Highlights
- Isekai manhwa is a popular subgenre of Korean webcomics that transports protagonists to fantastical parallel worlds, offering an escape into adventure.
- The recommended Isekai manhwas include stories of defeating demons to return home, clearing challenging games, unraveling novel plots, and using knowledge for personal gain.
- Strong female protagonists and unconventional antagonists add depth to the genre, with themes of survival, revenge, and redemption prevalent in these captivating stories.
The Isekai anime genre has gained immense popularity in the last few years, specifically Isekai manhwa, a subgenre of Korean webcomics. Essentially translating to 'other world,' Isekai presents captivating tales of protagonists suddenly transported or reincarnated into fantastical parallel worlds with promising many different allures and usually tied to a second chance at life.
The subgenre offers readers an enticing escape from reality into fantasy realms traditionally filled with intricate world-building and adventure. The subgenre has captured readers' hearts with its many types, from romance to horror. However, here are the top recommendations among the myriad of Isekai manhwas to be read.
10 FFF-Class Trashero
Han-Soo Kang is suddenly transported to Fantasia, a mythical world overrun by demons, and has been summoned as the Chosen Hero. After training for ten years, Han-Soo Kang can finally defeat the Demon King and return to Earth.
What follows after is quite surprising as he can not return due to getting an F on his personality rating by the gods of Fantasia. Instead of returning to Earth, he is sent back to the beginning of his assigned task, and it remains to be seen if he can ever return to Earth.
9 Pick Me Up: Infinite Gatcha
Pick Me Up is a manhwa where a game becomes a reality, a fantastical realm of magic, monsters, and survival. The story follows the protagonist 'Loki,' the 5th best player in the world of the challenging Gacha game Pick Me Up. Suddenly losing consciousness during a dungeon raid, Loki, now Han Yslat, finds himself inside the game, his new world.
To return to Earth, Han must lead his newbie human master and other heroes to clear the game's one hundred floors. Will he succeed or not? This is the story of a game master who does not know defeat.
8 Lout Of Count's Family
The story starts with the protagonist, Kim Rok Soo, who suddenly awakens in a different world, the fantastical world of a novel: The Birth of a Hero. A book he read as a human. Kim Rok Soo, now Cale Henituse, is a minor villain in this novel and tries to avoid getting beat up by the novel's original protagonist as initially intended.
His actions, however, cause a derailment of the novel's actual plot, and Cale finds himself at the center of it all. Having read the book, Cale decides to use his knowledge of the original story, thus uncovering a heinous plot that pulls everything together.
7 The Greatest Estate Developer
An exciting and comedic manhwa series, The Greatest Estate Developer tells of the adventures of Suho Kim, a civil engineering student who falls asleep while reading a novel, only to wake up and find himself in the fantasy world of the book he was just reading.
Suho Kim has now been reborn as Lloyd Frontera, the lazy noble who loves to drink and whose family is in massive debt. Now, trying to save himself and his family from disgrace, Lloyd uses his past life's knowledge of engineering to make inventions to sell. With his creations, it remains to be seen whether Lloyd can dig his family out of their mountain of debt and turn around his life.
6 Beware The Villainess
Characteristically strong female protagonists are becoming increasingly common in the Isekai genre, and Beware The Villainess is one such. The story is centered around Han-Da Young, who awakens after dying in a car accident as Melissa Foddebrat, the antagonist of a famous novel.
Reminded of the struggles of her past life, she is determined to live a life of luxury during her second opportunity of life. As Melissa, she must now deal with the four superficial suitors chasing after her. Determined to protect herself and not be taken advantage of, Melissa will do whatever she can.
5 How To Use A Returner
Quietly enjoying his meal a moment ago, Giyoung suddenly finds himself in a fantastical world of survival, where a single miscalculation means death. Giyoung soon finds himself at the bottom of the power hierarchy and must find a way to climb up.
With nothing to rely on but his wits, Giyoung will do anything to survive. With a somewhat unclear moral compass and a far more deceptive personality than his enemies are aware of, Giyoung embarks on a journey of survival and, ultimately, deceptive domination.
4 Author Of My Own Destiny
This manhwa goes against the conventional form of antagonism viewers are used to. The story follows the protagonist, a high school girl who is the author of the famous novel The Emperor and the Saint. She is reincarnated into the world of the novel as Fiona Green.
Now living as the story's greatest antagonist, Fiona decides to live her life for good. Her new path would take her by surprise when she unexpectedly saves the male lead, a prince named Siegren. Whether she can stick to her recent life decision remains to be seen.
3 Who Made Me A Princess?
Currently one of the most popular Isekai manhwa in recent times. The series follows the typical reincarnation into a fantasy world premise. The story focuses on a woman reborn as Princess Athanasia, the daughter of the cruel Emperor Claude de Alger Obelia.
Doomed to die at the hands of her father initially, Princess Athanasia must now win over her father's favor to avoid her fate. She comes up with different ways to achieve her objective, but this will prove harder than anything she's ever done.
2 Second Life Ranker
Second Life Ranker is an Isekai manhwa that does not follow the typical reincarnation or reawakening trope of the conventional Isekai. Still, it also takes place in an alternate fantastical world.
After his brother's sudden disappearance, the series focuses on Yeon-Woo Cha, who seeks answers about what may have happened to him. After stumbling upon clues, Yeon-Woo discovers that his brother has been killed while taking part in the mysterious Tower of God. Bent on finding those who had something to do with his brother’s murder, Yeon-Woo embarks on a quest for revenge.
1 Her Summon
Her Summon is a visually stunning Isekai manhwa that has recently grown in popularity. The story revolves around Jin-Kyung, who got labeled as a child predator' due to misusing a word joke on a live TV broadcast. Owing to this incident, he develops Severe Anxiety Disorder and, three years later, becomes a complete Shut-in whose only love is for the 2D world.
Casually experiencing just another day, Jin-Kyung is suddenly summoned to another world by a Summoner. He soon discovers he no longer experiences anxiety whenever summoned and possesses tremendous power in this new world. He will help his Summoner and become the strongest Summoned in this new world with his newfound powers.