The Breaker Manhwa Opinion

The Breaker

This is a MMV created by a fan for The Breaker and The Breaker New Waves. You can find other mmv's on my blog 

My Opinion of The Breaker

   The Breaker is one of my favorite top 10 comic's that I have read and it fits high on that list. So It is an obvious place for me to start in my reviews. It is a Korean Manhwa, One of the best known ones. The author has decided to make it into a trilogy story with The Breaker being the first part. In my opinion out of the 2 written so far, (The Breaker, and The Breaker: new waves) The first is a better story. However, the second gives you the background and info you need most likely for the 3rd story to make sense which has yet to come out. You should definitely try this one out. 

The story originally starts off kinda slow, but becomes one in which you cannot put it down after a few chapters. In the beginning, the main character Shioon, almost made me put the book down. He was cast as the spineless guy who was picked on and would do anything even sell out his friends in order to get out of getting hit a few extra times. I really cannot stand that type of person. The fact that he even thought about feeding his last supporter to the lions is just awful. When he approached Chun-woo originally he threatens him and then asks Chun-woo to handle his problems for him, in that sense, I had already decided I hated him. He was irredeemable in my eyes. But I am an opinionated person so ill let you draw your own conclusions on him.

   One of the first things that popped into my head is, How could someone like that become a main character in a martial arts comic? How could Chun-woo even feel Shioon was decent enough to be worth the trouble in the beginning. Shioon somehow weighed on Chun-woo's conscience when he clinged to his words and finally attempted to fight back. As we get to know Chun-Woo better throughout the first and second parts of this trilogy, it is difficult for me to understand why he took a interest in the boy as he was back then, or felt any remorse or responsibility to help him when he got beat up. Sure he told him to fight back because it made no sense not to, but what could make him even care if he was beat up? As we get to know Chun-woo throughout the story his personality and his actions toward Shioon in the beginning just don't match up with his character, begging the question, is there some other unknown connection to Shioon that has not been disclosed in this story or the second one yet or is this just a glitch in the story. Maybe as time goes on we will get to know better why Chun-Woo decided to take a chance on a kid like him, but as of now it remains a mystery.

   I have heard some other people complain that The Breaker has many cliche parts to it. However, I don't agree with that argument. In fact I find the story to be quite original compared to other stories I have read recently. The actual meaning of Cliche is: "an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect." In reality, I think most comics that are released have many parts to them that have been done before in some way. It is hard in this day and age to come up with truly original things that have never been used in any way shape or form in another work of any kind. However, The Breaker, Is more original than many of the new comics being put out today. Not only that but, the meaning of cliche makes it so that it has to have been used so much that it looses its meaning or impact when it is written. In that way, I don't think anything in the breaker has been used enough to lose its meaning or effect when it is read. To be fair though I cannot make that decision for anyone else. Cliche is something each person has to determine on their own. The only prerequisite is that it has been done before even if it is not in the same type of story or context. It is up to each individual when a certain action or phrase isn't feeling as intense as the first time you came across it. That being said, I don't find it Cliche in any way so far, but I suggest you read and draw your own conclusions.
   My favorite Character in this Story is Chun-Woo. I find him to be the most interesting character. I am a woman and although this is going to sound shallow, it's my opinion piece so I can say it. I wish there were real life men who are like Chun-woo. He is handsome, strong, and has a air of mystery surrounding him. But in the interest of not annoying any reader's I get who are men, I will leave it at that.
   I would have to say this story is not geared toward children the way Bleach and Naruto is. It has many adult themes, though no actual sex, it is suggestive. The violence level is as high as it can get pretty much but unlike in the main stream manga like bleach and naruto the characters actually bleed and get hurt the way a normal person would not just a few drops of blood from a huge sword wound or getting bashed into a wall without a scratch. The comic makes the characters actually look and feel real. It does not have the fairy tail feel to it. I have two young boys. 7 and 9 so I feel I can give a good assessment on this. Be careful letting any young children see this, especially if they are impressionable, like almost all children. However, as parents people should be reading what they allow their children to read first so you can draw your own conclusions.
   I guess to rap this up without getting too into my opinion with certain aspects of the story which would spoil it for you and also make you continue to read a even longer and drawn out opinion post, I will just say this one last thing. I think the author did a extremely good job catering to all sorts of different audiences. Usually when authors try to make a story fit too generally into what every type of person will like, the story doesn't turn out that good. This story surprised me in that way because it has aspects of so many different genres rolled into it without losing any of its appeal. I would not suggest this comic if you are extremely against violence, or too young but if that is not the case, you will almost for sure enjoy reading this story and become a fan.

-QUICK EDIT- (small additions)
*The information about this manhwa like the writer's blog and official site are on my tumblr blog.