Summary
The manhwa medium, muchlike its Japanese counterpart, manga, prides itself on its artistic diversity. While the average manhwa toes the line of featuring traditional visual aesthetics commonly used in most webcomics, some separate themselves from others through experimental and unexpected illustrative approaches that immerse their readers into worlds with exciting visuals.
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These unconventional styles cover many artistic choices, including abstract forms, non-traditional layouts, shading variants, and simple sketches. They often carry hidden meanings and serve as tools to explore thematic tropes and ideas and do so in an atypical manner. Readers are drawn into these stories through theirunconventional art stylesdue to their refreshing deviation from the mainstream manhwa. In this regard, here are some of the best representatives of these creative deviations.
10Lessa The Series
Art Style Description: Simple, straightforward, and comical
Lessaemploys comical but straightforward visuals similar to Western comics, unlike what is typical of South Korean webcomics.The supernatural manhwatells the story of the life of a demon Hunter, Rano, who is searching for his sister.
Along his mission, he finds someone named Lessa, who, although similar to the demons Rano hunts, is not a demon as he is not affected by sunlight. Upon meeting, Lessa seems to know who Rano is, but Rano has no recollection of Lessa other than having had dreams of him. Together, The two begin to search for answers to their seemingly existing relationship alongside Rano’s search for his sister.
9The Pale Horse
Art Style Description: Dark, with an infusion of surrealism
The gothic manhwa isset in 19th-century Franceand occurs within a small French town plagued by fear. A demon returns to the town to retrieve something he had once lost there, and with his return comes a wave of chaos, deaths, and mysteries to be unraveled that will change the lives of certain members of the town.
One of these town members is Rose Dupre, a girl bullied as the witch’s daughter. Although her friends, Marie and Pierre, do not believe the rumors at first, their convictions begin to wane after a strange wave of death hits the town. They can no longer avoid eyes of suspicion, and it remains uncertain whether Rose can survive the curse of magic.
8Catharsis
Art Style Description: Simple and mildly detailed
The fantasy manhwa,Catharsis, employs a simple and mildly detailed animation style, keeping the majority of the attention of the series on its storyline. The story follows the life of a high schooler, Leon Mori, who seems to think he knows all there is to learn about the emotion that is Fear.
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Leon couldn’t be more wrong when he is suddenly thrown into the demon world where Catharsis reigns supreme. There, Leon will learn that there is more to ‘true’ fear than he could have ever imagined. Will Leon fully understand what he now knows to be fear, and will he be able to face it?: A question that will only be answered through the story’s progression.
7Cheese In The Trap
Art Style Description: Highly comical, Western comic variation
Cheese In The Trappresents a heavily cartoon-infused art style, a feature that contributes to the series’s lighthearted aura, making for an enjoyable read. The manhwa tells atale of romancebetween college students and the everyday dynamics surrounding their lives. The story focuses on the protagonist, Hong Sul, a zealous and hardworking college student who has to take a year-long break after getting on the wrong side of the seemingly perfect senior, Yoo Jung.
Hong Sul’s life worsens after encountering Yoo Jung, leading to her year-long break from school. Finally returning after a year, Hong Sul is gradually easing back into her school life, but something feels wrong: Yoo Jung is suddenly friendly to her. What follows is the development of an unlikely love story.
6Unordinary
Art Style Description: Brightly colored
Unordinarystands out with its art style through the heavy emphasis on color, which makes it even more eye-catching to the average reader aside from its stellar storyline. The story takes place in an alternate reality where superhuman abilities are commonplace, and the government regulates these abilities.
The series focuses on John Doe, a seemingly ordinary teenager attending the prestigious Wellston Private High School. Constantly on the receiving end of bullying and unfair treatment, John is able to become friends with the school’s ace and God-tier, but unknown to anyone else, John hides a dark secret, one that will quickly turn his life upside down if it ever got out.
5Jungle Juice
Art Style Description: Intricately compact designs with a pale outlook
Jungle Juiceleaves a striking impression with its art style due to the heavy interrelation between it and the story’s power system. This combination ensures the visual layout of its characters is eye-catching in an unexpected but refreshing manner. The story revolves around Jang Suchan, once upon a time a regular college student.
Suchan’s life goes sideways when he suddenly grows a pair of wings after using the bug spray Jungle Juice. Things further worsen when Suchan is forced to show his wings when he attempts to save someone. Suchan is effectively ostracized from society, but when it seems like his life is over, he comes across a hidden community of insect humans like himself, where he can be his true self. However, like all species of life on earth, the law of the jungle reigns supreme, as onlythose ready to survivewill be the ones to live.
4Fist Demon of Mount Hua
Art Style Description: Heavily abstract art style featuring minimal details
The murim manhwa,Fist Demon of Mount Hua, takes a semi-abstract approach to its art style. Despite the unconventional approach, it blends well with the outlook of the general story as a traditional murim manhwa without losing its originality. The series focuses on the disabled Dam-Ho, the sole survivor of a raid on his village while he was still a child.
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More than anything, Dam-Ho dreams of becoming a martial artist, but no greater misfortune can befall one with such aspirations than a disability to the leg, which is Dam-Ho’s condition. Despite being repeatedly told to give up on his dreams, Dam-Ho refuses, and what unfolds after is the tale of the lame-legged martial master whose name will strike fear into the world of murim.
3Bastard
Art Style Description: Dark, pale, and minimally detailed
The psychological thrillerappropriately incorporates its dark and gloomy theme into its art style, allowing it to showcase the grim undertone that makes up the entire story.
The series revolves around the central character, Jin Seon, a seemingly regular high school kid who turns out to be an accomplice of his serial killer father, Dongsoo Seon. The father and son duo will turn against each other as Jin Seon falls in love with his father’s next victim. Bastard tells a tale of survival and rebellion on a rather extreme scale.
2Gosu
Art Style Description: Semi-abstract art style
Similar to the earlier-mentionedFist Demon of Mount Hua Manhwa,Gosuincorporates a semi-abstract approach to its art style, one that vividly showcases the efforts of drawing through the shading techniques used, unlike the typically neat and intricate overlay of visuals of the average manhwa. Gosu is arevenge-fueled comedic martial arts manhwathat follows the daily life of Gang Ryong, a tavern delivery boy and the final disciple of Dokgo Ryong and the instrument of his revenge.
After being born to his mother in the mountains after the death of his father, Gang Ryong is taken in as Dokgo Ryong’s disciple shortly after his mother’s death, is taught all the Heavenly Demon’s Destruction Techniques and he inherits his master’s will for revenge against those behind the betrayal of Dokgo Ryong. Armed with murim’s deadliest techniques, Gang Ryong is ready to bring terror upon the world of murim, but he soon learns that the people supposed to face his wrath are already dead. What follows afterward is an inevitable meeting that will shake the murim world.
1Wind Breaker
Art Style Description: Heavily comical
Firmly seated in the top spot of this list,Windbreakerparticularly stands out as unconventional due to its steady but carefully evolving art style. Since its first publication, the series’ art has undergone constant and gradual evolution, which is sort of symbolic of the evolutionary nature of the story itself. Initially starting as simple and lightly detailed, it gradually changes as the story progresses. It is just slightly enough to be called an improvement but not heavy enough to be seen as different.
The story follows the life of Jay Jo, an academic whizkid and the student council president of his school. Jay’s idea of success is narrowed to having to read and pass exams and finally becoming a doctor, but all that changes when he is convinced to join the school’s biking crew. Now competing in the League of Street Biking tournament, Jay will realize that there may be more than one road to success.
