Best Sibling Relationships In Manhwa

Key Takeaways

• The found family genre is a captivating one, exploring sibling dynamics in unique, emotional ways.
• Sibling relationships are often overshadowed in anime, despite having the potential for depth and realism.
• Manhwa series like A Stepmother’s Marchen offer realistic portrayals of sibling relationships.

The found family genre is the big new thing in the world of anime, manga, and manhwa, and it has been since the release of Spy x Family. The concept of being taken in and raised by a group of completely unconventional individuals, each with their own traits and personalities, is one of the most captivating plots in media and has deservedly garnered global love. However, there’s another family trope that often gets sidelined as a subplot or side story of a particular series despite the potential it has, and it’s the wholesomely unhinged sibling dynamic.

While plenty of these themes exist in the entertainment industry, especially in anime and manga — like Tanjiro and Nezuko from Demon Slayer or Kotaro and Ryuichi from School Babysitters — they’re rarely the primary focus of a series. Typically, these relationships are explored as either a point of contention or comic relief, rather than being a main plot. While manhwa also follows this pattern, there are some series in the mix that tend to be more meticulous in portraying sibling relationships, giving them a bit more depth and emotional backing.

Updated on November 14, 2024, by Fatima Naeem: The best thing about sibling dynamics is that, no matter how deep or heartfelt they get, there’s always an underlying tension — it’s just in their nature. This is exactly why, no matter how serious siblings try to come across, they usually end up being funny in one way or another. With these new additions to the list, there are some characters who take comic relief to the extreme, and some who still manage to stay true to that classic sibling vibe despite the absolutely harrowing situations they’ve been put in.

9 The Twins’ New Life

Arien And Arjen Yuriana

• Writer(s): Aidera (Story), Nicca (Art)
• Released: 2020
• Genre: Isekai

There are all sorts of reincarnation manhwa that revolve around the protagonist being reincarnated or sent back into the body of an infant with negligent parents who somehow become better parents the second time around. However, not many manhwa in the industry simultaneously focus on twins being reincarnated into this sort of plotline. Arien and Arjen, although twins who have experienced the same events are fundamentally different people. Arjen acts more like a big brother to Arien and is usually the more mature of the two. However, despite their inherently opposite personalities, they are closer than average siblings and fully rely on each other for emotional support.

The Twins’ New Life is unique in the sense that it follows two protagonists, twin siblings, who are transmigrated into the bodies of a certain kingdom’s new prince and princess. As infants, they are left to the whims of their highly irresponsible and cruel mother, who refuses to take any part in their upbringing. As a result, they’re left to fend for themselves in the harsh world of royalty. That is, until their father, the king, returns and takes them to the palace.

8 Beware Of The Villainess

Melissa And Jake Foddebrat

• Writer(s): Ppongtta Mat Screw Bar (Story), Blue Canna (Art)
• Released: 2020
• Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Isekai

Although comic relief sibling pairs are very common all around the entertainment industry, the way Beware of the Villainess does its trope is very over-the-top and frankly pretty fun. Melissa and Jake may not be the most realistic sibling duo, but their slapstick dynamic exaggerates every interaction they share. Whether they’re bickering, embarrassing each other, or straight-up throwing punches, it’s the kind of chaotic energy that somehow just clicks.

Beware of the Villainess is one of the most famous isekai romance stories in the manhwa industry, and for good reason. Usually, manhwa isekai have these very dark undertones to their plotlines that seem to not work much when it comes to their readers’ nerves. That is not the case with this particular manhwa. It follows the story of Melissa Foddebrat, the wealthy duke’s daughter and infamous villainess of a popular novel, whose body is suddenly inhabited by a woman from Korea. This new Melissa renounces her life of villainy and swears off her old ways in favor of peace and quiet — though with her antics (and her sibling), that might be easier said than done.

7 Remarried Empress

Navier And Kosair Trovi

• Writer(s): Alphatart (Story), Sumpul (Art)
• Released: 2019
• Genre: Fantasy

Remarried Empress is a romance drama that is primarily a tale of revenge, politics, betrayal, and distrust. The only thing that’s slightly wholesome in this entire rage-inducing series is the relationship the main female lead has with her older brother — who is essentially willing to do anything to protect her. He is incredibly protective of her and has gone to some pretty questionable lengths to keep her happy.

The story of Remarried Empress pretty much reads like a very intricately crafted melodramatic soap opera. It’s set in a fictional European world that is centered around two main regions, the Eastern and Western Empires. The female lead is the quiet and unassuming empress of the Eastern Empire who has spent her entire life trying to learn the internal workings of being an empress. Unfortunately, her life as one is cut short by her husband’s new love interest.

6 Monster Duchess And The Contract Princess

Leslie, Bethrion, and Ruenti Salvatore

• Writer(s): Liaran (Story), MinJakk (Art)
• Released: 2019
• Genre: Drama, Fantasy

Overprotective older brothers who are otherwise gruff and mean but turn soft around their younger siblings make for one of the funniest sibling dynamics ever. It gets even better when these siblings are adopted rather than blood-related — it adds a wholesome twist to the whole setting. In Monster Duchess and the Contract Princess, Leslie’s two brothers are an absolute riot whenever they’re around her — unnecessarily protective, hilariously loud, and towering over her in size. Their doting on her literally borders ridiculous, which makes the entire ordeal all the more funny.

Leslie begins as the mistreated younger daughter of a noble but cruel family. To her biological family, she’s just a liability and is always pushed to live in her sister Eli’s shadow. When she’s finally had enough, she seeks out the Salvatore family and begs them to adopt her. What she thinks will be just a means of survival transforms into one of the most loving experiences she could ever imagine.

5 A Stepmother’s Marchen

Jeremy, Elias, Leon, And Rachel Neuschwanstein

• Writer(s): Nyangi-wa Hyangsinnyo (Story), ORKA (Art)
• Released: 2019
• Genre: Drama

A Stepmother’s Marchen is a unique manhwa that blends all sorts of genres to come up with one of the most creative and heartbreaking premises to ever exist. It’s essentially a found family but from the perspective of a young ‘stepmother’ who takes in four siblings who are oddly not that younger than her. Despite the bizarre premise, the relationship these four siblings have with each other, and their mother, is one of the most realistic portrayals of sibling relationships in a manhwa.

Instead of being incessantly protective and impractically close to each other, the Neuschwanstein siblings are more of what one would expect real-life siblings to be. They’re cranky, loud, messy, and they absolutely hate being in each other’s presence. They fight all the time and are constantly pulling off strange pranks and bets to annoy each other and Shuri (the female lead). Ultimately, though, none of this is out of contempt and is pretty much what every sibling does, fictional or not.

4 The Emperor’s Companion

Hildegarde And Ludan

• Writer(s): Lee Surim (Story), Marron Pie (Art)
• Released: 2019
• Genre: Isekai

There’s been a lot of talk in the manhwa world about isekai stories that revolve around deeply emotional reincarnations — whether it’s for a past lover, a regret, or even revenge. But The Emperor’s Companion sets itself apart by making the driving force behind its main character’s reincarnation something a bit more unexpected: her sister.

The main character of The Emperor’s Companion, Hildegarde, had lost her younger sister in her previous life and was heartbroken over it. The reason she died the first time around was that she was trying to save a child who looked strikingly like her lost sister but was hit by a truck in the process. Even in the afterlife, Hildegarde fought against the gods, hoping for a chance to see her sister one last time. While the gods did hear her pleas, they didn’t grant her wish quite the way she expected. Instead of the life she once knew, Hildegarde is reincarnated as the pope of a completely different set of people in a strange world — only to discover that her beloved sister has been reborn as her younger brother.

3 My Three Tyrant Brothers

Chloe, Chester, Zed, And Ezra Askanier

• Writer(s): Jomil (Story), Parkha (Art), Eundu (Art)
• Released: 2021
• Genre: Fantasy

For anyone looking for something light and easy-going to read, My Three Tyrant Brothers is the perfect choice with its vague world-building and hilariously absurd storyline. It’s reminiscent of The Twins’ New Life, where the main character is abruptly introduced into a royal family and declared a princess. However, this manhwa focuses more on a group of brothers being very sweet and protective over their youngest sister.

It follows the story of a royal family that has a curse running through their blood which makes them live to a certain point in time, only to be killed by someone close to them. The only way to break this curse is through the birth of a girl in their male-dominated bloodline. When Chloe, a long-lost sister, is adopted back into the royal family as an imperial princess, all three princes (with their own quirks and oddities) are instantly enchanted by her.

2 Bring The Love

Leah, Noah, Richt, And Thomas Hildebrandt

• Writer(s): Zestkyo
• Released: 2019
• Genre: Romance

Bring the Love is an action-romance manhwa set in a fictional European world that is notable for its lack of reincarnation elements and its organic approach to world-building. The story follows two noble families, each with their own rules, regulations, societal positions, and armies, who become intertwined through a series of coincidental events. The eldest daughter of the Hildebrandt family, Leah, has to take over the role of the family head after her brother’s disappearance to protect and raise her younger siblings. To secure their future, she enters a marriage of convenience with the most dangerous and warmongering man in the kingdom, Roxant Kroemer.

Although the story sounds very political, it’s actually a slice-of-life comedy that focuses more on slapstick sequences than on the actual conflict. Surprisingly, despite being set in the middle of an unforgiving noble society with strict chains of command and impositions, both the Hildebrandt and Kroemer siblings share an immaculate and heartwarming relationship with each other.

1 Cheerful Countess Sisters

Charlotte And Kara De Perol

• Writer(s): Jimmy Sin (Story), Lobster (Art)
• Released: 2020
• Genre: Drama

Cheerful Countess Sisters is a rare manhwa that focuses on the relationship between two fundamentally different sisters who were separated at birth and had to suffer their own consequences. While it is primarily a romance manhwa, the emphasis on the sisters’ heartwarming bond and their respective paths to finding happiness after their tragic backstories brings a fresh twist to the genre.

The manhwa follows Charlotte De Perol, a count’s granddaughter with a horrible mother and an estranged father, who unexpectedly inherits all her grandfather’s fortune. In an act of contempt, Charlotte’s absent father suddenly returns with a sister Charlotte never knew she had. Kara’s entire mission is to somehow steal Charlotte’s fortune and return it to their malicious father. Instead, the two form a sisterly bond they never thought was possible.