It’s time for the ‘5 Best Must-Read Webtoon’ after my last article about the top 5 Isekai Anime that will be coming in 2024. This time I am writing a similar article, but about webtoon/manhwa instead. And God knows how many times I had to bother my editor to let me write this. Because there are so many good webtoons I want to suggest. The best part, many of the K-Dramas that you are seeing were adapted from Webtoon. Even the most popular one, Omniscient Reader couldn’t help but get an adaptation.

Ever since Solo Leveling, the trend of reading manhwa/webtoon became so popular with the general audiences. For its endless scrolling format of reading, which became a pleasure to the audiences’ eyes and a challenge for authors and artists, which they happily undertook, the format had every reason to be popular. And finally, Deshi Geek is getting a chance to feature the 5 best must-read Webtoon.

My official entry into the world of Webtoon started with Solo Leveling, but my introduction to the format came because of a questionable comic I read on Toomics (don’t judge me). Regardless, that led me down the rabbit hole of endless content and gems that I came across. And of course, the reels helped a lot as well. But these entries of the 5 best must-read Webtoon are purely from my initial exploration, with no YouTube reels being responsible for my choice. So, without further ado, let’s begin.

5 Best Must-Read Webtoon

#5 Marry My Husband: Originally started as a web novel by author Sun So-jak and later illustrated by LICO, the story follows Kang Ji-Won, who was surrounded by toxic people in her life after her father’s death and by the moment she learnt the truth, it was too late. Or was it? Ji-Won finds herself 10 years in the past. Armed with future knowledge, she sets not only to correct her past but also has her soon-to-be toxic husband marry off with her toxic best friend, thus bringing hell to them. Now, this definitely deserves a spot in the ‘5 Best Must-Read Webtoon’ list.

#4 Midnight Rain: A Webtoon Original that started as a Webtoon Canvas project, but was later picked up by the platform itself for serialization. The story follows Noemi, Soren and Blade as their simple lives get intertwined by fate, love and greed and get caught in situations that ruin their prospect of a normal life. Written by Pani, it is available on the Webtoon app. The art may not be much, but the story itself makes up for it and that alone made it worthy to be part of the ‘5 Best Must-Read Webtoon’ list.

#3 Advanced Player of the Tutorial Tower: I know, a lot of people have heard about this. But do you wanna hear an unpopular opinion? Solo Leveling is mid compared to this. And I stick by it. Created by Bangguseok Gimssi and illustrated by Topp, it tells the story of Hyeonu Kim. A hunter that spends 12 years in the Tutorial Tower, coming out as the most powerful hunter of all. With colorful villains and memorable side characters with equally memorable moments, APOTTT does what Solo Leveling failed. Balance comedy and action while letting all characters have their moments and deservedly is one of the 5 best must-read Webtoon.

#2 Shotgun Boy: You know about Sweet Home, but do you know that it was adapted from a manhwa? And do you know that it has a prequel spin-off that hints at a sequel for Sweet Home? Written by Carnby Kim and illustrated by Hongpil; it tells the story of Gyuhwan Han, a bullied kid who runs for his life from his tormentors on a school trip. He finds a shotgun with enough bullets for himself and his entire class, and Gyuhwan plans to end it all. But life had other plans for him and those plans helped get it a spot in the ‘5 Best Must-Read Webtoon’ list.

#1 True Education/Get Schooled: Now, this is a special case for me. This Webtoon is no longer available on the app, and I’ll explain why. But I will say this, I believe teaching is the best profession and I love action. And never have I ever thought that the two would be combined in a webtoon that I would come to love. Written by Chae Yongtaek and illustrated by HAN GARAM, it’s a masterpiece that deserves a read and a spot in the ‘5 Best Must-Read Webtoon’ list regardless of its controversy. And the best part, it’s part of Webtoon’s Blue String Universe.

5 Best Must-Read Webtoon Selection Reasoning

Although Marry My Husband’s concept is nothing new, it’s the one that introduced me to that concept. And despite the day and age of “woke” statements and “feminism” in the world, it handles the concept of feminism well. And then there’s a twist in the series that even I didn’t expect as a reader despite its format being unoriginal. And the timing itself is perfect because this webtoon has got a K-Drama adaptation starring Park Min-young. So, it’s no wonder I have included it in the ‘5 Best Must-Read Webtoon’ list.

Pani’s Midnight Rain deserves recognition because, for starters, it’s a Webtoon Canvas; which means it’s an original creation from an author who uploaded it to Webtoon of their own volition. Then it got picked up to be a Webtoon Original. Despite similarities to K-Drama’s, it is a series with original characters and original location. So, you won’t find Korean references apart from its trope. It was a top contender against I Love Yoo, which has many similarities along with Korean elements. It is a worthy title to be included in the ‘5 Best Must-Read Webtoon’ list.

I did say that Solo Leveling is mid compared to APOTTT, and there’s a reason for it. Where Solo Leveling was more hero-centric, APOTTT by some miracle pulled off a multi-centric story of the side characters, who have their character developments. And if that was not good enough with the colorful set of villains, the MC Hyeonu Kim himself is a badass because he managed to conquer the world even before his release from the Tutorial Tower. How? By conquering China and the Illuminati. NO KIDDING!!!

As I had said, Shotgun Boy is a prequel spin-off to Sweet Home. Which means it also explains why the phenomenon that took place in Sweet Home occurred. It also hints at the webtoon’s sequel in a post-credit extra chapter by having both SH and SB leads face off against each other. Apart from that, Shotgun Boy’s story and characters along with their journey are also worth checking. Despite the shock value, there’ll be characters you’ll come to love as well as characters you come to hate. So, it is one of the 5 best must-read Webtoon for sure.

I saved the best for last. The number one entry in my ‘5 Best Must-Read Webtoon’ list deserves all the credit. As I had mentioned before, I loved it because two of my interests combined and made this masterpiece. Sure, on a surface level, it’s adults beating kids but that’s how the old generation grew up. Ignoring that, it’s a series with a strong message and the best case of character development. The series got canceled due to allegations of “racism”, which itself is unjust because they were exploring that topic with their theme.

A Writer’s Wish

My journey in Deshi Geek has been a phenomenal one. Starting out by sharing content made by others to working on my own comic book, is one that not even I could imagine. And in this day and age of pop culture, I believe manhwa/webtoon has made a place of its own that none can shake. Sure, printed comics can never be replaced, but the same applies to manhwa/webtoons. Because they have their own flair and taste in this format.

As a writer of a comic series coming from Deshi Geek, I would personally wish to have it presented in a webtoon format. Because that’s how I envisioned Musafir to be. But sadly, Bangladesh is not ready for manhwa/webtoon format. But I sincerely hope that this article about the 5 best must-read Webtoon can help with that and allow the Webtoon format to be wholeheartedly accepted by the Bangladeshi audience.