Summary
In recent years,the isekai genre has gained a lot of popularityin the mainstream, so much so that it wouldn’t be wrong to say that a good chunk of anime, manhwa, and manga that come out each season are isekai, or isekai adjacent in one way or another. However, viewers might not be aware that the isekai scene has been ramping up slowly, leading to plenty of good completed manhwa that they can enjoy as well.
Isekai is a fairly diverse genre, and the manhwa that fall within it are no different. From otome game villainess dramas to high-octane fantasy adventures to calming slice of life romances, isekai manhwa have them all.
8The Max Level Returner
Overpowered MC Seeks Answers
One day,all the players of a VR MMORPGget transported into said game and have to fend for themselves as best they can without dying. Once they do die, however, they end up back in the real world. The catch is that monsters start appearing in the real world as well, plunging it into chaos.
The story follows Yoon Sang-Hyuk, one of the most powerful players in this VR MMORPG, who gains the maximum level before returning home. His overpowered status makes the story incredibly satisfying to read, and the mystery surrounding the scenarios happening all over the globe slowly peels away under the unrelenting force of the main character.
7The Golden-Haired Summoner
Underdog Story About a Chill Girl
The main character ofThe Golden-Haired Summonerdied in her previous life due to the pressures of society, leading her to do her very best to live as relaxing a life as possible. However, her family has other plans as they recognize her as being incredibly talented at magic. Geenie, the main character,chooses to go down the route of a summonerin order to avoid as much work as possible, but it doesn’t go quite as planned.
One of the best parts about this manhwa is the magic system and world-building that the author manages to weave seamlessly into the story. It doesn’t feel like an exposition dump, but there’s enough depth in the world around the main character to keep the viewers immersed and interested. It also has a very vibrant and unique art style that helps distinguish it from other manhwa.
6The Duchess' 50 Tea Recipes
A Good Brew Opens The Heart
InThe Duchess' 50 Tea Recipes, the female MC gets reincarnated into the body of a scorned duchess who is ostracized by even the maids in the very palace that she lives in. However, she isn’t interested in gaining a lot of power and influence. She just wants to live a peaceful and relaxing life, but the people around her don’t leave her in peace.
She starts using herknowledge of modern day tea brewingto help her climb the social ladder to lead a better life and overcome the challenges that come her way. The social dynamics in the story are quite interesting, and the personal growth of the main character is particularly satisfying to follow.
5Crimson Karma
Ruthless Killer in Another World
Colonel Kasia is aruthless military leaderin the modern day world who does everything that she needs to do in order to get the results that the higher-ups ask her for. She doesn’t ask questions, she doesn’t have emotions, and she doesn’t care about annoying things like morality. When she gets killed by one of her own comrades, she wakes up on a medieval battlefield.
Crimson Karmais a great manhwa that focuses on action, but doesn’t hesitate to add in political intrigue and maneuverings for those inclined for the finer things in life. The story of the comic is fantastic, and the characters are a treat to follow.
4The Live
No Wish Too Much
The Livefollows Yun-Jae, a typical employee who lost his wife and daughter and lives his life wishing that they would come back to him. One day, the diary that he journals in transforms and starts telling him events that will occur in the future. He, alongside many other people, is transported to a fantasy world wherethey all have a game systemto help them climb into power with a promise of a wish being granted at the end of the road.
The story deals with feelings of loss quite well, giving the main character a lot of emotional depth, with the side characters' personalities adding on to the enjoyment of the reader. The desperation of the main character to get his wish granted leads him down a tough and morally ambiguous path that is quite interesting to read.
3Flirting with the Villain’s Dad
Fodder With Potential
Being reincarnated as a side character doomed to be killed and forgotten might be a bad fate, but if the reincarnated person has future knowledge to help them along the way, they might turn the tables entirely and flip the script.Flirting with the Villain’s Dadfollows Seo Yuri, a modern day Korean woman who transmigrates into an unenviable position of a fodder character destined for bad things, but makes the most of her resources to stay alive, and even thrive.
She does her best to change her fate and alter the course of the story bywooing the father of the main antagonistto prevent the villain from ever going on the wrong path in the first place, thus preventing all the evil that occurs in the future.
2Reverse Villain
The Never Ending Battle
The fight between good and evildoesn’t stop when one side dies, it continues into reincarnation. That is the premise ofReverse Villain, a manhwa that follows two main characters, one evil and one good, who are locked in an eternal battle that keeps repeating in each of their incarnations.
Their latest life is in the modern-day world, where gates have started to open up and monsters appear regularly. The character that the audience majorly follows is the one on the side of evil, whose dream was to take over the entirety of Murim, or the martial arts world. He uses his past knowledge to advance as fast as possible so that his sixth attempt at world domination isn’t thwarted by his antithesis.
1Beware the Villainess!
Main Character Who Calls It As She Sees It
The tale of a villainessis one that has been explored time and time again within the isekai manhwa world, butBeware the Villainess!is perhaps the originator of the trend, or at least one of the first ones that popularized it on the mainstream media.
The story of the manhwa follows a Korean woman who gets reincarnated into the body of the daughter of a duke within a novel that she read. To ensure that she lives the kind of life that she wants to live, Melissa refuses to go down the path of villainy and does her best to remove all unnecessary burdens out of her life, which proves to be more difficult than she initially anticipated.
