7 Best Isekai Manhwa With Sci-Fi Elements

Key Takeaways

• Isekai manhwa often feature fantasy archetypes like magic and demons, set in Medieval Europe-esque worlds with knights.
• Sci-fi elements like robots and space travel add excitement to isekai, making the stories more engaging and unique.
• Manhwa like
  The Knight King Who Returned With A God
  blend isekai and reverse isekai, exploring complex themes and different worlds.

Isekai is represented in a variety of ways, but most commonly, it’s a fantasy archetype that involves magic, knights, and demons, which is usually set in a place reminiscent of Medieval Europe. Because of that, many isekai manhwa tend to feel similar even if they begin differently or have different concepts.

Science fiction in manhwa is mostly seen in gaming stories, presenting technology that most can only dream of, but the genre is represented in other ways too. Things like robots and space travel are popular topics to write stories about, and many authors have used sci-fi elements to make their isekai more exciting and fun to read.

7 The Druid Of Seoul Station

MyAnimeList Score: 6.59

• Published: 2021 to Present
• Genres/Themes: Action, Fantasy, Isekai
• Author: Seolwoo Jin
• Illustrator: Hwalseonggom

Although this is more of a returner manhwa than an isekai, it follows many of the same themes and patterns. One day, gates suddenly open on Earth, summoning monsters and transporting certain people to other worlds. Park Suho is taken to a jungle planet inhabited by huge animals and devoid of human civilization. He survives there for hundreds of years, but when he is suddenly teleported back home, only ten years have passed.

This starts off as a typical hunter fantasy, but it actually becomes more complex as it explores the planets connected to Earth. Using magic and science, humans are able to contain and monitor the dungeons that appear, and they eventually become able to communicate with other planets and visit them. These developments help differentiate this manhwa from others like it.

6 God’s Gambit

MyAnimeList Score: 6.74

• Published: 2023 to Present
• Genres/Themes: Action, Fantasy
• Author: Hwangdong
• Illustrator: Bisamong

Rather than a single person being whisked away, an entire city in South Korea is transported to a different dimension where it becomes part of a board game. The protagonist, Yul Choi, is given an incredibly strong item by random, allowing him to get information on all the scenarios that appear. Unfortunately, it also steals rewards from other players, so he has no choice but to become a public enemy to lead them to success.

Like many other isekai, this manhwa is mostly filled with fantasy archetypes and concepts like magic items, demons, and skills. The science fiction attributes don’t appear until after the first forty chapters, where the city starts integrating modern technology with magical resources, fortifying it enough to survive nuke-level threats.

5 The Knight King Who Returned With A God

MyAnimeList Score: 7.26

• Published: 2023 to Present
• Genres/Themes: Action, Fantasy
• Author: Saram Sallyeo.
• Illustrator: Jeoncheon Huma Geomsa

This manhwa stands out because it’s both an isekai and a reverse isekai. The protagonist is reborn as Leon Dragonia in another world and eventually becomes the King of Lionheart, who is blessed by the gods. When that world is overrun by monsters, he eventually returns to Earth through gates that usually release monsters. Leon soon becomes a superpower in the world due to his connection to a pantheon of deities.

Although this story is set in the modern day, there are still some sci-fi elements that appear. Because the gates connect different dimensions, the enemies aren’t always monsters like orcs and goblins. A robot is one of the main antagonists for a short story arc, and it becomes a supporting character afterward, supporting Leon through manipulating the media and the stock market.

4 World After The Fall

MyAnimeList Score: 7.55

• Published: 2022 to ?
• Genres/Themes: Action, Fantasy
• Author: sing N song
• Illustrator: Undead Gamja

Although this starts as a tower climbing manhwa, it turns into a grand adventure to find the truth about the world. Unlike other isekai stories, the protagonist, Jaehwan, chooses to leave his own world to fight the root of it all, the System. However, to do that, he must traverse multiple different dimensions and contend with adapters, nightmares, and gods.

Because this story goes through many different worlds and dimensions, it contains a little bit of everything. There’s magic and special powers, zombie outbreaks, a subscriber system, and finally, robots and virtual reality simulations. Androids and drones are just some of the obstacles Jaehwan must overcome, and although they only appear for brief moments at a time, they will definitely reappear in later chapters as well.

MyAnimeList Score: 7.76

• Published: 2022 to ?
• Genres/Themes: Action, Fantasy, Isekai, Reincarnation, School
• Author: Gapsong Ji
• Illustrator: Carrot Studio

Being trapped in novels is common in isekai manhwa. In this story, Kim Hajin is trapped in the world of his own web novel after receiving a strange email. Now, in the body of a background character, he must compete with cadets trying to become heroes. As the author, it should be simple, but an unknown editor is making changes to his story, leading to new events and developments.

This manhwa is a great example of Urban Fantasy, as it portrays the integration of magic into modern society very well. The story takes place on an island city called CUBE, a high-tech metropolis that supports the academy of the same name to produce heroes. The academy is where most of the technological achievements are seen, creating holograms, simulations, and enhanced weaponry.

2 Murim Login

MyAnimeList Score: 7.91

• Published: 2020 to ?
• Genres/Themes: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Martial Arts, Video Game
• Author: Zero-BIG
• Illustrator: Cheolbyeok Jang

A popular piece of fictional technology present in many manhwa is the full-dive VR capsule, which allows people to experience a game as if it were real life. Jin Taekyung gets trapped in a virtual world after using a gaming capsule as a bed, waking up in a Murim world as a young man from a prestigious family. The only way to log out is to complete certain objectives, and if he dies, his real body will die too.

Much of this story actually takes place in a Murim setting, so there isn’t much in terms of science and technology other than the game system. However, there are parts where Jin Taekyung returns to the real world and more of the sci-fi elements can be seen. This manhwa actually takes place in a setting with dungeons and hunters, which is an interesting contrast to the Murim game world.

1 Trinity Wonder

MyAnimeList Score: N/A

• Chapters: 102
• Published: 2016 to 2018
• Genres/Themes: Action, Fantasy, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Murim
• Author: Geuk-Jin JEON
• Illustrator: Jin-Hwan PARK

What would happen if science, martial arts, and magic all came together? Trinity Wonder is a manhwa that answers that question. Due to one company’s experiments, a connection to different dimensions is made, and martial artist Gang Woo-Jin and mage Emily are brought to Earth. With no other way home, the two must trust company owner Sylvia to fix the machine that bridges worlds. However, there are more problems than meet the eye.

This manhwa does a great job of balancing three separate themes without cluttering the story, and each one has a role to play. The setting is a futuristic Earth, the main antagonist is a Demonic Sect leader, and the final boss is a massive dragon. Everything is seamlessly tied together, which helps keep the focus on the entertaining story and fantastic action scenes.