(note: not in particular order)

• skip to loafer - country girl moves to the city, meets all sorts of new people, soon friends. premise is very common, author doesn't try to twist the cliche to un-cliche it, but works around it and it works
• amaama to inazuma - single father tries his best to learn cooking for his toddler daughter after his wife passes with the help of his student. super cute, super fluffy, super sweet, with a hint of sadness in the background. no teacher-student trope, if you're worried about it
• team medical dragon - ambitious female doctor tries to overthrow the regime of a power-hungry old man in the hospital system with the help of a seemingly airheaded but actually really skilled surgeon. got me, someone who never wanted to get into the medical field, thinking to get into said field
• mahou tsukai no yome - abandoned young girl became the assistant of a monster-headed magus. it's magical, it's wonderful
• natsume yuujinchou - lonely boy has been passed around after his parents passed away because he's "weird" (spoiler: because he can see ghosts/youkai), finds out his grandmother heredited both the seeing powers and a strange book with youkai names in it. he makes it his life mission to free the youkai whose names are in the book. contrary to its premise, it's actually a slice of life about him trying to walk the bridge between the youkai world and the human world. i heard the anime is wonderful but i'm not an anime watcher, so! the manga is also a standout on its own, so
• watashitachi no shiawase na jikan - god. i could write a 1000 word essay about this manga if you give me time. this is super heartbreaking, the artstyle is super gorgeous. read this if you want gut-wrenching angst. (i also rec everything by the mangaka, yumeka sumomo. everything she does is wonderful and i hope more people know about her works.)
• dungeon meshi - a group of people dungeon-travel with different purposes, gets more than what they bargained for. it's very light and funny, but can get serious at times
• arslan senki - i thought arslan would be more popular than it is bc how it's got fma's art style and everything, but apparently not. meek crown prince goes into his first campaign, shit happens, super powerful people come by his side
• yajirobee - daily life of a girl with her stepfather who's so young he's usually mistaken for her brother. really warm. really whimsical art style (my favourite!). actually one of my favourite shoujos, ever. (rec'ing this mangaka's other works too - tomodachi no hanashi has the best friendship between girls potrayal i've ever seen in the whole shoujo world.)
• nukoduke - guy adopts a pair of humanoid stray cats. super cute, super fluffy, super light. has its sad sides as well, but usually masked with fluff and jokes. has the same vibe with horimiya, for some reason?
• silver spoon - another arakawa hiromu work! (though arslan isn't really arakawa's work, per se.) studious guy gets thrown into an animal husbandry school. guy learns all the stuff that can be learned in life in animal husbandry school
• fukigen na mononokean - i'm due a reread of this because i don't remember what it's about fuck
• youkai apato no yuuga na nichijou - guy moved into a supernatural apartment complex. it's not scary somehow! the youkai inside are actually very welcoming. i like the vibe of this manga a lot... very chill very calming
• kono oto tomare - I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS FOR THIS MANGA. okay. okay. basically it's about koto and learning koto. has super gorgoeus soundtracks, as well. im still waiting for the anime announcement, nbd (update: 2020 - apparently an anime adaptation is in the works???!??!!)
• ikoku nikki - a girl moves in with her writer aunt after parents died in a car crash, handles grief and puberty angst at the same time. all characters are superbly and realistically written, with a gorgeous art style to boot
• chichikogusa - set in old time japan. wandering medicine seller dad is left to wander with his son after the passing of his wife. sad, heartwarming, heartwrenching
• no youna - a boy and his younger brother moves into their distant uncle's girlfriend's house after their parents died in a car crash. story is about them trying to settle into their new house with new guardians with various issues. very cute for something with a heavy theme, lol
• sangatsu no lion - boy got adopted by a professional shogi player dad after his parents died. boy turns out to be a shogi prodigy. boy becomes estranged with adopted family and develops human connections in a world he always felt very alone in
• haru no noroi - girl has a complex relationship with her ailing sister. sister dies. girl finds out sister's ex-fiance has feelings for her
• namida ame to serenade - girl sleeps in class. girl gets thrown into the year 1907. girl gets mistaken with a noble girl who looks exactly like her. girl gets entangled with the noble girl's fiance after he accidentally lost her necklace, a keepsake from her dead grandmother

(will update when i remember more of my lesser known faves!)