Hey all!

I'm trying to find a manga that's about, like the title says, second place. We've all experienced it before: the crushing disappointment of being in second place just once, or of the depression of continuously being in second, no matter what we do.

Well, I want a manga about someone who's constantly in second place. Like, no matter what he or she does, no matter how hard they try, they always end up in second place. Now I know most mangas poke fun at these positions, but is there any drama-filled, but not necessarily angsty, manga that concerns perpetually being in second, as the main plot?

Oh yea, please don't recommend Special A. The girl was way too oblivious and thick and the guy too perfect. Some characters with depth, please!

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Thats some rare request ^ ^'. I can only think of Suzuka


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Yea, it is a rather strange request since normally such a character plays butt-monkey to the protag.

Saki might work, though with a twist. She literally plays to lose in mahjong, but is actually really good. And she doesn't play to lose for very long (but I'm not really that familiar with Saki)

If you have a PS3, you can play Star Ocean: Last Hope International, where Edge plays butt-monkey to Crowe. But that's more of an on-going joke than a serious part of the plot.

Baby Steps could be something to look into. The protagonist has to put in legitimate effort to improve his game, and as of chapter 41, he's never really -the best-. No ass-pull shounen power-ups here; just cold, hard work. (but beware of ludicrous tennis skills by the enemy.)

Wow, they're all sports ones, lol. It seems a lot more sports have "second-place" mentalities, eh.

I wasn't looking for sports specifically, but I could give it a try.

@nesfe Suzuka seems like what I'm looking for but I have reservations about it......Mores specifically, I believe the Harem aspect cheapens the storyline. But it might be one of those hidden gems. I'll give it a try.

@Badkarma Saki, despite having an interesting premise, doesn't quite fit either, since the girl is actually one of the best in mahjong. I really wanted someone that has skill, but is second to someone else. Like say, second place in grades, school rank, power, skill, etc. That's not to say I won't read it; it actually seems interesting.
As for Baby Steps, does it spend time on the phase that he's never the best? If so, it might just work.

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Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna

Great manga. <3

Hikaru no Go.

(Not really that much of a spoiler)


Just checked. No pay-check for you.

From the general feel of the comments, yes, he spends most of his time in the improvement stage. I'd say it's like a shounen battle manga where the hero doesn't magically gain untold powers at precisely the right moment after getting his ass kicked the whole chapter. If I were to compare it to a video-game, it's like 'Punch-out!' - where an otherwise unremarkable boxer named 'Little Mac' relies on his technique (IE your gaming skills) to win, and a single slip-up against a tough opponent WILL cost him the match.

Anyway, it's a hard subject matter since no one want's to see the hero lose, and truthfully, Baby Steps is more about improvement than the despair of loss.

I think sports come up a lot because there's clear winners and losers, and in other genres a main character is able to subvert their "loser-ness" with other qualities. Take Index as an example. Touma's essentially the butt-monkey of the universe; he's level 0 and is eternally doomed to remedial lectures. Yet all that's pretty moot considering he manages to punch out Cthulhu in every freaking book, oftentimes after boring it to death with a lengthily rant.

HAREM PAWNCH!!

...But I'm getting dangerously off-topic. Point is you can't really classify such a person as a "loser" or "second place", and the loser aspect is never the focus. I suppose other outlets exist where 'winners and losers' apply, like Bakuman, but I can't quite think of any...

Ah, actually, try 3-gatsu no Lion. It definitely delves into the feelings of 'being second fiddle' and losing through multiple characters. Plus the protagonist isn't "the best ever" nor do I think it's the nature of this story for him to be. This could be what you seek, with the only problem being translation speed.

As for Suzuka, the answer to how much of a "harem" it is, is staring you right in the face.

Special A is definitely the one for you since she is always in second place literally.

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High above the tree tops.

6 posts later




Hilarious...

Nobody read anything else beside the title / No offence intended sakura


Why don't you try the Inferiority Complex tag? It might help.


Extra note: This might get me in troubles but... I never had been in second place nor have i been defeated in anything i tried hard at


Last edited by BlackOrion at 1:58 am, Jan 28 2012

Tenjou Tenge had a character who is always in the background, as they say, despite being in the main cast. He trained the protagonists, having absolutely no progress himself, and ended up questioning his own abilities and role.



I don't think there's any good manga about someone always in second place, because then he'd kind of be in first place, in terms of the story itself. Then we won't root for him anymore. It's also hard to market something like that. Much more common in other mediums.

The only time I have seen a second place character in center stage is when he had murdered the first.

Well, I thought it fits what you're looking for pretty well since *Spoilerssss*



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Barakamon is about a guy who does calligraphy as a living. Though the focus isn't on the fact that he's second place, it is the catalyst for the story to get to started. Pretty obscure, but who knows, maybe you'll like it?

There's Sasameke, a spoof on sports mangas where the main character is constantly beaten down by others despite having a great amount of raw talent.

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“All the kids have always known,
that the emperor wears no clothes,
but to bow down to him anyway,
is better than to be alone.â€

-Arcade Fire

Maybe Ping Pong although it's more like
striving to be first place
rather than being second place.

Thats a hard request.... beside Goong and the prince's cousin i cant think of a shoujo where someone is always second place... you are basicly looking at a shounen manga(all have this rival guy that never gets to be more than the 2nd place compared to the lead)...

oh!!! Vampire Knight one of the leads is 2nd place in the heart of the heroine if that counts.

Though it's kind of similar to Special A, I would recommend Last Game.