Welcome to the eighth edition of K-Comic Beat’s Monthly Manhwa Recs! Our team has come together to provide you with a variety of recommendations to sample. If you check them out, be sure and let us know what you think of them in the comment section!
Race to Steal the Emperor’s Heart ⸺ Race to Steal the Emperor’s Heart by Marucomics and kiki follows protagonist Ra Hyeon, who has just learned she passed the Bar Exam—only to die of a heart attack before she can even begin law school. She’s reborn as Daphne Kerrece, and now she must win the heart of her new husband, the emperor, before time runs out. The series reminded me a bit of Villains Are Destined to Die, though with lower stakes—or at least that’s how it feels to me. I really enjoyed watching the story unfold and experiencing all the heart-tingling moments that come with falling in love. But of course, it’s not all flowers and rainbows. Daphne must confront a mysterious trauma connected to her husband Hice before their relationship can truly move forward.
All 87 episodes of Race to Steal the Emperor’s Heart are available to read on Tappytoon. ⸺ HK
Cinderella Boy ⸺ This ongoing vertical scroll comic on WEBTOON by Punko, known for her horror Webtoon contest-winner Stagtown and the Tokyopop OEL manga Bizenghast, is anything but horrifying. Punko brings decades of cartooning experience to create a hilariously funny, wildly charming tale. Cinderella Boy follows an aspiring superstar named Chase, his nerdy cousin Deacon, and the oddballs they meet one summer vacation at their grandfather’s house as they collect magical keys that let them reenact storybooks to collect a mysterious magical substance known as narratonium. But on their journeys into various fictional worlds, Chase and Deacon keep running into a mysterious dark character taking the role of the evil villainness in every story…The jokes-per-episode ratio is insanely impressive, but this comic also has a lot of heart. Despite Chase’s ambitions to become the world’s greatest pop star, he’s spending his summer doing whatever it takes to help his mother recover from her cancer. Something else that stands out about Cinderella Boy is how well-designed the backgrounds are– even if they are 3-D rendered (and it’s not clear to me if they are), the coloring and linework makes them match the character art much more seamlessly than most fantasy vertical scroll comic backgrounds. It takes a lot of skill to create such a smooth reading experience that leaves me looking forward to every new episode. ⸺ KEB
True Beauty — True Beauty isn’t a revolutionary choice for this column, as the popular WEBTOON from Yaongyi has already been adapted into a live-action series, which aired from 2020 to 2021, as well as the currently ongoing Korean aeni (K-animation) on Crunchyroll. With Season 2 of the series announced in January 2025 and on its way to fans soon, I think it’s time to recommend the popular WEBTOON series once again. True Beauty follows Lim Jugyeong, a young woman who her family and classmates relentlessly bully for looking “ugly.” That is, until she happens upon makeup tutorial videos, giving herself a glow-up so she doesn’t have to endure their cruel treatment anymore. And the glow-up works. After transferring to a new school where only two people know her “dark secret,” she’s now considered one of the prettiest girls in school. I have complicated feelings about this series as someone who’s in eating disorder treatment because of its not-always-nuanced commentary on beauty culture and its impacts. However, I’m still recommending it because it’s a manhwa series that seems to live rent-free in my head, and that’s saying something. — OK
Come back next month for more Monthly Manhwa recs! Click here to check out every entry of the column.
