Superhuman Era is What MHA Wishes It Was – Top Manhwa Recommendation

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Superhuman Era brings a refreshingly adult perspective to the superhero genre, setting it apart from the more typical manga and manhwa offerings. In comparison to industry heavyweights like “Boku no Hero Academia,” it exudes a sense of maturity and chaos, with a more nuanced approach to storytelling. This adult edge gives it a unique flavor, making it a welcome addition to the crowded superhero genre. If you were looking for a superhero manhwa recommendation look no further! Time to find out what made Superhuman era such a popular manhwa this past year!

The Good

Art

The art in Superhuman Era is spot on, both in quality and in direction. It features well-designed characters whose identity is clear with just one look.

To bring back the MHA comparison, the series takes heavy inspiration from My Hero Academia and its design philosophy and you realize from just reading the first couple of chapters.

The art is also distinctly stylized making it distinct from most manhwa that you’d have read,

A super-human action manhwa lives and dies by the depiction of its fights and I am glad to report that Superhuman Era goes hard with amazing dynamic battle scenes that will make you pump with adrenaline.

Setting

In a world overrun by monstrous beings that threaten humanity, a select few humans have been gifted with extraordinary abilities. These superhumans, numbering less than ten, have dedicated themselves to protecting humanity from the looming threat. But not all of them are selfless in their use of their powers, and behind the scenes, there are those who use their abilities for nefarious purposes. As the danger posed by the monsters grows, the conflicting agendas of these various factions collide in a tale that is unafraid to delve into the adult and the violent.

Pacing

Since our Mc is a student that passes some of his time in school this is a topic that we cannot help but explore. It has been a pain point for many series, for example, it seems so unnatural that one day we see Deku saving the day, and in the next two chapters we go back to school, where the gang is getting ready for a school festival. It just feels unnatural and makes pacing a mess.

However, in Superhuman Era, the time that we spend at school feels like a time full of character development, never overstaying its welcome. It is just there for us to see characters interact with each other and grow and right before it feels stale, the story just always knows how to pick it back up. In general, the pacing of the story is excellent. With a perfect balance of going strong and taking a breath, Superhuman Era seems always interesting.

The Big Strength: Characters

All characters have a certain charm to them. They are fully realized, three-dimensional characters with distinct personalities and motivations. Despite this complexity, they remain consistent throughout the story, even as they grow and change in meaningful ways. There is extreme care that has been put into building these characters, which is one of the reasons that make this manhwa feel special.

For example, what made me wanna write about this manhwa was a certain mini-arc of a side character that is by all means a non-factor to the overarching narrative. Here it goes:

There is this teacher character in the story. He appears to be a bland character, someone who is teaching a boring class. Even though he knows that we can see that he deems what he is teaching to be essential for the survival of his students in this dangerous era, constantly trying to grab their attention and communicating how much he cares about them.

The small detail that is central to this seemingly not important background character is that he is a teacher who truly cares about his students.

When the villains attack he risks his life to save his students. The author shows his struggle, he is deathly afraid, he has a family, and he has 1000 valid excuses to stay put. In spite of his fear, he decides to take a step forward and put himself in danger because his students are also like family to him.

At a later date when a student is hurt as a result of the attack, he insists to the government that he is to be constantly updated about his condition. Every single action of this character is not only consistent but also adds depth to this “unimportant” background character.

The author has so much care for the story and his characters that he is not afraid to invest time into showing us mini-stories like this, making his characters shine in the process.

To put it simply, the characters of this manhwa are its main strength, and the author pulls no punches when it comes to character development.
To the contrary he is a character development Mike Tyson

Character identity is so central to Superhuman Era that even the superpowers of the heroes are extensions of their characters and motivation. And nothing can exemplify that better than our MC, who is a very generic character at first. Seemingly fighting just because he has the power to do so.

Throughout his journey though he starts to develop. That lack of direction is showcased by his “generic” powers. Strong, durable, fast, end of the story, a generic superhuman. However, throughout the story, he starts wondering about his purpose, his goals, and his direction in life. And with every realization, he gets closer to his powers “blooming”.

There are many other examples of characters who go through meaningful development or that experience transformation that feels natural throughout the story, but I think that I have hammered this point enough.

The characters in Superhuman Era are complete, three-dimensional characters, and the author is not afraid to invest time into making them shine bright.

The Bad

Some of the Antagonists

As previously mentioned, the characters in this manhwa are generally well-developed and interesting, with the exception of the monster antagonists.

While it is understandable that they may be less complex due to their nature as monsters, it would be nice to see more depth and development given to them as the main antagonists of the story.

One redeeming factor is that the leader of the monsters has yet to be fully introduced and fleshed out and given the author’s track record of creating memorable characters, there is hope that this character will be just as well-written as the rest.

Thankfully, there are a plethora of antagonists and chaotic (evil?) characters that carry the story on their backs from the antagonist’s perspective.

Final Verdict

Ratings:

ART: 9/10

PLOT: 8.5/10

CHARACTERS: 9/10

Overall: 8.8/10

If you are a fan of the superhero genre and you enjoy tales with fully-realized characters that possess distinct personalities, storylines, and motivations, then “Superhuman Era” is worth checking out. It truly is a top manhwa and brings a refreshing perspective to the genre with compelling, well-crafted storytelling making this manhwa recommendation a must-read. Don’t miss out on this manhwa webtoon!