Best Post-Apocalypse Manhwa, Ranked

Key Takeaways

• Unyielding trope: Apocalyptic scenarios and mysterious creatures continue to dominate entertainment narratives without fading.
• In-depth storytelling: Post-apocalyptic manhwas like
  Dead Days
  explore human trauma and despair in chilling ways.
• Varied perspectives: Manhwas like
  TACIT
  and
  The World After the Fall
  offer unique takes on survival in catastrophic worlds.

Apocalyptic worlds and the evergreen concept of human beings not remaining the dominant species on earth, after being overthrown by otherworldly fantasy creatures or some astronomical natural disaster, is one that refuses to die down — especially in the world of entertainment. It’s the one trope that’s been rehashed countless times, in countless narratives, and it still shows no sign of waning. However, because the trope is so expansive and ‘roomy’, it keeps attracting new versions all around.

That being said, while manga and anime have ventured into the dark realms of dystopia — cue Attack on Titan, the anime that has traumatized an entire generation of anime fans — manhwa just hasn’t leaped this far into the catastrophe, no pun intended. Nevertheless, there are some truly good manhwas set in the post-apocalyptic landscapes that fully capture the looming sense of dread and doom of living in a world that’s on the brink of destruction (or after it).

Updated October 24, 2024, by Fatima Naeem: Post-apocalyptic stories are timeless for their ability to endlessly recreate themselves. They are highly adaptable, depicting almost anything the creator and the reader desire. Most of these stories play on psychological themes, following feelings of hopelessness in a dire situation, and the joy the main character feels after they’ve achieved something otherwise considered impossible. The idea of growth and reconstruction following major setbacks — which, in this case, is literally an apocalypse — strikes a deeply personal note. It’s exactly why these stories are popular and will remain so. Given their popularity, particularly in manhwa form, a few more post-apocalypse manhwa have been added to this list.

13 Dead Days

Focuses More On The Psychological Implications

Dead Days is a post-apocalyptic psychological manhwa that is largely unsettling, yet surprisingly not in a bad way. In fact, it’s one of those series that is occasionally so profound that it leaves its readers/ viewers with some sort of existential dread. Since it focuses more on human trauma and the mental vulnerability of a person in a possible major extinction event, it hits uncomfortably close to home despite being purely hypothetical.

It features multiple stories of multiple people, each grappling with their own inner demons, battling self-destructive tendencies, yet possessing a will to survive that’s stronger than anything — in other words, human nature. The manhwa starts off 4 days into a zombie apocalypse and is, for the most part, a typical one. But, the intricacy of its characters, their background stories, and their highly human actions make up for the conventionality of its premise.

12 The Surviving

A Horror Series With Bizarre Creatures And Exaggerated Art

The Surviving is a conventional black-and-white manhwa with exaggerated characters and a bold art style that turns a bleak, almost hopeless situation into something more dramatic. Instead of taking away from the seriousness of the story, this over-the-top approach adds an extra layer of dread.

The Surviving follows a bunch of high-school students who prefer living in their school dorms rather than going home. Even on the weekends, most of these students go out of their way to look for reasons not to return to their respective houses. That is, until some actual unforeseen circumstances force them to stay at school over one particular weekend. Their school is suddenly overtaken by three bizarre, disfigured, and highly aggressive figures with tentacles sprouting from unsettling parts of their bodies, who are now on the hunt for the students.

11 TACIT

Focuses On Survival Long After The Apocalypse

TACIT, unlike Dead Days, starts off deep into the apocalypse and shows human survivors divided into factions, struggling to survive after everything hit the fan. Its art, backdrop, and occasionally its story give it vibes that are sort of similar to The Last of Us. It also dives into the “humans retaining their humanity post-infection” trope and surprisingly pulls it off really well.

It’s a gorgeous manhwa that follows the story of a young, spirited, and highly curious girl, Ruby, who tends to get herself in a lot of trouble because of her unending need to explore. During one of her exploration trips, she comes across a pale, sickly-looking boy, whose appearance is oddly similar to that of a zombie in the TACIT world. Despite that, the boy is seemingly completely normal and converses with her like an ordinary person. Positively convinced by his demeanor, she brings him back with her to the human survival camp.

10 Whamanga

Unique World-Building Sparked By The Extinction Of Fire

While Whamanga does not have the most meticulously thought-out and scientifically rational plot on this list, it definitely takes the cake for its unique world-building. It’s a short and quick read with artwork that rivals some of the top manhwa in the scene. Then again, it does have an absurd premise, and is best suited for someone who wants to turn off their rationale and fully immerse themselves in a story without asking too many questions.

It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world struck by a strange phenomenon — the utter extinction of fire itself. Whamanga‘s world collapsed simply because everything combustible in it (every source capable of creating or sustaining fire) had disappeared out of the blue and left humanity on the brink of extinction. Years after the incident, the now fresh governments of the new world order are on the hunt for one woman, who still has the ability to make fire. It is worth noting that Whamanga contains certain themes that might not be suitable for all readers and should be approached with caution.

9 One Day, Suddenly, Seoul Is

An Introverted Student Gets Caught In A Bizarre Virus Driving People To Madness

One Day, Suddenly, Seoul Is starts off pretty tame — even uninteresting — but picks up the pace only after a chapter or two. Though the manhwa doesn’t instantly dive too deep into a full-blown apocalypse, it tackles the early stages in a pretty unconventional way.

One Day, Suddenly, Seoul, Is follows Yeon Woo and his classmates on a trip to Seoul. Yeon Woo is inherently an introverted person and has problems interacting with almost everyone in his class. Despite that, he’s determined to try to get to know his class crush and popular girl, Yeon So. Unfortunately, his budding love story is cut short when a strange virus alert hits the city. As if on cue, one of his friends contracts the virus and instantly transforms into an odd, violent, creature covered in barnacle-like wounds.

8 The World After The Fall

A Post-Apocalyptic Power Scaling Series

The World After the Fall is a post-apocalyptic action, power-scaling manhwa similar to Solo Leveling that’s set in a world, well — after the fall. At first glance, this series comes off as nothing special. It’s the same old story of the world being overrun by monsters after a supernatural phenomenon, and in turn, some select humans acquire supernatural abilities to fight them off. However, what makes it stand apart from other manhwa of the same trope is not the unexpected incorporation of science fiction and regression, but the hardcore MC of the series outright rejecting getting isekai-ed.

The World After the Fall is set in a world doomed to destruction, where survival for an average human seems utterly impossible. It’s infested with strange otherworldly monsters appearing from a supernatural phenomenon called “towers”. “Tower walkers” are the only thing standing between them and complete annihilation. Unfortunately for the powerless, these tower walkers are forced to make a choice: either stay and fight for a world that has no chance of surviving or regress into another timeline that starts before the appearance of the towers. While most walkers decide to regress, the protagonist, Jaehwan, refuses to abandon the original timeline.

7 When The Star Sleeps

A Rare BL Romance Set In A World Struck By An Asteroid

There’s barely any good romance set with a backdrop as extreme as a post-apocalypse. Unsurprisingly, that number dwindles drastically when shounen-ai, or “boy love,” is involved. When the Star Sleeps is a rare BL manhwa that features a very solid world-building, and an even stronger character bond that borders on the ‘enemies-to-lovers’ trope.

It essentially sets itself as an almost political commentary about the discrimination between two different groups of people who have been divided based on their immunity to the nuclear radiation caused by multiple deadly asteroid collisions. One of the main characters is part of a group with unnaturally strong genetic resistance against said radiation, while the other is part of the inferior group — the ordinary, vulnerable humans.

6 Distant Sky

Mystery, Horror, And Pure Dread In A Freshly Apocalyptic World

Distant Sky is a horror rendition of a post-apocalyptic world that borders on crossing the uncanny valley because of its strange and impressive art. It may even remind some people of Junji Ito’s work. The story makes use of the mystery element very cleverly and does a great job of portraying the protagonist’s very palpable fear and will to survive. It’s also pretty smart with its plot twists and flashbacks, although some might find them redundant after a point.

Kang Haneul wakes up to find himself surrounded by complete, total darkness. He doesn’t know where he is, nor does he remember how he lost consciousness. With his phone barely holding onto life, he lights up the scene only to find bodies over bodies of dead people around him. To top it off, he keeps hearing strange, grotesque sounds coming from the darkness around him.

5 Polar Night

A Zombie Apocalypse In Antarctica

Polar Night is another ‘early onset of apocalypse’ manhwa that slightly shifts its narrative and takes its setting to the middle of Antarctica, in a snowy research facility with no chance of escape. It’s a small twist, but it adds to the looming sense of doom, especially given the extreme conditions and the dire consequences of losing control over the situation.

Polar Night kicks off with a detached, insensitive firefighter who’s sent to the research facility because he’s great at his job — despite his unlikeable attitude. As expected, he’s not thrilled about the assignment. He’s told it will be an easy gig, given how remote and dangerous the location is — so people there are naturally good avoidants. However, this changes drastically when he arrives at the facility and realizes just how bleak the situation is. And it’s not only because of its location, but because he and his team are suddenly being terrorized by zombies.

4 Duty After School

Students Must Take Up Arms During An Apocalypse

At first glance, Duty After School appears to be a comedic piece of writing, given its quirky, simplistic art style and dry humor. But the more one starts to get immersed in it, the more they realize that it’s actually more of a psychological series with a myriad of very complex characters and situations. Adding to its uniqueness, the story kicks off with the characters narrating their own stories and ‘experiences’ through one-on-one interviews.

It follows a class of high schoolers who are essentially compelled to enlist in the military due to being undermanned after an alien invasion of sorts. They document their lengthy, almost sad journey from being ordinary students to becoming war machines.

3 Rendezvous

Humans Are More Malicious Than A Supernatural Apocalyptic Species

Post-apocalyptic content can explore a multitude of different storylines to distinguish itself and carve out a unique space within the genre. Rendezvous takes a slightly different route with its premise, and plays on the ‘main character waking up in a hospital after some medical emergency, and finding the entire world has gone off the rails’ trope — and does a pretty convincing job of it.

It follows the story of Kang Yiyeon, a high school student who, after an altercation with his bullies, ends up in a coma. He wakes up in his hospital bed after an undisclosed amount of time and finds everything around him in complete ruin. As a survivor, Yiyeon now has to not only survive a possible alien invasion, but also somehow protect himself against stronger, more vicious bullies.

2 Leviathan

Human Survivors Fight Against Leviathan Creatures

For those who want a truly all-rounded post-apocalyptic experience set in a world overtaken by giant sea monsters, they should start reading the manhwa equivalent of Subnautica, aka. Leviathan. It stands out as a rare dystopian read that diverges from the typical storyline of a zombie virus outbreak or a supernatural monster invasion.

In Leviathan’s world, everything was laid to waste and civilization crumbled when the water bodies of the planet rose to unprecedented levels and left it completely submerged and destroyed. Humans, the once-dominant race, are now in shambles and have to survive by living off of scraps. Bota and Lita, a new-gen sibling duo, have never experienced the prosperity of the old world; for them, this new reality is all they’ve ever known.

1 The Horizon

Two Kids Struggling To Survive In A War-Torn World

Throughout this list, there have been discussions about the psychological effects of an apocalypse — how some manhwa capture that essence really well, while others fall short. The Horizon is one manhwa that, at its core, breaks all the conventional boundaries and truly encompasses the grim realities of human existence through an eerily accurate portrayal of despair, defeat, and desperation. And the worst part is, it does it through the lens of a small boy.

The Horizon follows the unfortunate journey of a young boy who finds himself alone and unaccounted for after an undisclosed apocalyptic event has decimated the world. The boy learns how to act beyond his years simply to survive, and has to do unimaginable things to endure and stay alive. Along the way, he encounters a young girl close to his age, and he seems to enjoy her company. The two, now, have to live in a world that’s been made uninhabitable for reasons beyond their control.