Highlights
- Manga volumes are now more easily accessible and translated into different languages, allowing readers to explore new and rising media like Korean comics or manhwa.
- Historical manhwa can provide a fresh perspective on classic genres, delving deeply into Korean culture and offering well-crafted stories with drama and interesting characters.
- While historical-themed settings can become repetitive, there are unique manhwa stories like “Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid” set in occupied Korea in 1926, which follows the journey of a maid who becomes involved in the Korean resistance.
In the past, it took a lot of searching to find manga volumes, and even then, they weren’t always translated into other languages. Now, all the top strips can be found everywhere, from stores to online apps and websites, and it’s easier to find newer, rising media. For example, if Japanese comics feel old-hat, readers may prefer Korean comics, or manhwa.
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They can offer a new perspective on classic genres, especially historical ones. They can delve deep into Korean culture, or simply tell a good story set back in the day with plenty of drama and interesting characters. With enough browsing, readers can find the best historical manhwa they should read.
7 Your Throne
- Written & Illustrated by SAM.
- Available on Webtoon.
- Release years: 2021 – 2022
It can be tricky finding the full-on historical manhwa, as using ‘historical’ as a keyword will often bring up isekai stories or history-themed fantasy stories than real history settings. For example, the Vasilios Empire in Your Throne takes their name from the emperors of the Byzantine Empire, but their aesthetic is more Victorian Era-Meets-Fire Emblem.
The Greek theme continues with the characters’ names, as the scheming Medea Solon swaps bodies with the popular Crown Princess Psyche Callisto. This way, she’ll get her chance to run the empire with the Crown Prince Eros Orna Vasilios. Psyche plans on reclaiming her position, but to do that, she’ll have to learn how to be as cunning Medea, while learning what life is truly like for her subjects.
6 Baroness Goes On Strike
- Written by Go Eunchae.
- Illustrated by Song Ye-Seul.
- Available on Tapas.
- Release years: 2018 – 2019.
Baroness Goes On Strike also sticks to a European-themed fantasy land, while following a trend that spun off from the isekai boom: reincarnation. In her first life, Countess Cassia Ruberno was ordered by the Emperor of Simone to marry Baron Zester of Greze, a mercenary knighted for his war efforts. After a decade of trying to run his land alone, she died from an incurable disease.
But her death takes her back 10 years to the day she met Zester. Given a new chance at life, she rebels against the Emperor’s order and declares she’d rather live a stress-free life alone than marry the Baron. Yet despite starting this new path, Zester still tries to woo her, which intrigues her. Like a manhwa-themed version of Peggy Sue Got Married, maybe things will get better for both of them on this new path.
5 The Unwelcome Guests of House Fildette
- Written & Illustrated by Arrnuni.
- Available on Tapas.
- Release years: 2022-Present
Not that there is anything wrong with historical-themed settings. They can just get quite samey. After the fantasy medieval worlds and 19th century noble settings, The Unwelcome Guests of House Fildette changes things slightly by being about nobles in the early 20th century instead. Even then, it focuses less on the political intrigue and more on the domestic drama.
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Hayden Fildette’s life with his parents, the Count and Countess of Fildette, used to be idyllic and stable. But it gets turned upside down when someone from his father’s past comes back and introduces everyone to Hayden’s long-lost half-brother. His prospects as the family heir are now in jeopardy, but Hayden is more worried what it’ll do to his family. Will they manage to stick together, or will they fall apart? Fildette’s future now isn’t as stable as he thought it’d be.
4 Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid
- Written & Illustrated by Na Yoonhee.
- Available on Webtoon.
- Release years: 2019-2021.
House Fildette, Honey, and Your Throne are intriguing stories with historical settings. But they’re not exactly unique to manhwa. There are plenty of isekai, reincarnation, and domestic dramas worldwide, but there aren’t many stories like Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid. It’s even been adapted into a live-action TV drama. Set in occupied Korea in 1926, it’s about Su-Ah, the illiterate maid to a pro-Japanese family.
Things take a turn when she finds a man washed up on the beach. Nursing him back to health, he introduces himself as Ui-Hyeon, and the two bond. He even tells her the story of The Little Mermaid. But he reveals part of the Korean resistance, willing to fight to free Korea from Japan’s clutches. Like the mermaid, she may have to give up her life of relative comfort to join a noble cause.
3 The Elixir of the Sun
- Written by Konn & One, based on a web novel by Solddam.
- Illustrated by Song Yi.
- Available on Lezhin Comics.
- Release years: 2021-2023.
The Elixir of the Sun goes for a fantasy world based on ancient Korea than the Middle Ages. It follows Bayan, a member of the Siyo clan. Their members usually have the power to heal sicknesses, but Bayan didn’t inherit this ability. To get her out of the way, the Siyo send her to the court of Dhan, the Great Sun Emperor.
But this isn’t a cushy position. It’s a death sentence. Dhan suffers from violent outbursts that cause him to slaughter his own concubines, and Bayan is next on the chopping block. However, there’s something about her that soothes Dhan’s mood. Through their encounters, some more adult than others, they discover Bayan may be more of a healer than they know.
2 The Blue Guardian of the Princess
- Written by Heo Sua.
- Illustrated by Robin Bae.
- Available on Tapas.
- Release years: 2021-2022.
If readers want a mature story that isn’t so steamy, The Blue Guardian of the Princess offers that with its political intrigue and unlikely romance. Following the death of her younger brother, Princess Yeong-Myung is cast out with her mother, the Queen Dowager In-Mok Daebi, to a palace far from the Imperial Court.
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With the wife of the Emperor, Kim Gae-shi, plotting against her, and the threat of a mythical beast looming on the horizon, the odds are seemingly against the Princess. But she gets help from an unlikely source in the Goblin King, who vows to stay by her side and protect her against all threats. Maybe together, they can overcome the political intrigue and save the nation.
1 My Royal Awakening
- Written by Dopamine, based on a web novel by Gu-Sa.
- Illustrated by Tae-Hyung Kim.
- Available on Lezhin Comics.
- Release years: 2020-2022.
My Royal Awakening is an isekai with a difference. This time, an average guy struggling to get by in modern Korea gets a shot at the high life when he’s reborn as a high noble during the Joseon Dynasty. Unfortunately, he got reborn as Grand Prince Jin-seong, the younger foster brother of King Yeongsan, Korea’s most notorious tyrant.
During his 11-year reign, he suppressed free speech and education, purged the scholars, and abducted women from across the nation to serve as his court entertainers. The new Jin-seong could let history take its course, where he would succeed Yeongsan after a coup. But perhaps if he took a more active role, he could change things for the better, if he survives in the process.
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