Manga Reading Order Guide: Where to Start Any Series

What Is a Manga Reading Order (and Why It Matters)

Short answer: read in the order the series was originally published. That one rule will steer you right for almost every manga franchise. The rest of this guide explains why, plus exact reading orders for all the series that trip up beginners.

A manga reading order is the sequence you should follow when a series spans multiple titles — sequels, prequels, spinoffs, and adaptations. This isn’t about reading panels right-to-left (though that’s important too). This is about knowing which book comes next when a franchise has dozens of volumes across several titles.

If you’re picking up a long-running series like Naruto, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, or Dragon Ball for the first time, reading order matters more than you’d think. Start in the wrong place and you’ll either spoil major reveals, miss crucial context, or waste hours on material that isn’t even part of the official story.

The good news: once you understand a few core concepts — publication order, chronological order, and canon status — you can figure out the reading order for any manga series, not just the ones covered here.

Publication Order vs Chronological Order — Which Should You Follow?

Publication order. Almost every time. Read titles in the order they were originally released, and you’ll be following the path the author designed for you.

Why not chronological order (reading according to the in-universe timeline)? Because authors write with the assumption that you’ve read what came before. A prequel written ten years after the original series will reference events, drop hints, and build emotional weight that only lands if you already know the main story. Reading that prequel first doesn’t just risk spoilers — it robs you of the experience the author designed.

Chronological order works beautifully on a reread — after finishing all nine parts of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, re-experiencing the timeline in chronological order can reveal connections you missed. But for your first time through any series, start with whatever was published first.

How to Identify Canon vs Non-Canon Manga

Canon means the material “counts” in the official story. Non-canon material might be entertaining, but it doesn’t affect the main plot and other titles won’t reference it. Knowing the difference saves you from reading something that looks essential but actually isn’t.

Here’s how to tell them apart:

• Check creator involvement. This is the strongest indicator. If the original manga creator wrote or directly supervised it, it’s almost certainly canon. If they’re only credited as “original concept,” that’s a red flag.
• Manga usually takes priority over anime. When the manga and anime tell different versions of the same story, the manga is generally considered the definitive source.
• Officially produced does NOT automatically mean canon. A studio can release an official, licensed product that still isn’t part of the “real” story.

The clearest example: Dragon Ball GT is an official Toei Animation production, but Akira Toriyama didn’t write it. When Dragon Ball Super came along — with Toriyama’s direct involvement — it effectively replaced GT’s timeline. GT is fun to watch, but it’s not canon.

Practical tip: check the credits page. Look for the original creator’s name as author, not just “based on the work of.” That distinction tells you a lot.

Reading Orders for Popular Series

These are the series that trip up beginners the most. Each one has quirks that make the reading order less obvious than it should be.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

JoJo has nine parts, each following a different member of the Joestar bloodline across generations. The reading order is refreshingly simple: read them in order, Part 1 through Part 9.

Part	Title	Chapters
Part 1	Phantom Blood	44 chapters
Part 2	Battle Tendency	69 chapters
Part 3	Stardust Crusaders	152 chapters
Part 4	Diamond is Unbreakable	174 chapters
Part 5	Vento Aureo	155 chapters
Part 6	Stone Ocean	158 chapters
Part 7	Steel Ball Run	95 chapters
Part 8	JoJolion	110 chapters
Part 9	The JOJOLands	Ongoing (started Feb 2023)

Parts 1 through 6 share one continuity. Parts 7 through 9 take place in an alternate universe, but they still build on themes and ideas from the earlier parts — so publication order remains the best approach. There are no spinoffs to worry about here. The parts themselves are the reading order.

One thing worth knowing: Part 1 (Phantom Blood) is noticeably different in tone and pacing from later parts. If it doesn’t grab you immediately, stick with it — Part 2 is where many readers get hooked, and Part 3 is where Stands (supernatural combat powers unique to JoJo) enter the picture and completely transform the series.

Dragon Ball

Here’s something that confuses a lot of people: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are the same manga. The original series by Akira Toriyama is 42 volumes and 519 chapters. The “Dragon Ball” / “Dragon Ball Z” split only exists in certain editions and the anime — in the manga, it’s one continuous story.

Reading order:

• Jaco the Galactic Patrolman (1 volume) — optional prequel set in the same world. Fun but not required.
• Dragon Ball volumes 1–42 — the complete original manga
• Dragon Ball Super (on hiatus since February 2025) — the official sequel, with story by Toriyama and art by Toyotarou

Skip Dragon Ball GT entirely. It’s an anime-only series that Toriyama didn’t write, and Dragon Ball Super’s storyline contradicts it. GT is non-canon.

Tokyo Ghoul

This one is straightforward but the naming causes problems. Tokyo Ghoul:re is NOT a reboot or standalone title. It’s a direct sequel — the “:re” in the name makes it look like a fresh start, but it absolutely picks up where the original left off.

Reading order:

• Tokyo Ghoul — 14 volumes (143 chapters plus a side story)
• Tokyo Ghoul:re — 16 volumes (179 chapters)

That’s it. Strictly sequential, no exceptions. Starting with :re is one of the most common mistakes beginners make with this series, and it will leave you completely lost within the first few chapters.

Naruto

Naruto’s reading order is longer but still linear:

• Naruto — 72 volumes covering Part I (young Naruto) and Part II (subtitled “Shippuden” in the anime — the same manga, just the teenage years of the story)
• Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring — 1 volume that bridges the gap between Naruto and its sequel
• Boruto: Naruto Next Generations — 20 volumes (Part 1, 2016–2023)
• Boruto: Two Blue Vortex — ongoing Part 2

There are also about 12 light novels (illustrated prose books that are longer than manga but shorter than full novels) covering side characters like Kakashi and Shikamaru. These expand the world nicely but aren’t required for the main story. Comedy spinoffs like Rock Lee’s Springtime of Youth (7 volumes) and Chibi Sasuke’s Sharingan Legend (3 volumes) are non-canon fun — read them if you want a laugh, skip them if you just want the story.

One Piece, Bleach, and Attack on Titan

Not every popular series has a complicated reading order. These three are long but straightforward — each is a single continuous manga with no required spinoffs or sequels that change the order.

• One Piece — 100+ volumes and still ongoing. Start with volume 1, keep going. There are no prequels, no spinoffs you need to read, and no confusing title splits. The only challenge is the length.
• Bleach — 74 volumes, complete. One single series from start to finish. There are light novels and a sequel one-shot, but the core story is all in those 74 volumes.
• Attack on Titan — 34 volumes, complete. One manga, one story, no spinoffs required. There are a few spinoff manga (Before the Fall, No Regrets), but they’re optional side stories — the main 34 volumes tell the full story on their own.

If a series is one continuous title with no sequel or prequel manga, you don’t need a reading order guide — just start at volume 1.

Reading Order for Anime-First Readers

Watched the anime and want to continue the story in manga? This is one of the most common reasons people start reading manga, and there are a few things to keep in mind.

Finding where the anime ends: Look up chapter-to-episode mapping guides on sites like MyAnimeList or the series’ fandom wiki. These will tell you exactly which manga chapter corresponds to the last anime episode you watched.

Start a few chapters early. Anime adaptations frequently rearrange scenes, add filler (non-canon episodes created to pad out the anime while the manga gets ahead), or skip smaller arcs. If the mapping says the anime ended at chapter 150, start reading at chapter 145 or so. The overlap is worth it — you’ll catch details the anime changed or skipped, and you’ll be properly oriented for the manga’s version of events.

Watch out for canon differences. Anime-original arcs — episodes that don’t have a manga source — aren’t part of the manga’s story. If the anime added a whole filler arc between two story arcs, the manga will jump straight from one to the next without acknowledging those events. Don’t be confused when characters don’t reference things that only happened in the anime.

Advanced Case: Series That Require Parallel Reading

Most manga reading orders are sequential — finish one title, start the next. But in rare cases, some series are designed to be read at the same time.

CLAMP’s Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and xxxHolic were published simultaneously, and their plots intersect at critical moments. Reading one without the other means missing key reveals that only make sense when you see both sides of the story.

Parallel reading orders are rare, and you’re unlikely to encounter one as a beginner. But knowing they exist prevents that frustrating moment where a story references events you can’t find anywhere in the volumes you’ve read.

How to Build Your Own Reading Order for Any Series

The series above are popular examples, but the same approach works for any manga franchise. Here’s a step-by-step method:

Step 1: Identify the main series. This is always your starting point — the original title that everything else branches from.

Step 2: Check for sequels. Direct continuations (like Tokyo Ghoul:re or Boruto) that pick up where the main series ended. These go right after the main series in your reading order.

Step 3: Look for prequels. Read these after the main series unless they were published first. A prequel written later almost always assumes you know the original story.

Step 4: Identify spinoffs and check their canon status. Look at creator involvement — is the original manga creator writing it, supervising it, or just lending their name? That tells you whether it’s essential or optional.

Step 5: Cross-reference with community resources. Fandom wikis, MyAnimeList, and dedicated reading order sites are invaluable for confirming your order and catching anything you missed.

Red flag to watch for: if a spinoff is written by a completely different author with no original creator supervision, treat it as optional until you can confirm otherwise. Officially produced does not mean it’s part of the main story.

Common Mistakes Beginners Make With Reading Order

After helping plenty of people figure out where to start, these are the mistakes that come up again and again:

• Starting with a prequel that was written after the main series. This is the number one mistake. That prequel was written with the assumption you already know the original — it will spoil reveals and undercut emotional moments the author spent years building toward.
• Treating separately marketed volumes as different stories. Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are the same manga. Some publishers split series into different “brands” for marketing purposes, which makes them look like separate titles when they’re actually one continuous story.
• Reading a “:re” or “reboot” title as a standalone. Tokyo Ghoul:re requires the original Tokyo Ghoul. The naming makes it look like a fresh start, but it absolutely is not — you’ll be lost within the first few chapters.
• Skipping spinoffs that are actually essential. Naruto Gaiden is only one volume, and it might look skippable. But it bridges the Naruto and Boruto storylines, and jumping straight to Boruto without it means missing important character developments.
• Assuming the anime and manga are identical. Filler arcs, rearranged scenes, cut content, and anime-original endings make these different experiences. If you’re switching from anime to manga mid-story, you need to account for those differences or you’ll hit gaps that don’t make sense.

The through-line for all of these: when in doubt, check before you read. Five minutes of research saves hours of confusion — and protects you from spoilers you can’t un-read.