discovers that he has inherited more than just the power of Sight from the mysterious Reiko. When Reiko was Takashi's age, she bound the names of demons and spirits in her Book of Friends, enslaving them to her every capricious whim. Now Takashi is the owner of the book, and the creatures will do anything to get their names back. (Source: Viz Media)
Type

manga

Volumes

0

Status

current

Started

2003-06-10

Monogatari Series: Final Season

8.22

Description:

This entry includes the final season of the Monogatari series: Vol. 1: Tsukimonogatari Vol. 2: Koyomimonogatari Vol. 3-5: Owarimonogatari Vol. 6: Zoku Owarimonogatari
Type

novel

Volumes

6

Chapters

231

Rating

Status

finished

Started

2012-09-28

LUMINE

8.21

Description:

A runaway werewolf, Lumine, meets a witch boy named Kody and is being hired to work as his bodyguard. Lumine, being determined to befriend Kody, tries everything to get Kody to trust him, while Kody tries to keep Lumine away from him. Their life gets even more complicated after an unfortunate event that leaves them to try to survive on their own. (Source: Line Webtoon)
Type

oel

Status

current

Started

2017-05-07

Ghost Teller

(Ghost Teller)

8.19

Description:

When people tell scary stories, they always tell ghost stories.But when ghosts tell stories, they tell ones far scarier and terrifying: human stories.(Source: Batoto)
Type

manhwa

Chapters

90

Status

finished

Started

2017-04-02

Jujutsu Kaisen 0

(Jujutsu Kaisen 0)

8.04

Description:

Yuta Okkotsu is a nervous high school student who is suffering from a serious problem—his childhood friend Rika has turned into a Curse and won't leave him alone. Since Rika is no ordinary Curse, his plight is noticed by Satoru Gojo, a teacher at Jujutsu High, a school where fledgling exorcists learn how to combat Curses. Gojo convinces Yuta to enroll, but can he learn enough in time to confront the Curse that haunts him? (Source: Viz Media)
Type

manga

Volumes

1

Chapters

4

Status

finished

Started

2017-04-28

Monogatari Series: Monster Season

8.01

Description:

Vol. 1: Shinobumonogatari Vol. 2: Yoimonogatari Vol. 3: Amarimonogatari Vol. 4: Ougimonogatari Vol. 5-6: Shimonogatari "It's chic to go saving a girl who has nothing to do with you every once in a while." Female students from Naoetsu High School have gone missing one after the other. When the mummified bodies of the girls are discovered, there's a very distinctive marking left on the napes of their necks...? Koyomi Araragi, now a first year university student, goes on the move to track down the culprit! (Source: Kodansha, Bakemonogatari Wikia)
Type

novel

Volumes

6

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Started

2017-07-20

Vampeerz

(Vampeerz, My Peer Vampires)

7.94

Description:

On the day of her grandmother's funeral, Ichika meets Aria, a beautiful foreigner who claims to be her grandmother's friend. But Ichika soon finds that Aria is no normal human; she is a vampire, and their relationship has just begun... (Source: Japanese Publisher, translated)
Type

manga

Chapters

46

Status

current

Started

2019-02-19

Monogatari Series: Off Season

7.93

Description:

Monogatari Series: Off Season consists of additional stories that occur throughout the main series timeline. Included volumes: Vol. 1: Orokamonogatari Vol. 2: Wazamonogatari Vol. 3: Nademonogatari Vol. 4: Musubimonogatari
Type

novel

Volumes

4

Chapters

12

Rating

Status

finished

Started

2015-10-05

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