I saw a post about this recently, so I wanted to put my own perspective out there (and maybe get some good recommendations…?):

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I find it really off-putting when the MCs in manhwas are drawn so short and skinny that they practically look like women with short hair. Like, I can understand realistic height differences and different muscle densities, but I really can’t stand it when a 175 cm guy standing next to a 190 cm guy is depicted as a height difference of 150 cm to 190 cm with a frame like a girl’s or an underage kid’s. I also much prefer manhwas with characters who both look like healthy adult males who actually look their age.

I’m not trying to offend anyone, I just realized that my perspective differs from a lot of other readers’. Am I weird for liking the strong-strong, equal dynamics between characters who have similar body sizes and heights?? I also love it when it’s not obvious who is the top or bottom, like they love each other not because of their positions but because of the person itself. Honestly, I just learned the word for versatile couples recently, and I like that even better.

This is my personal reading experience, and these are some manhwas that I dropped due to these reasons:

Can’t Think Straight (the MC looked like an actual college guy at the beginning but seemed to progressively lose his testosterone toward the end chapters…)

Mint Candy Love (the pictures I attached to this post are actually ones of the bottom when he was angry because they were the only scenes where he actually looked like a man)

Alpha Buddy (I really liked this one at first, but the bottom got progressively more and more skinny, and the art style started degrading, and it was really sad…)

But some manhwas that I really liked because of their lack of extreme size differences are:

1995 Youth Report (there’s a height difference, but the bottom is an athlete and is the furthest from tiny and frail)

Nerd Project (this was so good)

Frienemies: Thicker Than Blood (this one is murim themed with non-exaggerated bodies for once)

Unsleep (there is a size difference but the MC still looks like a man)

Yang Ilwoo and I

Red Thread Quest (I also really like it when the MC is sunny, popular, and athletic)

Star struck

And the side couple from Merry Marbling (I really love Kyungbin’s character for some reason)

So if there are any more manhwas with minimal size differences and characters who both look like healthy men their age with a good dynamic… please recommend them to me 🙏. I would also love to hear other people’s perspectives on this.

HOT TAKE: the twinkification