Korean Manhwa – The Breaker

So far, I have touched on Anime, Manga, Manhua (China), Web novels and a little more. Today is a great time to show some love for one of my favourite Korean Manhwa’s of all time – The breaker.

Manhwa is the Korean term for comics, so physical printed releases as opposed to web releases which are referred to as web toons. I really love this explanation by Kennycomics:

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/kennycomics-webtoon-101/whats-webtoonmangamanhwamanhua/viewer?title_no=5956&episode_no=8

Give it a quick read, it’ll put things in place. I was a little unsure of what I was searching for on the web sometimes but knowing the medium, country and genre you want to read is a good place to start. Having finished History’s Strongest Disciple: Kenichi, Baki the Grappler and some other Martial Arts Anime, I wanted something with a story. Having read Veritas I was left hung up and dry. Fun fact – before investing time into a series, perhaps check if the plot actually manages to finish and not end on a cliff-hanger with no sequel!

HSD Kenichi - https://myanimelist.net/anime/1559/Shijou_Saikyou_no_Deshi_Kenichi
Grappler Baki - https://myanimelist.net/anime/287/Grappler_Baki_TV
Veritas - https://myanimelist.net/manga/10249/Veritas

Left in a little drought, high and dry - As an attempt to satisfy my thirst, I went on a Martial Arts Manga Binge. By chance and reading random recommendation, I discovered Korean Manhwa and a lot of interest in a particular series called ‘The Breaker’. The Series is written by Jeon Geuk-jin and illustrated by Park Jin-hwan and follows the development of our shy and fragile MC, Shiwoon Yi.

Right off the bat, the names were going to have to take some getting used to. I found myself a little lot sometimes and had to remind myself who was who but it all clicked in place after a few chapters. A lot of the initial plot line really reminded me of HSD Kenichi in many ways. The development of the MC’s is very similar but there is something about The Breaker that really builds into something epic. Playing God of War recently reminded me of how a Father/Son or Teacher/Pupil story is very engrossing. The Breaker maintains some of this and its really interesting to see how Shiwoon forms relationships with new people and evolves as a personality moving forwards.

The success of the series is hailed far and wide with localisation in multiple languages. The Manga really seemed to follow a traditional setup, perhaps this is why I found some similarities in other stories I had gone through over the years but I must say, the Breaker excels further down its storyline. The pacing of events pick up and revelation upon revelation are served to the reader across some explosive action scenes. The artwork is detailed and some parts I found absolutely mind blowing while reading. I would have to put it up there with some of my favourite titles purely for the enjoyment it gave me by roping me in through both seasons.

I tend not to go into too much detail about storylines and events in my posts because they are a reminder to me and also friendly recommendations to Steemians. My advice would be however, stick out the first few chapters. The MC is weak and probably the type of character I would normally get annoyed with but his development is well worth it. It’s an amazing story with so many back stories coming in to play. The Author is knowledgeable around Martial Arts practices and introduces these concepts very well to the reader. Distinct character designs and fighting styles were conveyed really well in the fight scenes and it was very entertaining to see how each fight would play out in the ‘Murim World’.

In some instance I must thank the fan translations and translator notes as they explained terms, references and other notes to give readers a better understanding of the story. I have seen this countless times across Japanese media and was thankful to see the teams dealing with the Korean Manhwa were equally thoughtful. A high quality experience for foreign readers!

The Breaker is split into two parts/seasons or whatever you want to call them. Part one is simply The Breaker and lasts for 10 Volumes and was released through a three year period. I really enjoyed this part of the story and it ends with a ‘Bang’ to say the least. The second part, The Breaker: New Waves is an epic continuation that doubles in volume spanning five years. Sadly, after the conclusion of Part Two, there is yet to be a third iteration. Fear not though, the other work that has taken over from the Breaker and kept the team busy, Trinity Wander (also an amazing read), is set to finish its third season this year. That means, we may well see a new season this year inside of 2018 – I am hyped.

If anyone can read Korean, the Author has posted: https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=tdstudio&logNo=221227122952&navType=tl

If you’re looking for a new read and have some enjoyment from martial Arts stories, give The Breaker a Chance. It has been amazing for me and really deserves a place in your library.