Updated May 12, 2024 by testing

If you’re like me who loves a good psychological story, where do you look once you have run out of thrilling stories? Why not check out some psychological manhwa webtoons and see what Korean writers have to offer? Trust me, you will not be disappointed!

I should probably point this out before we get any further, these webtoons are often dark, twisted and not suitable for younger viewers!

So, without further ado, let’s review some of the best psychological manhwa out there!

 

KOREAN WEBTOONS WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS

 

31. Seed

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
12/20	6/10	7/10	7/10	32/50

It was hard to find much information about this psychological manhwa, but it is recommended by others who love this genre!

Seed is the story of a girl who has a relationship with an AI System. Is this a look at the future? Will human relationships fall to the wayside? Because if so, these kinds of relationships will surely lead to world complications!

Is it really possible for people to have intimate relationships with non-living beings? If you like a futuristic story, give Seed a go!

 

30. See No Evil

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
17/20	6/10	6/10	7/10	36/50

Everyone has secrets, we hide our guilty pleasures from people… or maybe that’s just me! Bonggang Choi has a secret. He can read minds, which opens a whole new world!

However, he prefers to keep to himself and keep the information he gets from people’s minds to himself. Until he finds himself in a dilemma of whether he should do the right thing or ignore it once again. This time it is different, he thinks he knows that a fellow student killed someone.

If it were you, what would you do? Turn them in or walk away? As for Bonggang, he needs to decide!

 

29. All Of Us Are Dead

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
16/20	7/10	7/10	7/10	37/50

High school can be many things, but for the students of Hyosan High School, it is about to become anything but normal. All Of Us Are Dead is the story of a school that becomes the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, more believable these days!!!!

Unlike a normal virus, this turns people into ‘flesh-eating monsters’ who are determined to eat the students who have not caught the virus yet. Trapped in their school with nowhere to hide, a group of students are forced to fight against their teachers and friends as they become infected zombies. There is no room for mercy in this story of survival!

 

28. The Tales of the Unusual

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
15/20	8/10	8/10	7/10	38/50

Every culture has its own urban legends and myths. Generations have told these stories to entertain, scare and advise their families. But how much truth can be found in urban myths?

They say that there is always a slight truth hidden behind the stories. This group of Tale of the Unusual, takes this genre and shows us that sometimes, we may be fearing the wrong thing! We should be more frightened of ourselves than anyone else!

If you enjoy chilling tales, this one’s for you!

27. Banquet Box

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
18/20	7/10	7/10	7/10	39/50

Banquet Box is the story of revenge, another common theme is psychological manhwa. School bullying is very common, both in fiction and real life. So, what do you do? Do you move on and ignore it, or do you get revenge?

In Banquet Box, the ‘victim’ of bullying takes their revenge to the extreme! They take five of their former bullies and lock them inside a shipping container. The five have no idea how they got there or how they will escape.

A voice informs them that they will only be allowed to leave if they ‘confess their sins and repent.’ Which is not easy when you have no idea what you are supposed to be confessing to or repenting from.

Banquet Box is an interesting look at the psyches of bullies and their victims. Whilst the bullies quickly forget, the victims’ dwell on it and plan revenge. So, in the end, who is the worst person here?

 

26. Distant Sky

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
16/20	7/10	8/10	8/10	39/50

Haneul Kang fell asleep in class. When he wakes up, his whole reality has changed! Seoul has been destroyed and it looks as though a war happened whilst he slept! Surrounded by death and destruction, he sets out to search for clues about what happened. It must have been some power nap if he slept through something like this!!

He comes across another survivor, Heyool Shin, and together they fight to survive in a city full of monsters and evil. They must find a way to stay alive whilst looking for the truth of what happened to their world!

 

25. Hive

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
17/20	7/10	8/10	8/10	40/50

If you have a fear of insects, be warned this may traumatise you! Hive is the story of what would happen if Seoul was taken over by insects, but not the normal kind! These are no happy, little buzzy bees… just nightmares! They will eat you or turn you into a zombie type killer.

Eun-Sung Lee, an everyday worker, now must battle his way through killer insects, mindless zombies and the scum of society who use the chaos to get what they want. His family is in danger, so he must put all fear to one side and fight!

 

24. Catharsis

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
16/20	8/10	8/10	8/10	40/50

Being too scared can ruin your life if you let it make your decisions. Leon was convinced he understood that, and would not allow fear to control him. He was in control of his own life… or so he thought.

Thrown in the realm of demons, he finds out the hard way that he had no idea what real fear was. Catharsis is a realm controlled by evil, where fear is all around you. Leon must find a way to face his fears before they destroy him.

 

23. Chasing Tails

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
18/20	7/10	7/10	8/10	40/50

Chasing Tails is a psychological manhwa with a horror/drama twist.

When a building collapses, nine college students are buried alive in the rubble. By the time rescue teams find them, only six students are still alive and four of the survivors are unable to talk. So far, this looks like a typical situation. Being trapped under a building, will mean death and trauma right?

But something is amiss! The students who died, do not appear to have died from the collapse of the building. Their bodies are damaged in a way that points more towards murder!

Detective Jeongdo and Yeongchae Sin are tasked with finding out what happened to the students whilst they were under the rubble. Neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Yeongwha Ju must interview the survivors to help find the truth. For lovers of horror and mystery, Chasing Tails is highly recommended!

 

22. Tales of Greed

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
17/20	8/10	7/10	8/10	40/50

If you look deep within yourself, what would you desire most in the entire world? Would it be money? Beauty? Total power? If you could have everything you ever wanted, how far would you go?

Tales of Greed looks at just how far people will go to fulfil their deepest desires. If you could use an app to become anything you ever wanted, would you do it? What price would you be willing to pay?

Tales of Greed looks at the human psyche, and how low we choose to sink just to satisfy our desires, no matter how shallow those desires may be.

 

21. Your Throne

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
15/20	8/10	8/10	9/10	40/50

Your Throne is a story with a warning; be careful what you wish for!

Medea Solon and Psyche Callista, both want the same thing. They want to be the Crown Princess of Vasilios Empire. To do that, they must win the battle to become the wife of Eros Orna Vasilios, the current Crown Prince.

Psyche gets her man, which annoys Medea to the point that on the Day of Yearly Prayer, she makes a wish to get her man! She does… kinda! She finds herself in the body of Psyche so whilst she gets her man, it was not really what she meant.

The story becomes a thrilling ride of deception, suspense, and a clear warning that the grass is not always greener when you get what you want!

 

20. Hanged Doll

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
16/20	7/10	7/10	7/10	40/50

Hanged Doll is the work of two authors, working together under the name Getname. The story focuses on five people; John, Angelina, Joan, Mike, and Alfred who are reminiscing about their memories from the year 1994.

They talk about a murder, who died and who did not. The story has some good character development, but it seems a bit mainstream to me.

Personally, this story did not grab my attention that much. It looks dated and does not give me the ‘psychological chills’ I look for in these types of stories.

19. Rotten

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
15/20	8/10	9/10	9/10	41/50

Rotten is the story of the stench of evil. Jaeshin can see the dead, and Officer Han has a sense of smell like a bloodhound; he is able to sniff his way towards evil. Useful, yet disgusting and creepy talents!

Their friend is missing, and they combine their skills to try and find them, picking Yuhyeon along the way. The trio are dragged into a world where people are trying to cover up their evil ways. Following their noses, literally, they try and work their way through the cover ups and lies to find their friend and the truth.

 

18. The Savior’s Time

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
16/20	8/10	8/10	9/10	41/50

The Saviors Time is another story of loss and the need for revenge. When his younger sister, Ahyeon Yu takes her own life, 0941 (he has no given name to begin with) wants answers!

He starts to investigate her death, but there are no clues except a record of her messages in an online community called Savior. Savior claims it can offer its members ‘salvation from reality.’ But what is the salvation they offer?

0941 is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the death of his sister and find out who or what Savior really is!

 

17. It’s Mine

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
18/20	7/10	8/10	8/10	41/50

Stalkers feature a lot in psychological Manhwa, and It’s Mine is another example.

Yohan Don has a crush, well more of an obsession, with Dajeong Lee. Yohan studies her, follows her, takes photos without her knowing and there is nothing about her that this boy does not know! Creepy!

But, of course, he has never actually talked to the girl—that would be too normal! He will, however, protect her against anyone; from bullies, potential kidnappers to anyone who looks at her in a way he does not like!

This leads to an interesting dilemma for viewers; do we support him or not? He is a creep, but in his way, he is protecting her. So, do we want the ‘bad guy’ to win or not??

 

16. 340 Days

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
17/20	8/10	9/10	7/10	41/50

340 Days is a romance manhwa with a psychological twist. In this world there are two types of people; Shuts and Destroys. Shuts are doomed to a life of loving someone who will not love them back. Destroys have serious anger issues.

340 Days is the story of Lin (A Shut) and Dosung (a Destroy). True to their natures, Lin falls for Dosung, and he rejects her, brutally. To make matters worse, both are the targets of murderers who will stop at nothing. They must work together to save both their lives.

This is an intense story of unrequited love, violence, and rejection. Can Lin change Dosung, or do our genetics mean we are doomed to a way of life chosen for us before we are even born?

 

15. B*****D

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
17/20	8/10	8/10	8/10	41/50

Jin Seon has not had the easiest life, he needed heart surgery and is blind in one eye. However, his disabilities are not even the worst of his problems. That role falls to his father, Dongsoo, a powerful CEO, and psychopathic killer in his spare time!

Jin feels an obligation to help his father with these psychopathic activities; not that he has much choice! His life is a nightmare of bullying and abuse. He has more to fear than being grounded!!!

Things change when he meets Kyun Yoon, a transfer student who shows him kindness but who is supposed to be Dungsoo’s next victim! Can Jin take on his father and save Kyun without becoming a victim himself? Only time will tell.

 

14 . An Uncomfortable Truth

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
16/20	9/10	9/10	7/10	41/50

Yoseob is a good kid, quiet and a hard-working student and so it is a surprise to everyone when he got arrested and convicted of stabbing 8 people! It is so out of character for him that no one can believe it. Yoseob has another trait common in this type of story, obsession with another person.

He is obsessed with his brother who some think may have been the one who should be in prison. Did Yoseob take the fall for his brother, Jaeha? What is the quiet boy hiding? 

This story will take you on a roller-coaster of emotions, so sit back and enjoy the ride!

 

13. Sweet Home

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
16/20	8/10	9/10	9/10	42/50

Hyun Cha is a high school student, who prefers to stay in his room and play video games. His entire world shatters when his family dies in a car accident. Forced to move into his own apartment, his life goes from bad to worse.

People around him start turning into monsters, and he is going to be next. Inside his head a voice is talking to him, telling him not to fight it. Hyun must find a way to stop himself and all the other tenants from becoming monsters, or the world will be overrun with monsters and darkness.

 

12. Death’s Game

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
18/20	8/10	7/10	9/10	42/50

To put it bluntly, Yijae Chois’ life sucks! He has no job, his girlfriend left him, and he was scammed out of his savings by a bitcoin scam. He is not one of life’s winners. So, he decides to end it all!

Now, Death took that personally. She is fickle and does not like it when people throw away their life on a whim. Yijae must be punished, and Death invents a game just for him. He must live again in the lives of 13 people, each one doomed to a sticky end.

If he can save that person, he gets to have their life, but how does he know which life is better than the one he threw away? Or will the next one be better if he waits for that one? It is a dilemma and maybe a lesson to appreciate what you have!

 

11. Head Over Heels

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
18/20	7/10	8/10	9/10	42/50

Some people seem to have it all. Woohyun, the main character in Head Over Heels, is one of those people; rich, popular and good looking. But, everyone has a flaw and Woohyun’s is that he is a bully. His victim of choice is a girl in his class, Ha Yan.

Now here is where things get complicated, because instead of hating Woohyun for treating her so badly, Ha Yan loves it! The more he bullies her, the more she wants his attention. 

Head Over Heels looks at whether love can come from this (let’s be honest) abusive relationship. I have given this manhwa points for the story but personally, I find the topic troubling – abusiveness is never a good basis for romance!

 

10. Pig Pen

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
18/20	8/10	8/10	8/10	42/50

Who doesn’t find a beach relaxing? Jin-Hyeok Son wakes up on a beach with no idea how he got there. A common theme is a good psychological manhwa. A mysterious family, living in a mansion, welcomes him with open arms but all is not what it seems.

Son must try and put his broken memories together to find the answers to how he got there, but his questions just lead to more questions as the mystery deepens. Pig Pen is an amazing psychological mystery which will grab your attention from the very first page and keep you guessing until the final page!

 

9. The Pale Horse

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
18/20	8/10	8/10	8/10	42/50

The Pale Horse is a historical drama with a psychological twist. Rose Dupre is a girl living in France in 1835. She is the victim of rumours about herself and her mother. The villagers say she is the daughter of a witch, who kills and eats humans. At a time of superstition, this leads to bullying and fear. Her only allies are her friends, including her best friend Pierre.

To add to the problem, a demon returns to the village in search of something he lost. The arrival of a demon is never good news and this one brings death and destruction with him. He also carries the truth about the village’s secrets.

The Pale Horse starts off looking as though it will be a pleasant story but it quickly descends into a tail of tragedy. 

 

8. Secret Alliance

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
18/20	8/10	8/10	9/10	43/50

Secret Alliance is the story of Euri Sian, who is one of the most popular girls in school, especially with other girls. And, by popular I mean in a romantic kinda way! Unfortunately for the girls, Sian is not interested in girls in that way!

She prefers the company of girls because she is scared of men, a result of her mother being obsessed with protecting her little girl from all men. Yuri, a girl in her class, falls for Sian, hard and confesses her feelings.

Yuri will not give up and follows Sian around like a lost puppy, which could seem sweet if not for the fact that Yuri does not want to share Sian with anyone! Secret Alliance is a story of obsession and how far someone will go to make the target of their ‘affection’ theirs, and theirs alone.

 

7. Ghost Teller

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
17/20	9/10	8/10	10/10	44/50

Everyone likes a good ghost story; a chance to scare yourself and your friends in the safety of your bedroom. But what kind of stories do ghosts tell to scare each other? What would it be like?

Ghost Teller is just that; a group of stories told by ghosts to scare each other. If humans tell scary stories about ghosts, it makes sense that ghosts would tell scary stories about the living. And they do. Stories about the worst that humans have to offer from jealousy and selfishness to hate and anger.

Ghost Teller is a brilliant reverse of the traditional ghost story, and you will not see the plot twists coming as they look at the dark side of human nature!

 

6. Escape Room

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
19/20	9/10	8/10	8/10	44/50

Sean is different… well to be honest he is a sociopath. He has no feelings and cannot in any way relate to people, which pushes people away. I mean, who wants to hang out with a sociopath? Following a night of drinking, Sean wakes up in an Escape Room, with no idea how he got there.

I would say he was surprised, but he is incapable of feeling that! He is not the only person trapped in the room and he must go against his very nature and use his ‘unique way of thinking’ to try and survive the life-threatening games of the escape room.

Will he be able to beat the mind of someone more twisted than himself?

 

5. Moritat

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
18/20	9/10	9/10	8/10	44/50

Imagine the scene, you wake up in hospital with amnesia and a strange man standing in front of you, claiming to be your boyfriend. That is what Jesse Copper Brown had to deal with when he woke up in a hospital bed in Moritat, to find Law Chester looking at him.

He has no idea how he got there, or who the man is. Jesse does have a partial memory, but it suggests it was Law that put him in hospital in the first place, whilst trying to kill him!

Jesse has no choice but to go along with Law and try to find the truth. Is his memory real? Is Law really just his boyfriend or did he have something to do as to why Jesse was in the hospital?

 

4. #killstagram

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
19/20	8/10	8/10	9/10	44/50

In today’s world, people live their lives online. #killstagram looks at the dark side of sharing everything about your life with the world.

#killstagram is another look at the issue of stalking, but this time through the eyes of the victim. Remi Do is an influencer (tries not to roll eyes) and on the outside she has everything. She is pretty, has sponsors, and a huge following online, but she finds out the hard way that there is a downside to being popular.

She picks up a stalker, who to make matters worse, is also a serial killer. The girl has no luck! Her dream of online fame turns into her worst nightmare.

For me, #killstagram raises some serious points about the dangers of social media and sharing your whole life with the world. Be careful what you share!!!

 

3. Melvina’s Therapy

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
20/20	10/10	9/10	7/10	46/50

Therapy is a useful tool for people who have had to deal with the harsher side of life. That is, unless your therapist has no intentions of helping you. That’s the case in the dark world of Melvina’s Therapy.

People go to Melvina, trying to overcome their pasts but her patients seem to meet sticky ends more than would be expected. Is their trauma just too much for them to bear? Or is Melvina not the woman they think she is?

This is a dark story, pulling the deepest darkest secrets from someone’s mind but not to help them.

 

2. My Student Can’t Be A Psychopath

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
19/20	9/10	9/10	9/10	46/50

In My Student Can’t Be a Psychopath, Jung Intae tells the school nurse Miss Kim that he is a psychopath. He also has a massive crush on her. As if it is not enough to process that one student admits to being a psychopath, many others follow Jung in his confession. 

Miss Kim, is left dealing with the possibility that she is the nurse to a school full of psychopaths and so it is little wonder that she has issues with anxiety that threaten to overwhelm her. This is a school where it seems everyone has a secret, staff and students alike!

They can’t all be psychopaths? Can they? And if someone is, who is the real psychopath? 

 

1. My Deepest Secret

Psychological Aspects	Plot	Character Writing	Art	Total
19/20	9/10	9/10	9/10	46/50

My Deepest Secret is the story of love, to begin with anyway! Emma Wilson is completely and utterly in love with her boyfriend, Elios. She melts every time she looks at him, but Elios is not all that he seems. Underneath the handsome exterior, is the soul of a sociopath. His moral compass is questionable to say the least!

Emma also has her own secrets and the appearance of Yohan Lee, drags long buried secrets into the open. Lee is an amateur detective, who likes to dig up details of any mystery he finds. In doing so, he digs up secrets Emma has spent a long time burying.

Digging up secrets of a girl who has a sociopath for a boyfriend is not usually a good idea, and strange things begin to happen, from scandals to unexplained deaths.

Conclusion

As you can see, psychological manhwas  are not for  everyone, especially to those who are easily traumatised and are under the age of 18. If you love a good mystery, thriller, or horror story, I highly recommend you have a look at the huge selection of psychological manhwa out there! And for that, start with this list I made for you!