スーと鯛ちゃん 1

This was my holy grail, a manga that I could read as a near-beginner. Some of the grammar and vocabulary is potentially challenging, but it's spaced out. This means that you can pause and break down the difficult sections without it turning into a time sink. And if you can't figure something out, it's easy to deduce just from the illustrations.

The chapters are short and episodic, which is a good pace for beginning learners. There's 100+ chapters out now, plenty to sink your teeth into.

The premise of the manga is obviously not for everyone. It's cute cats having low-stakes adventures. However, even people who don't usually go for cat adventures may enjoy having a fun read to integrate into their studies. Most graded readers at this level are horrendously boring by comparison.