If you’re confused about which manhwa to read, you should check out this list of the best manhwa recommendations of all time.
When it comes to choosing the best Manhwa for readers, there are various components to consider, including a variety of different genres.
Manhwa, a South Korean comic, has some significant differences with manga despite its similar themes and art. Like western comics, manhwa are read from left to right and the majority are in color.
For manga fans who are curious about this Korean medium, they have to face a lot of choices that may not suit their tastes. However, among the many titles available, there are some of the best manhwa series that stand out with their beautiful art style, suspenseful drama, and heart-stirring romance.
Manhwa come in all shapes, sizes, genres, subgenres, and demographics, making it difficult to determine where to start. Luckily, this list provides more information on some of the best manhwa series that you should definitely read.
Best Manhwa Recommendations of All Time
15. The Sound of Magic: Annarasumanara
| MyAnimeList | 8.27/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.19/5 |
The Sound of Magic: Annarasumanara is a magical realist manhwa set in an abandoned carnival fair. In this story, a mysterious magician plays an important role, but the main focus of the narrative is on the young protagonist Yoon Ah-ee.
Yoon has no time to think about magic because of his difficult life – he has to work and study while taking care of his little brother. However, everything changes when Yoon meets a magician who takes him to a world that few people can see and enjoy.
In addition, another important character in Annarasumanara is Na Il-Deung, who has a logical outlook on life that is sometimes realistic and sometimes cliché, which adds balance to the series.
14. After School Lessons For Unripe Apples
| MyAnimeList | 8.39/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.45/5 |
Mi-ae is an ordinary teenager trying to survive in school. She loves comics, the pop group “The Fire Boys,” and singing karaoke. Despite the overly long and confusing title, After School Lessons for Unripe Apples is a very enjoyable story about typical everyday life.
The story focuses on Mi-ae Hwang, a shy middle school student with an interest in K-pop and romantic manga. Unfortunately, she is often the victim of bullying at school, mainly because of her height.
When Cheol Kim transferred to Mi-ae’s class, his life took a significant turn. Cheol is known as a rule-breaker and a juvenile delinquent, but his personality is actually quite different. After School Lessons for Unripe Apples tells the story of the growing friendship between Mi-ae and Cheol.
13. Seasons Of Blossom
| MyAnimeList | 8.41/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.42/5 |
Seasons of Blossom is one of the best manhwa recommendations ever, with illustrations by NEMONE and writing by Hongduck. This manhwa is considered a tetralogy as it consists of four parts, each based on a season of the year.
As you can guess from the title, this story revolves around adolescence and youth. This manhwa follows the story of a group of young friends who each have a leading role in their own story.
Bo-mi, Ha-min, Ga-eul, and Dong-chae represent spring, summer, fall, and winter respectively. Each of their characters’ stories are equally heartwarming and sad. Seasons of Blossom has been adapted into live-action and will get an anime adaptation in 2024.
12. The Breaker: New Waves
| MyAnimeList | 8.36/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.33/5 |
The next best manhwa recommendation of all time is The Breaker. It is one of the best Korean comics of its time, with two sequels that have been released.
The second part of the series, entitled The Breaker: New Waves, ran from 2010 to 2015. The story of this sequel follows Shiwoon’s adventures after he refuses to become the leader of the Sunwoo Clan.
Shiwoon sought Sera Kang’s help to restore the balance in his unbalanced ki center, after which he promised to punish the secretive group called Soldiers Under Command (SUC) who were obstructing the Martial Arts Alliance and torturing ordinary people.
You should also read The Breaker: Eternal Force, the latest second sequel to the manhwa The Breaker.
11. The Legend Of The Northern Blade
| MyAnimeList | 8.39/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.39/5 |
In the ever-raging war to protect the world, warriors from the Northern Heavenly Sect find themselves battling evil forces. The Legend of The Northern Blade sounds like something out of a medieval anime or Chinese martial arts fiction.
Considered one of the best and most interesting manhwa recommendations to date, this manhwa combines deep drama with martial arts action. The members of the Northern Heavenly Sect have the important task of protecting humanity from the mysterious entity known as Silent Night.
The story of this manhwa begins with Mowoon, a brave warrior who learns to fight after running away from home in the mountains. Mowoon is eventually faced with a difficult choice – whether to stay silent or hunt down the people responsible for his father’s death.
10. Tower of God
| MyAnimeList | 8.38/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.32/5 |
Fame. Glory. Power. Everything in your wildest dreams is possible when you reach the top of God’s Tower. Those lucky ones chosen by the tower ascend each floor in hopes of realizing their dreams.
In the early parts of Tower of God, Young Bam loses Rachel when they climb the tower together. Later, Bam decides to continue his climb alone and seek answers to the questions that haunt him.
However, once he arrives at the location, he quickly realizes that he is not adequately prepared for the beasts and ancient secrets that lie within the tower.
Bam has to face many opponents on his climbing journey, especially the Administrator who rules each floor of the famous tower. Bam, who is still young, hopes to realize all his dreams if he successfully completes his mission, but reaching the top will not be an easy feat.
Although its popularity has waned in recent years, Tower of God remains one of the best manhwa recommendations ever.
9. Who Made Me A Princess
| MyAnimeList | 8.45/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.42/5 |
Athanasia, who was executed for treason in a previous life, awakens as a minor princess in the same kingdom she once threatened. Now, she must face the dangerous circumstances of the court, which is full of hidden agendas and deadly secrets, while trying to stay afloat.
“Who Made Me a Princess?” tells the story of a young woman from Japan waking up and finding herself reborn as Athanasia de Alger Obelia, a character from a Japanese fairy tale.
Since she knew how Athanasia’s story ended, she made every effort to avoid her tragic fate by changing the course of the story. When the heroine was reborn in her new life as Athanasia, she was only five years old.
Therefore, she decided to win over her tyrant father by using compassion and love, and this strategy was quite successful.
“Who Made Me a Princess?” has everything readers could want, from family melodrama to political intrigue, making it one of the best manhwa series of all time.
8. The Breaker
| MyAnimeList | 8.39/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.34/5 |
The Breaker is one of the best manhwa recommendations for martial arts lovers. This iconic story follows the journey of Shioon, a student who is often the victim of bullying at Nine Dragons High School.
One day, he observed a man named Chun Woo fighting off a group of people who were trying to attack him. Shioon then decided to ask Chun Woo to teach him martial arts.
However, our protagonist doesn’t realize how complex Chun Woo’s history is and the dangerous underworld that exists around him. Although The Breaker is quite old compared to other popular manhwa series, it remains one of the best.
7. Eleceed
| MyAnimeList | 8.41/10 |
| Anime-Planet | 4.45/5 |
Although Eleceed is not as popular as other manhwa series, it is undeniably one of the best.
Jiwoo is accompanied by Kayden, a powerful secret agent who is trapped in the body of a fat cat and becomes her teacher. The two of them then over time work together to fight evil.
However, this turns out to be more difficult than they anticipated as Jiwoo and Kayden don’t get along at all. This manhwa follows their adventures as they use their powers to fight the bad guys and try to understand each other in the process.
6. Omniscient Reader
| MyAnimeList | 8.44/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.44/5 |
Kim Dokja doesn’t consider herself the main character in her own life. True to the name her parents gave her, she is an introvert who only enjoys reading web novels.
Omniscient Reader is a playful insult to the Isekai manga genre. Kim Dokja feels like a non-playable character, watching himself from a distance while time passes by.
Like many of the best protagonists in manhwa, he spends most of his free time reading web novels. Kim has been addicted to a manhwa called Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse for more than ten years, as he found himself unable to resist the main character, Yoo Joonghyuk.
After Kim’s beloved manhwa ended, the author sent her an unexpected message, which made the story come alive. Now Kim knew everything that was going to happen, but that didn’t mean she would overcome all the obstacles before her.
5. The Boxer
| MyAnimeList | 8.42/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.37/5 |
Having suffered cruel bullying all his life, 17-year-old Yu had lost his emotions and was disconnected from reality, no longer able to act like a normal human being.
The Boxer explores the subtle differences between individuals in every situation, especially in Boxing.
One of the best action manhwa focuses on the main character, Yu, a boxing expert who has almost reached the most terrifying level of human prowess.
It follows Yu’s life journey as he goes through the various levels of boxing to reach the pinnacle of success in the sport.
The difference, however, is that such achievements become dreams come true for others. For Yu, it was just a meaningless exercise, just like the rest of his life experiences. Will he find meaning in a life that has lost its meaning?
4. Bastard
| MyAnimeList | 8.48/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.38/5 |
Bastard is a suspenseful manhwa for readers who love violent scenes, bizarre storylines, and psychological twists. This dark story focuses on the life of a fragile boy, Jin Seon, who is the son of a serial killer.
Jin Seon always obeys the plan and carries out the assassination on his father’s orders. However, the father-son relationship takes a dangerous turn when his father’s next target is a young girl who saved Jin Seon’s life.
For readers looking for a scary story, Bastard is one of the best manhwa you should read.
3. Wind Breaker
| MyAnimeList | 8.57/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.36/5 |
Since childhood, Jo “Jay” Ja Hyun, a high school sophomore, felt burdened by his mother’s expectations and felt obligated to achieve the highest performance in school.
Wind Breaker is one of the best manhwa ever. The story follows the life of a teenager named Jay Ja Hyun, who feels the pressure of great academic achievement.
Despite being the president of the student council at Taeyang High, Jay refuses to abuse his title. His cycling skills soon attract the attention of professional racer and classmate, Yoon Min Woo.
The story of Wind Breaker is very interesting to follow, all the conflicts between characters and the main axis of the bicycle race, making fans unable to stop reading from beginning to end. Reading this manhwa is almost like watching your favorite TV show in a marathon.
2. The Horizon
| MyAnimeList | 8.67/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.39/5 |
In the midst of a war-torn world, a young boy walks alone on a lonely road after his mother dies. During his journey, he sees military tanks, dead bodies, and his beloved city in ruins. With eyes full of sadness, he forces himself to stay strong.
The Horizon is a heartfelt manhwa that tells the story of two children suffering from war. Like in Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies, these two characters have no choice but to depend on each other.
As expected, neither of them had access to the tools necessary for survival, so they had to deal with the situation day in and day out.
Despite the dark atmosphere and tone of this manhwa, The Horizon features many sweet and tender moments between its protagonists, whose presence alone shows the difference between surviving and living.
1. Solo Leveling
| MyAnimeList | 8.67/10 |
|---|---|
| Anime-Planet | 4.66/5 |
Solo Leveling follows the story of Sung Jin-Woo, the weakest hunter on his journey to become the strongest S-ranked hunter.
Next, the best manhwa on this list that you must read is of course Solo Leveling. Solo Leveling has recently been adapted into an anime on Netflix. However, this manhwa was finished a long time ago.
The story focuses on Sung Jin-Woo, a low-ranked Hunter who takes an unfortunate turn when an ordinary attack in a dungeon turns into the worst possible situation.
Jin-Woo finds himself as the sole survivor of an expedition into a cave and suddenly has a strange skill: a leveling system that only he can see. Now, with a way to level up faster than he ever imagined, Jin-Woo begins to become the strongest among them.
