[10] Best Dragon Manga In 2023 (With A Physical Manga Available)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Quality dragon manga is pretty hard to come by nowadays, but it’s still out there. To prove it, I’ve put together this definitive list of the best dragon manga available in 2023.
Of course I have to put Dragon Ball on this list because it’s one of the most iconic manga series of all time. Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z practically created a generation of Anime and Manga fans (myself included), and the entire premise revolves around a goofy boy and his friends hunting down magical balls that summon a dragon.
If you’ve never given Dragon Ball a read, then I highly recommend it. The action scenes look awesome on screen, of course, but there’s something so awesome about seeing how they were originally illustrated. On top of that, if you collect physical manga, then Dragon Ball just looks awesome in any collection. Reading Dragon Ball almost feels like taking a trip to a nostalgic past. Even if you weren’t born when it was originally written, there’s still something just so pleasant about the story. It’s an easy read, full of Akira Toriyama goofy comedy and style that any manga fan will love.
Fairy Tail is another amazing Shonen manga full of action and Dragon-slaying wizards. Fairy Tail subverts what most people expect when they think of Wizards. The characters are all very well-designed and their powers are full-anime.
One of the main selling points of Fairy Tale is its action-packed, intense, and unique fights. They’re fantastic and are much better than most other shonen manga fights, at least manga from the same era as Fairy Tail. For example, in Dragon Ball Z, when characters fight there is a lot of posturing. In Fairy Tail? There’s a lot of pure, unadulterated, action. This action looks absolutely phenomenal on page, and if you enjoy reading action-packed manga.
Fairy Tail is one of the best Dragon Manga because it puts a nice twist on the classic Dragon Slaying trope we expect in the media. The plot is unparalleled, intense, and will always make you smile at the same time because it’s absolutely hilarious. The characters are all infatuating and you’ll love seeing their interactions with each other, which is why Fairy Tail is a solid number two on this list.
Dragon Ball Z is absolutely iconic. If you’ve seen the anime but haven’t given the manga a try, then I highly recommend checking out at least a volume of it. The Dragon Ball Z anime, of course, does action much better because the action is animated and has plenty of music and sound effects to pair with the show. The manga, though, has amazing world building that will give you a whole new appreciation for the world that Akira Toriyama created.
If you’re not a fan of the Dragon Ball Z anime, you may honestly still end up liking the manga. You won’t have to sit through 10 minutes of characters gasping in the middle of fights, at least. You can read straight to the point and enjoy the story.
I do enjoy Fairy Tail’s plot more and think it has more depth than Dragon Ball Z. However, I’d give anything to erase my memory of Dragon Ball Z and experience it all over again. So whether you have nostalgia for the anime / series or not, I highly recommend the manga. It’s fun, it’s intense, and there’s a reason it’s been popular for as long as it has.
There are two people reading this list right now. Those that have read Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling (DORATAMA) and are looking for another manga to fill that void, and those that haven’t read it and are in for a really great treat.
Reincarnated As A Dragon Hatchling isn’t the typical reincarnation manga that have been making waves lately. The main character doesn’t become a Dragon and basically play through life on a smurf account. Instead, becoming a dragon actually comes with a ton of challenges, like mana management, cursing those around them, low HP and Attack stats, etc.
If you’re looking for a Dragon Manga, it really doesn’t get better than this. The main character is a Dragon after all, and surprisingly it’s not a good thing. The plot isn’t complex, the story is very easy to follow, and overall this dragon manga is a very easy and extremely fun read.
For Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, I just have to give you a rundown of the plot. The manga is about a regular, everyday woman that works a regular old office job and lives in a regular old apartment. One day, she saves a dragon, and that dragon decides to repay Kobayashi by dedicating its life to her as her servant. Of course, when your servant is a literal dragon things tend to get a little weird. This dragon manga is a slice of life that is absolutely hilarious, quirky, and an all-around easy read. If you want some more action in your dragon manga, you can find it in Fairy Tail or one of the Dragon Ball series. If you want a more Fantastical setting, typical to stereotypical dragon settings, you’ll find it in Reincarnated As A Dragon Hatchling or Delicious in Dungeon. However, if you want a modern slice of life manga that happens to have a dragon maid in it (that is hilarious), then you want Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.
Drifting Dragons is basically Moby Dick with Dragons. This manga has some of the best dragon designs in all of manga and a brutal story to match. The story follows a group of drakers / dragon hunters that hunt dragons from their airship for oil and meat. The plot has plenty of action, but the real meat of the story is watching the interactions and relationships between the drakers. If you’re looking for a dragon manga, it really doesn’t get better than Drifting Dragons. Its character-designs and story are extremely unique and beautiful.
Delicious in Dungeon is such a unique take on fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons-like anime. The story revolves around a typical band of adventurers delving deep into a dungeon and then quickly making their escape once one of their members is eaten by a Dragon. Basically Delicious in Dungeon is about the two adventurers that decided to dive deeper in order to rescue their consumed comrade. The twist? They also cook everything monster they come across with the help of a survivalist they met. The series is light-hearted, fun, and highly based around building the world of the dungeon and the characters we follow.
Delicious in Dungeon is so great because it contains a crazy amount of fun and comedy while still delivering dark themes on occasion. There’s a ton of character development and depth in the manga and also a ton of world-building. A lot of the world building, of course, revolves around the ecosystem of the dungeon and the meals the adventurers create. The Dragon plays a smaller part in this anime than some of the other anime on this list, but Delicious in Dungeon is still a must-read and well-worth it for readers looking for a dragon manga.
While Dragon Ball GT was absolutely loathed by Dragon Ball fans (I’m not getting into it one way or the other, don’t worry), Dragon Ball Super is a true return to form and it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon! The Dragon Balls don’t play as much of a role as they did in Dragon Ball Z and they’re nowhere near as relevant as they were in the original Dragon Ball, but they’re still important.
Dragon Ball Super has the same characters we fell in love with in Dragon Ball Z, except the manga goes back to its goofy, comedy roots. Sure, there’s still a ton of action, some wicked cool fight scenes, and dastardly villains, but overall Super feels more light-hearted than Z.
If you’re a fan of classic Shonen anime / manga, then you’ll love Super, hands down. Should you read Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z first? Maybe, but you could probably get away with just checking out a synopsis of Dragon Ball Z. Most of us 90s kids never watched Dragon Ball or completely watched Z all the way through until we were well into adulthood and we still fell in love with Dragon Ball, Z, and Super all the same!
Dragon Goes House-Hunting is exactly as the title implies. A Dragon gets kicked out of its house and has to go house hunting with the help of a realtor elf. Yep, that’s the plot. It’s silly, it’s corky, it’s cheesy, and it’s pretty much perfect if you just want a quick, fun manga about a dragon! There’s not a ton of depth to the manga and the anime isn’t perfect either, but it gets the job done. If you’re looking for one single anime to fall in love with and dive deep into, this may not be the dragon manga for you. However, if you just want to add some dragon manga to your collection and are looking for something to read during off-seasons of other manga, then Dragon Goes House-Hunting will fill that void and keep you entertained and smiling!
I Am A Spider, So What? Is a classic Reincarnation manga, similar to That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, which practically put the genre on the map. If you’re a fan of reincarnation manga / Isekai then you’ll love I Am A Spider, So What?. It’s absolutely hilarious, first of all. Usually Isekais give the protagonist some kind of advantage. However, this manga puts the protagonist in a dungeon full of dragons and other high level, powerful monsters. The protagonist, though, ends up as a spider. AKA the absolute bottom-tier, lowest of the low, absolute mid monster possible. So what, though? She’ll still make it work and succeed in her new life… right?
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