Seinen (Japanese for "young man" or "young men", and pronounced [ˈseɪ ˌnen], not [ˈsaɪ ˌnen]) is a demographic designation of Manga targeted at male audiences aged 18 to 40. It is the older counterpart of Shōnen and effectively makes for the majority of anime adaptions in the older demographic, since major Josei manga titles are rarely made into anime. Compared to shonen, seinen caters to a much smaller viewing crowd, since younger audiences have much more time to spare on anime, which makes them a more attractive target, and thus is slightly less known.note
Thanks to the older target audience, seinen shows tend to be much more sophisticated and mature than their shonen counterparts. Much more attention is paid to the plot and the interaction between characters than to action and fightsnote , which are the main attraction for most viewers, and the characters are well fleshed out. The latter trait often leads to confusion of seinen with Shoujo but the key difference is that seinen does not idealize romance, instead opting for a more realistic and pragmatic approach to relationships. Realism is indeed the calling card of seinen shows, commonly earning them the acclaim for their depth and maturity and Multiple Demographic Appeal.
A typical seinen protagonist can be of any gender and age (in stark contrast to shonen, whose protagonists are almost exclusively young and male), but tend to be young adults (like its target audience). Romance-wise, anything goes, from Pseudo-Romantic Friendship to obscure examples of Boys' Love. In fact, lesbian characters are a distinctive trait of seinen, rarely if ever present in shonen shows, since many readers of seinen manga are Yuri Fans. Relationships are portrayed in a less idealistic light than in shojo, with many grays and uncertainties like in Real Life, and don't tend to indulge the shonen over-simplification of "which heroine will be hooked up with the hero". Seinen series are also known for the controversial and divisive sub-category of Improbably Female Cast and Harem Series that rely heavily on cutesy Moe elements (again, contrasting with the more blatant fanservice focused on female characters in shonen) to attract viewers. These series tend to be on the opposite side of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism from the grim type of seinen, instead being fluffy, heart-warming, and comedic.
Compare to the Distaff Counterpart demographic Josei, which is aimed at women in the same age range.
- Akita Shoten:
- Young Champion
- ASCII Media Works:
- Dengeki G's Comic (moved to digital)
- Dengeki Maoh
- Coamix:
- Monthly Comic Zenon
- Weekly Comic Bunch (defunct)
- Enterbrain:
- Comic Beam
- Harta
- Magi-Cu (defunct)
- Futabasha:
- Action Pizazz
- Comic High!
- Manga Action
- Monthly Action
- Men's YOUNG
- Gentosha:
- Montly Birz
- Hakusensha:
- Young Animal
- Young Animal Arashi
- Houbunsha:
- Manga Time Kirara
- Manga Time Kirara Carat
- Manga Time Kirara Forward
- Manga Time Kirara Magica
- Manga Time Kirara Max
- Manga Time Kirara Miracle!
- Kadokawa Shoten
- Young Ace
- Kodansha:
- Afternoon
- Evening
- Good! Afternoon
- Morning
- Weekly Young Magazine
- Monthly Magazine Z (defunct)
- Young Magazine Uppers (defunct)
- Media Factory:
- Comic Cune
- Monthly Comic Alive
- Monthly Comic Flapper
- Monthly Comic Gene
- Nihon Bungeisha
- Weekly Manga Goraku
- Shogakukan:
- Big Comic
- Big Comic Original
- Big Comic Spirits
- Big Comic Superior
- Monthly Big Comic Spirits
- Monthly Sunday Gene-X
- Monthly Ikki
- Weekly Young Sunday
- Shueisha:
- Grand Jump
- Tonari Young Jump (digital)
- Ultra Jump
- Weekly Playboy
- Weekly Young Jump
- Business Jump (defunct)
- Super Jump (defunct)
- Shōnen Gahōsha:
- Young Comic
- Young King
- Young King OURs
- Square Enix
- Monthly Big Gangan
- Young Gangan
Common tropes seen in seinen works:
- Character Development: A lot of romantic seinen works puts a lot of emphasis on character development.
- Darker and Edgier: Many works in this demographic tend to be darker and more cynical than Shōnen works, and can tackle more mature topics and philosophical concepts since they're aimed at an older audience. Some series even go so far as to deconstruct tropes that are more common in shonen works.
- Deconstruction: Seinen works often deconstruct popular tropes from shounen, particularly the action fighter and mecha types. This is why many of the actual dark shonen works (like Death Note, Deadman Wonderland and Attack on Titan) are mistaken for seinen.
- Escapism:
- Seinen is known to have moe and Schoolgirl Series Slice of Life works geared towards this. Bonus points that some of them tend to be Iyashikei.
- Even besides works entirely focused on young women, a large quantity of seinen works still focus on high school students or high-school aged characters, as many adult readers have nostalgia for that period of life.
- Since many seinen works have Crapsack World and After the End dystopian settings, most of them also fit into this as well.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: Or Black-and-Grey Morality if the author is really cynical. Because of seinen's emphasis on realism, most of the characters aren't exactly purely good nor evil characters. The protagonists are usually either Anti-Hero, Good Is Not Nice, Utopia Justifies the Means or Knight in Sour Armor while the villains are usually Anti-Villain, Well-Intentioned Extremist, or Knight Templar.
- Seinen is usually more detailed in philosophical themes than shounen works, normally falling on the grey side of morality. Common philosophical themes include consequentialism, desconstruction of utilitiarianism or existentialism.
- Hotter and Sexier: Compared to shounen, seinen allows for more explicit sexual content to be shown than plain old fanservice.
- Lighter and Softer: While Shōnen has gotten Darker and Edgier, seinen works have gone the opposite direction with Schoolgirl Series, Slice of Life works, and moe series. This reflects a trend towards escapism.
- Otaku O'Clock: Seinen anime series usually air in this time slot.
- Pandering to the Base: A common criticism by Western fans is that some seinen anime caters to otaku in Japan with the prevalence of moe, which is heavily disliked in the West.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: In contrast to the idealism usually found in shounen works, seinen puts more emphasis on realism and pragmatic character relationships. Many have pessimistic, nihilistic, and/or post-apocalyptic settings targetting their more mature audience. In contrast, other seinen works in the Schoolgirl Series, Slice of Life, and harem subgenres rely on Improbably Female Cast and heavy use of Moe and Fanservice. These tend to fall on the idealistic side of the scale.
- Schoolgirl Series: Yes, despite focusing on the lives of high school girls, Slice of Life works featuring them are normally geared towards this demographic rather than a younger demographic of the opposite gender. This is for various reasons such as Moe appeal, nostalgia for high school, and the lack of prospects of having children (as Japan is known to have the lowest birth rates in the world).
- 12-Episode Anime: Many anime adaptations of seinen works only run for one cour.
- What Do You Mean, It's Not for Little Girls?: There are a lot of seinen manga and anime that focus on young female characters and have cute, brightly-colored visuals, which can make many people assume they're aimed at young girls rather than adult men. Not helped by the fact that some preteen and teenage girls actually like those shows, with K-On! and Love Live! even going as far as to be aired on the Japanese Disney Channel (albeit with some minor censorship), thus making this even more surprising to some people.
- 009-1
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You
- 20th Century Boys
- 3×3 Eyes
- 365 Days to the Wedding
- 7 Billion Needles
- Eighty One Diver
- 87 Clockers
- Abnormal Kei Joshi
- ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept.
- Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter (often mistaken for shoujo, but the light novels and the manga adaptation were both published by seinen imprints)
- A Channel
- Addicted to Curry
- Afterschool Charisma
- After the Rain (2014)
- Ah My Buddha
- Ah! My Goddess
- AIKI
- Ai-Ren
- Air Master
- Ai Yori Aoshi
- Ajin
- Aka Akatoretachi no Monogatari
- Akagi
- Akebi's Sailor Uniform
- Akikan! (manga adaptation ran in Ultra Jump)
- AKIRA. The film is often credited with being the work to bring adult-oriented anime to the Western world.
- Akuma no Riddle
- Aldnoah.Zero (manga adaptation run in Manga Time Kirara Forward)
- Alice & Zoroku
- Alien Nine
- ALL OUT!!
- All Rounder Meguru
- Alyosha!
- Amai Seikatsu
- And Yet the Town Moves
- And You Thought There Is Never a Girl Online? (manga adaptation ran in Dengeki G's Comic)
- "Angel Heart (2001)"
- An Angel's Marshmallow
- Anima Yell!
- Anne Happy
- Ao Ashi
- The Apothecary Diaries (its manga adaptations run in Monthly Big Gangan and Monthly Sunday Gene-X)
- Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World (manga adaptation runs in ComicWalker)
- Aqua Knight
- Arakawa Under the Bridge
- Are You Lost?
- Aria the Scarlet Ammo (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Arpeggio of Blue Steel
- Arte
- Arthur Pyuty wa Yoru no Majo
- Asobi Asobase
- The Asterisk War (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Asteroid in Love
- Azumi
- B Gata H Kei
- Back Street Girls
- Bakuon!!
- Bambino!
- Bamboo Blade
- Barakamon
- Bartender
- Bastard!! (1988) (originally ran in Weekly Shonen Jump, but moved to Ultra Jump in 2000)
- Battle Angel Alita
- Battle Royale (manga adaptation ran in Young Champion)
- Batuque
- Beach Stars
- Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation (manga adaptation run in Young Ace)
- Beauty and the Feast
- Begin
- Berserk: Extremely violent and graphic content, as well as mature and complex themes, put Berserk firmly in this category. The prototype version was a violent Shōnen work like Fist of the North Star, but when Miura started the series proper he retooled it for an older audience while keeping a lot of influences from the shonen manga that inspired him. He was also significantly influenced by shoujo such as The Rose of Versailles.
- Bibliomania
- The Big O (manga adaptations serialized in Monthly Magazine Z and Magazine Z)
- Big Windup!
- Billy Bat
- biotop
- Binbou Shimai Monogatari
- Biomega
- Birdy the Mighty: Originally began as a Shōnen series in 1985 until it was cancelled in 1988. It became a Seinen series in its reboot. You can tell when it became a seinen where the tone changes.
- Bitter Virgin
- Black Bullet (manga adaptation serialized in Dengeki Maoh)
- Black God
- Black Joke
- Black Lagoon
- Black Paradox
- Blade of the Immortal
- Blade of the Immortal: Bakumatsu Arc
- Bladedance of Elementalers (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Blame!
- Blaster Knuckle
- Blend-S
- BL Metamorphosis
- Blood Lad
- Blood on the Tracks
- Blue Period
- Bocchi the Rock!
- Boku Girl
- Boku no Futatsu no Tsubasa
- Bokurano
- Bokura no Hentai
- Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight!
- Bouquet for an Ugly Girl
- Boy's Abyss
- Boys Run the Riot
- Brand New Animal (manga adaptation serialized in Tonari no Young Jump)
- Breasts Are My Favorite Thing In The World
- A Bride's Story
- Brocken Blood
- Brynhildr in the Darkness
- Btooom!
- Buddha
- Bullbuster
- Bungo Stray Dogs
- Canaan (manga adaptation run in Comp Ace)
- Candy & Cigarettes
- Cannon God E Xa X Xion
- Captain Tsubasa: It began as Shōnen (it was even published in Shonen Jump!) and remained as such for two decades, but from Road to 2002 and all other sequels on, it qualifies as seinen. (Makes sense, many of the actual readers are adult men who grew with it, alongside some adult women as well.)
- Car Graffiti JK
- The Case Files of Yakushiji Ryoko (manga adaptation run in Magazine Z)
- Castle Town Dandelion
- Cat God
- Caterpillar: A prequel spinoff to Arachnid.
- Cat Paradise
- Cat Planet Cuties (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Cells at Work! CODE BLACK, a seinen spinoff of a Shōnen manga.
- Cencoroll (based on a oneshot manga serialized in Monthly Afternoon)
- A Centaur's Life
- Cesare - Il Creatore che ha distrutto
- Charger Girl
- Cheerful Amnesia
- Chibisan Date
- Chimidoro Ice Cream
- Chio's School Road
- Chirality
- Chi's Sweet Home
- Children of the Sea
- Chitose Get You!!
- Chobits
- Chocotto Sister
- Chotto Ippai
- Choujin Sensen
- Choujin X
- CITY
- Classroom Crisis (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Classroom of the Elite (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun
- Club 9
- Coffee & Cat
- Combatants Will Be Dispatched! (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- The Comic Artist and his Assistants
- Comic Girls
- Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou (manga adaptation runs in Young Ace)
- Convenient Semi-Friend
- Cooking Papa
- Coo no Sekai
- Coppelion
- Countach
- Crayon Shin-chan
- Crying Freeman
- Dad, the Beard Gorilla and I
- Daimidaler the Sound Robot
- Daitai Konnande?
- Dance Dance Danseur
- Dance in the Vampire Bund
- Dance Till Tomorrow
- Darker than Black: Shikkoku no Hana (manga adaptation serialized in Young Gangan; oddly, its other manga adaptation was shojo)
- The Daughter of Twenty Faces
- Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction
- Dead Mount Death Play
- Delicious in Dungeon
- The Demon Girl Next Door
- Denki Gai No Honyasan
- Desert Punk
- Destroy and Revolution
- The Detective is Already Dead (the manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Detroit Metal City
- Devilman Lady
- Devils' Line
- D-Frag!
- Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater
- Dinosaur Sanctuary
- The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan (the only Haruhi Suzumiya spinoff that didn't run in a shonen magazine)
- A Distant Neighborhood
- Dog Soldier
- Dogs: Bullets & Carnage
- Dogsred
- Doki Doki School Hours
- Dokuro
- Don't Hurt Me, My Healer!
- Don't Meddle with My Daughter!
- Doreiku
- Dorohedoro - Oddly, when its magazine Monthly Ikki ceased publication, it moved to Hibana and when that magazine ceased publication it moved to Monthly Shonen Sunday, a shonen magazine.
- Doujin Work
- Do You Like Big Girls?
- Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? (manga adaptation was serialized in Young Ace Up)
- Dragon Head
- The Dragon, The Hero and The Courier
- Dragonar Academy (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Dream Eater Merry
- Drifters
- Drifting Dragons
- The Drops of God
- Drug & Drop formerly ran in the shoujo magazine Monthly Asuka under the title Legal Drug; years later, it restarted in Young Ace with its title changed.
- Drugstore in Another World (manga adaptation runs in the online seinen imprint Web Comic Gamma Plus)
- Dungeon Friends Forever
- Dungeon Toilet
- Duranki
- Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President
- Ebiten
- Eden: It's an Endless World!
- El Alamein no Shinden
- The Elder Sister-like One
- Elfen Lied
- Emerging
- The Eminence in Shadow (manga adaptation runs in Comp Ace)
- Emma: A Victorian Romance
- Engaged to the Unidentified
- ERASED
- Ergo Proxy: Centzon Hitchers and Undertaker (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Sunday Gene-X)
- EX-ARM
- Excel♡Saga
- The Executioner and Her Way of Life (manga adaptation runs in Young Gangan)
- F
- The Fable
- The Familiar of Zero (has multiple manga adaptations, all serialized in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Fastest Finger First
- Fate/Zero (manga adaptation serialized in Young Ace; has another manga that is shojo)
- The Fed-Up Office Lady Wants to Serve the Great Villainess
- A Fine and Bright Day
- Fixed Damage (manga adaptation serialized in Gaugau Monster)
- FLCL (manga adaptation serialized in Magazine Z)
- Flowers And Bees
- Flower Girl in Dystopia
- For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams
- Forest of Piano
- Fourteen
- Franken Fran
- Free Collars Kingdom
- Freesia
- Freezing
- The Fruit of Evolution (manga adaptation is serialized in the seinen publication Web Comic Action)
- Futago no Teikoku
- Futari Ecchi
- Fuuto P.I.
- Gaku
- A Galaxy Next Door
- Gangsta.
- Gankutsuou (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Afternoon)
- Gantz
- The Garden of Sinners (manga adaptation serialized in the online magazine Saizensen)
- Gears Maiden
- Gekikou Kamen
- Genshiken
- Geobreeders
- Ghost in the Shell
- Gigant
- Gigantomakhia
- Gingitsune
- Girl Friends (2006)
- A Girl on the Shore
- Girlish Number (both the light novels and the manga adaptation ran in Dengeki G's)
- Girls' Last Tour
- Girls und Panzer (manga adaptations serialized in Monthly Comic Flapper, Monthly Comic Alive, Corocoro Aniki)
- Glass no Megami
- Gleipnir
- Goblin Slayer (manga adaptations serialized in Monthly Big Gangan and Young Gangan)
- The Gods Lie
- Gohan no Otomo
- Gokicha
- Goku: Midnight Eye
- Golden Boy
- Golden Kamuy
- Golgo 13
- Gon
- Good Day to You, How About a Game?
- Goodnight Punpun
- Gou-dere Bishoujo Nagihara Sora
- Gourmet Girl Graffiti
- Go With The Clouds, North-by-Northwest
- Grand Blue
- Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again
- Granny Girl Hinata-chan
- Guardian Ninja Mamoru (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Gunbured × Sisters (Monthly Sunday Gene-X)
- Gunka No Baltzar
- Gunjo
- Gunsmith Cats
- Gushing Over Magical Girls
- Gyaru-Sen
- Gyo
- Hades Project Zeorymer
- Haganai (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Hakumei & Mikochi
- Hanamaru Kindergarten
- Hanayamata
- Handyman Saitou in Another World
- Happy Lesson
- Happy World!
- Harukana Receive
- Haruka Nogizaka's Secret (manga adaptation ran in Dengeki Moeoh)
- Hataraki Man
- The Hating Girl
- Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto
- Heat
- Heavenly Delusion
- Heaven's Design Team
- Hellsing
- The Helpful Fox Senko-san
- Hen (serialized in Weekly Young Jump)
- Henkyou no Roukishi Bard Loen
- Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Hen Zemi
- Hero Mask
- Hetalia: Axis Powers - Originally, the published manga ran on the Seinen magazine Comic Birz. However, it was re-launched on Shueisha's Shonen Jump Plus as Hetalia: World☆Stars in 2014. The anime seems to be for younger viewers (not the Funimation Gag Dub, however) and the original webcomic is... a webcomic, so there's no set demographic. The webcomic is where you'll find the most Ho Yay and male fanservice.
- Heterogenia Linguistico
- Hidamari Sketch
- High School Exciting Story: Tough
- High School Fleet (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Comic Alive)
- High School Girls
- High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World (manga adaptation ran in Young Gangan)
- Himenospia
- Himouto! Umaru-chan
- Hinamatsuri
- Hinowa ga Crush!
- Hi Score Girl
- Historie
- Hitohira
- Hito Hitori Futari
- Hiwou War Chronicles (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Magazine Z)
- Hiyo and Vivid!
- Hohzuki Island
- Holy Corpse Rising
- Holyland
- Homunculus
- Hoshigahara Ao Manjuu no Mori
- Hoshin Engi Gaiden
- House of Five Leaves
- How Clumsy you are, Miss Ueno
- How to Build a Dungeon: Book of the Demon King (manga adaptation serialized in Comic Valkyrie)
- Hozuki-san Chi no Aneki
- Hozuki's Coolheadedness
- Hyakunichikan!!
- Hyouge Mono
- I Am a Hero
- I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying
- I Don’t Like You at All, Big Brother!!
- I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too (manga adaptation runs in Dengeki PlayStation Comic Web)
- I Had That Same Dream Again (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Action)
- I Want to Hold Aono-kun so Badly I Could Die
- I Want Your Mother To Be With Me!
- I'm The Only One With Unfavorable Skills, Isekai Summoning Rebellion
- Ibitsu
- Ichi the Killer
- Ichigeki Sacchu!! Hoihoi-san
- Ichiroh!
- ID: Invaded (manga adaptation serialized in Young Ace)
- The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace (manga adaptation serialized in Young Animal)
- Idol Be Back
- Idol Pretender
- If a Demon Lord Were to Get Married in the Countryside
- If I See You In My Dreams
- If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die
- Iketeru Futari
- Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit
- Ikki Tousen
- Immortal Hounds
- Imouto wa Shishunki
- Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha
- Infinite Stratos (manga adaptation ran in in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Initial D
- Innocent
- Ino-Head Gargoyle
- Inside Mari
- Insomniacs After School
- Interviews with Monster Girls
- In This Corner of the World
- Inubaka
- Inugami
- Inumimi
- Inuyashiki
- Iono the Fanatics
- Iris Zero
- iromonia
- The Island of Giant Insects
- Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live?
- Is the Order a Rabbit?
- Itoshi no Karin
- It's Tough Being Neeko
- Jackals
- Jagaaaaaan
- Jin
- Jin: Guardian of the Spirit Anime Side Story
- Jinsei (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Sunday Gene-X)
- Jiraishin
- JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World (manga adaptation serialized in Manga Okoku)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The first six parts are shonen (they were even published in Shonen Jump!) but the seventh part (Steel Ball Run) and onwards are seinen, moving from Shonen Jump to Ultra Jump.
- Joker Game (manga adaptation serialized in Big Comic Spirits)
- Jormungand
- Junji Ito's Cat Diary: Yon & Mu
- Kageki Shoujo!! started out with a brief run in Jump X, but was later restarted in the shoujo magazine Kiss.
- Kagerou-Nostalgia
- Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
- Kaiji
- KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World
- Kamisama Dolls
- Kämpfer (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Kanamemo
- Kandachime
- Kanpeki na Kanojo
- Kanokon (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru
- Kasane
- The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior
- Kazan
- Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!
- Keyman: The Hand of Judgement
- Killer Shark In Another World
- Killing Bites
- Kill la Kill (manga adaptation serialized in Young Ace)
- Kill Me Baby
- Kimera
- King of Thorn
- King of Wolves
- Kingdom
- Kiniro Mosaic
- Kiznaiver (two manga adaptations, both serialized in Monthly Maoh)
- Knights of Sidonia
- Kobato.
- Kodomo no Kodomo
- Koe de Oshigoto!
- Koharu no Hibi
- Koihime†Musou (manga adaptation serialized in Dengeki G's Festival! Comic)
- Koi Kaze
- Koi Koi 7
- Koi Neko
- Kokkoku
- Kokou no Hito
- K-On!
- Konohana Kitan
- Kono S wo, Mi Yo
- KonoSuba (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Kotaro Lives Alone
- Kotoura-san
- Kowloon Generic Romance
- Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible
- Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear
- Kuro
- Kurokochi
- Kurosagi
- The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
- Kutsuzure Sensen
- Kyou no Go no Ni
- Kyuusen no Shima
- Lady Snowblood (a.k.a Shurayuki-hime)
- Laid-Back Camp (a.k.a Yurucamp)
- Land of the Lustrous
- Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing (manga adaptation serialized in Young Ace)
- The Last Uniform
- The Laughing Salesman
- Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The manga adaptation is published in Monthly Comic Ryu.
- The Legend of Koizumi
- The Legend of Mother Sarah: A quite unusual number since the protagonist is an Action Mom and many themes approached are related to family and children, despite the bleak setting.
- The Legend of the Legendary Heroes: Though the primary manga adaptation is shounen, the Legend of the Legendary Heroes Revision manga was published in Young Gangan.
- Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero
- Lone Wolf and Cub (a.k.a Kozure Okami)
- Liar Game
- Liar Game: Roots of A, (the prequel)
- Listen to me, girls. I am your father!, specifically the Takanashi no Hidamari and Rojou Kansatsu Kenkyuu Nisshi spinoffs
- Little House with an Orange Roof
- Little Witch Academia (Teri Terio) (serialized in Ultra Jump; the franchise also has a shounen manga and a shoujo manga)
- Living Game
- Locodol
- Manga and supplementary materials from the Love Live! franchise runs in Dengeki G's Magazine and Dengeki G's Comic, which are seinen publications:
- Love Lucky
- Love in Hell
- Love Me For Who I Am
- Love Roma
- The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer
- Lucu Lucu
- Lupin III: While it began in one of the earliest Seinen magazines, and kept its sensibilities for the pilot film and first few episodes of the original TV series, the rest of the series took a somewhat Lighter and Softer path. The rest of the franchise jumps back and forth, with more child-friendly entries, but the occasional venture back into the adult-oriented.
- Lyrical Nanoha is a Magical Girl franchise which is aimed squarely at adult men, especially since later entries tone down the magical girl elements in favor of more sci-fi elements. Much of its multiple manga adaptations, sequels and spinoffs were serialized in Megami Magazine, Nyantype and "Comp Ace."
- Mad Bull 34
- Made in Abyss
- Madowanai Hoshi
- Magic of Stella
- Magical Girl Raising Project (Both manga adaptations run in Comp Ace)
- Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
- Magical Meow Meow Taruto
- The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess (manga adaptation runs in Dengeki Maoh)
- Magical Sempai
- Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Magazine Z)
- Magician's Academy (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Magika Swordsman and Summoner (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Magikano
- La Magnifique Grande Scène
- Mahoromatic
- Mai Ball!
- Maison Ikkoku: One of the few works by Rumiko Takahashi to not be shonen; most of the characters are adults and the romance is much more grounded than in Takahashi's other works.
- Majestic Prince
- Maka-Maka (2003)
- Manga no Tsukurikata
- Manyu Hikencho
- Maomarimo
- March Comes in Like a Lion
- March Story
- Maria†Holic
- Maria no Danzai
- Maria the Virgin Witch
- Master Keaton
- Mayo Chiki! (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Me and the Devil Blues (aka Ore to Akuma no Buruuzu)
- Memories of Emanon
- Metroid (Manga) (the follow-up Metroid: Samus and Joey is Shōnen)
- MF Ghost
- Migi & Dali
- Milk Closet
- Mimia Hime
- Minami-ke
- Minamoto-kun Monogatari
- Misappropriation Investigator Nakabo Rintaro
- Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-sou
- Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid
- Miss Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles
- Miss Sunflower
- Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
- MM! (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Mnemosyne (manga adaptation serialized in Comic Valkyrie)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt
- Mokke
- Momokuri
- Mono (2017)
- Mononoke (manga adaptation serialized in Young Gangan)
- Mononoke Sharing
- Monster
- Monster Musume
- Moonlight Mile
- More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers
- Moteki
- Mouse
- MPD Psycho - oddly enough, emphasis on legendary kind of odd, the series began its serialization in a monthly Shōnen magazine (Shonen Ace) and stayed on it for years, then it rightfully moved to Comic Charge and later to Young Ace, both genuine Seinen magazines.
- Ms. Vampire Who Lives in My Neighborhood
- Murciélago
- Murder Princess
- Mushishi
- Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Flapper)
- Musuko ga Kawaikute Shikataganai Mazoku no Hahaoya
- Musunde, Tsunaide
- MW
- My Balls
- My Boy
- My Brother's Husband
- My Dad's the Queen of All VTubers?!
- My Dress-Up Darling
- My Girl
- My Girlfriend is Shobitch
- My Home Hero
- My Lovely Ghost Kana
- My Neighbor Seki
- My One-Hit Kill Sister
- Mysterious Girlfriend X
- My Wife is a High School Girl
- My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, as I Expected (all of its manga adaptations run in seinen magazines)
- NAKAIMO - My Little Sister is Among Them! (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Nana & Kaoru
- Natsuiro Kiseki (manga adaptation ran in Young Gangan)
- Nectar of Dharani
- NEEDLESS
- Nejimaki Kagyu
- Neko Musume Michikusa Nikki
- Neon Genesis Evangelion - original manga only, since 2009 due to moving from Shounen Ace to Young Ace.
- New Game!
- Nicoichi
- Night Head 2041 (manga adaptation serialized in Young Magazine Web)
- Nijigahara Holograph
- Nobunaga no Chef
- No Game No Life (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- No Guns Life
- Non Non Biyori
- Nononono
- Noramimi
- Notari Matsutarou
- Not Simple
- Nozoki Ana
- Null Meta
- Nurse Hitomi's Monster Infirmary
- Nurse Witch Komugi (manga adaptation ran in Young Animal Arashi)
- Nyanko Days
- Nyotai-ka
- O/A
- Octave
- Odd Taxi (manga adaptation serialized in Big Comic)
- Oh, My Sweet Alien!
- Oishinbo
- Okusan
- Oldboy
- Onee-chan Biyori
- One Outs
- One Pound Gospel
- One-Punch Man (Yusuke Murata remake) - Despite being localized under the Viz' Shonen Jump label, in Japan it is published in Tonari Young Jump, the online version of Weekly Young Jump.
- Onideka
- Onihime VS
- ONIMAI: I'm Now Your Sister!
- Opus
- Original Hinatazaka
- Osamake (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Osananajimi wa Onnanoko ni Naare
- Oshi no Ko
- Osu! Karate Club
- Otaku no Musume-san
- Otoboku - Maidens Are Falling For Me: Futari no Elder (manga adaptation serialized in Comp Ace; the other was a shonen manga in Dengeki Daioh)
- Otome Youkai Zakuro
- Otogi Matsuri
- Otogi no Machi no Rena
- Ouja No Yuugi
- Our Dreams at Dusk
- Outlaw Star
- Over Rev
- Oyaji
- Pan de Peace!
- Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (manga adaptation serialized in Young Ace)
- Parallel Paradise
- Parasyte
- Peacock King
- Peepo Choo
- Penguindrum (manga adaptation serialized in Comic Birz)
- Pet
- The Pet Girl of Sakurasou (manga adaptation serialized in Dengeki G's)
- Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time
- Phantom Requiem For The Phantom (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Pilot Candidate
- Place to Place. Which is unusual, since the series looks like it's Shōnen material, but was published in Manga Time Kirara, which is a Seinen magazine.
- Plastic Nee-san
- Please Tell Me! Galko-chan
- Plus-Sized Elf
- Pluto
- Pocos Udon World
- Police in a Pod
- Poor Poor Lips
- Pop Team Epic
- Princess Candle
- Prison School
- Psychic Academy
- Psycho Staff
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica has numerous manga spinoffs and adaptations run in seinen magazines, including Manga Time Kirara Forward
- Q·Ko-chan: The Earth Invader Girl
- Queen's Blade (manga adaptation serialized in Comp Ace)
- RahXephon (manga adaptation serialized in Monthly Sunday Gene-X)
- Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin
- Rain's Head
- Ran and the Gray World
- Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (manga adaptation serialized in Dengeki G's Comic)
- Read or Die (manga adaptation, along with Read or Dream spinoff, serialized in Ultra Jump)
- Recorder and Randsell
- Record of Ragnarok
- Red Garden (manga adaptation serialized in Comic Birz)
- Redo of Healer (manga adaptation runs in Young Ace Up)
- Region
- Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I'm Gonna Tell Her How I Feel! (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Re-Kan!
- ReLIFE
- Remina
- Renai Daikou
- Reversible School Life
- Re:Zero (the manga adaptation and various spinoffs ran in Monthly Comic Alive and Monthly Big Gangan)
- Riki-Oh
- The Rise of the Unemployed Wise Man
- The Rising of the Shield Hero (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Flapper)
- A Room For Two
- RoOT/Route of Odd Taxi
- Rosengarten Saga
- Rozen Maiden
- RPG Real Estate
- RRR
- Rumble Garanndoll (manga adaptation runs in Comic Newtype)
- Run with the Wind (manga adaptation ran in Weekly and Monthly Young Jump)
- The Ryuo's Work Is Never Done! (manga adaptation ran in Young Gangan)
- The Sacred Blacksmith (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Saint Young Men
- Saikano
- Saki
- Sakura Diaries
- Sakura Trick
- Sakuran
- Samurai Gun
- Sanctuary
- Sands of Destruction, a Darker and Edgier adaptation of the game of the same name. Note that the anime is more in-line with the demographic of the game.
- Saturn Apartments
- School Days (manga adaptation was serialized in Comp Ace)
- School-Live!
- School of Water Business
- Scum's Wish
- See Me After Class
- Sekai Maou
- Sekirei
- Servant × Service
- The Severing Crime Edge
- SEX
- Shadow Star
- Shadows House
- Shamo
- Shiawase Tori-mingu
- Shibito no Koe wo Kiku ga Yoi
- Shigahime
- Shigurui
- Shiharu Genesis
- Shima Kosaku Series
- Shimeji Simulation
- Shin Angyo Onshi (serialized in Japan in Monthly Sunday Gene-X)
- Shion no Ou
- Shiori Experience
- Shonen Note: Boy Soprano
- Short Cuts
- Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro
- Shouan Days.
- Shrine of the Morning Mist
- Shut Hell
- The Silent Service
- Silver Nina
- Silver Plan to Redo From JK
- Sing "Yesterday" for Me
- A Sinner of the Deep Sea
- Sister Princess (the original light novels were first published in Dengeki G's, though the manga adaptation was serialized in the shonen magazine Dengeki Daioh)
- A Sister's All You Need
- Sketchbook
- Skip and Loafer
- Skyhigh
- Sky Wizards Academy (the manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Slow Loop
- Slow Start
- Smoking Behind The Supermarket With You
- Snow White and Seven Dwarfs
- Soil
- So I'm a Spider, So What? (manga adaptation and The Daily Lives of the Kumoko Sisters spinoff are both serialized in Young Ace Up)
- solanin
- Somali and the Forest Spirit
- Sora no Manimani
- Space Adventure Cobra originated in Shonen Jump, but all future serializations were published as seinen.
- Space Brothers
- Space Patrol Luluco (manga adaptation serialized in Ultra Jump)
- Spice and Wolf (manga adaptation serialized in Dengeki Maoh)
- Spill it, Cocktail Knights!
- Spirit Circle
- Spy Classroom (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Stardust Telepath
- Steam Detectives started serialization in Monthly Shonen Jump, but moved to the seinen imprint Ultra Jump two years into its run and ran there until it ended.
- Steins;Gate (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Strawberry Panic! (both the original light novels and the manga adaptation ran in Dengeki G's Magazine, which is a seinen publication)
- Strike Witches
- Subaru
- Succubus & Hitman
- Sugar Apple Fairy Tale (the second manga adaptation runs in Young Ace; the original novels are aimed at a female audience, and the first manga adaptation ran in the shoujo magazine Hana to Yume Online)
- Suicide Girl
- Suicide Island
- Sukaraiti
- The Summer Hikaru Died
- Sumomo Mo Momo Mo
- Sundome
- Sun-Ken Rock
- Origin set in the same universe some decades later.
- Sumomo Mo Momo Mo
- Super-Conductive Brains Parataxis
- Superman Vs. Meshi
- Sweat and Soap
- Sweet Magic Syndrome
- Sweetness & Lightning
- Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online (manga adaptation serialized in Dengeki Maoh)
- Taboo-Tattoo
- Tadokoro-san
- Tail Star
- Taisho Kitan Majo
- Takeru
- Tales of Wedding Rings
- Tawawa on Monday (originally an image series with some doujin comics, but later got serialized in a seinen magazine)
- Team Medical Dragon
- Teisou Gyakuten Sekai
- Tekkonkinkreet (serialized in Big Comic Spirits)
- Ten - The Blessed Way of the Nice Guy
- Tenjho Tenge
- Tenkaichi: Nihon Saikyo Bugeisha Ketteisen
- Tentai Senshi Sunred
- Teppu
- TerraforMARS
- Tetragrammaton Labyrinth
- Thermae Romae
- This Art Club Has a Problem!
- This Ugly Yet Beautiful World (manga adaptation serialized in Young Animal)
- Thou Shalt Not Die
- Three Leaves, Three Colors
- Tiger & Bunny (manga adaptation serialized in Newtype Ace)
- Today's Menu for the Emiya Family
- Tokyo Ghoul
- Tokyo Girls Destruction
- Tokyo Tribe
- Tomodachi × Monster
- Tonari no Kashiwagi-san
- Tono to Issho
- Torako, Anmari Kowashicha Dame da yo
- Toshiue no Hito
- Touge Oni
- Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms
- Translucent
- trash.
- Trigun started out as a Shōnen series for the first two years of its run, until its magazine Monthly Shonen Captain folded. It became a Seinen series after it moved to Young King OURS in 1997, where it continued until its conclusion. You can tell when it became a seinen where the tone changes.
- A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow
- Tsugumomo (manga serialized in Monthly Action after two defunct web manga platforms)
- Tsuki Ni Kakureta Taiyo
- Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase
- Tsunokei Joshi wa Kokurenai
- Twilight Star Sui and Neri
- Twin Spica
- Übel Blatt
- Ultimate Muscle: Most works are shonen series, but has some installments serialized in Weekly Playboy and Ultra Jump).
- Ultimate Teacher
- Ultraman
- Uma Musume: Starting Gate! and Haru Urara Ganbaru! both run in Cycomi, which is aimed at a seinen demographic.
- Umehara Fighting Gamers
- Umi Monogatari: The Minna Aishiteru! manga version ran in Comic High, a magazine that's been described as "Shōjo for men." The show, on the other hand, was aimed more at young girls.
- Umi no Misaki
- Unbreakable Machine-Doll (manga adaptation ran in Monthly Comic Alive)
- Uncle from Another World
- Underdog
- Under Ninja
- The Unpopular Mangaka and the Helpful Onryo-san
- Until Death Do Us Part
- Urara Meirocho
- Uratarou
- Usogui
- Uwakoi
- UzaMaid: Our Maid Is Way Too Annoying!
- Uzumaki
- Vagabond
- Vampeerz My Peer Vampires
- Vampire Princess Miyu
- Velvet Kiss
- Verdant Lord
- The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess (manga adaptation runs in Monthly Big Gangan)
- Vinland Saga started serialization in Shōnen Magazine, but switched to the seinen publication Monthly Afternoon a few months into its run.
- Vividred Operation: The manga adaptation ran in Dengeki G's magazine.
- Violence Jack: The manga started in Monthly Shonen Magazine, but after several magazine changes landed in Weekly Manga Goraku and the reboot Shin Violence Jack ran in Comic Bunch.
- Wa ga Na wa Umishi
- Wagnaria!!
- Wakaba Girl
- Wakako Zake
- Wandering Son
- Wangan Midnight
- Wasteful Days of High School Girls
- Wave, Listen to Me!
- The Way Of The House Husband
- We Are Magical Boys
- What Did You Eat Yesterday?: While this manga focuses on a middle-aged gay couple, it technically isn't Yaoi Genre since it runs in a seinen magazine.
- When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace (manga adaptation was serialized in Comp Ace)
- Where Are You Going Today?
- Whispered Words
- Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher!?
- Wife and Wife
- Wild Adapter
- Wings of Vendemiaire
- Wise Man's Grandchild (manga adaptation runs in Young Ace UP)
- The Witch and the Beast
- Witch Craft Works
- Witch Hat Atelier
- Wolf Guy - Wolfen Crest
- Wolfsmund
- Wolf's Rain (manga adaptation serialized in Magazine Z)
- World Embryo
- World's End Harem: Fantasia
- The World's Finest Assassin (manga adaptation serialized in Young Ace Up)
- ×××HOLiC: The manga spent most of its run in Young Magazine, which is a seinen publication, though it moved to Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in 2010, where it ran until its conclusion in 2011.
- Ya Boy Kongming!
- The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls
- Yakuza Girl
- The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting
- Yakuza Reincarnation
- Yamanko!
- Yami no Aegis
- Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito (manga adaptation ran in Comptiq)
- Yasashii Sekai no Tsukurikatta
- Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl
- Yokai Girls
- Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
- Yomigaeru Sora — Rescue Wings (manga adaptation and Zero spinoff serialized in Comic Flapper)
- You Are Being Summoned, Azazel
- Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games
- You're Under Arrest!
- Youth Forget!
- Yomeiro Choice: Only the first collected Volume, when it was published in the short-lived seinen magazine Champion RED Ichigo. Ichigo was the sister seinen magazine to Champion RED, a shonen magazine well-known for serializing series usually mistaken for seinen, as most series are filled of what could only be considered as adult content. Later on, after the series got popular, it was moved to Champion RED, making it one of the only examples of a seinen moving to a shonen and not the other way around.
- Yubisaki Milk Tea
- Yuria 100 Shiki
- Yurika's Campus Life
- Yuureitou
- Yuyu Shiki
- Zero
- Zetman
- Zettai Shoujo Seiiki Amnesian
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead
- Zombie Girl Fujimi-san
- A Zoo In Winter
Series sometimes mistaken for seinen note
- Akame ga Kill! is one of the darkest manga ever written, with numerous likable characters being killed off, tons of gore, the incorporation of rape, and numerous Tear Jerker scenes that can easily be labeled as seinen. However, the series ran under the Gangan Joker magazine, which is a shonen magazine, and the series still incorporates numerous (albeit Deconstructed) shonen tropes.
- Akumetsu, a series which runs on heavy, yet well constructed, critics against a corrupt Japanese government, protagonized by basically a young terrorist dead set on killing as many corrupt politicians as he can find. Yes, all of it ran in a shonen magazine from start to finish.
- Apocalypse Zero, in spite of its infamously graphic violence, was published in Shonen Champion. Shonen Champion is published by the same company who makes Champion RED but runs a mix of lighter (Squid Girl, Yowamushi Pedal, Saint Seiya) and darker (Baki the Grappler, Magical Girl Apocalypse, and s-CRY-ed) fare. The manga is actually more violent than the OVAs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's also by the author of Shigurui.
- Attack on Titan is lauded for its realistic depiction of war, with the war in question being human against human-eating mindless giants. A majority of the named characters are either Mauve Shirts or nigh-Shell Shocked Veterans. About 90% of the unnamed characters are Red Shirts or nameless titans. Subjects depicted involve sexual slavery, child soldiers, cultists, corrupt police, casting couches, corrupt government officials, and huge conspiracies, all of which are very seinen in their approach. It's also known for showing that War Is Hell in every sense imaginable, and that there's no such thing as a Heroic Sacrifice, brutally deconstructing that very trope. However, the characters are rather idealistic, most of them are either teens or children, and they seem to run on sheer determination most of the time. Plus, the manga was serialized in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, so it's a moot point.
- Azumanga Daioh focuses on a group of high school girls and their everyday lives, much like the very similar Lucky Star, but the manga ran in the shonen magazine Dengeki Daioh. However, much of the series' fanbase is composed of 18-40 year old males, like both Lucky Star and Yotsuba&!, as well as the entire genre that it helped popularize: the Schoolgirl Series.
- Baccano!: While the original source material was targeted to a somewhat younger demographic like most other Light Novels and the first manga adaptation ran in a shonen magazine, the anime adaptation is very graphic in its violence and aired on a satellite channel (WOWOW) best known for airing seinen and shows with adult themes and content. The second manga adaptation, however, did run in a seinen magazine.
- Banana Fish is sometimes mistaken for seinen by newcomers to the series since it's an action/crime thriller that focuses on gang violence in New York City. It's actually shoujo, since the manga originally ran in Bessatsu Shoujo Comic (now known as Betsucomi). The homoromantic relationship between the two male leads is a tip-off in that regard, though its gritty action has also drawn in male fans.
- Barefoot Gen, a semi-autobiographical manga famous for its harrowing depiction of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, originally ran in Shonen Jump.
- Bastard!! (1988): Despite its violence and sex jokes, it was published in Shonen Jump. Late moved to Ultra Jump.
- Beastars: A Mature Animal Story with extremely dark themes, violence and sexual content, run in Weekly Shonen Champion.
- BECK has many realistic aspects found in seinen, but it ran in Monthly Shonen Magazine.
- Change 123 features a lot of mature content like nudity, extreme violence, and lots of Fanservice, but runs in runs in the shonen Champion RED magazine.
- Claymore: Despite its dark tone, violent content, and superficial resemblance to Berserk, it ran in Shonen Jump. Viz localized it in English under their Shonen Jump Advanced imprint, targeted at older teens.
- Cross Ange: Despite being very violent and lewd, the show is considered a shonen, with the manga being published by Kadokawa Shoten. In addition the cast of characters are all teenagers and while it starts of cynical it eventually gets more optimistic.
- Deadman Wonderland has a dark storyline, some glaring gorn, and puts many a characters through a Trauma Conga Line, yet it ran in a shonen magazine.
- Death Note: Due to being a largely cynical crime story with a Villain Protagonist and What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?, it just has Multiple Demographic Appeal. That said, Light Yagami himself is considered a typical shonen hero, albeit a heavily deconstructed and realistic one. Despite all this, the manga ran in Weekly Shonen Jump. The creators have also said that if the manga were to run in a seinen publication, they would have focused more on the effects of the Death Note on the world and on the question of whether The Extremist Was Right, rather than on the cat-and-mouse game between Light, L, and Near.
- Sorta brought up in Bakuman。, a manga written by the same author. Most of the main mangaka characters in Bakuman seem to support the idea of running seinen-like stories in shonen magazines.
- Devilman and its first sequel Violence Jack, made by Go Nagai. Both series contains gorn and nudity and it ran in Weekly Shonen Champion. However, Violence Jack moved to a different magazine after complaints of its very graphic violence. Other sequels, remakes, and re-imaginings are also Seinen.
- Fire Punch is a deeply cynical, post-apocalyptic work that touches on cannibalism, pedophilia, body mutilation, slavery and religious fanaticism that ran on Shonen Jump's Jump+ website.
- Fist of the North Star is sometimes assumed to be seinen due to its violent content and mostly adult cast, but it ran in Weekly Shonen Jump. However, its spinoffs Fist of the Blue Sky, Jibo no Hoshi, and Hōkō no Kumo, among others are genuine seinen.
- Franken Fran: Another horror manga that ran in a shonen magazine, despite having a lot of elements that appear seinen.
- Fullmetal Alchemist contains a more complex plot and is less focused on fight scenes than typical shonen, and as such is occasionally mistaken for a seinen series; it also has noticeably few teenage characters aside from the protagonists, with the cast mostly being made up of adults in the military. However, it ran in a shonen magazine and, at its core, still embodies most of the typical shonen elements.
- Future Diary: Violent, horrific and containing adult themes and situations, but the manga was serialized in Shonen Ace. Its spin-off, Future Diary: Paradox, is seinen.
- Great Teacher Onizuka (and perhaps anything else shonen by Tohru Fujisawa) due to its mature and realistic themes. GTO: Paradise Lost, however, is seinen, published in Weekly Young Magazine.
- Gunslinger Girl is a violent series with a dark, realistic tone, themes of child abuse and terrorism, and bearing a superficial resemblance to Black Lagoon... that runs in a shonen magazine.
- Higehiro: Despite having serious themes around consent, prostitution, and abusive parents, the manga adaptation was published in Shonen Ace Plus.
- Interspecies Reviewers, despite being a Sex Comedy focused on Cute Monster Girl brothels, is published in the shonen magazine Dragon Dragon Age. That said, the manga never actually shows anyone having sex despite the premise revolving around it, unlike the much Hotter and Sexier anime adaptation.
- Inuyasha: Despite having plenty of violence and fanservice, it ran in Shonen Sunday.
- Kerberos Panzer Cop: While Kerberos Saga is renowned for being a cynical adult political drama, the first manga adaptation in the franchise ran on Shonen Ace magazine and has much more action than other entries in the series to better fit the target demographic. Its sequel, Kerberos Saga Rainy Dogs, as well as the only animated film in the series, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade are straight up seinen works though.
- Lucky Star: Like Azumanga Daioh, it focuses on a cast of adorable schoolgirls, but the manga runs in the shonen magazines Comptiq and later Mitaina!. The anime ran rather late at night, though.
- Despite its adult protagonist being an attractive women in exposing clothes who kicks butt a lot, Michiko & Hatchin is a josei anime. It arguably shows in the familial bond between her and Hatchin but everything else makes it seem more seinen.
- Magical Girl Apocalypse has large amounts of blood and gore and it's involves a very dark theme of a Zombie Apocalypse and psychopathic magical girls. This series actually ran in a shonen magazine, Bessatsu Shōnen Champion.
- The author's other work, Magical Girl Site is no stranger to this, as the manga features some very controversial themes (such bullying, rape, suicide, and transgender issues) that would normally be seen in a seinen series, but it actually ran in a shonen magazine, Weekly Shōnen Champion.
- Magical Taruruto-kun: The manga was created by Golden Boy creator Tatsuya Egawa, who's output before and since both series has mostly consisted of seinen series. Despite its lewd and Fanservice-filled nature (specifically uncensored nudity and breastfeeding) early on and the fact that its English publisher lists the series as a seinen manga, not to mention its title character looking like something ripped out of a Kodomomuke series, it ran in Weekly Shonen Jump.
- My-HiME and My-Otome both ran in Shonen Champion.
- Mermaid Saga: Despite having tons of Gorn, Family-Unfriendly Violence, and Nightmare Fuel, it ran in Shonen Sunday like most of Rumiko Takahashi's other works.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion, due to its increasingly adult tone and graphic content, is typically associated with the seinen demographic, but originally it ran during a 6pm timeslot on Wednesdays and was by the creators' own admission intended for youth audiences. If that seems hard to swallow, don't worry - Japanese parents, sponsors, and media watchdogs felt the same way; the series is probably the single largest reason for the Otaku O'Clock trope. It pulled very strong ratings during both its initial airing, and a late-night rerun on a satellite channel.
- Read Or Die: Rehabilitation: Despite Read or Die and Read or Dream being Seinen, Read or Die: Rehabilitation (which runs on a shonen magazine) is even more risque than the latter two, complete with the main character who's literally the opposite to the original main character in virtually every way.
- Red Eyes is chock full of Family-Unfriendly Violence, the setting is all about war with many, many cases of Info Dump and All There in the Manual which is huge set off for younger readers or the general public who just don't like to read too much into the story to understand what's going on; the art is very realistic, no cases of Generic Cuteness and Fanservice to be seen here. All in all this series just screams it was made for mature readers, and yet it runs in a Shounen magazine.
- Rosario + Vampire Season 2 at least after a few chapters. Despite gratuitous fanservice and increasingly dark plot elements, it ran in a shonen magazine.
- Rurouni Kenshin is darker and more violent than most Shonen Jump series, but still unmistakably shonen.
- Shigurui, a violent, horrific story containing exclusively adult themes and situations. It ran on Champion RED.
- A Silent Voice, an extremely serious drama that deals heavily with bullying and ableism and later outright suicide, ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine.
- Tomie is often mistaken for seinen due to its themes and disturbing content, but it was actually originally published in a Shōjo anthology. In fact, quite a few of Junji Ito's works were first published in shojo or josei horror anthologies.
- Trinity Blood's manga adaptation, despite seemingly having the themes of most Seinen manga, complete with graphic violence, Fanservice and adult themes, actually ran in Monthly Asuka, a magazine aimed at teenage girls.
- Welcome to the NHK is a wretched take on concepts of being a hikkikomori and an otaku, and most of the characters experience intense feelings of depression and loneliness. The original novel and manga adaptation ran in a Shōnen magazine, and while it's hard to indicate where the anime adaptation should be placed, it derived from two Shōnen works so it can't be seen as any different.
- Both iterations of When They Cry. Their manga adaptations have consistently run in Square Enix's shounen "Gangan" magazines.
- World's End Harem is about the entire male populace dying, save the protagonist and four other men, with the remaining women urging them to impregnate them by thousands, even enforcing that artificial insemination doesn’t work so they are forced to do the nasty, nasty; the women wear varying levels of fetishistic clothing and they all have top model looks, bare breasts are seen a lot. Everything is drawn by a famous hentai artist to boot. The series runs in an online offshoot of Shonen Jump; however, some of the spinoffs such as World's End Harem: Fantasia are, in fact, seinen.
- X/1999, which a series made by CLAMP set Just Before the End, with many characters fighting in incredibly brutal, gruesome fashion. It actually ran in Shojo magazine, Monthly Asuka.
- Yomeiro Choice, only the first few chapters were genuine Seinen as it was published in a fitting magazine, but the majority of the series (basically 5/6 of it) ran in a Shounen magazine till the very end, and yet the contents shown in the first chapters didn't change at all, actually it got more risque as it went along, stuff like extreme nudity, sexual innuendos, strong content abound.
- Yotsuba&!: Despite its focus on an adorable little girl and her everyday misadventures, it runs in a shounen mangazine.