Manhwa: What Korean Comics to Start Reading

It isn't fair to say that Korean comics being translated into English is new. Back in 2006, Netcomics was releasing books, and bigger publishers like Seven Seas have been venturing into those waters since at least 2012, with titles like the delightful historical mystery series Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries. Yen Press' now-defunct magazine also included some manhwa titles, and they also rescued series from publisher ICE Kunion, who translated Korean comics back in the early 2000s, as did publishers Netcomics and Tokyopop. But none of those efforts quite took off in the way that current translation of Korean books is now, and indeed, some of them were never even finished – I'll forever be sad that Lizzie Newton only had two volumes released. Still, there's reason to hope that some of the unfinished manwha will eventually be rescued now that we're seeing a major boom in English-translated Korean titles, so much so that it could be intimidating to know where to start if you're curious to get into them. So, let's take a look at some series that stand out, whether they're in book format or serialized online. There's some good stuff out there if you know where to look!

A Business Proposal

If you've seen this title pop up on Netflix, you already have an idea of how this story goes. The manhwa is the source material for the 12-episode live-action series, and they are pretty similar, with most differences feeling superficial, such as Hari and Taemu working for real-life Korean food company BiBiGo in the show, but at an ordinary office in the manhwa. (At least, that's the level of changes as of the three volumes available from Ize Press right now.) The story is pure K-drama goodness: when Hari's wealthy best friend Yeongseo bribes her to go on a blind date for her, Hari is thrown into Taemu's life like an insane storm. Hari's goal is to scare Taemu off, but instead, her unhinged behavior and attempts to convince him that her life is a revolving door of lovers of all genders backfire, and he becomes grimly fascinated with her and determined to uncover the truth.

Neither Hari nor Taemu are good at admitting things like "feelings," and their awkwardness drives the plot as they struggle to figure out where they want to stand. As a bonus, Yeongseo and Taemu's secretary/best friend, Sunghoon, fall for each other at first sight and begin navigating their rocky relationship. The series' charm is in its character interactions – everyone is simultaneously working at cross-purposes and towards the same goal. Private thoughts and public words are at odds with each other, and while there are some intentional misunderstandings, almost everyone is too stuck in their heads and troubles to fully listen to what the others are saying. It's a lot, but in a good way, and Narak's full-color art complements the frenetic pacing well, achieving just the right amount of sexy. Whether you've watched the show or not, this is a series to pick up if you're already a fan of South Korean television dramas, because it captures what makes them so addictive beautifully.

Give to the Heart

Wann is, for my money, one of the best soapy writers in the business. Over the years, Netcomics has released a lot of her titles, starting with the black-and-white Can't Lose You in 2006 up through the ongoing full-color Survival Marriage. Although her works are no longer in physical print (at least, not new – finding them used isn't too hard), Netcomics has them all available digitally on their site, which means that you, too, can read what I think is one of her best: Give to the Heart. Based loosely on legends of sacrificing a maiden to a water god to prevent floods and drought, the story follows human Sooyi and Ganok, the water god. Sooyi seeks Ganok out after catastrophic flooding destroys her village, and Ganok is instantly drawn to her – for reasons he's very cagey about discussing.

As the eight-volume series goes on, we begin to see that Sooyi's world isn't the fantasy Korean past it looks like, and there's much more going on with Ganok than being a "god." It's a fascinating blend of mythology and science fiction, all wrapped up in an enemies-to-lovers romance that, again, is more than it seems. While there's a lot of melodrama involved (as in, Victorian levels of it), the combination of art and story makes it difficult to put down, even when all you want to do is shriek at the characters or deny that something just happened. If you're already a fan of water god legends in manga (like Rei Tōma's The Water Dragon's Bride) you'll find plenty to enjoy in this much racier story, but it's also just an interesting series in its own right. Even better, it has a prequel series about Ganok's past called Give to the Heart: Memories that goes into more detail about the world. But regardless of all of that, Wann is a creator you want to be reading, whether you start here or with her short story collection 9 Faces of Love. Once you start reading, it's hard to stop.

My Gently Raised Beast

If traditional fairy tale romances are more your style, My Gently Raised Beast is a beauty. Heroine Blondina's name comes from French and Italian variants of Rapunzel, while the story itself follows more of a Beauty and the Beast trajectory. The illegitimate daughter of the king, Blondina is whisked away to the palace after her mother dies, but things aren't immediately better than when she was being systematically abused by the man she worked for. Her half-siblings hate the very idea of her, and acceptance, even by her father, is in short supply. Blondina largely keeps to herself, but one day, she meets a large kitten, a member of the Sacred Beast tribe her kingdom has a troubled relationship with. Blondina and Amon (who can talk and take on human form) forge a friendship that endures years, and Amon gives her much-needed support in her new life. Naturally, as they grow older, their relationship begins to change, and by the point we're at in English releases of the volumes, the political side of being royalty is beginning to creep in. The humans haven't always been good or respectful towards the Sacred Beasts, and some don't think that they ought to start now, making Blondina simultaneously a threat to human supremacy and the only hope of repairing things.

Although this is nominally a romance, the political storyline is never far from the surface, and watching how that, as well as Blondina's relationship with her siblings, evolves is a major draw. It's not as heavy as, say, The King's Beast, but it uses some similar themes, which works well with the fairy tale elements also present in the books. The art takes a bit of getting used to, as the faces are uniformly too sharp, but the story draws you in. It's also significantly less melodramatic than a lot of other series I could mention (or have in this article), which, in many ways, makes it an excellent series to cut your teeth on.

Winter Wolf

Bridging the gap between action and romance, Winter Wolf could easily be slotted into either genre. It's not quite romantic suspense, although there are elements of both, but more of a tense thriller that just happens to have the trappings of a romance novel as a frame narrative. Lysithea is a young noblewoman who has to flee her country due to an unfortunate murder incident, and she hires Taron, a “broker” (read: human trafficker) to help her escape. But Taron's base is an old mansion deep in the snowy reaches of the kingdom, and before long Lysithea is trapped there with him. He's handsome and kind to her, but there's an undercurrent of violence that quickly becomes more than just a hint, and Lysithea has to question whether or not she's safe with him…and soon begins to stop asking that very important question. There's a dark psychological element to this plot that helps it to be pulled away from the romance it at first appears to be, and a lot of that is wrapped up in the characters' trauma. Lysithea's “crime” isn't necessarily one we'd call by that name, but Taron's situation is much less clear. The art is almost entirely done in stark colors, with only Lysithea's red hair, Taron's gold eyes, and the splash of blood on the snow standing out. Unlike some of Manta's BL titles, this one does have fairly explicit sex scenes, and those don't feel like they're just present for titillation. The story is about the action – both internal and external as we begin to really fear for the heroine. She's not a wilting wallflower, which helps, because we know that when push comes to shove, she can protect herself. But as more people find their way to the snowy mansion and violence becomes commonplace, we have to question what will remain of Lysithea if the snow ever melts.

True Beauty

Although True Beauty isn't my favorite of the titles, I do think it's an excellent one to check out, and not just because of its international popularity. It stars Jugyeong as she battles questions of pretty privilege and lookism – she loves horror films and other Goth delights, but to be taken seriously by the girl-eating machine that is high school, she does her best to watch makeup tutorials and cover up her unsightly hobbies and normal looks. There's some question as to whether she's doing it because she likes to or because she feels she has to, and that's not always handled the best; the series brings up serious topics but doesn't necessarily know what to do with them. In some ways, reading this is like watching a creator fight with herself on the page, which also makes for some interesting experiences as a reader. Part of the issue is that the story was originally published weekly online, so there's a bit of bloat and confusion that probably wouldn't have been noticeable if you were reading it that way.

But despite these shortcomings, True Beauty is still a rollercoaster of a read, and it combines its relatively grounded premise with some truly insane plot points, such as brain injuries being brushed off like scratches and a few peculiar character dynamics. If you're not interested in makeup, this may be a bit more of a slog at times (speaking as someone not interested in makeup), but it also gets more engrossing as it goes on. It may not be perfect, but with a live-action version and an anime coming in 2024, it's also a straightforward way to hop into the manhwa game.

Semantic Error

If there's a title on this list that I have a love/hate relationship with, it's Semantic Error. Serialized (and recently completed) on Manta's site and app, the BL story follows university students Sangwoo and Jaeyoung as they stumble head-first into a relationship that neither of them quite knows what to do with. The two are opposites – Sangwoo maintains an iron control over his life, while Jaeyoung seems to go where the wind blows him. Most of the story is told from Sangwoo's perspective, making things even more interesting because he's essentially filtering our perception of Jaeyoung and Sangwoo himself. There's a strong implication that Sangwoo may be on the spectrum, although he could also have a serious anxiety issue as well – the way he keeps his life planned to the nth degree speaks of someone who needs routine to function.

The problems with the story largely stem from that: when Jaeyoung sets out to punish Sangwoo for his early behavior (which is awful, no matter how you look at it), he disrupts Sangwoo's carefully crafted routine. This reads as much crueler than I think it's intended to be, and while I don't know anything about the way South Korean culture handles neurodivergence, for a Western reader, it can be tough to take. Fortunately, this becomes less of an issue as the series continues, and watching Sangwoo learn new ways to feel comfortable, both in the world and with Jaeyoung and his feelings for him, is the main throughline of the plot. In many ways, it's less about the romance (although that's a draw) and more about Sangwoo finding out that he has more options than he ever thought. The art is in color, and Manta released the first two volumes as e-books…with the rest still in chapter-by-chapter form on their site. That's a bit annoying, especially since there's not any (legal) way to tell if they've cut anything out; Seven Seas' release of the BL manhwa The Dangerous Convenience Store has sex scenes that aren't present in Manta's version of the series and volume two of the collected edition of Semantic Error stops before things get hot. But even if we're missing the sexy bits, Semantic Error is hard to put down, especially once you get over the hurdles present in the beginning. It's intensely frustrating, but largely, I think, in a good way. (And it also has a live-action adaptation!)

Cynical Orange

It may not be strictly fair of me to include this series. Yoon JiUn's manhwa was first released by ICE Kunion and rescued and completed by Yen Press in the early 2000s, and it is sadly out of print and unavailable as an e-book as of the time of this writing. But it's worth chasing this nine-volume series down if you're a treasure hunter or have a good library system. The story is superficially similar to True Beauty in that it stars a gorgeous heroine, but Hyemin's natural good looks don't bring her any joy.

She cultivates them in a bid to win the heart of the boy she likes, but when that doesn't pan out, she decides to let her dark and cynical side out to play, reasoning that being herself may be the better option. The story draws from Western fairy tales in interesting ways, specifically on both The Pied Piper of Hamlin and Maiden in The Tower tales (we most typically think of Rapunzel, but there are others). Yoon's use of fairy tales shines a different light on how we read the tales and how we look at beautiful people, and it's a fascinating take on the sunjeong (shoujo) romance. As an earlier release that originated in a print magazine, this title is in black and white. Yoon's linework is delicate and adds to the story. I keep hoping for it to be rereleased, because along with Wann's work, this is the series that got me into manhwa in the first place.

Under the Oak Tree

Alongside all of the manhwa, Korean web and light novels are also beginning to make an appearance on the scene. One of, if not the first titles was Yen On's release of Solo Leveling, and that remains the only one that is easy to get ahold of in physical books. (Some of WordExecerpt's books are available print-on-demand.) Two publishers, WordExcerpt and Editio, regularly serialize Korean novels in English on their sites, with Editio also releasing e-books on most e-reader platforms. (WordExcerpt used to but has stopped for reasons I'm unsure about.) Most of them are female-oriented, and the majority are romances, and of these, hands-down, my favorite is Suji Kim's Under the Oak Tree. The novels are available as e-books from RIDI, with the manhwa serialized on Manta, and even without considering the plot, they're a great deal – roughly 4 USD a book, sometimes less. The plot is divided into "seasons," a fairly common practice in manhwa serializations, and season one is made up of six ~200-page novels, with season two currently having three available in English.

In the case of this series, the seasons are divided by Maximillian, the heroine's, life. The daughter of an abusive duke who made her life a living hell for stupid reasons, including her stutter, Maxi has grown up feeling worthless. When her father weds her to Riftan, the leader of the Remdragon Knights, she's not sure what to expect and is terrified – because she has no idea that Riftan has been in love with her for years. Riftan, meanwhile, doesn't quite know what to do to please Maxi, because all he has are his preconceptions of what "noble ladies" are like and zero clue about the abuse she's suffered. Season one largely works on building their relationship, and once that's established, season two throws obstacles in their way as Maxi trains as a mage to fight by Riftan's side, something he's not comfortable with because he wants her to be safe. They're never more than one actual conversation away from smoothing things out (which, of course, they never have), but the combination of fantasy Medieval Europe for the setting and the way that we can understand where everyone is coming from makes this a winner, and watching Maxi grow into herself is incredibly rewarding.

Solo Leveling

Although I haven't read the manhwa of this series, the source novels, one of the first Korean titles to get a mainstream English translation, is a lot of fun. The story follows a down-on-his-luck young man named Jinwoo in a version of the world where game-like dungeons appear. Yes, it sounds like about fourteen other similar manga titles we could all name, but the hook here is that Jinwoo isn't trying to just become powerful because. He's working through some complex emotions about his family, his position in life, and the status that high-level adventurers have to balance with celebrity, and all of those aspects inform the story behind the more obvious gaming qualities. Yes, Jinwoo manages to unlock special powers when he nearly dies in a vicious dungeon trap, but his goal in at least the first four books is to find a way to cure his mother and support his sister. He can be reckless, but it's never far from his mind that he needs to provide financial support for his family, and that informs his decisions far more than anything else. The writing is a smooth blend of fantasy action scenes and more mundane concerns, and that works better than it might sound. In large part, that's because of the care taken to show that this is a global issue, and the politics that get injected into the story are an interesting mirror of the tensions between Korea and Japan in real life. It's not enough to be distracting, but it does give the story an extra layer to think about. Somewhat ironically, I think the strongest segments of the novels are the latter; even though the series is nominally about Jinwoo attempting to become stronger and more awesome, it's the grounding back in regular workaday Korea that holds everything together. Jinwoo's driven by his family, and he doesn't want to be forced into international problems or even to garner fame and fortune. At the end of the day, he's a guy who wants to save his mom. And if the way to do that is to become a powerful adventurer, well, he'll just have to deal with that in service of his goal.

I realize that most (if not all) of the books I've mentioned have been intended for a female audience, which may present a slightly skewed vision of what's available. WEBTOON is also releasing Tower of God, The God of High School, and Noblesse. Ize is releasing Jungle Juice and Tomb Raider King, while they've previously licensed Jack Frost and The Boxer, among others; Tokyopop also made some forays into the genre with Threads of Time. And while most of those are good, I don't feel they're quite as solid as the ones I've mentioned here. (And yes, I do read anything and everything. I'm omnivorous in my reading.) But no matter what your tastes, there are beginning to be plenty of manhwa titles to choose from. Start browsing, because your new favorite series may be out there!

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.