Ranker's Return
Genre: Action, Adventure, Gaming
A new webtoon (manhwa) that I recently stumbled over during my quest to find interesting manga. One point to note is that there are 2 versions of this manga published - one is an incomplete version and the other is an ongoing version (2021). Let's say that this manga has some similarities with 'The Gamer' which I believe many of you might be familiar with but it does also have some uniqueness. Let's get on to my personal review of this manga.
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Kang Hyunwoo - protagonist
IGN (old) - MeleeGod ; IGN (new) - Kang Hyunwoo
He was the super rich successor of the corporation 'Damsu Construction' and came from an affluent family. When his family lost their wealth, he was forced to work as a part-timer in a convenience store. He decided to get back into Arena once again in order to make money and get revenge.
Kwon Youngchan - male friend
He is a childhood friend of Kang's and has taken care of him since they were kids. Kwon is a faithful friend who stood by Kang through his dark days and always tried to help Kang out. He is the one responsible for bringing Kang back into Arena. Kwon acts as Kang's manager throughout the manga and helps make him popular among the viewers.
Jung Hanbaek - antagonist
He is the son of the partner of Kang's father's business. Jung's father was responsible for the collapse of Damsu Construction and the reason why Kang's family is broke. Jung is also active in Arena and plays under the banner of a professional gaming company.
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The story revolves around the protagonist Kang Hyunwoo who was the number 1 player in the game 'Arena'. His reason for playing Arena was simply for fun and not as a means of earning income since he came from an affluent family and was the heir to the super rich corporation ' Damsu Construction'. The company collapsed, making Kang's family lose all their wealth and the reason for this was due to the business partner of Kang's father. Thus, Jung Hanbaek became the mortal enemy of Kang for the rest of the manga.
Most manga similar to this possess a 'rags to riches' theme but this contains the opposite - 'riches to rags'. There are stories of how people have fallen off their pedestals in real life and lost all their wealth mostly due to consequences of their own actions but here Kang's family was duped off their wealth. This created a fire within Kang and gave him the motivation to restart playing Arena with a new profile.
Right off the bat, it is shown that Kang is over-powered for his level and it might put some people off from this manga but it is later revealed that Kang's strength comes from his knowledge of the game mechanics and not because of his stats/gear. There are instances where Kang is aware of his shortcomings and knows when to call it quits. I would say that this manga is a combination of an OP protagonist coupled together with character development in some scenarios (mostly inclined towards OP).
I would definitely recommend this to readers out there who are also gamers (myself included) as the terminologies and elements present in this manga are easy to relate to.