The Breaker

브레이커

8.38(72K votes)

Ranked #268Popularity #92

chapters

volumes

Status

Finished

Published

Jun 1, 2007 to Jul 20, 2010

Authors:Park, Jin-Hwan, Jeon, Geuk-jin

Action

Worth Reading? — Global Verdict

8.7/10

Average Review Score

80%

Recommend It

Reviews Worldwide

International Reviews

abystoma2

Mixed Feelings

The short version: If you've ever experienced any modern day asian martial arts drama, you have already experienced The Breaker. Unless you're fan of the genre, there isn't really a reason to read it. The long version: The Breaker is a bit weird manga-manhwa hybrid. It's made by Korean authors, it's released in Korean magazine by Korean publisher and yet it's made to be read right to left, as a regular manga would be. While I don't know what the reason for this decision was, just be check if you're reading it the correct way if you're getting confused. The reading direction isn't the only odd, crossbreed thingabout The Breaker though. So is the art and in a way, the story. Most of the story is a regular one - weak protagonist gets bullied at school and a chad teacher takes him under his wings, GTO-style. Another cliché follows - the protagonist is given an insta-power up item that makes him strong for basically no reason other than the plot progression. Enemies starts popping up and fights ensue. MC also gets big angery when someone close to him is in danger. Now this is where it gets to the weird part - even though it follows the classic setting for the zero to hero story, the role The Breaker's protagonist fulfils most of the time is... a punching bag. Against every enemy. Even after he gets strong. Even against folks much weaker than him. MC's go to strategy is to get beaten, get up, recieve more beating, get up, repeat, shock the opponent with getting up numerous times and then the fight gets resolved somehow. No joke, this is how most, if not all, fights the protagonist is part of go. Ultimately the story just opens a bag of martial artists, throws them at the "good guys" and is like "Yo fight those, coz reasons". The conflicts are explained with the martial arts equivalent of technobabble. I've noticed that some people are writing about "amazing plot twists", so let me warn you beforehand - there are none. And by that I don't mean the the plot twists are weak or predictable. I mean that the story has nothing that could be called a plot twist. One thing I really liked is that at one point in the story, a character acknowledges that even the strongest martial artist will die if they get shot. Which was nice until I realized this makes one of the core setting void. You see, in The Breaker, the "civilians" and the martial artist societies are separated, as mixing would result in conflict and martial artists are way too overpowered for the regular world, at least that's how it's explained to as. What isn't explained though, couldn't the police just shoot them if they start making too much ruckus? Now, for the art - especially at the start, the illustrations of The Breaker look like shoujo artstyle trying to fit shounen story. Main characters are bishounen, the background is plain and the character frequently break into chibi forms or "typical anime reaction faces". Which, as you can imagine considering the main genres of The Breaker, disrupts the atmosphere. It breaks The Breaker. As with the badly timed comical relief, the series also suffers from intrusive fanservice that serves no purpose. Well, yes, fanservice usually serves no purpose other than being a fanservice, but this setting is an especially bad place for it. Luckily, the art issue gets better and as you're getting through later volumes, there are less and less missplaced "funny" faces and fanservice. The art itself also gets better and particulary in the last few volumes some very well drawn pages can be seen. Overal, The Breaker is just a mediocre martial arts story that isn't exactly bad, but also isn't exactly good.

Community Discussion

Synopsis

Yi "Shioon" Shi-Woon's everyday life at Nine Dragons High School—which consists of beatings from fellow student Chang-Ho and his gang—is far from ideal. But one day, a mysterious man named Han Chun-Woo spots one of these beatings and, instead of offering support, brands Shioon a coward for refusing to fight back, adding insult to injury. To Shioon's surprise, he finds out that Chun-Woo is the new substitute English teacher at his school. Tired of the daily abuse, Shioon decides to enroll at a martial arts academy to learn how to defend himself. On the way there, he stumbles upon Chun-Woo in a predicament—cornered in an alley by a group of angry men! Provoked, Chun-Woo suddenly dispatches them using martial arts techniques, which Shioon covertly records. Later, he uses this recording to blackmail Chun-Woo into teaching him to defend himself. Reluctantly, Chun-Woo agrees, and Shioon is soon thrust into the world of martial arts, known as Murim. However, Shioon is naive and unaware of his master's shady past and the unseen underbelly of society. How will Chun-Woo manage to teach Shioon and help him survive in the world of Murim? [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Burillion

Recommended

I have this tendency to read the first chapter of a manga / Manwha i find interesting from the synopsis and cover art and if I'm not intrigued by the first chapter i move on, but do not fear The Breaker was not something that i "moved on" after the first chapter. This Manwha had me up from 11:30pm all the way to 6:00am!. I'm sure you have all had some sort of anime or manga that has kept you up through the night, making your eyes betray you forcing your eye lids to close as if your eyes were pulling the curtains down,shutting out the light telling you to sleep. BUT!, all of a sudden a new character or plot develops snapping those eyes back into action. The Breaker is one of those things. Story: From the very first chapter the story had my eyes glued to my Ipod ( Yes i read manga / Manwha before i go to sleep on my Ipod. ) making my brain force my fingers to swipe the screen down to advance the story, and i gotta say during the entire time i was reading "The Breaker" i had a smile plastered on my face. I'm not a Veteran when it comes to judging stories, considering i haven't read much Manga / Manwha but i can't deny that i enjoyed the story immensely. Art: The Artwork can be described in just one word. A Masterpiece. Well...Two words >.> and it only gets better and better as the Artist grows familiar with the Protagonist and the antagonists of the story. Character: The protagonist Yi, Shi-woon goes through amazing character development and there is absolutely 0 dull moments when following the Protagonist and same with his fellow companions. The synopsis already tells you the basis of the story ( If you are reading this review without reading the synopsis, Read the synopsis then come back -_- ) and Chun-Woo is exactly the same 0 dull moments with him. Same can be said for Lee Shiho. Enjoyment: Look i read about 50 chapters from 11:30pm - 6:00am and i gotta say the entire time i just had a smile plastered on my face and even while waiting for the bus to go to school i was smiling remembering all the hardships the Characters went through and no anime or Manga / Manwha has done that to me before, so yeah 10/10 for enjoyment and when i finished all the 72 chapters i had an even bigger smile on my face knowing that there was a Sequel. Overall: I'm gonna keep it simple. 10/10 by far my favorite Manga / Manwha and i know i cant compare a Manwha / Manga to a anime but in terms of enjoyment it surpasses a lot of anime, if not all. Thank you for reading my First review ill be doing a review on The Breaker: New waves ( The Breaker's Sequel ). Once Again thank you for reading my first review and i promise to improve on my writing >.>.

74 found helpfulMar 9, 2015

YourLeader

Not Recommended

Have these reviewers never seen a Chinese wuxia drama? Coming up with cool martial arts moves is in so many wuxia dramas, it's really nothing special. 4/10 --- Mild spoilers --- The disciple here is easily the most annoying protagonist I've ever seen in any manga - courage and intelligence are not mutually exclusive, and not knowing when to back off can backfire so easily if not for the copious amounts of plot armor equipped by the protagonist. Unlimited spirit = "You cannot keep me down!"? Just break his legs and move on, kid ain't Wolverine. And when people are trying to save your life, please stoptrying to throw it away. Let's not forget how hypocritical he was when he stops his master from killing someone that offers up his life, but then proceeds to almost kill another person when his friend was threatened. I'm sure some people would defend him "He didn't know how much strength he was using", but as far as I know, a concrete smashing fist is pretty lethal when applied to a human head. Art: Why are the women unnecessarily sexualised? That's not usually an issue to me, just another problem in a multitude of issues this manga faces. The chibi drawings are overly used, jarring, and almost seems to be screaming "Laugh now! Look, the atmosphere and tone has changed, I'm making a joke!" Fight scenes are a mess and moves are really just the same, no matter how many names you come up with - huge burst of ki or speed. Plot: What plot? Let's conveniently forget all about the pill the disciple consumed, even though it's exceedingly rare. Everything is just a stepping stone to Goomoonryong's showdown with the alliance, and completely forgotten and irrelevant after he gets there.

44 found helpfulMar 23, 2018

SirHellfire

Recommended

So for those that don't know I like to learn something every time I read a manga or watch an anime. Case in point 'The Breaker' is a Manwha which is a Korean manga and a Manhua is a Chinese manga, just so you know what those mean, now TO THE REVIEW. The Breaker, at first, looks like it's going to be one of those bully revenge stories, but thank Christ it wasn't, it's about (correct me if I'm wrong) the world of underground martial arts and what happens when people who have apparent monstrous amount of Ki fight. I only thought Ki was the fundamentalpart of Buddhist medicine and that one martial art I've forgot (Good job brain), But if you can manifest Ki the way they do in the manga.... I want right now. To the art, it's really fucking good, the time and effort that someone put into it is evident, from the comedy moments where everyone looks like those chibbi vinyl figures you can buy, to the moments when the person speaking is getting serious, and when someone gets REALLY. FUCKING. ANGRY. At the end, the art just brings home the same feeling that those in the actual manga would be feeling, the sense of "I really do want to be near this guy right now." The characters, okay at first I thought the teacher was a dick but he turned out to be alright, the student filled the role of "Guy who has potential and doesn't know when to quit." really well and that nurse chick was also kinda fun. I am willing to say that The Breaker is probably my favorite manga to date, above even Tokyo Ghoul and people who know me know I LOVE Tokyo Ghoul. Also this manga probably has one of the single best ending arc's ever, wrapping up most of the problems presented while setting up for the sequel The Breaker: New Waves (Go read it if just as good if not better). If I had to nit-pick the one thing I didn't like was the fact that the student didn't really have a love interest, I mean there was a girl that he obviously cared for but the lad didn't even get a kiss, a minor thing compared to the rest of the manga though. So if you have a spot for a action-martial-art-finding-oneself manga The Breaker will most definitely scratch that itch. Goodbye me brethren, see you in the next one.

30 found helpfulDec 8, 2014