If you’re already a fan of Japanese manga, then you would certainly love this new on-the-block manhwa genre from South Korea, which is rapidly gaining popularity across Asia and abroad.
You might want to try some of the manhwas we have picked for you for a change since Japan has monopolized the genre throughout the years.
Unlike Japanese manga with a plain, black-and-white theme, this genre is outstanding for its colorful artistic work, themes, and fascinating characters. Here are some of the series that have been released you would want to check out.
17. Misaeng: An Incomplete Life
If you are a newbie here, this might be the perfect beginning to familiarize yourself with manhwa. Misaeng explores, with the main focus on Jang Geu-Rae, a bunch of workers at One International Trading Company.
This series portrays their misfortunes while the lead character tries to find solutions using Baduk, better known as Go, a common board game in China. There is so much more to unpack here; give it a try.
16. Dark Moon: The Blood Altar
Let me tell you about one of the most thrilling manga on this list. As much as it looks a bit familiar, this plot has added some twists and spices that will keep you hooked.
The story focuses on Sooha, who has just been admitted to Decelis Academy. Vampires were completely forbidden from being in this school or anywhere near the school.
Maybe one of the reasons she chose this school was because she had a personal beef with vampires. She had lost one of her childhood best friends to vampires.
Seven vampires were chasing Sooha in no time, trying to make her fall in love. I can’t even give you a clear explanation of why they were looking at her like that.
What could she have done to attract all this attention? Unfortunately, this love season didn’t last long enough because things began to go haywire.
What they have been hiding this whole began coming to light. All their secrets and their true identity were slowly being revealed. Everything is just a mess now. You have to go and find out what happened. All the manga fans have loved it, and I know you will, too.
15. The Horizon
An eye-watering story for you involving the relationship of two strangers crossing paths in the middle of a war. In an attempt to find paradise, the two kids who had befriended each other find themselves on a hopeless path with no one to depend on and no adult to guide them.
What does the future hold for them? They are just yearning for survival and being able to keep going, just as if the odds were not against them.
If you are into emotional bonding, then this is for you. This might be one of your most uncomplicated, simply easygoing, full-of-warmth readings in just 21 episodes with characters that are even unnamed, just human connection.
14. The Love Doctor’s Gentle Art
Meet this woman, Jung Irae, who has no idea about love but is looking for a significant other with no exposure.
She hires a love doctor, Cha Yoon, following her continuous repulsion to most potential suitors who approach her. Erae finds herself falling for Yoon and starting to get a grip on her feelings.
This is a remarkably beautiful story with a plot that most readers relate to, not forgetting the art that perfects the whole thing altogether.
It is a soothing experience to see how their relationship grows perfectly in each chapter, even though their bond appears awkward in its early stages. This manhwa gives you a rare emotional attachment with any other manhwa.
13. Leveling Up My Husband To The Max
You probably have heard about the concept of arranged marriage. Two people are brought together and fall in love despite initially wanting to kill each other. The plot revolves around Amber, who has just been given another chance to redo this life again.
The time she was supposed to be executed became a chance for her to make a difference. Instead of the execution, she is sent back to ten years in time on the exact date of her wedding. The man she sees at that moment differs from the one she is used to.
Her husband was willing to do whatever she wanted at the time she wanted it. Amber is shocked by how her husband grew up to be different. Maybe this time, they will have a better ending. I suggest you don’t waste time but go straight from here to check it out.
12. From Points Of Three
This is kinda different from the usual manhwa there is. It is not just about vulgarity but is also filled with quite a lot of drama. Both Heejae and Sunyool are drawn to Jisuh; how can they not? He is a cutie, and this ends up in the three of them giving us an enjoyable time.
Heejae knew too much about Jisuh, while he innocently thought it was for his mastery of using cameras that he got hired. This, however, didn’t give him answers as to why he was hired.
Kim Jisuh was an inexperienced, timid photographer who landed a job filming the sex moments of Sunyool and Heejae, a gay couple, just so he could get himself out of debt. While this was not the best thing to happen to Jisuh, this gave the couple a chance to explore their fantasies.
11. Cheese In The Trap
You can begin your year with this masterpiece by Soonkki, written in three seasons. You really wouldn’t want to miss it.
The story follows the sudden sophistication in Soel Hong’s life, a charming and diligent college student, after discovering her senior Jung Yoo’s dark, flawed traits.
She wanted to return to how her life was, but the two captivated each other and became a thing before she even had the chance to bring everything to light. Jung’s presence feels like a destruction to Seol’s life. The question is, was he doing it on purpose, though?
10. The Gamer
Have you ever thought about how life could be if it was a game where you move to higher levels and upgrade yourself?
Well, Jee-Han lives such a life. He is a video game addict who realizes there is a possibility of living life with the same approach as in games. Mind-blowing, right?
As much as this would increase his chances of exploring his limits, the risk was just as high. Most people anticipate this will be played in anime ten years after its release.
He is just a regular student in high school whose life takes an unforeseen turn after realizing that life could just be as it is in his games. After seeing how much power people possess and everything else you would do in a game, everything became a reality. Try The Gamer and find out how he utilizes his power and how everything started.
9. Second Life Ranker
Yeon-woo was on the hunt for Cha Jeong, his twin brother. Upon finding the diary his brother owned, he realizes that his brother wanted to become a god but was killed while attempting to climb the Tower of the Sun God.
He wanted revenge for the cold-blood murder of his brother, so he used the diary as a guide for him to continue from where Cha had left off.
All his brother’s knowledge was left for him to utilize. Would it be easy for him to survive all his brother’s adversaries and equip himself with enough strength and exposure to sustain him in climbing the tower?
This blood-tingling manga is a must-read if you are into gripping stories. Yeon-woo faces risks and life-threatening moments throughout his mission, which become increasingly difficult in each chapter.
8. Girls Of The Wild’s
Do you enjoy scenarios where many girls are drooling over one guy? If yes, then this is your vibe. For the first time, Wild’s High School enrolled a male student.
It was known for being a girl’s school exclusively into MMA. After being neglected by his mother, Jaegu was no longer the biggest fan of women.
This thrilling drama shows how he was now trying to understand the dynamics of girls. Wild’s High was now open for both boys and girls after being a single-sex school for 42 years.
Song Jae Gu was offered a non-merit three-year scholarship, to which he said yes. Mind you, he is now the only boy in school. He started having a hard time when he began getting titles of achievements.
After becoming the Wild’s league champion, school doesn’t look like it used to be anymore. And clearly, this isn’t what he was looking forward to. This isn’t the high school life he wanted to live. Why don’t you go relax and enjoy this somehow relatable manhwa?
7. Noblesse
You can’t afford to miss this because it’s one of those gems that end up being adapted into anime, this one, particularly by Crunchyroll.
It was fully remodeled into anime in 2020 after earning an OVA before completion. This is a remake of the written story by Jeho Son and an illustration by Kwangsu Lee of the vampires and Frankenstein.
Rai had been unconscious for 820 years when he finally woke up, only to find himself as a high school student with Frankestein, his faithful servant, as the founder. Strange invaders known as the Unions suddenly came, which ruined the harmonious interaction between him and the humans.
6. Orange Marmalade
Believe me when I tell you this is one of the most touching manhwa on the list. Humans are still not fully accepting the existence of vampires regardless of their being common in their spaces.
Jae-min Jung, the famous guy, has made one of the introverted vampire girls, Mari Baek, fall in love with him. It was a cute, healthy relationship where they tried to educate themselves on their origins.
Humans and vampires had agreed to coexist in peace for two centuries, but they had once gone scarce from being killed by people. They feed on pig blood, masking who they truly are. Isn’t it common knowledge that vampires crave human blood?
If l am to pass my honest judgment, l would say that this manhwa has the best straightforward storyline. The good thing is that this doesn’t take away how creative everything was.
It can give you some relatability because it is just a spiced-up high school story. Unlike the other manhwa, this one is realistic because it doesn’t dive too far away from reality. This is a one-of-a-kind manhwa you wouldn’t want to skip.
5. A Business Proposal
Let me get you straight to the point. Hari, on behalf of her friend, willingly goes on a hookup. Her mission is to abolish the concept of unwanted matchmaking of couples.
Hari thought it would be a walk-over money-making scheme, but she was wrong. The new CEO was going through the same, and when these two met, they decided to be in a relationship.
What would you do if you were Hari? Hide your true identity or say yes to the ring. What could be the big issue with her putting on a false front?
If you love K drama, this might not be the first time you hear about this manhwa. It was successfully played in a K-drama series in 2022. It still doesn’t change the fact that this manhwa is amazing. It gives you more depth on the relationship between Taemu and Hari.
4. Solo Leveling
I never expected this manhwa to get a lot of fans on a chokehold like it did. Chugong wrote this exciting story, then Redice and Gee So-Lyung presented it visually.
The action is immaculate, alongside a perfect setting that matches the vibe. It was inspired by a novel of the same name, just like most of the manhwa.
Two seasons of Webtoon have been released so far. The latest one started on the First of Aug 2020, while the previous one was released around five months back, on the 19th of the same year.
D&C Media gathered and published the solo chapters in seven volumes as of February 2023, all doing well in the anime market. Yen Press licensed Webtoon in English, which helped satisfy a larger number of anime enthusiasts.
Sung Jin Woo, the main character, comes across a dungeon that only he can see. What do you think he did with this discovery? His biggest dream is to become the hunter of the world’s highest rank, the S-rank hunter. Go and check it out and ride along with Sung on his journey.
3. The Druid Of Seoul Station
It always surprises the viewers when something unexpected happens to our beloved characters. Suho Park finds himself on a different, unknown planet after an unforeseen crisis has just happened on Earth.
This is the perfect type of story if you are enthusiastic about science fiction and isekai. So, what’s left for him is to learn how to survive in this new reality. As uncertain as everything happened for him to get here, there is still more to come.
He was teleported back to Earth in the blink of an eye, and you won’t even see it coming. Even though this was his home, life would not be the same as it had been before.
The whole planet was swarmed with monsters who were fighting the human race. Will he survive this war with all he has learned from the other world? What do you think, and are you rooting for him? There is only one way to find out how everything turned out.
2. Hive
Talk about horror and emotional mangas; this is one of them. Let me tell you the story of an ordinary man named Seoul Eun Sung Lee, whose peaceful life was taken away.
He had a white-collar job as a manager in one of the big companies. He doesn’t know things are about to take a drastic turn, and he will be separated from his family.
A bug apocalypse was happening, and they were hungry for human flesh. Lee and other survivors are determined to return to their families. This was their biggest priority, and they were willing to ignore all the dangers they would meet.
If you think this is probably some story you have seen before, then you are wrong. These bugs want to disrupt the usual way of food chains and completely have control of people.
One thing I would say about Hive is that it’s not as disgusting as most horror manga. However, the scenes where the bugs devoured the human flesh can surely make you feel some type of way.
The emotions will be evoked, especially when you see the beautiful family that has been separated but is still hoping to see each other again.
1. Tower of God
Lastly, on the list, this one has a very gripping story. Rachel was sick of living in a dark world where almost no light came in. She finds a way to the Tower door that leads to a higher place.
Her friends didn’t want her to go, though, but none of this stopped her. This path was not for everyone because if you were not worthy, you would lose your life, but still, Bam, one of her friends, followed her.
People known as the Regulars were chosen to be on this path, given promises that everything they wanted would be granted. Only if you make it to the top of the tower will whatever your heart longs for be yours.
Be it fame, riches, power, or anything else you want. Bam’s life changed when he met Rachel, who introduced him to a light they all wanted to reach.
He had only known a pitch-black cave, a filthy cloth, and a little hope of light. Rachel had taught him a lot of things that he never knew of. Now, Rachel is leaving, which is a lot for him to bear.
He didn’t know what to do without her so he had to go with her. Bam didn’t care what would happen to him on this new journey, but he followed blindly. Maybe this was gonna be his breakthrough.
