Review - The Breaker

I was asking for some comic recommendations one day, and my friend introduced me to this "lots of blood and action" type of manhwa. His words were, "You'll love it, you've always loved gore."

I think it was because I told him I love Berserk, that gory manga about gory monsters and men getting mutilated in various gory ways, but I digress.

The Breaker is a Korean manhwa that tells the story of Shi-Woon Yi, a student of Nine Dragons High School that gets bullied by his fellow schoolmates constantly. With no one to turn to, his only way out is to either jump off a building, or take up lessons and learn to fight back. On his way to a Muay Thai class, he bumps into Chun-Woo Han, the new teacher in school, and is shocked to learn that the skirt-chasing teacher is actually a skilled martial arts expert. Before long, Shi-Woon starts to blackmail the teacher into teaching him martial arts, lest his identity of being a member of a secret society called the Murim is shared to the world. After some persistent persuasian, Chun-Woo finally relents, and at that time unbeknownst to both of them, everyone around them is dragged into the dangerous world of Murim.

Chun-Woo being a jerk-ass. (Source: MangaReader.net)

The Breaker is the second manhwa I have read. Curiously, it seemed like every other manhwa deals with the topic of martial arts. If you've never read manhwa before, there's not much difference to Japanese manga, artwise. You'll be forgiven to mistake a manhwa for a manga, if you missed the Korean sound effects. Like Korean TV series, all the characters look like supermodels, pose like supermodels, and act like divas. It's quite entertaining, like watching a contemporary Dynasty. You know, that 80s TV series featuring shoulder pads, big hair, and even bigger egos.

When I first read The Breaker, I was a little bored. Kids getting bullied is a serious matter, but I prefer the protaganist to have a spine. Sena in Eyeshield 21 gets bullied all the time, but he learns to deal with it by running away faster than his tormentors. The same can't be said about Shi-Woon here. He lets himself be bullied constantly, and lets off gas on the one person that truly cares about him. If he hadn't met Chun-Woo, he would have flung himself off the rooftop sooner or later. Killing oneself is the most cowardly thing in my book.

It's a good thing too, that Chun-Woo gets suckered into teaching him martial arts. At least the lecher proves himself to be very cool when he gets serious. He kicks ass so well, you'd be forgiven that he was ever the pervert bum that nobody takes seriously. In fact, he has a secret identity. Now, don't tell me you never saw that coming!

 "That teacher" is having fun bullying the weak. He's certainly no noble warrior. (Source: MangaReader.net)

The real excitement comes when Shi-Woon starts to really grasp the basics of martial arts. At this point, it really doesn't surprise me to know that Shi-Woon is actually a good candidate for martial arts, with the potential to surpass his teacher and everyone's expectations.

The illustrator, Jin-Hwan Park (under the pen name Kamaro), does a mean job of showing the fluidity in the martial arts move executed. I appreciate being able to follow how a kick and a punch is thrown, which shows that there is actual action choreography. You have no idea how much a haphazardly drawn fighting scene irks me. 

One of Kamaro's action paneling often used. (Source: MangaReader.net)

Kamaro's lines are strong and crisp, and his action lines are superb. I remember thinking the same thing for Eyeshield 21, so you can see how much I enjoy their action scenes.

 Chun-Woo getting some ass-whopping of his own. (Source: MangaReader.net)

Did I mention about the gratuitous amount of fan service? They're sprinkled liberally all over the chapters. Actually, this applies to both guys and gals. The gals are of supermodel standards, much like the Korean girls on TV; while some of the guys are as hot as pancakes too. Expect a few Rains and Hyunbins, and some Psys if you're into more plumpy guys. I do feel like the female readers' demographic is so much smaller than the guys', but it's always nice to see beautiful people in stories.

 Chun-Woo is not impressed. (Source: MangaReader.net)

The story of The Breaker is exciting, thanks to the brilliant writing of Geuk-Jin Jeon. It's what one would expect from a Korean series, which are famous for their plot twists and cliffhangers. New martial families sprout up along the story, until I have some trouble remembering who is who. Their faces are memorable, but the names don't stick (probably to do with the fact that I don't speak Korean). Not being able to understand who they are talking about hampers my full understanding on the storyline, but it won't seriously cripple the reading experience. At least I can still follow the storyline up to the end of The Breaker.

The Breaker ends after chapter 72, but it isn't the actual ending of the story. In fact, the story is still ongoing with a new series, called The Breaker: New Waves. This is probably a norm for manhwas, breaking the stories into arcs with a different story title. I see the same for Veritas, another manhwa (with martial art elements too).

If you enjoy good martial art manga, then by all means try The Breaker. The series ranks quite high on the popularity polls, and I agree.

Have a taste of the manga here. 

The second part of the manga can be found here. 

(If you like this manga, please buy the original to show your support to the author. Currently only Korean, French, Italian and Russian volumes are available though.)