A comprehensive list of Japanese media sorted by difficulty. Includes Manga, VNs, Novels, and a special section for Emulation/PC Games and BL recommendations.
Tags Key: [Mature] = Dark themes/Adult content, [Artistic] = Experimental/Unique style, [BL] = Boys Love.
| Difficulty | Title | Vols | Furigana | Description / Specificities & Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | Shinryaku! Ika Musume | 22 | Yes | Slice of Life/Comedy. Pun-heavy but very repetitive sentence structures. Good for getting used to "character endings" (〜ika). |
| Easy | Kobato. (こばと。) | 6 | Yes | CLAMP style. Very polite and soft spoken Japanese. Fantasy elements are light and easy to understand. |
| Easy/Int | Girl's Last Tour (少女終末旅行) | 6 | Yes | [Artistic] Philosophical but uses simple grammar. The handwritten text can be messy, but the vocab is N4/N3. |
| Intermediate | Dungeon Meshi (ダンジョン飯) | 14 | Yes | Fantasy cooking. Specific vocab for food and biology mixed with standard RPG terms. Very entertaining and logical dialogue. |
| Intermediate | Houseki no Kuni (宝石の国) | 12 | Yes | [Artistic] Unique setting with genderless gems. Vocabulary about minerals and Buddhism. The font is sometimes small/stylized. |
| Intermediate | Witch Hat Atelier (とんがり帽子のアトリエ) | 12+ | Yes | [Artistic] High fantasy. Magical terminology is specific but the grammar is standard polite/fantasy style. Stunning paneling helps context. |
| Intermediate | Blue Period (ブルーピリオド) | 14+ | Yes | [Artistic] Art school drama. Vocab related to painting techniques and emotional introspection. Lots of dialogue about "talent vs hard work". |
| Intermediate | Golden Kamuy (ゴールデンカムイ) | 31 | Yes | [Mature] Historical/Survival. Mix of Ainu language (explained in text), military slang, and hunting vocab. Very eclectic. |
| Intermediate | Mushi-shi (蟲師) | 10 | No | [Artistic] Atmospheric and quiet. Lack of furigana makes it harder, but sentences are often short and poetic. Nature vocabulary is heavy. |
| Intermediate | Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (ヨコハマ買い出し紀行) | 14 | Yes | [Artistic] The gold standard for "Iyashikei" (healing). Very little text per page. Sci-fi slice of life. Relaxed speech. |
| Advanced | Oyasumi Punpun (おやすみプンプン) | 13 | No | [Mature] [Experimental] Psychological depression. Realistic, slurred, and emotional speech. No furigana and distinct visual metaphors. |
| Advanced | Homunculus (ホムンクルス) | 15 | No | [Mature] Psychological/Medical. Vocab about trepanation, psychology, and the senses. Conversational but abstract concepts. |
| Advanced | Vagabond (バガボンド) | 37 | No | [Artistic] Samurai philosophy. Archaic speech patterns (sourou-bun style occasionally). Handwritten brush text can be hard to read. |
| Advanced | Dorohedoro (ドロヘドロ) | 23 | Yes | [Mature] [Artistic] Grimy, chaotic fantasy. Slangy, rude speech from En's family. Magical concepts are unique to the series. |
| Advanced | Kokou no Hito (孤高の人) | 17 | No | [Artistic] Climbing manga. Very little dialogue in later volumes, but technical climbing terms and internal monologues are dense. |
| Advanced | Ultra Heaven | 3 | No | [Mature] [Experimental] Drug culture sci-fi. Visual storytelling is insane. Text distorts to match the "trip". Hard to read visually. |
| Advanced | Tekkonkinkreet (鉄コン筋クリート) | 3 | No | [Artistic] Taiyo Matsumoto's unique style. Kids' slang mixed with yakuza talk. The handwritten font is a major hurdle. |
| Advanced | Blade of the Immortal (無限の住人) | 30 | No | [Mature] Historical Edo-period speech. Very stylized dialogue, poetry, and archaic terms. Highly recommended for art, hard for language. |
Focusing on the specific dynamic: Blonde/Light-haired Uke + Hesitant/Dark-haired Seme, or general high-quality artistic BL.
| Difficulty | Title | Media | Type | Description / Specificities & Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy/Int | Love Stage!! | Manga | [BL] | Perfect Match. Izumi (Uke) is blonde. Ryouma (Seme) is dark-haired and famous. Ryouma is extremely hesitant/confused initially. Comedy focused, accessible language. |
| Intermediate | Kimi wa Natsu no Naka (The Blue Summer) | Manga | [BL] | Perfect Match. Saeki (Uke) is blonde/light. Wataru (Seme) is dark. Starts as friends who bond over movies; Seme is hesitant to ruin the friendship. High School setting. |
| Intermediate | Caste Heaven (カーストヘヴン) | Manga | [BL] [Mature] | Dark/Toxic Match. Azusa (Uke) is blonde. Karino (Seme) is dark. School caste system. Very angsty, psychological dominance games. Seme has deep suppressed feelings. |
| Intermediate | L'étranger de la Plage (Umibe no Étranger) | Manga | [BL] [Artistic] | Shun (Uke) has light hair. Mio (Seme) is dark. Seme is initially hesitant/straight-acting but warms up. Beautiful, breezy art style. Okinawa dialect appears occasionally. |
| Intermediate | Banana Fish | Manga | [BL-Subtext] [Mature] | Classic. Ash (Blonde Uke role) and Eiji (Dark Seme/Support role). Not traditional BL, but creates the blueprint for the dynamic. Hard boiled crime drama vocab (drugs, gangs). |
| Intermediate | Doukyuusei (Classmates) | Manga | [BL] [Artistic] | Sajou (Uke, dark) x Kusakabe (Seme, Blonde). Inverted hair colors from your request, but fits the "Hesitant/Coming of Age" vibe perfectly. Very loose, sketchy art style. |
| Intermediate | Hidamari ga Kikoeru (I Hear the Sunspot) | Manga | [BL] | College setting. Focuses on hearing disability. Seme is hesitant/oblivious to love. Very clear, standard Japanese. heartwarming. |
| Intermediate | Given | Manga | [BL] [Artistic] | Mafuyu (Uke, reddish-light) x Uenoyama (Seme, dark). Uenoyama is the textbook "Hesitant Seme" who panics about his feelings. Band vocabulary. |
| Intermediate | Ten Count | Manga | [BL] [Mature] | Psychological. Kurose (Seme) x Shirotani (Uke). Vocab related to OCD (mysophobia) and therapy. Very popular, distinct clean art style. |
| Intermediate | Slow Damage | Game (PC) | [BL] [Mature] | Nitro+Chiral game. Artistic/Dark. Towa (Uke) has light hair. Psychological horror themes. Great UI and aesthetic, but difficult vocab (crime/psychology). |
| Advanced | Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai | Manga | [BL] [Mature] | Yakuza setting. Yashiro (Uke) is masochistic/dark. Doumeki (Seme) is hesitant/stoic bodyguard. Heavy Yakuza slang and depressing themes. |
| Advanced | In These Words | Manga | [BL] [Mature] | Psychological thriller involving police profiler. High level vocabulary (crime/investigation). Western comic art style. |
| Advanced | Sweet Pool | Game (PC) | [BL] [Mature] | Experimental horror BL. "Meat/Gore" vocabulary. Very atmospheric, little romance, lots of biological horror description. |
Focus on RPGs and Adventure games playable on standard emulators. Sorted by linguistic difficulty.
| Difficulty | Title | System | Description / Specificities & Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Pokemon Series (LeafGreen/Sapphire etc.) | GBA/DS | Kana Only option. The gold standard. Repeated vocabulary, simple sentence structures. GBA/DS era is easy to emulate. |
| Beginner | Dragon Quest I & II | SNES/GBC | Very repetitive. Old school RPGs use limited kanji (or none on GBC). "King speech" is polite/archaic but predictable. |
| Beginner | Kirby's Dream Land 3 | SNES | Almost no text, but menus and tutorials are in basic Kana. Good for absolute zero confident building. |
| Easy | Animal Crossing: Wild World (Oideyo) | DS | Heavy use of Furigana. Real-time clock. Conversations are daily life based. Great for polite requests and item names. |
| Easy | Zelda: Phantom Hourglass / Spirit Tracks | DS | Clickable Furigana. You can tap kanji to see readings. Adventure vocab. |
| Easy | Harvest Moon (Bokujou Monogatari) | GBA/SNES | Farming and dating. Repetitive daily routine helps memory. Vocabulary: Vegetables, tools, weather, greeting. |
| Easy | Slime Morimori Dragon Quest | GBA/DS | Action RPG spinoff. Much simpler text than main DQ games. Cute, punny, kana-heavy. |
| Easy | Super Mario RPG | SNES | Comedy RPG. Simple kanji usage. Dialogue is funny and conversational. |
| Intermediate | Earthbound (Mother 2) / Mother 3 | SNES/GBA | Hiragana only (Mother 2). This actually makes it harder for some, but the tone is quirky/childlike. Mother 3 has kanji but is very emotional and story-driven. |
| Intermediate | Chrono Trigger | SNES/DS | Time travel vocab. Fantasy speak mixed with primitive/future speak. DS version has better UI/translation support options. |
| Intermediate | Final Fantasy VI | SNES/GBA | Epic story. "Role language" is strong here (old men speak like old men, rude guys speak rude). Kanji is standard. |
| Intermediate | Persona 3 / 4 | PS2/PSP | High School setting makes daily life vocab easy, but "Shadow/Persona" lore gets abstract. Heavy text volume. |
| Intermediate | Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi | DS | Furigana on everything. Ghibli story. Magic book mechanics requires reading a digital spellbook. Very charming. |
| Intermediate | Boku no Natsuyasumi (1, 2, 3) | PS1/PS2 | Nostalgic. Summer vacation sim. Child narrator, so language is simple, but heavy use of dialect and cultural nostalgia items (bugs, sweets). |
| Intermediate | Fantasy Life | 3DS | Simpler MMO-style RPG. Furigana included. very repetitious job-based quests. |
| Intermediate | Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side | DS/PSP | Otome dating sim. School life vocab. Good for listening practice (fully voiced mostly). |
| Intermediate | Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban) | GBA/DS | Legal vocabulary mixed with puns. Logic puzzles require precise understanding of phrasing. |
| Advanced | LSD: Dream Emulator | PS1 | [Experimental] Surreal exploration. Very little text, but the text logs (Dream Diary) are fragmented and poetic/creepy. |
| Advanced | Serial Experiments Lain | PS1 | [Experimental] Database interface game. Heavy sci-fi/psychological text. fragmented audio logs. Very hard to piece together. |
| Advanced | Moon: Remix RPG Adventure | PS1/Switch | [Artistic] "Anti-RPG". Characters speak in gibberish voice, text is stylized. Dialogue satirizes RPG tropes. |
| Advanced | Linda³ (Linda Cube) | PS1/PCE | [Mature] Psychological horror RPG. Collecting animals to save them from a meteor. Dark themes, cynical humor. |
| Advanced | Baroque | PS1/Saturn | Dark Fantasy Roguelike. Cryptic, philosophical dialogue about sin and distortion. Very difficult lore. |
| Advanced | 428: Shibuya Scramble | Wii/PS3/PC | Sound Novel. Uses real photos. fast-paced thriller. Multiple protagonists with different writing styles (cop, gangster, mascot). |
| Advanced | Yakuza (Ryu ga Gotoku) | PS2/PC | [Mature] Crime drama. Heavy slang (Yakuza-ben), masculine rough speech. Topics: Politics, real estate, honor. |
| Advanced | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne | PS2 | Occult/Demonic vocabulary. Archaic speech from demons. Philosophical choices (Law/Chaos). |
| Advanced | Ico / Shadow of the Colossus | PS2 | [Artistic] Minimalist. Very little spoken Japanese (often fictional language), but save text/lore hints are poetic. |
| Advanced | Flower, Sun, and Rain | DS/PS2 | Suda51 game. Surreal mystery. Dialogue is bizarre, mathematical, and fourth-wall breaking. |
| Difficulty | Title | Author | Description / Specificities & Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyuubin) | Eiko Kadono | Children's Book. More detailed than the movie. Episodic chapters. easy grammar. |
| Easy | Harry Potter (Japanese Translation) | J.K. Rowling | Great if you know the English story. The translator uses distinct speech styles for characters (Hagrid = Tohoku dialect). |
| Intermediate | Kitchen | Banana Yoshimoto | Contemporary Lit. Very lucid, dream-like writing style. Themes of death and cooking. Short sentences. |
| Intermediate | Konbini Ningen (Convenience Store Woman) | Sayaka Murata | Modern Lit. Very repetitive vocabulary regarding store procedures. Sociological commentary on fitting in. |
| Intermediate | Kino's Journey (Kino no Tabi) | Keiichi Sigsawa | Light Novel. Fables/Allegories. Each chapter is a different country with different rules. Clear, somewhat philosophical writing. |
| Intermediate | Botchan | Natsume Soseki | Classic. Written in old Tokyo dialect (Edokko). Funny, sarcastic tone. Might need notes for Meiji-era terms. |
| Advanced | Norwegian Wood | Haruki Murakami | [Mature] Literary. Murakami's style is often called "translation-like" (dry, Western influenced), making it easier than traditional classics but harder than light novels. |
| Advanced | No. 6 | Atsuko Asano | [BL-Subtext] Dystopian Sci-fi. Shion and Nezumi. Politics, biology, and survival vocabulary. |
| Advanced | Spice and Wolf (Ookami to Koushinryou) | Isuna Hasekura | Light Novel. Economics heavy. Vocabulary revolves around currency, trade, guild politics, and medieval commerce. Very dense. |
| Advanced | Battle Royale | Koushun Takami | [Mature] Thriller. Fast paced, violent. Military government terms and teen slang. |
| Expert | No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) | Osamu Dazai | [Artistic] Classic. Depressing introspection. Archaic verb forms and complex emotional vocabulary. Essential reading for Japanese psyche. |
| Expert | The Tatami Galaxy | Tomihiko Morimi | Experimental. Extremely fast, verbose, and witty narration. Uses university slang and complex metaphors. |