You can get it from their site here: http://www.ipitydafoo.com/ although you will have to download it.

 

This manga got a mention in the Official Recommendations thread for manga not so long ago. When I read the post, all the memories came flooding back. I liked the original a lot, and I find that I'm really appreciating this series. The Breaker doesn't serve to be forgotten.

Looking back, all those points of frustration at the end of the first part made this a much stronger and memorable story. Shiho's death, Shioon's bullying by the trash gangster kid - all those things, as well as the nicer moments like Shioon being taught by Chun-Woo, meeting and interacting characters from the martial arts world, serve to create a tangible sense of history and realness.

They've made this the definitive story of secret martial art societies, and of the weakling turned into a fighter.

The sequel, New Waves, centers around a great storyline of Shioon facing false disciples claiming to be taught by his master who are breaking down the barriers between the insular martial arts world and the rest of society. His master having gone on the run at the ending of the first part.

I really, really like this false disciples plot element. First of all, I've not seen it done before in the first place, and secondly it's cool. You can see how it's interesting in a few ways. It's brilliant in the challenge it puts to Shioon. The boy doesn't know if his master is actually responsible for this upheaval, but he has faith in him and decides to defend his missing teacher's honor, and show the REAL teachings to the pretenders. It's really awesome, in a way I wish I could do justice to.

Shioon doesn't feel like the typical shonen protagonist AT ALL. He shares the traits, yes, but the overall storytelling and tangibility of the events and the manga's world really distinguishes him. He's shaped by the storyline and his relationships in a way that Ichigo from Bleach or Luffy from One Piece never was. The writer is just a lot more talented than nearly all the big-name manga authors.

I can't even remember the last time I could imprint on a character to this extent. There's one scene in the latest chapters where Shioon is fighting one of the head false disciples. He's midway through the process of overcoming his shattered-ki-core dilemma (which is great since he's progressing, and it's even nicer that the author has him forced into battle prematurely), and is still outclassed. The elder of the Sun-Woo clan is watching in hiding, observing him and wondering what he'll do as Shioon reaches the conclusion that he's got no chance. He's certain Shioon will turn and run.

Shioon puts up his fists and watches his opponent, preparing for the next move. It's epic. How many times have we seen this seen in manga like Bleach or Naruto? The done-to-death determinator scene that has gotten so cheap because it's used over and over and over in manga, anime, hell, Western animation and literature? This was by far the most powerful instance of this scene.

Well. Actually, I do remember. The last character that won me over so thoroughly was Harry Potter.

I think it's one of the all-time great mangas. Maybe only Vinland Saga and Berserk compare favorably, but even then I'm personally placing The Breaker above them.

 

That's all fine and dandy, but there's one thing to keep in mind: It's a manhwa, not a manga.

/snobbery

 

I know that, I used manga anyway.

But thank you for the douchebag condescending post. "Fine and dandy", seriously?

 

See bolded.

But no, you did make a lot of great points about The Breaker. Even if you put manhwa and manga together, there's only a few series that manage to be as consistently good and ... emotional (for lack of a better word) as The Breaker.

 

Lol, no, still fuck you. So often in real life I'll be having a nice discussion/conversation/debate whatever and after someone finishes talking, and then someone will clear their throat and say "Actually..." and proceed to correct a mispronunciation or something equally as stupid. That person has never not been a socially miscalibrated fuck who brings everyone's level down. So congrats on bringing that online.

 

*shrug* Didn't know it was such a sensitive issue for you, but whatever.

Edit: and since this manhwa's been on my mind, how well do you guys think it could be adapted to animation?

 

Andro, I honestly don't see what you think is so great about Shioon. He obtained his 'determination' basically over the course of one day (at the start when he doesn't bring the girl to the thugs). Then he gains strength again in a moment by taking the uber Ki tablet thing. His teacher saves his ass from getting killed. He also has an amazing ability to always stay standing no matter what. This is because apparently he has amzing 'spirit'. He has consistently survived fighting people much stronger than him due to chance rather than skill. Seriously, his character is a pretty typical shounen archetype. It actually would've been more interesting if he was more conflicted about what he was doing, rather than just having faith in his teacher.

I liked a lot of The Breaker, but the ending was frustating for me. And now in New Waves the pace has been so slow, it's hard to read it on a weekly basis and really keep interest. Also, when the artist pulled out the fucking 'the Elder misunderstood his daughter the whole time' thing, it made me so goddamn annoyed. That's always such a cheap plot device.

Gah, anyway, this series has loads of great moments and a lot of it is really good. The setting is great and the characters match it. Or at least they do in the first part. In the second, far less entertaining characters come into play, along with a much slower moving plot as the main character struggles to regain his power. Yes, it's necessary, but a lot of it just isn't that good to read. I do like that he's not just doing an instant recovery and return to badassery, but it's only been very recently that the plot has gotten moving again. So yeah, The Breaker is good - I would classify it as a well-executed Shounen that really has some character - but it's nothing revolutionary, and there is some less than stellar storytelling too.

 

The first part of New Waves is really slow and meandering, I agree. As long as it's on track now, I'm fine with it.

The misunderstanding his grandfather thing is a cheap tool in general, but I liked its use here. The point where he's thinking "You can disappoint me as many times as you want, so please just be alive" was poignant. In this case, I'm not going to let older manga ruin my view of the trope for The Breaker.

It's more of the cumulative effect of the story that makes me like Shioon. Like I said, he has some of those traits from other manga, but his character is built better from the same moments. He's got presence as a real character.

 

Well a lot of my enthusiasm for the story died over the last few chapters of The Breaker and the majority of New Waves. So yeah, whilst I'm excited that things are starting to progress again, I don't think I'll ever be as into it as I had been.

I liked the result of the misunderstanding, but I really did think it was cheap. But I've already begun to think of it as more a standard shounen, so it didn't surprise me much.

Oh, and the art in New Waves has been worse in my opinion. The designs are more effeminate than ever - initially Shioon was drawn a bit differently, and I preferred it.


Anyway, each to his own I suppose.

 

Well, after four years I finally got to check what happened in New Waves in a meanwhile and it was a good decision to wait. I took more chapters than the previous series has for the main character to become as strong as he was at the end of it, but he's finally moving further. And I got in time for a possible final showdown with his master. Not sure if there are any news about it, but I would say that aftermath of this fight is a good moment to end New Waves and start a third series if the author wants to do it again.

And my one, joking, complain about a lack of females was definitely fixed.