Best New K-Comics to Read in July

July is always a packed month, and I’m just talking about the new season of anime without factoring in the various holidays that fill the month around the world. But busy or not, there’s still plenty of new manhwa to read across a variety of platforms. Let’s see what WEBTOON, Tapas, Manta, and Lezhin have to offer!

What if a murim warrior from the Goryeo period was frozen in ice and defrosted in the modern world? If your answer is “cause much havoc and nearly kill the president of South Korea,” you may have already read The Frostbound Warrior, or possibly you’re psychic. But this story, written by Seohaenghaejusipsio and drawn by Choi Yong Jun, is a little more intense than that basic scenario. Bodyguard Ryu-Geom thought he died defending his lady eight hundred years ago, but he had the cold consolation that he took down mastermind Ok-Yeon and his illusionist friend Un-Hye with him. But that turns out not to be the case: not only has Ryu-Geom been in cryo-sleep for centuries, but the same thing happened to Ok-Yeon and Un-Hye…and possibly Ryu-Geom’s lady. While he’s furious about his circumstances (to say nothing of confused), Ryu-Geom soon finds a way to cope—he’s going to track down his lady and become her guard again, because, as he was taught as a child, a guard with someone to protect can never die.

This is a near-perfect blend of genres, melding murim (wuxia) elements with a fish-out-of-water action tale and time travel. Ryu-Geom is a mix of stoic and completely freaked out, although he’s trying very hard to hide the latter, and watching him regain his sense of equilibrium once he realizes that he could still fulfill his purpose is both interesting and engaging. Ok-Yeon right now is looking like a mustache-twirling villain to Ryu-Geom’s ultimate good guy, but that’s more or less part of the genres at play here, and the little we learn about Ok-Yeon’s past makes me think that he’s going to become more than that as the tale unfolds. There are some good bait-and-switch moments to these five chapters, too, and the truth about where Ryu-Geom’s lady is makes this look like it has an impressive amount of potential—in several genres.

Whether you’re sick of them or not, it’s hard to deny that game-based isekai and transmigration stories have become ubiquitous across the manga and manhwa landscapes. But even with that acknowledgment, The Rogue Producer Survives as an Idol manages to stand out. Adapted by HUBAE and Uzupotato from the novel by Moonjin, this series takes the unique step of only having its protagonist, Hoyoon Seo, living in a video game—everyone alongside him is still residing in the real world he used to belong to. Most of them have forgotten him and his former career as a producer infamous for his viciously edited cuts; as far as they’re concerned, he’s just a twenty-three-year-old idol in the failing boy band The Dawn. His younger brother, Hojin, remembers, though, and he’s the one who says that Hoyoon’s new life sounds a lot like an idol raising game he played. But he still can’t see the snarky, smarmy pop-ups that now plague Hoyoon’s life, and he doesn’t seem entirely sold on Hoyoon needing to beat the game to reclaim his old life. Or maybe he’s just got his own stuff going on.

In any event, Hoyoon is not happy, even as he’s starting to realize that maybe he landed in this predicament because he was a rotten jerk to young idols before. Even if he’s not aware of it, we readers can certainly see it—and see that he’s at risk of doing the exact same thing to his bandmates in his new reality. The plot of the game says that Hoyoon got sick just before The Dawn’s debut, so he’s coming to them when they’re already a failing, flailing group, and one that’s not too kindly disposed to him. Right now, Hoyoon just wants to beat the damn game, and he’s willing to use all of his old producer knowledge (some of which is preserved on his phone and laptop) to help him. But his old tricks, effective though they may be, aren’t working with the spirit of the game, and while that doesn’t backfire on him in these first five chapters, it’s a real risk that he doesn’t realize he’s taking. This isn’t the first series to take a microscope to the K-pop idol industry (Imitation is a perfect example of the genre), but its novel approach and cynical protagonist seem set to help it stand out. It will probably lean into the so-called magic of the industry at some point, but I don’t think that’s its goal. If I had to guess, I’d say this is a comedic take on the hard work and predatory nature of becoming an idol, and that feels like a story worth reading.

Or maybe a josei version would be more accurate, because there’s real potential for Guide Override to get steamy later on, which makes sense because this is a Manta title. It’s also because in this story’s version of the Solo Leveling-style dungeon fantasy, people with abilities are divided into two classes: Espers and Guides. Espers are the ones who can use magic and fight monsters who emerge from Gates, and to not lose control and go berserk, they need to be paired with Guides—people who can share their energy and soothe them. (It’s a similar setup to Moira J. Moore’s Resenting the Hero series of fantasy novels.) As is common in this sort of story, Guides and Espers are ranked up to S class, and the top Korean S-class Esper is Yihyeon Han, a handsome man who always covers his eyes and has a terrible time finding compatible Guides. Yeoeul Baek is a C-class Guide, happily flying under the radar until a test reveals that she has an 89% compatibility with Yihyeon. To say that she’s displeased by this is an understatement.

In some ways, Nillili and Yukaco Fujimura’s adaptation of seodoa’s story is a pretty standard fantasy romance. Yihyeon is in no way prepared to let Yeoeul back out of their partnership, and she’s willing to do almost anything to get out of it until she realizes how hurt and lonely he is. He’s got all the skill of a brick through a window when it comes to conveying his emotions, which makes him come across as something between “needy” and “upsettingly possessive,” and that does lend a sense of manipulation to this budding relationship. But as you keep reading, it becomes clear that it’s not Yihyeon who’s manipulating the situation, it’s the higher ups—because if Yihyeon goes berserk, they not only lose their strongest fighter, but probably a lot of bystanders in a veritable PR nightmare. Fortunately, Yeoeul isn’t a wilting wallflower of a heroine; she’s got the guts to stand up for herself even as she realizes that backing out of this situation isn’t something she can do in good conscience. This series hits a lot of good notes, and the opening scenes imply that there’s going to be a reverse harem aspect popping up later on. It really does feel like Solo Leveling for the ladies, and that’s not a bad thing.

But of course, you can’t talk about compatible pairs without the omegaverse concept of fated mates. That’s where Lezhin comes in, with its new series Fated but Flawed, created by Sik. The story is part of a subgenre of omegaverse where one of the characters was raised as an alpha until they suddenly go into heat, revealing (to themselves) that they’re an omega. That’s what Gyu-Hwa discovers when he takes a job as a waiter at a high-class party in a desperate bid to earn some money. Years ago, his family suffered an unexplained (yet) reversal of fortunes, and Gyu-Hwa has been trying to make ends meet ever since, especially since he’s trying to get through college now. He knows that going to the party is risky for the simple reason that it’s being hosted by the family of his erstwhile childhood friends Jeongwu and Haesu, whose father is the reason Gyu-Hwa’s family lost all of their money.

It doesn’t take a frequent reader of omegaverse to realize that one of these young men will turn out to be both the cause of Gyu-Hwa’s sudden heat and the fated mate of the title. Older brother Haesu is thrilled to see Gyu-Hwa again and only marginally less enthused when he realizes what’s going on, with the strong implication being that he’d rather Gyu-Hwa were in his right mind when he made his move. But plot needs must, and the next thing Gyu-Hwa’s aware of is waking up in bed with Haesu before learning at the hospital that yes, he is, in fact, an omega and Haesu is his fated mate. We don’t know how that happened, but the implication seems to be that it was Haesu’s mere presence that triggered Gyu-Hwa’s change, meaning that the two formed their bond when they were children and oblivious of it. While the smut factor is undoubtedly an appealing piece of this series, the more intriguing elements are those surrounding the couple. What did Haesu’s dad do? Why did he do it? And what’s going to happen with Jeongwu? Because all three boys were friends in the past, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the younger brother wanted something from Gyu-Hwa as well…It’s a messy story, but it’s good messy. If it’s BL omegaverse you’re in the mood for, this is your series.

Seo Kang is Korea’s most popular actress, rising from a troubled childhood to stardom based on both her talent and her looks. But there’s a problem—terrible nightmares plague her to the point where she dreads going to sleep. She’ll do almost anything to avoid sleeping, as the art shows, and by the time the story begins, she’s noticeably tired and haggard, to the point where news stories about her use older pictures from before the nightmares started. But one night, a beautiful man shows up in her dreams, offering to eat the nightmares that keep her from slumber. The next day, he appears at her workplace, claiming to be Han San, a bodyguard hired by her boss. But there’s just something off about him that Seo can’t quite place…and the nightmares are coming back.

It doesn’t take long for us to figure out that Han is a dream demon, which in this story seems to be a combination of the Japanese baku (a yokai who eats dreams) and the Korean chonggak dokkaebi, or “bachelor goblin,” a supernatural creature attractive to humans. He fits the basic definitions of both beings with an emphasis on the more dangerous side of dokkaebi, because there’s almost certainly something unwholesome about his desire to eat Seo’s dreams specifically. In the first chapter, he tells readers that he’s drawn to those about to die or who are haunted by death, which doesn’t say anything good about Seo’s lifespan (or life, for that matter). Yet, despite knowing her troubles, he seems to be almost teasing her with the possibility of his help. He doesn’t say much on that front, but she’s no fool. She knows he’s not normal, and she’s very leery of him, even as she’s hard put to ignore his physical charms. Rounding out the cast is Samyeong, Seo’s manager, and there’s something off about him, too, although nothing explicit has happened. The entire first six chapters are just dripping with danger, and NOVA’s art is exquisite. There’s a real darkness here that Flowbee’s writing does its best to let ooze out slowly. It’s the sort of story you think about stopping because it’s so much, but find yourself unable to drop.

Manhwa is no stranger to terrible decisions made by its protagonists. Neither is the romance genre, be it straight or queer. But Dojin and Hyuno’s stop by the bad decisions buffet is of a very particular variety: they left a group date, got drunk, and then had sex. With each other. Despite being best friends for ten years, they had either gone so far in the closet that they had no clue, or were not gay. Yes, welcome to another BL series that may not make a ton of sense but is still remarkably difficult to put down!

Adapted by Ohnoru from the work by ARCANA, Candy Yum Yum follows the increasingly frantic Hyuno as he thinks his best friend Dojin thinks he slept with a woman named “Hyunji” and managed to forget the rest of their encounter. But unless I miss my guess, Dojin remembers perfectly well who he slept with. He’s just watching Hyuno freak out and is either enjoying teasing him or is afraid that Hyuno will dump him as a friend if he realizes that Dojin’s been in love with him for years. I know I said that they might be hiding in the back of the closet, but as the first six chapters go on, it begins to look much more like Dojin’s been deliberately withholding information from his bestie. The look on his face when he sees the marks he left all over Hyuno’s body seems to be more “awestruck pride” than “utter horror,” and his touches and teasing words don’t exactly fit with his story about not remembering the full events of the previous night.

The attraction of this story is its messiness. Dojin’s playing a game, Hyuno’s completely freaked out, and both of them are following their own paths for reasons they aren’t quite able to communicate to each other—or that they don’t want to communicate. It’s not a great look for Dojin that he took advantage of both his and Hyuno’s impaired state to make his dream come true (again, assuming I’m right), so this isn’t a series that’ll work for readers who like their sexiness completely consensual, without the stench of dubcon hanging over things. But if you can ignore that (or like that; no shame in like any romance subgenre), this is the sort of disaster relationship it’s easy to get pulled into. It’s messy, ridiculous, and filled with terrible ideas—which is to say that it’s a whole lot of fun.

Isekai stories are full of strange journeys and transformations—vending machines, misunderstood villains/esses, slimes…so why not a squirrel? Not just any squirrel, of course; the heroine of pingoghe and Byulbyulto’s I Became the Squirrel That Saves the Villain is actually a divine beast in the shape of a squirrel, and she’s been purchased to help Tehzen control his supposedly overwhelming mana. Except Tehzen’s not the one with the mana strength; it’s his older half-brother Yohan—who is, of course, being kept in a tower and subjected to low-key attempts on his life courtesy of his stepmother, Ella. And wouldn’t you know it, our nameless squirrel recognizes Yohan as the villain of a novel she read back in Korea, and she’d much rather throw in with him than the detestable Tehzen…especially if she can figure out a way to prevent him from becoming the bad guy in the first place.

It’s a relatively pat premise (squirrel aside), but it’s still a lot of fun. Mostly this is because the squirrel’s perception of what’s going on, based both on the novel she read and her interactions with young Yohan, isn’t necessarily the truth. Yohan, in her eyes, is the poor Ashlad (male Cinderella), purely a victim of Ella’s depredations and Tehzen’s cruelty. But when readers get a moment with Yohan away from the squirrel, he looks like he’s already been a bit warped by his experiences. Squirrelina (I have to call her something) believes that Yohan was purely created as a villain, twisted by anger and Ella into a monster. But Yohan may be plenty manipulative himself, and while he is genuinely pleased that Squirrelina is visiting him and helping with his mana management, there’s also a sense that he’s using her for his own ends—especially when he sees the human form she’ll be able to take, possibly permanently, once she’s absorbed his mana for fifty days. This is a delightful combination of very cute (Squirrelina is adorable) and mildly ominous, all while feeling like a shoo-in for the subsequent isekai anime adaptation to come from a Korean source. It’s not the most meticulously written and drawn of the titles coming out in July, but it’s one of the most fun.