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Warrior’s Afterlife

The Plot : 8/10

The yandere : 8/10

The artwork : 9/10

Author/artist : Babsot

The warrior has just died, but instead of passing on to the other world, someone picked him up and taking him to a demon world. An interesting premise right from the start.

The warrior died in the hands of people whom he helped in his lifetime. Ungrateful and greedy human being… The human world where he lived in was suffering from demonic manifestations that appeared randomly from time to time. It was their reality. The warrior was a skilled fighter who was unbeatable. He was loved and praised by the people for his skill and (somewhat reluctant) altruistic nature. This made the King jealous and his advisors urged him to kill the hero.

Come back to the present, the warrior’s observant nature made him an active subject in the demon world. He watched Demi, the demon who helped him closely, perplexed by the demon’s muted perversion. His inner observations were funny to read. For example, he was spot on thinking that Demi’s attire is rather perverted even for a demon.

The warrior’s smart and observant nature helped the plot progressing faster. Demi was not as simple as he was trying to convey. But he was rather innocent too. This cute side has made the warrior smitten. This helped him to go beyond the human x demon animosity and lifelong vengeance, and finally came around to forgive Demi for what he has done.

The story is very smutty with less usual pairing. The yandere is the uke. If you feel that the art is somewhat familiar, yup! This came from the same author who wrote Lima Syndrome. Compared to the other title, Warrior’s Afterlife is definitely way more wholesome.

With a less travelled plot/premise, excellent characterisation and superb art, this manhwa deserves a solid 8/10 easy!

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The Younger Prince Wishes to Marry His Ex-Private Tutor

The plot : 7/10

The yandere : 8/10

The artwork : 7/10

Author/artist : Uwoichiba

This is a simple smutty plot what plot yandere read with unexplainable isekai backstory. How do I differentiate them? Just remove the isekai backdrop and there is almost no change to the plot.

Claris was re-born in the world of an otome game. She realised that this was an otome game when she met Leoford, the prince and target capture in the game. She is just an NPC and she knew that there will be another heroine come along in the story. Claris worked as Leoford’s private tutor and she taught him moral compass and how to control his power. This fundamentally affected Leo who is obsessive in nature.

When Leoford’s subtle hints did not go through Claris’ mind (which was quite acceptable since she was 24 and Leo was 16), Leo was forced to take the more forceful approach (kidnap, drug, rape). Claris who has resigned and was hoping to get a marriage prospect was subjected to his torment and selfish desire.

It was revealed later on, that Leo was sabotaging Claris’ aspects of life and actively pining since he was younger. He wanted her as his wife and nothing could stop him. Only one chapter out and there may be another one coming out soon!

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Oh how I love this series!

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Elixir of the Sun

The Plot : 8/10

The yandere : 8/10

The artwork : 9/10

Artist : Song Yi

Author : Solddam, KONN, One (둥그라미)

I love my yandere to unconditionally infatuated with their love interest. I mean, there can be a reason or a trigger that kickstart their fascination, but down the line, “unconditional” love is what makes a yandere for me. This, of course as selfless as a yandere can be. I mean, how unconditional can a love be if he would rather confining you in a cage rather than letting you go?

However, yandere’s act of “selfishness” in my book is always rooted from their fear and inability to part from their love interests. This is the key of what makes a yandere for me. That is why, I am not 100% sold with Dhan, the main male character of Elixir of the Sun, being a pure-bred yandere man. I will tell you why.

In the Great Sun Empire, there is a tale of healer goddess called Siyo who is destined to be murdered and betrayed by her slaves. The slaves and Siyo have perished but their descendants are still living around the empire and its surrounding kingdoms. Bayan is an outcast in a Siyo village. She has different attributes and minimum healing skill. But fate brought her to the doorstep of the mad emperor of the Great Sun Empire, Dhan.

The plot itself is quite detailed and interesting with fantasy background. The earlier chapters are quite heart-wrenching, and successfully setting up Bayan’s tragic backstory. She will not meet Dhan until 20 chapters in, but I love slow burn when it is done right.

With the original Siyo’s traitor servant’s blood in his body, Dhan is cursed with the everlasting thirst that consumes his body. Not a single second in his life, he’s able to quench this thirst, until he got a taste of Bayan’s blood. Now, imagine you are in perpetual withdrawal and a person literally has a drug blood that can relieve the symptom. That is who/what Bayan is for Dhan initially.

I mean it is a nice set up for drama and angst, but not a satisfying yandere construct for me, especially when the yandere man is told to be in this state until the last few chapters. There also seems to be a minimal moral dilemma from making Bayan/siyo as a drug livestock.

Their relationship feels organic though. As a character, Bayan is a little bit of Mary Sue. A likeable Mary Sue, but still. I get why people love her. I get why Dhan seems to fall for her right from the beginning. Although I am not sure if it is mainly because of her blood… or perhaps both. Dhan is refreshingly pragmatic and smart, and I love it when the writer is showing these things rather than telling us.

Anyway, as a standalone story, this manhwa has a nice arc to follow, unique story line and a possessive as hell (but progressive) male lead. It might not be a satisfying yandere read for me due to the foundational flaw above, but who knows… you may like it more than I do as I tend to have some quirks about a story that are unusual.

So don’t let it deter you. Read it if you have not already. It is already completed and we are currently entering the side stories.

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New Male Yandere Alert

I Run Away from the Hunter

Still ongoing and 20 or so chapters. Certified male yandere, at least from the novel spoiler. Interesting premise and world building, quite engaging with the humor and refreshing characterisation. The art is also great! Fingers crossed, it will stay this way throughout!

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Descent

The Plot : 7/10

The yandere : 8/10

Author : Sam Mariano

Even if the plot and setting are quite simplistic and cliche, the yandere in this book at least makes it a worthwhile read. He is the typical extremely possessive, totally unscrupulous, ruthless and unapologetic, occasionally mocking, endearingly caring, and unexpectedly tender billionaire slash rapist.

Did I hear ‘rapist’? Yeah, you heard it right. This novel is full of unapologetic non-con and dub-con sex, kidnapping, blackmailing, scheming and murder, yet the romance part can make us readers swoon. In other words, the perfect comfort yandere read.

Halley was attending her best friend’s bachelorette party when her ex sent her a text message asking her to come and help. Little did she know, her reckless albeit selfless decision that night brought her to the path of Calvin Cutler who did not hesitate even a bit of robbing her virtue. Unfortunate for her, Calvin was not satisfied only with one encounter and continued his path of slow descent into utter obsession.

Some of depravities that he has done in the name of his “love” for Halley:

He uprooted her from her home and relocated her to his home without consent.

He drugged and kidnapped her and put her in house arrest, under constant surveillance.

He impregnated her on purpose to reduce her chance of leaving.

He controlled what he wears and eats and demanded her complete submission.

He murdered bad men around Halley. Not saying that they did not deserve it!

I see a lot of readers complained about Halley’s seemingly lack of backbones. But honestly, her acceptance of her fate and Calvin’s controlling and manipulative behaviour is rather refreshing in a fictional book. For once I wanted to see the female lead to have self-awareness of what kind of a man they are getting into, yet they tolerate and accept it. In a mainstream Hollywood media, this is rare.

Anyway, it is not the type of book that aims to make you ponder. But it scratches the itches, alright.

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Stockholm Syndrome

The plot : 7/10

The yandere : 7/10

The artwork : 8/10 (season 1) and then 6/10 (season 2)

Artist : Pache

Author : Kimpa

A household name for intense toxic yaoi smut, this title has been around for awhile. The official version of the manhwa is slowly catching up with Raw. A quite decent read, although it loses quite a bit of the steam in terms of plot cohesiveness as well as the quality of the art. This manhwa works best when it embraces the psychological dark goodness aspect, but it becomes quite heart-warming on the later chapters and in my opinion it was a poor choice of the author.

Jeong-in was left with no choice but submitted to Seung-hyun’s whim when the younger roommate extort him with a secretly taped sex video. The manhwa brushed briefly the taboo aspect of having a boy to boy romance, which could give quite a realistic flavor, but unfortunately the author did not really flesh out this aspect.

The psychological extortion served as a great thriller fuel. I enjoyed a lot reading the horror of knowing that someone that the main character has always kinda looked down on now having the upper hand and using it against him. Scary premise and nice execution…

Until the separation arc in the middle and their reunion. It felt like the manhwa was written and drawn by two different groups. It is really disappointing, as this manhwa may get to be the next Lima Syndrome or Sadistic Beauty BL story in terms of its unrestrained approach to hardcore yandere thriller. There are elements of details in the earlier chapters that are quite nice to read, like the complex characterisation of Jeong-In. He is not the most likeable main character, but his way of thinking is realistic and believable. However he was rendered down to become a 2D shell of what he used to be when we arrived at the stockholm syndrome ark.

Anyway, such a pity for a quite promising story!

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New Yandere Alert!

Naughty Boyfriend

Aka The Obscene Male Friend

Reading the first few released chapters, it reminded me so much of “Obscene Baguette Bread”, as the plot was kicked of by a similar “baguette” situation. Lo and behold, the author of both manhwas is the same person!

The plot is rather simplistic with almost every chapter is smut-fested. FMC and MMC have been best friends for 13 years and the one sided under-pretation from the FMC side on the whole situation kept the movement stagnant. The yandere “sex friend” boyfriend is very sweet but he can be really manipulative. Fortunately for him, the FMC chose to focus on the wrong thing most of the time!

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Devil Sugar Blood

The plot: 7/10

The yandere: 7/10

The artwork: 8/10

Author: Wagon

Artist: Fyoryu

Coming from the same author and artist as “Chase the Dragon”, Devil Sugar Blood is more fleshed out in terms of plot development. There were not as many loose ends at the end of this story, compared to Chase the Dragon. There was conflict, climax and resolution. Character’s motivation and ability to communicate clearly is still questionable, but at least they are interesting enough to carry the story forward.

Following Angelo “Angel” Dombre, the villain purebred vampire from Chase the Dragon, who was on the run after making an enemy of Ian Summer, the story started when he had no choice but taking refugee in his lover/enemy’s mansion. Herman Black is a powerful dragon who has a long history back to the time when Angel was still a child.

Angel is a tsundere on steroids. He can’t seem to say anything, especially to Herman, without showing his prickly self after few sentences. Herman seems to be used to this, patiently taking every jabs directed at him, as if he was guilty of something. Well, let’s say that the supposed revelation is to show that Angel’s hostility towards him was justified.

… except that it’s not. Angel had contributed a great deal in the predicament. However, his self centred attitude did not allow him to reflect on those mistakes. Not the most admirable trait, you see. But he was more memorable than Daniel Winter for sure.

In terms of the art, it was great! The artist seems to have improved since Chase the Dragon. The style was quite distinct and I love Angel’s bratty character design.

The yandere was not the most forceful, but he was definitely obsessed. They both demanded to be the only one and number one from each other.

It would make a good short read, palate cleanser in between heavier titles. I am curious to see more of this universe fleshed out. Fingers crossed we will get to see more from the artist author duo!

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Chase the Dragon

The plot: 6/10

The yandere: 7/10

The artwork: 8/10

Author: Wagon

Artist : Fyoryu

It has potential, especially in the beginning, despite of the overused runaway bride trope. Daniel Winter is a kind half breed werewolf, engaged to Ian Summers who is his opposite, being a popular and dominant pure bred dragon. Due to his heritage, Daniel has extremely low self esteem. He fell in love at the first sight towards Ian and secretly overjoyed/nervous when he learned that he will become Ian’s roomate in the college dorm.

The series started in the recent time, when Daniel run away from Ian after their engagement and managed to hide from his clutch for awhile. We did not have to wait long, literally in the first chapter, Ian found him and took him back to his mansion. There were forced sex, confinement, forced body modification (tattoo) and blackmail, among other yandere craziness depicted in the manhwa, which brought us to a conclusion that Ian is just the worst.

But then the flashback slowly revealed, in the hope to paint us the readers, a new light of Ian and Daniel’s relationship. Unfortunately this was just not very effective.

First of all, the entire ordeal is caused by miscommunication that can easily be clarified if only Ian and Daniel stopped trying to read each other’s mind while at the same time expecting the other party to understand their wishes. Ian thinks Daniel hates him, and just be with him because he was coerced. Daniel thinks Ian plans to imprint other woman, and he can’t voice out his displeasure because of his severe low sef esteem due to his status as half breed.

Secondly, there is not much compelling reason for us to root for Daniel and Ian. The storytelling is a bit all over the place. The conflict is rather unconvincing. By the end of the story, readers are left perplexed. That’s it? All the mellodrama had stopped just because of the confessions? The what about the baby and the witch? Was not the baby Ian and Daniel’s child? And what would become of the failed imprints?

Aaargh!

The artwork though, is the saving grace. It is pretty to look at. I like the design of the characters. The yandere is quite typical but still making an int character.

I wish the story was more concise and coherent. It could have been a decent 8/10 reads worthy of praise.

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New yandere alert

No lengthy review, just potential new yandere title!

Non Zero Sum

(Manhwa and Light Novel)

To be honest, at this point Non Zero Sum is not a certified Yandere manhwa/book yet. The three men around Hyewon seems to be obsessed with him, but it is more of a kuudere or sadodere. But it is still very early, and so far it is quite promising!

Personally, I like the light novel more. But the translation is still very slow, 2 chapters a month. You can read them here. The psychological element is strong here. Please mind yourself before diving in, there are loads of trigger warnings.

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Bongchon’s Bride

The plot : 9/10

The yandere : 8/10

The artwork : 9/10

Artist and author : Son Gaepi

Reading this manhwa feels nostalgic. Perhaps due to the art style and the rural everyday life story telling that reminds me a lot of classic artist like Mitsuru Adachi. In the sea of new pristine hyper-realistic art style, surprisingly Bongchon’s Bride does not feel outdated at all.

Bongchon’s Bride is a tale of a noble man’s son, born from a concubine who may or may not be the noble man’s biological offspring. But seeing how the nobleman treated him, it was implied that Soongap was a child born from an affair or wedlock. Let alone like a precious son, Soongap was treated like a slave. His father did not acknowledge him, his mother was always absent even if she was physically around. Soongap was simply neglected since childhood. After his mother’s suicide, Soongap soon learned that he could not count on anyone in that house.

He was then sold to the nobleman’s brother’s household at the outskirts of the kingdom. Even though slow, life was predictable and good. Until he was involved in an accident and made him a broken goods. He then met a scary giant called Bongchon who was surrounded by gossips. Rumour had it that he killed people in the past and he was so strong but rather stupid.

Soongap thought he was rather slow too, since Bongchon bought him, a slave good for nothing, for 50 sacks of rice. Bongchon brought him home, treated his wounds, fed him and clothed him, and at some point, introduced Soongap as his bride to his blind, deaf and rather sickly mother.

Slowly Soongap realised that this man was unlike what people in the village thought of him. He might be a giant, but he was a gentle giant, alright. He was not stupid, he was just too considerate of others since Bongchon was too strong. He was extremely afraid of hurting other people. Soongap opened his heart to him and came to love his master/husband.

A lot of endearing moments in this manhwa, but I can’t help feeling anxiou, since the stakes are high. Life as a slave during the time when slavery is allowed is indeed not easy. Relying on each other, Soongap and Bongchol strove to live happily ever after.

The yandere here is the third son of the nobleman father of Soongap. He was born from the last concubine, the legitimate wife of the nobleman. He was extremely attached to Soongap when they were kids. This attachment became unhealthy as they grew up. He was a quite complex character with grey motivations. I found his character quite compelling and his ending feels bittersweet.

Bongchon’s Bride is a decent read, packed with romance, slice of life and enough tension to keep it moving. Oh and I would recommend you to search for the R version. The smut is hot and sweaty 🥵

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The Man’s Game

The plot : 7/10

The yandere : 8/10

The artwork : 7/10

The artist and author : Lee Chae-Yeong

Everything is indeed the man’s game. This webcomic/manhwa is a cute romantic comedy that has a bit of every trope. Misunderstanding, fake relationships, childhood secret, secret guardians and so on and on. A bit too simplistic and cliche sometimes, but packed enough punch for an ok read.

Yoon Ina has always been scared of her neighbour, Yoo Gunho. He was rather stoic, quiet, sarcastic and the rumour has it, vengeful. But Ina’s long time crush Yoo Junhyung is Gunho’s brother, so Ina can’t ignore him too much. He seems to hate her as well. So why when there was a misunderstanding that brought them close together, Gunho seems to… enjoy it a bit too much?

As a yandere, Gunho may not be the most obvious. But he is rather crafty and manipulative. His obsession with Ina starts early. He does not mind resorting to coercion or extortion to give himself the best kind of chance to be with Ina. Thankfully for him, she does not see this as red flag and misplaced her anger.

Anyway, this one may not get the full mark, but still can serve as enjoyable palate cleanser before diving back to the crazier reads.

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402 Followers! Whoa. (Although most probably are @maleyanderecafe’s followers too lol. Thanks for the reshare, Boo!)

What would you like to see more from this blog?

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The Night Sun

The plot: 6/10

The yandere: 7/10

The artwork: 8/10

Artis/author: Bam Man Deuk

There you go, found another plot, what plot type of manhwa for us degenerates. I do not pretend to understand what in the makjang world this manhwa is taking place in. It is full of smut, the non con type of smut. There is confinement as well and full blown manipulation. Poor MC.

The MC is entangled between an older man ahjussi and his nephew. The uncle is extremely manipulative and possessive, while the nephew longs for MC in a more healthy way but even this did not last long. They both seem to view the MC as an object to own and possess.

If there is anything, I am rather tired of passive MCs who are flipped left and right by the plot without any agency. I used to be easily satisfied by this type of story, just because Male Yandere contents are rather rare. But well, let’s say that after Paljae… after Seuseu… my standard has been bumped up exponentially. I expect more from our dear author, whether it is plot, character growth, or just general coherence in storytelling.

If you need a quick yandere fix, however, this is pretty decent read, I will not argue. I mean, look at the art. It makes up 50% of it! But damn if I wanted more. And I do want more. I want the complete package and not just having a toxic relationship depiction as a shock value to differentiate from the rest. Especiall that toxic yandere men have now started to become mainstream…

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Paljae

The Plot: 9.5/10

The yandere: 9.5/10

The artwork: 10/10

Artist and author : Marliygabe

I just can’t hold myself from sharing this title any longer. I have not caught up with the latest chapter yet, but I can’t can’t can’t wait anymore!! I have been on a streak lately, finding new titles that I have seen before and this time, I might as well stroke a treasure chest.

This manhwa is just… perfect. If perfection existed in the world of drawn fiction, then this is close to that. It is like having your favourite danmei novel being drawn into life, but the twist is, it is an original manhwa that is not based on any novel, which says more about the author’s dedication to the creative process.

When reading original manhwa nowadays, often I found that the plots are quite simple, as expected since artist may not be balanced in their strength of drawing vs writing. That is why, we get to see artist and writer collaborations. But reading Paljae made me feels like I was taken to explore a well written novel adaptation. What with its story line, plot devices, world building and characterisation.

God the characters… the writing made them all alive! Not only the main ones but also the secondary ones too. The backstory, motivation, happiness, anguish are all so compelling to read. The writer is masterful in developing each arcs to feel seamless and moving forward following the main arc.

Munryeong is an ascendant who lives his solitary and reclusive life, minding his own business, until the arrival of Paljae a mysterious demon-like being who taken his life in a whirlwind. Munryeong had to raise Paljae who is still assuming a child-like body and teach him about the way of living, including human emotions. At a glance, the premise is quite similar as Tian Guan Ci Fu and Scum Villain’s Self Saving System combined. However it is unique on its own and as original as it can get.

The yandere scenes were drawn so beautifully it will give us morsels lots of butterflies. And the best part is, it is not just one or two scenes but the essence of Munryeong and Paljae’s relationship itsef was built on this notion that for Paljae, Munryeong is his everything. The artist is feeding male yandere lovers like no other. I swear in my next life, if possible I want to be her assistant!! But the reason is not this alone.

You can feel from this novel that the creator is very intelligent. She cleverly used elements of Korean and Chinese folklores and fantasies to enrich her world building. Her writing style is also exceptional. I love how she believes her readers to hang in there when she just started a new arc with new facts and play of fast forward or backwards. I also love how she shows instead of tells on subtle nuances in the story. As a reader, you are forced (happily) to pay attention to the expression, focus of the panel, dialogue and even colouring to get the clue on why things are the way they are. I love how she trusts readers to be smart enough to pick these clues up instead of spelling everything out loud.

And I am not even talking about the drawing yet… God. The artwork is beautiful. It is like watching classic Eastern painting came to motion. I feel privileged to be able to enjoy it and quite surprised by how underrated this manhwa seems to be.

It is a well rounded gem of a manhwa, with outstanding marks in almost all points. Do yourself a favor and read it. And if you can, support the author by purchasing from the official means!

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Flip Turn

The plot: 8/10

The yandere: 6/10

The artwork: 8/10

Artist and author: Baek Sang-eon

Our main character, Yeonsoo, is a swim instructor who is hired by a famous actor, Joohwan to train him for an upcoming role in a movie. Little did they know that the intersection of their path will be the start of an almost instant infatuation and obsession.

Everyone in this story has a baggage and needs therapy. Yeonsoo is a “dog” raised by his master in a BDSM roleplay. The rejections he received in his formative years affected his self esteem badly. He often wallows in self pity, leading to a destructive path. He became an easy prey for his master who targeted her low self esteem.

We do not get that much flashback yet on their past interactions, except from what’s being told in their dialogue. (I just wanted to pause here and let our minor readers to mind themselves. Aside from the obvious smutty content, the displayed BDSM acts here are not healthy, namely the lack of clear boundaries, no safe words, sexual coercion, etc) But I hope that we will get to see more of this on Season 2.

I am conflicted to recommend this title, tbh, as the master here is not the typical romatisied yandere man we often see as a male lead in manhwas. He is more… real… like how we would meet a toxic obsessive man in real life. He manipulated, coerced, love-bombed Yeonsoo to follow his whim. He is also a sadist who seems to enjoy Yeonwoo’s sufferings. This may not be my cup of tea, but one’s trash may be someone else’s gold. I decided to recommend this title anyway just in case someone can enjoy it more. I mean, look at his unhinged face when he realised that he can no longer control Yeonsoo.

Teeheee. I love it when they suffer!

Anyway, the male lead may be a million times better than the master, but he also has his own baggage. He fell in love a tad bit too fast and too deep. He was hyper fixated on becoming a savior for Yeonsoo. But at least he is likeable and this “flaw” actualy made him feels more human.

It is quite melodramatic, so you may find yourself a little bit impatient when you have to follow a prolonged build up before the climax of a conflict.

The art is quite good. The size difference is so yum. However, some may find the expression of the characters to be a bit stiff.

I am curious at what will happen in season 2. This may not be the best yandere read. But it is a solid 7/10 in my book!