Tag: manhwa

The Remarried Empress
by Alphatart, Sumpul
published by Webtoon (174 chapters, 3 seasons, ongoing)
2020 – present

While I am tired of reading about royalty, the fact that royalty are always at each others’ throats does make for light entertainment. [Sound] Oh, I meant in fiction. What? [Conversational sounds.] Yes, I suppose that’s also true in real life, but the characters are more compelling in fiction!

Navier grew up as the designated empress-to-be, and was childhood friends with emperor-to-be Sovieshu. They married, appeared to make a great couple, and Navier proved herself to be an effective empress, picking up Sovieshu’s slack. However, as the story opens, Sovieshu is demanding a divorce in favor of his childish mistress. Navier shocks everyone by not only accepting the divorce, but demanding remarriage to the emperor of a neighboring state, who makes an entrance and marries her on the spot!

How did we get here? That’s what the first two seasons set out to explain, while the third season proceeds once we’ve caught up.

This comic features: men who like their women childlike and dim; the stress of losing a not-great partner to a tantrum-throwing younger woman (I was going to joke that ‘we’ve all been there,’ but realized I have experienced this, and am unsure how to make it funny beyond assuring you that it is funny); blackmail; love potions that might work; pity; people who think power means being able to mutilate one’s own domestic staff; an empress who trained for one job her whole life, and isn’t sure how to pivot; divorce lawyers; love letters delivered by unusually clever birds — a reason not to EVER eat birds for dinner; secrets; regret; an attractive man with an improbably muscled torso standing in a fountain in a way that burns his likeness into Navier’s mind…

The art evolves over the course of the story in a way I like: the lines firm up in pleasing ways, so give it some time.

This is a story that teaches us to let go of partners who aren’t that nice to us, and let them reap what they sow; to accept flirty love letters from pretty birds, and flirt right back; to do right by people; not to harm the family members of journalists; to get to know friendly men who look amazing naked after you spy them in abandoned places; and to find a place that will appreciate your leadership.

Twilight Poem
by Kim Suji, MIDNIGHT STUDIO
published by Webtoon (69 chapters, complete)
2022-2024

This story has a controversial ending that set the comment pages afire.

What if… the angelic heroine of a story, who was abused terribly from infancy until the age of marriage, can’t stop crying? What if… the handsome, heroic male lead forced into marriage with the female lead is a self-absorbed jerk whose character growth heads in the right direction, but too slowly to benefit the female lead? What if… the villain is the only character who behaves consistently? What if all of this happened in a gorgeously drawn Chinese period costume drama?

THAT is this story!

Yes, female leads are usually perfect, and male leads usually grow up to be admirable human beings. That… just doesn’t happen here. The female lead is so busy weeping and trying to martyr herself that the male lead can’t even deal, terrible things happen as a result of his neglect, and then everyone makes bold choices accordingly.

I won’t post spoilers, but I think the ending was fine! Perfectly reasonable! MORE dramas should end this way!

(If this sort of thing amuses you, I encourage you to peruse the angry reader comments at the end. The best comment was a complaint from a botanist resolving a character disagreement on whether a valley had moss or flowers in it – HILARIOUS.)

The drawings are lovely, the glowing-lantern-filled scenery and palaces are well executed, the ribbon-style hair is shiny, the male lead looks like a face painted on a traditional kite when he is angry (which is most of the time)… I enjoyed that characters are flawed, I enjoyed not liking the characters, and I even enjoyed the fact that the ending is controversial to some readers.

I Tamed My Ex-husband’s Mad Dog
by CMJM, Jagae, Jkyum
published by Tappytoon (71 chapters, in season 3, ongoing)
2022 (?) – present

I didn’t expect to try to read all available chapters of this story in a few days, but it is fun enough that I didn’t want to put it down.

Reinhardt is a woman who has been wronged. She spent her youth engaged to the crown prince, only for him to send her father off to quell unrest the crown prince caused himself, get her father killed, and THEN call off the marriage and send her far away… Embittered, Reinhardt wishes for another chance – and when she gets it, and finds herself at her father’s casket 15 years in the past, she uses that chance to stab the crown prince in the leg with a sword in a way he’ll never recover from.

Her exile is harsher this time, but she is rescued from a mercenary by a feral boy – whom she recognizes as the crown prince’s henchman from the bitter version of her life. Perhaps she can raise this young version of Wilhelm in her exile to turn out differently. Perhaps he can be a tool of her revenge.

Or, as Will grows up into a powerful knight who is obsessed with her, perhaps he can be more than that – her partner or… her downfall.

Revenge is a tricky business, and one needs more than that to live a good life – as our characters discover! This story involves: speech therapy, loyal knights, daddy’s sword, stolen corpses, younger men, peat (no, seriously, peat), jealousy, teleportation crystals (!), empire-building, wars, love, obsession, annoying empresses, dungeons, capable female heads of state, wars, head injuries, male line verification science, fancy outfits, and lies… I’m very much in suspense in chapter 71, and am eager for more.

The Castle: Keeper of the Sacred Eye
by Jin Soye, hyeyong, pecan
published by Tappytoon (50 chapters ( 1 season), on hiatus / to be continued)
2023 (?) – present

Back in February, I summarized this comic as “contemporary imaginary Korean royalty battle evil spirits trapped in paintings through heterosexuality.” That is still a concise and funny summary, but I can do better… Maybe.

Jo Yuyeon is a redhead in a bad situation in contemporary Korea. She is indebted to her boss, who is keeping her comatose mother on life support in exchange for her complete devotion to running his businesses, while living in her boss’ home, and being an exploited girlfriend of the boss’ disagreeable son. A chance encounter with an evil spirit in a painting reveals that she has skills the Korean royal family needs – and she catches Prince Geon’s eye. Her adoptive family would rather get their spoiled daughter into the palace, and not give Yuyeon up. And the palace itself has a powerful spirit with its own opinion.

This has a story quite unlike the other comics I’m reading, and I have no idea how it will turn out. I want more contemporary Korean content, and so I’ll pick this up again in Season 2.

Like Wind on a Dry Branch
by Dalsaeowl, Hwaeum
published by Webtoon (ongoing, currently at chapter 177)
2021 – present

I’m 177 chapters into this enjoyable illustrated novel, and it isn’t going to end anytime soon, so I should review and recommend it! Admittedly, this one starts rough – the author notes that they like stories of overcoming adversity, and this one starts out ALL ABOUT ADVERSITY.

When we first meet our heroine, Rieta, she is sedated and being led to a graveyard to be buried alive by the man who sold her child into slavery… No, wait, come back! This would be a one issue comic if that played out – there’s more!

AHEM. Where was I? Rieta is saved from being buried alive by a prince with a bad reputation, but it turns out that is a front – there’s a lot more going on than appearances suggest. Prince Killian Axias pretends to be a playboy, but this masks the threat he poses to the current order. Rieta seems like a hapless commoner hollowed out by grief, but has healing powers beyond explanation, raising questions about how she flunked out of religious school. Plague is spreading strangely and with suspicious timing. Magic is real, and is the subject of religious training involving the state church AND ALSO demons. And there is a curse left by a dying princess, which the current royal family is desperate to lift.

While Rieta devotes herself to healing others, the situation around her shifts, clear threats to her life emerge, and new allies refuse to let her give up on living.

The story is engaging and unpredictable, despite themes in common with other manhwa I am reading, such as: secret ancestry, corrupt religious officials, murderous royals, demons with good hair who never skip chest day (or any other day) at the gym, a harem that is not what it appears, curses, and sweet women who can cure plagues. What sets it apart is that it is well written, illustrated in subdued tones, has an unexpectedly reasonable prince, and takes non-obvious plot turns.

Plus, there is a quirk to the illustrations, where side-eye (you know what this is, don’t make me look at you this specific way with scorn) is unduly dramatic, and this delights me.

If I look forward to more even 177 chapters in, it’s good!

Like Wind on a Dry Branch

As plague and turmoil afflicts the empire, enchanting widow Rieta Tristi finds herself at the mercy of a malicious nobleman and his dying wish to have her buried alive beside his corpse. The plague has taken her husband, slave traders have taken her young child, and now her own life is at risk — until an unexpected visit from the empire’s outcast prince changes everything.

The East Wind of the Altas
by Tappytoon Studio, Ziseo
published by Tappytoon (chapters 1-50 (season 1); season 2 in progress (ongoing)
2023 – present

I described the setup for this to a friend in a way that made him not want to read it, as the start was a bit grim. I told him a widowed mother of three has to give herself to a violent nobleman to compensate him after he kills his horse to prevent it from crushing her kids… and I lost his interest right there. But there is more to it!

Claire… is not really a widow, the kids aren’t really hers, she is in hiding under a false identity, she is fearless and assertive, she is multilingual (sexy!), and she has pretty eyes and big plans. The violent Marquess Balt (tee hee hee) Morenheitz is handsome, warm, good in bed, looks after her loved ones, and (eventually) is one of the better men in her life. That’s barely a compliment, considering what she’s been through, but she has the usual heroine-making-everyone-love-her qualities of inherent goodness, so when starts enjoying herself with him, we want that for her, even though we don’t know her plans or all of her secrets. Her wanting to enjoy him (for now) is good enough! (Hooray for women enjoying bedtime with fond, handsome men!) We might even root for Balt’s powerful eyebrows when they go to battle for him in season two, though Claire’s many unspilled secrets may defeat them.

The Broken Ring : This Marriage Will Fail Anyway
by: CHACHA KIM, CHOKAM, Cheong-gwa
published by Tappytoon (chapters 1-65 (2 seasons) with Season 3 starting / ongoing)
2022 – present

This story isn’t what it seems.

At first, it appears that our heroine, six year old Inés Valeztena de Perez, turns down a promise of marriage to the (child) emperor in favor of the (child) Cárcel Escalante because she declares him good looking. How light-hearted! How silly! Sure, she grows up to find Cárcel to be a hopeless womanizer and declares herself indifferent to his antics, but we think we know what is going on.

But. It’s all much harsher and darker than that. And so this is a general spoiler warning, without details, but still a warning. Okay?

This isn’t Inés’ first time living this life.

Her prior efforts to live and fulfill her obligations to her family and empire ended horrifically. They were the stuff of nightmares, and each time her life was unbearable – and short. So this time, when she finds herself back in childhood before her doom was sealed, she decides to chart a new course at age 6 — with the burden of memories of the horrors that befell her, which return to her from time to time. She chooses hapless Cárcel as her future husband ESPECIALLY because he has always been a sweet side character who witnessed her tragic endings, and is surely harmless. He doesn’t even need to love her, and she is determined to feel nothing for him.

Her plans may be complicated, unwittingly, by Cárcel himself, and possibly others. Can she survive? Can she do better than survive? Will Cárcel be an obstacle to her desperate plan, or can he help her finally have a life worth living?

I found this series to be a real page-turner. The initially simple-seeming story wasn’t so simple, the way reincarnation is used is different from the other stories I’ve enjoyed, the horrors that Inés experienced were beyond the pale, and her desperation to avoid repeating them is a powerful force. Her determination to survive according to her newest plan appears to be interfering with her success, but considering what she has been through, it’s difficult to blame her!

While feudal Europe is a common setting, this story is set in a fictional version of SPAIN, which is refreshing, and which means everyone has great names! (I’m from California, so obviously we love Spanish names!) Also: excuses to use good lace. (I’m a fan!). Cárcel experiences character growth, or… is it something else? Does he… know something?

The suspense and my hopes for Inés (WITH Cárcel!) have me eager for a non-tragic ending this time around. While this has one of the darker backstories I’ve read in my recent obsession with Korean webtoons (which is really saying something), I’m eager to read the next season!

Note: I’ve been reading the “all ages” version, but there is a sexier mature version available (for sale in Mature mode only, and subject to typical webtoon censorship standards) that I haven’t purchased.

I thought My Time Was Up
by Essie, Hyeyong, and Ari Choi
published by Webtoon (chapters 1-64 (Season 1), ongoing)
2023-present

Lariette Blanche is the neglected younger daughter of Duke Blanche, who is running House Blanche to ruin. While the Blanches spoil their eldest son and allow him formal education, they keep Lariette uneducated and untrained in using her magical abilities, allow her brother to push her around, and hatch a plan to sell her off to a creepy old man who can bail out their business.

Meanwhile, Lariette doesn’t feel well. When her doctor tells her she has a terminal illness and just a few months to live, the shock shakes Lariette out of her docility, and she decides to boldly enjoy her last few months of life. She resolves to leave her abusive family’s home, ditch the creep her family sold her to, and enjoy herself with a handsome man in her remaining months of life before she will literally (and literarily, because this is fiction) explode.

With her strong-yet-underdeveloped abilities as a purification mage, she encounters handsome Sword of the Empire, Duke Ashrahan Kandel, who happens to be suffering from a terrible curse that has afflicted him his entire life… Which is exactly the niche thing that purification mages are good for! She offers to work for him, signs a contract, and also asks him out – she’s gonna die, so why not go big?

Lariette gets to live in the Duke’s manor, flirt with him relentlessly (overcoming his self-consciousness about the icky curse and his bloody reputation), and has someone who has her back when others try to abuse her again.

But, as in all of these stories, there are misunderstandings and overt deceptions. She won’t admit that she is terminally ill, so some of her actions and bravery go unexplained; the sexy “deacon” who heals her doesn’t admit he is a powerful senior cleric, nor admit that she is his equal in magical power; one of her “friends” really just wants to steal the duke away; and people get misgendered because of their fantastic hair. (I see you, handsome princess!)

Season One ends in blood, but we know that there are more episodes coming, so it can’t be the end! OR CAN IT?

Essie’s art is super fun – I love everyone’s hair (ooooh, Doha), but especially their eyelashes. They are colorful! They match their hair! They are so THICK! It’s an amazing look which I can’t emulate because I wear glasses and can’t stand the feeling of mascara beating on them, but it makes me want to be that cool! (I already had pastel pink hair, and people were so sweet to me… but it was WORK.)

Fun, bold, cheeky heroine! Action rather than pining! Women who flirt! Beheadings in public spaces! Women who kick rude men down hallways! A long suffering and stealthy knight, Gerard (I want one!)! Loving couples who get to share a bed! Magic that removes bloodstains! Sexy yet modestly dressed potential popes with gorgeous hair!

This is a fun series that reminds us to live our best lives. I look forward to future seasons, and want to see many more projects drawn by Essie.

I Thought My Time Was Up!

Feeling a little under the weather, Lariette Blanche visits Doctor Zakascoff only to find out that she has an extremely rare congenital disease, and only three months left to live. Though devastated at first, Lariette decides to write up a bucket list of everything she wants to do before she dies. However, little did she know that the diagnosis was actually wrong! With so many changes implemented in her life already, what will Lariette do moving forward? Will she return to her previous life, or continue living the new one, full of adventures she had never imagined before?

Men of the Harem
by HereLee, Alphatart, Yeongbin
published by Webtoon (150 chapters, 2 seasons, ongoing)
2021 – present

Latil believed her boyfriend would send for her after settling a crisis in his home empire, but instead she received an invitation to his wedding as emperor… to someone else.

After her father was murdered and she executed her dangerous brother, Latil became empress of her own empire, and decided to establish a harem of consorts – for spite and fun! Would her ex become jealous? Oh, yes. Would a variety of handsome and influential men apply, ranging from both wealthy royals to mercenaries and spies? Again, yes – and one of them is her emperor-ex’s overconfident brother.

Despite the fun implications of the title, Latil is a really hard worker, and birth control doesn’t exist in this world yet, so it isn’t the party it could be. Latil must stabilize her empire and determine who killed her father, so she is too busy to frolic with her attractive consorts and risk a pregnancy that will leave her unable to swing her sword – something she still needs to do often. Also, because of the influence of the men, favoring one over another creates political drama outside of the palace – and not just drama for her closest knight, who secretly pines for her.

Season 1 is filled with drama, political intrigue, flirting, secret maps, magical items, and possible imposters.

Season 2 reveals that dark magic seems may have returned to the world after an absence of 500 years, with outlying villages being emptied by monsters, and rumors that her ex’s new empress has gone mad, because she is claiming to see people back from the dead.

Did I both gasp AND make a pained sound at seeing a familiar character oozing blood and sinking into a pond – yes, yes I did!

Even during crises, the harem is a source of campy humor and entertainment – and outside it, some of her consorts are both useful and eager to help. My favorite is the secret leader of the assassins’ guild, who also likes to read (ooooh), fall of out his clothes (haha), send Latil naughty paintings (o_o) – AND ALSO go undercover with his empress, collect intelligence for her through his guild, and capture people! (Competence is sexy!) Then there’s the big pale one who implies he has always known her, without explaining the specifics of these prior life relationships. His strength and unflinching devotion are assets, even if he is a bit spooky… When he says her knight was born to protect her, is he being melodramatic, or is he hinting at a prophecy he is eager for her to ask about?

Men of the Harem

Scorned by her lover and thrown into power after the mysterious assassination of her father, Latil must marry to secure her sovereignty of Tarium. Instead of choosing one man to become her Royal Consort, she chooses five young men from all walks of life to join her Harem. Will Latil ever solve her father’s murder, and can she keep the peace in her Harem?

Latil is a woman who works too much and needs to have more fun (aside from participating in brawls while eating street food without her knights present), and I really want her to have a chance to relax! And also, not to need to manage a zombie outbreak, or worry that she’s going to become the bad guy. (Problems we all face at one time or another, amirite.)

Season Two delivered the always enjoyable, ‘don’t worry, this isn’t my blood’ trope that I eagerly await in all Korean graphical fiction.

I stayed up too late several evenings reading Season Two, and I’m eagerly awaiting Season Three.