These Manhwas Absolutely Slaps!

In recent years, we’ve seen a surge in Manhwas, that is the Korean version of mangas being produced in a large scale. Hundreds on new manhwa titles are brought to light each month, and all propagated through Webtoon, a website that hosts most of these manhwas.

It has a slightly different format as it is adapted for reading done online, hence some of the scenes in the comic are meant to be enjoyed as you scroll down the website. It doesn’t follow the traditional manga sequence of right to left. This might leave some of the hardcore manga readers a bit disoriented, but the adjustment is well worth it as the content of some of the featured manhwas on this list is super unique. The color scheme is monotonous which pretty much reflects the grim nature of the manhwa. However, it does tire the eyes pretty quickly. Pace yourself.

So abit of a disclaimer. I’m am in no way the first person to discover these manhwas. In fact, I was introduced to these by Scamboli senpai, who you should check out. The man knows his shit and his alluring voice will keep you in a tiny box of immersive weeb sphere.

Lets check it out!

Solo Levelling

We’ve seen a bunch of Isekai themed shows and manga that has been making a larger chunk of the seasonal releases in Japan. And usually, it involves the involuntary participation of a person from our world into a fantasy realm. Either summoned to save the world or just part of a system that transports departed souls to a whole new life.

Solo Levelling is different. Immediately the premise makes new grounds when it comes to isekai. The manhwa takes place in a world where random dungeons pop up from time to time in any location, which is known as gates. With the mysterious appearance of these gates, came about the existence of hunters, special humans who have special abilities than your regular humans. And the hunters are further categorized with abilities from “E to S“.

The action in this manhwa is an experience that I have totally forgotten. The same feeling I got from reading the early years of Naruto. Or when Ichigo from Bleach activating Bankai. Solo Levelling is a reminder that good pacing and set pieces placed in good positions drive the action forward with a little bit of a nitrous boost. Trust me when I say reading the horizontal longer pages, again and again, is going to leave your neck crooked.

Tower of God

If you’ve heard about this particular manhwa, then you’ve probably heard the traitorous bitch, Rachel. Tower of God features the journey of Ban, an unknown character who seemed to be trapped in a world of darkness alone. The world in Tower of God is rather unique as it doesn’t follow the usual shape of a planet, as we know it. it consists of a massive tower that has 135 different floors, consisting of different dimensions. Each floor has guardians and different rules, and needless to say, our protagonist goes through a lot. As he tries to chase after the girl who saved him from perpetual darkness, he encounters new friends from different worlds and circumstances, as well as enemies.

Tower of God features very unique storytelling layered on top of a unique world that totally changes the narrative. Sure, we had unique worlds here and there but nothing beats the hard to grasp the concept of reality in this manhwa. In terms of the quality of the manhwa, it starts off pretty rough to be honest. It looks more like an early attempt by an artist trying to find a voice for this art. But it slowly gets better with each chapter release to its current awesome form. And frankly, you should check out the recently released anime. It definitely made some changes to the original look, but hey, it works. Another thing you’re going to notice is the epic music, made by Kevin Penkin, the genius who made the music for Made In Abyss.

Tower of God features interesting individual stories from all the characters that are embroiled in the efforts of different parties to try and make it to the top of the tower. Another thing I appreciate about this manhwa is that they don’t try to force-feed you everything in one go. They leave a good portion of the world as a mystery. Like where was Bam before meeting Rachel? Why were they residing outside of the tower? What is the nature of the special powers that take up the atmosphere of each of the tower levels? All of this information is slowly released naturally with the progression of the story.

Survival Story of a Sword King

Imagine buying a new game. But you’re one of the unlucky ones, where your game catridge is faulty and you can never get pass through your starter town. Imagine playing Pokemon Yellow and never making it out of Pallet Town, and having to restart and pick your starter pokemon all over again. And again.

This is the premise of this manhwa. A man is transported to an isekai in classic fashion. But before actually getting transferred into the final destination, there’s a leveling arena for all the newcomers to get them to a certain level before releasing them to complete their mission.

Our main guy in this manhwa, Bin, is stuck in the levelling up world. Everytime he hits level 5, his level resets. Every single time. Imagine being stuck in a hellscape, fighting the same beasts that get stronger and stronger while you stats restarts every time it reaches level 5.

Bin is thrown in a world with constant danger, which slowly but surely damaged his psyche as he faces life or death situations on a daily basis. He had to go through it for 22 years. Although his level never goes up to 5, his actual physical body starts building up.

After certain events that transpired, Bin was released to the world but still at level 5. However, his experience in the hostile environment for 22 years has built him up to something of a killing machine. So you know there’s bound to be cocky antagonists that are about to get a good dose of reality. Personally, I felt manhwas do this trope perfectly.

This manhwa was made by the same guy who did Solo Levelling. However, I do feel Survival Story of a Sword King is more balanced compared to Solo Levelling. And the humor level is off the charts. I found myself chuckling like an idiot many times because you wouldn’t expect hilarious moments from a man who honed his entire being into a killing machine. Which kinda mimics real-world personalities. Beneath all that sunny exposition exterior, lies a traumatized being forgotten by time and existence. Put him in a world that hates his existence that also overflows to his

Bastard

So, we’ve got 3 isekai entries already. Let’s switch it up a little. And by switch it up, I mean really switch it up.

Bastard is about a frail boy whose father is a notorious serial killer. And he lives with him. So you get the idea of who this Manhwa’s title is referring to.

Our protagonist is a bit of a naive character, which has been used by his father to lure victims. Despite seemingly harmless in appearance, there is a darker side to his personality were due to his upbringing, he’s adapted to become a good actor, which turns out to be a plus point for his Dad, the aforementioned serial killer while his son lures people into them. “Where’s the mother tho?”, you might ask. Let’s just say her sanity crumbled after going through a certain experience.

There’s not much that I can say about this manhwa without actually spoiling it further. The story focuses on family relationships that are, well, basically fucked. I mean imagine figuring out you’re living with your serial killer father. And he does alot of stuff….with his victims.

This is a pretty heavy stuff, so proceed with caution.

Conclusion

And that’s about it. A couple of fresh titles for you to check out. There’s always something new to read out there, and hopefully, these titles would revitalize your love for reading comics. Step up your game, Japan!