Best Manhwa Like Wind Breaker

Sports manhwa generally do not get better than the Wind Breaker series unless the conversation concerns a certain broody and non-emotive prodigious boxing protagonist. Created and illustrated by Jo Yongseok, Wind Breaker presents a story about youth, freedom, and, most importantly, passion. The story follows the life of the central character, Jay Jo, as he tries to navigate his life amidst familial pressure concerning education despite being the top student at his school.

Torn between following his passion for cycling or going to college, Jay struggles to hold onto the two most essential sides of himself. However, the highlight of this piece is to recommend other similar manhwa to the Wind Breaker series. Like Wind Breaker, these manhwa present similar thrilling sensations and excitement to readers. As such, the best manhwa series, like the Wind Breaker series, are below.

7 Study Group

Creator(s): Shin Hyungwuk, Ryu Seungyeon

• Anime-Planet Rating: 4.0 / 5
• Genre: Action, Drama
• No. of Chapters: 246 (Ongoing)

In this action series, Study Group showcases what happens in full view when a school is no longer fit or conducive to learning. Like Wind Breaker, it explores the teenage high school experience but from a much more severe angle. The story follows the protagonist’s life, Gamin Yoon, a sort of oddity among his peers and even within his school, Yusung Technical High, nicknamed “school for future criminals.” Gamin currently has only one wish in his life—to get into university.

However, schooling in a school as infamous as his is bound to be difficult. In a school where no actual learning is done, and everyone is for himself, Gamin decides to form his own study group. With the help of his former tutor, who also decides to transfer to his school, it seems Gamin’s dream is not far off from reality. However, unknown to Gamin, some higher-ups prefer Yusung High to remain as it is— a factory for producing student delinquents.

6 Rim Ding Dong

Creator(s): Kwonojun

• Anime-Planet Rating: N/A
• Genre: Action, Sports
• No. of Chapters: 161 (Ongoing)

College spontaneity meets passionate basketball in the Rim Ding Dong series, which breeds a rather exciting story of youthful ambitions and the general college experience from a sporting perspective. Like Wind Breaker, the story’s protagonist, Lee Jin-Soo, is more or less a basketball prodigy despite only being 163cm tall.

The ace of his high school basketball team, Lee Jin-Soo, is not trying to stand out in college, but he wouldn’t mind playing basketball. His early college life gets complicated after he joins his department’s basketball club, the Drive team, and encounters the grumpy Kim Woojin, a senior and the club president. A sour first encounter means that Lee Jin-Soo is forced to consider if he truly wants to be on the team.

5 Viral Hit

Creator(s): Kim Jung-Hyun, Park Tae-Jun

• Anime-Planet Rating: 4.1 / 5
• Genre: Action, Comedy
• No. of Chapters: 218 (Ongoing)

Viral Hit presents a story of social awkwardness, high school realities, and a solid resolution not to remain weak. The series follows the somewhat humiliating life of the central character, Yoo Hobin, who is constantly bullied and abused by his classmate and famous streamer, Pakgo. However, Yoo Hobin’s school problems are still the least of his worries, having to scrape by at a part-time job to pay his mother’s hospital fees.

Little does Hobin know that his life is about to change when he fights back against one of his bullies, and their fight somehow gets uploaded on Newtube, making the timid protagonist an overnight celebrity. More than the sensation, Hobin also earns about ten million won from the video, which gives him the unlikely idea to continue streaming fights. Endeared to the idea of making fast money, Hobin finds an unlikely ally in his supposed bully, Jiksae, and together, the pair start on Hobin’s seemingly crazy idea.

4 King of the Octagon

Creator(s): Philip, Gopubi

• Anime-Planet Rating: 4.0 / 5
• Genre: Sports, Action
• No. of Chapters: 91 (Ongoing)

Natural talent seems unbeatable in this high-octane series in the King of the Octagon. The series follows the life of the carefree protagonist, Hwiseong Lee. A key similarity between the series and Wind Breaker is their immensely talented protagonists, and another is the unfiltered intensity and excitement that both shows exude.

Once a promising athlete as a high schooler with extremely high physical abilities, Hwiseong Lee veered from his potential as a young child and now works part-time at a convenience store. Hwiseong’s dull and stable life is set to continue until he attends an MMA event he is invited to. Overwhelmed by what he feels after seeing the Octagon, Hwiseong decides to conquer the sport from that point. It remains to be seen if he makes good on that decision.

3 The Breaker

Creator(s): Park Jin-Hwan, Jeon Geuk-Jin

• Anime-Planet Rating: 4.3 / 5
• Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama
• No. of Chapters: 72

High school violence seems never-ending in The Breaker series, at least for the helpless protagonist, Shi-Woon. Like the Wind Breaker series, The Breaker presents a rather intense story that stems from the life of the high schooler, Shi-Woon, following the constant bullying and humiliation he receives in school simply for being weak. Tired of what he calls a shitty life, Shi-Woon is especially determined to kill himself until he meets Chun Woo, the new substitute English teacher at his school, who manages to stop his suicide attempt by insulting him.

The two reencounter each other after Shi-Woon witnesses Chun Woo use martial arts against a group of thugs and records it. Shi-Woon uses the recording to blackmail his teacher to teach him how to be strong. However, unknown to Shi-Woon, he might have just put a target on his back due to his master’s dark past. Retribution seems to be on its way for his master and Shi-Woon.

2 Lookism

Creator(s): Park Tae-Jun

• Anime-Planet Rating: 4.2 / 5
• Genre: Drama, Comedy, Action, Supernatural
• No. of Chapters: 526 (Ongoing)

Another high-school-centered series, Lookism, details how fast a singular event can change a person’s life from the perspective of its protagonist, Park Hyung Suk. Short, overweight, and unattractive, the seventeen-year-old seemed to be attracting the worst treatments due to his physique. Tired of the constant bullying, Hyung Suk transfers to another school, Seoul’s Jae Won High, hoping to escape his bullies.

Things get complicated when Hyung Suk wakes up to a strange sight just days before his first day of school, where he is himself but not exactly himself. He wakes up, but not in his usual body, but the body he dreams of having. Still, there is a slight problem with this, as his original body is still lying beside him, and when one body falls asleep, he wakes up in the other. With two completely different bodies, Hyung Suk is left to navigate the mystery of what has happened to him and how to fit his new school life into all of it.

1 The Boxer

Creator(s): Jeong Ji-Hoon

• Anime-Planet Rating: 4.4 / 5
• Genre: Drama, Sports
• No. of Chapters: 135

The importance and need for purpose for a person is taken to the extreme in the Boxer series, and it bears a lot of similarities to Wind Breaker, given that both protagonists try to find purpose in their lives and end up doing so. It just takes one longer to realise than the other. Also, the Boxer explores darker tropes, unlike Wind Breaker.

The story details the life of the protagonist, Yu, a young boy who has been bullied for most of his life to the point where he develops emotional dissonance and can no longer act like a regular human being. However, despite how gloomy Yu’s life is, he possesses an exceptional talent. One that can only be fully utilised in a contact sport like boxing— dodging. Yu is met with purpose when he encounters the world-renowned boxing trainer, Coach K, who instantly recognises his abilities and offers Yu the promise of the pinnacle of boxing. Despite being uninterested initially, Yu takes the coach on his offer in the hope of someday experiencing a feeling he once experienced and begins a long and dark path to the top.