Within the endlesstypes of manhwa, there exists a rather soothing subgenre, if it can be called that, that wraps readers in warmth and comfort. These stories often feature heartwarming narratives, relatable characters, and serene settings that allow readers to escape from the reality that is their everyday lives.
They can be tales of friendship,slice-of-life adventures, or simply a lighthearted and comfortable read. More often than not, these manhwa tend to be captivating in a subtle but affirming kind of way, giving the assurance of a tale with soothing narrative, and rarely with unexpected twists. So for this piece, here are the best of Manhwa’s coziest stories.
7The Friendly Winter
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.2 / 5
TheFriendly Winteris the story of how two lives with inversely connected problems encounter each other and build a rather unexpected relationship. The series presents a lighthearted tale just long enough to pass as a light read and with a rather heartwarming conclusion.
The story follows the lives of a nineteen-year-old girl with a rare growth disorder that makes sure she is trapped in the body of a little girl and a young boy, also with a mental disorder that makes him retarded, having the mind of a child within the body of a seventeen-year-old. The pair meet by chance, and the encounter spirals into a fascinating depiction of their daily interactions, struggles with theirdifferent medical conditionsand how they choose to deal with them.
6I love Yoo
I Love Yoois a rather long read, but it is lighthearted and warm nonetheless, even if it begins a bit dark. The series follows the life of the central character, Shin-Ae, a college student with no one she personally classifies as being close. With a history of abandonment by her parents, specifically her mother, Shin-Ae’s trauma runs quite deep, and as such, she wants nothing to do with people.
After all, they bring her nothing but pain and misery. It seems as though Shin-Ae would continue down her lonely life of solitude and boredom until she accidentally ruins a stranger’s clothes. What begins as a simple accident becomes the catalyst of change, her life so desperately needed.
5Untouchable
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.1 / 5
UnTouchabledetails a rather adorablesupernatural love storyas it unfolds. The series revolves around the protagonist, Sia Lee, a vampire who, unlike the typical vampire, absorbs energy from humans by simply touching them instead of drinking their blood. Things start to get complicated when she gets a new neighbour next door.
The other central character, Jiho, is now her neighbour, but why does she feel so compelled to touch him? Jiho, on the other hand, has a severe case of mysophobia, which means another is touching his greatest fear. With a vampire hell-bent on touching him for whatever reason and an extreme fear of physical contact, it remains to be seen how the interactions between the pair will evolve.
4Do You Believe In Ghosts?
Anime-Planet Rating: 3.6 / 5
Do You Believe In Ghostspresents a rather cute and heartwarming horror story, if there has ever been one. The series revolves around the protagonist, Destiny Han, a cute but clumsy 21-year-old college student majoring in production. Her college is famous for beinghaunted by numerous ghosts, and it doesn’t take long before she finds herself entangled with one. After being told a scary story by her friend Destiny in a bid to hide her fears, she unfortunately beats up her neighbour, Skyler Lee, who she thinks is a ghost.
Turns out that Skyler is capable of seeing and interacting with ghosts, and by touching him, she can also see ghosts for a short while. The pair develop an unlikely relationship that results in a huge crush on Skyler for Destiny. However, it doesn’t seem likely that a relationship with her ghost-whispering neighbour will eventually work out.
3Orange Marmalade
Love really transcends racein theOrange Marmaladeseries, even when such love is between a human and a vampire, a cute vampire at that. The series is set in a time where vampires and humans are seemingly coexisting side-by-side within society, even if the coexistence involves heavy discrimination against the supposed vampires. It follows the life of the central character, Baek Ma Ri, a young female vampire, who after being forced to constantly move around due to her nature, just wants to settle down peacefully with her family in her newest city.
However, after several years of constant discrimination, Ma Ri does not give much thought to things like love or friendship. However, someone’s scent has been stirring something within her lately: her innocent classmate, Jung Jae Min. Unable to resist her desire to taste his blood, she eventually gives in. But what happens when her supposed victim starts to fall in love with her?
2Familyman
Anime-Planet Rating: 4.0 / 5
Familymanpresents just the perfect read for a lighthearted and nostalgic familial feeling. The story revolves around the central character, Kwon Gang-Ho, a father and husband, who tries his best tosupport his familyhowever he can. On the other hand, Gang-Ho’s wife and children are away from him in Seoul, where his wife looks after their children by herself. Unfortunately, Gang-Ho’s situation takes a downward turn when due to his carelessness ends up in an accident that leaves his face severely scarred.
Afterwards, he is dismissed from his job and returns to Seoul. However, he cannot face his family after his dismissal and decides to stay with a friend in the meantime. The story begins to come together after he saves his daughter from an oncoming car as she tries to cross the busy street, wearing the mask of her favourite hero: Gugu-Man.
Following the incident, Gang-Ho begins to use the costume of this hero to monitor his family from the shadow, beginning a rather heartwarming of the Familyman.
1Oh! Holy
In any normal society, seeing and talking to ghosts probably attracts much negative attention; however, nobody really cares about that in theOh! Holy!Series and this works well in the favour of the story’s protagonist, Jamie Oh.
The series follows the life of the quiet and almost invisible protagonist who can see and talk to ghosts, most of whom are his only friends. Jamie is very much satisfied with his near-invisible presence and life until he is approached by the most popular girl in school. Why she has taken a sudden interest in him, he has no idea. However, one thing is for sure, his life is about to be far from invisible.
