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The Horizon
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Alternative Titles

Japanese: 수평선

Information

Type: Manhwa

Volumes: 3

Chapters: 21

Status: Finished

Published: Mar 30, 2016 to Jul 21, 2016

Genres: Adventure, Drama

Theme: Psychological

Serialization: Comica

Authors: Jeong, Ji-Hoon (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.70¹ (scored by 44,597 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #59²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #154

Members: 95,487

Favorites: 4,809

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Reviews

Filtered Results: 54 / 62

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Jun 13, 2020

Benitobandito

Recommended

I don’t often throw around the word “Masterpiece”, but I think it truly applies to this story.

In just 21 chapters, the author manages to build a believable post-apocalyptic world and attach you to the characters who are traveling through it. The art fits the story extremely well, with its dark, gritty style adding to the already heavy atmosphere of the story.

The Horizon does not hold back in addressing death, fears, and the darkest parts of the human existence, and is, at least through out the majority of the story, extremely nihilistic (or seemingly so).

With a great emphasis on philosophy and addressing the questions ...

Feb 23, 2021

Alkemist_123

Recommended

(No Spoilers)
-translated by Google translator
The Horizon is a Korean work launched in 2016 by Jeong, Ji-Hoon, tells the dramatic story of two children who in the midst of a war, pandemic, world disaster, try to survive and move on.

History 8/10- A simple, yet immersive, heavy and tragic story, brings to the reader several philosophies about humanity, succession etc ... (although sometimes the work does this in an expository way) How a good drama is full of scenes beyond emotions, but they could be better if the work was longer, in such a short time it’s difficult to get so attached to the characters, which would ...

Jul 25, 2020

Reey_Monteiro

Recommended

What to say about The Horizon, undoubtedly one of the saddest and most emotional stories I have ever read and not to mention the very interesting and strong message that the author wanted to pass on to readers.

Although the story has few dialogues between the characters and I don't think this is a problem, the author of the work prefers to emphasize making the reader feel what the characters are going through in each "Illustration"

Even with a few chapters I think the story ended with a golden key.

Each chapter is a new "message".

For those who want to take a look at TH you will ...

Aug 8, 2020

Moonheartsunhead

Recommended

I was hesitant to give this series a 10/10 because it isn't flawless (mainly because the pacing can be a bit off-kilter at times and there isn't a ton of time devoted to developing each of the characters introduced). However, I think a 10/10 series is a series that perfectly conveys what it is aiming to and capitalizes on its strengths to do so. The Horizon is a series that I think does just that: its messages and themes are clear all throughout and it is a master of showing and telling with its narrative. It is an existentialist story in every sense of the ... word: it confronts some of the most painful truths of human existence: we have been made to suffer, in many cases inflict suffering on each other, and we all have to face the deaths of friends, loved ones, and ultimately ourselves. The series looks at the ways that we try to overcome this suffering, the meaning that we find in ourselves, others, and the events of the world around us. Every aspect of the series serves to highlight these ideas and prompt the reader to ask themselves how they will confront these harsh truths.

Story: 9/10

The premise of the story is simple enough: There seems to be some kind of massive war going on that has decimate the country (specific location isn't given), two kids (named "the boy" and "the girl") run into each other in the chaos, work together to survive, and become friends. They run into other people along the way and face many challenges. Special attention is paid to specific challenges and characters that the boy and the girl face and they gradually form their own perspective on the world. There is a lot of suffering in this story as we are shown the impact of war on innocent lives (highlighted even more by the fact that we have no clue what caused the war or what parties are involved), disease, and insanity.

Art: 10/10

The art for this series is amazing mainly because the author was incredibly intentional about how he used it. The author often likes to show his ideas rather than say them. As an example, there is this moment where the boy's thoughts are represented as images that are gradually get more abstract to show that his thinking is spiraling. There are also moments where there are no backgrounds for multiple pages so the reader can digest things that have happened and soak in the expressions on the characters face. But sometimes this minimalism is contrasted with the most gorgeous scenes that you would immediately want to make a background for a phone or computer. There is hope in the midst of the hopeless of this story and that is reflected in the art.

Characters: 8/10

The boy and the girl are interesting characters in that we mainly see them reacting to their circumstances than having conversation (although there is an ample amount of inner dialogue and interactions). Their reactions to what's happening to them are realistic and they differ from each other in their responses: The boy seems to have a "delayed" response to trauma where things don't hit him in the moment but he has a kind of dissociation experience until it hits him later. The girl seems to experience everything immediately and breaks down in the moment. Both of these responses make perfect sense and the author does a good job of conveying them.

The other characters that they have experiences with (namely the strange man and the man in the suit) don't get developed as much but I think they are simply supposed to represent different ways of responding to the cruelty of the world. The man in the suit draws on tropes that we have seen before (a person seeking out a gray sense of justice because of injustice done to them) but it is done tastefully and the interesting thing here is how the boy interacts with him.

There could have been more time devoted to developing the new characters after the timeskip, but the integrity of the story wasn't compromised because of the lack of development.

Enjoyment: 10/10

I was engaged throughout the whole series and felt genuine empathy towards the characters. I enjoy stories that explore these kinds of themes and there were many moments that I was blown away by the execution.

Overall: 10/10

The series did a wonderful job exploring its existential themes and using the art, characters, and narrative to that end. It is story that most people who like psychological tragedies will at least enjoy. Although I rate it as a 10/10, I can see how people would see the issues I raised as evidence that it shouldn't have the rating. At any rate, outside of my subjective enjoyment of the series, I think this at least deserves an 8/10.

Sep 6, 2020

Curiouswanderer

Recommended

Holy crap man, I am nearly on the verge of tears with this manga. It just shows so much of how cruelminded humans can be and just how innocent lives wanna live their own lives without war involved. The art is just so good in this too like we get to see the boy and girls heart breaking perspective on how they got to know each other in the first place. Honestly heart breaking lads like it is DEFINITELY NOT for the faint hearted, especially seeing dead bodies in this. Just so tragic man like it breaks your heart into millions of pieces 😭😭😭

Mar 25, 2023

xNo_va

Recommended

The Horizon is a manhwa that really made me reconsider My Manga List. If I had previously read some masterpieces, then what is this? This is a true work of art, it is a piece of realistic fiction that really makes you reconsider, The Horizon was a #1 for me and many others. This manhwa holds heavy emotion and was one of the few that had made me cry. The horizon completely engulfed me with its simplistic artstyle aswell as its unpredictable plot-twists, the level of character building achieved far surpassed my expectations, and the main refuses to go down a nihilistic path. This was ...

May 13, 2021

NextUniverse

Recommended

(TLDR Review at the bottom, as always, thanks for reading)

Regardless of who you are, we have all tried to answer a question along the lines of "what is the meaning of life?"

Well, today's your lucky day. I bring, the answer… 5 answers…

> 1. the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.

> 2. the existence of an individual human being or animal.

...

Apr 11, 2024

reformed7711

Recommended

i don't know where to start,

at first i started reading it thinking that it was a manga consisting of simple references to the cliche "war is bad, don't fight, love each other"... i wish it was so... this masterpiece, which made me cry for hours nonstop, conveys the good and bad sides of humanity to the reader in every part of it, and with every sentence i read, i have a little more difficulty in deciding who is bad and who is good. the author reflects the conflict in the inner world of human beings, what they can do when they have to in the ...

Feb 25, 2021

goatwitch

Recommended

Wow, it can be hard for me to find something i can truly rate a masterpiece but this is amazing. You can really feel the boys emotions and it makes you think about life. I cried my eyes out but the ending makes up for it, showing that at the end of every tunnel, no matter how dark or long, there will always be light. This is so beautifully written yet sad, I really recommend everyone (who can stand heart-wrenching stories and a little gore) read this because it has so much meaning and displays the cruelty of war and humans.

Jan 11, 2024

Roshett_

Recommended

A wonderful story that I highly recommend reading.

The story is raw and conveys many feelings, there come moments when you feel very distressed. In general, it manages to splendidly transmit the desired sensations.

On the other hand, the art is wonderful and splendidly accompanies the feelings and emotions that the work seeks to convey.

Overall for me it was a solid 9, although I could raise it to a 9.5. The reason is simple, I achieved a certain attachment to the characters, with most of those presented I managed to feel sadness and anguish for what they were experiencing, but things happened so quickly that although I ...

Oct 9, 2020

BigBoiOnDuty

Recommended

Vanitas vanitatum et omnia vanitas

The horizon is one of the most interesting war stories that I've read so far, it tells a story of a boy who's trying to ... survive and preserve his humanity but each and every step of his journey reminds him that there are many awful people on our planet. Despite being only 21 chapters long "The horizon" shows us many different ways in which war influences people, but all of them have one thing in common, it changes innocent civilians into withered versions of themselves. This story is universal, it can take place in every single country on the planet and the suffering, death of the innocent and emotional trauma will follow it whereve it goes

Every character has their own way of percieving the world around them and has been influenced by it in many different ways, some are willing to do anything in order to survive, others have been completely destroyed and their life has changed into one long streak of pain and suffering. In this world no one is safe, main character is oftenly walking along hundreds of nameless corpses which belong to regular people who just haven't been lucky. This manhwa tackles topics of existentialism, schopenhauerism, nihilism but most importantly pacifism, right from the get go we see innocent civilians being murdered and later on we get to see that even those who managed to survive will to have to do many morally questionable things in order to survive. This series won't give you an easy answer, each ideology and approach to the situation that characters are in is presented with both flaws and merits but none is presented as the definitive, correct one.

The visuals are simply stunning, every single pannel conveys a message, some are genuinely terryfing, others really sad but all of them tell a story and this manhwa simply wouldn't be as good without them. Pannels can be both expressionistic, naturalistic and symbolistic, and even a combination of all of those styles, it really depends on the context but one things certain, all of them hit hard. Ji-Hoon Jeong is especially good at portraying facial expressions, just all it takes is a glance to understand what a given character is feeling and the more you look at it the more you get it, it almost seems as if the author has seen Dante's hell.

In conclusion, "The horizon" is not the most pleasant manga to read, it tackles many serious topics and presents many deprresing scenes, but despite that it's a masterpiece. The author did his best to show a universal depiction of war, one that can happen everywhere and ruin many lives. Thanks to the impeccable visuals the series emotional climaxes are way more memorable. This story is at it's core a story about how one's psyche can be crushed and how even the most innocent children will suffer, not knowing why or who decided that their life will change forever.

Feb 3, 2021

daanielsoong

Recommended

Firstly, the Story: 10
--
Horizon is a manhwa of two main characters that are traveling aimlessly during a time of war, entailing a series of incidents that questions their moral compass and scenarios where death seems inevitable. However, in the midst of chaos and destruction, the characters are able to rely on one another to take another step in their life. It warmed my heart seeing two individuals, despite the circumstances, being able to find joy and happiness in one another and strongly moving forward together.

Secondly, the Artwork: 10
--
The artwork is very unique and different from the usual manhwa and mangas you would read. The author ... does an incredible job illustrating the emotion that is being expressed or currently felt by the characters, and it's amazing how well he communicates with the readers with the artwork rather than solely through words.

Lastly, the Overall: 10
--
I highly recommend you to read this manhwa if you are looking for a piece that would leave a "rock in your shoe" to make you question your perspective on life. This piece flooded my thoughts and forced me to sit down and reevaluate, think, and how I perceived life and exactly what kind of purpose I am following. A serious recommendation from me :)

(This portion below isn't a review but rather a commentary of what the message the author was REALLY trying to portray, so ONLY READ IT IF YOU"VE READ IT ALL)
--
I believe most, if not all of the reviews, have completely missed the intended message of "Horizon". I myself did not recognize till the author deliberately used the Bible to further portray a message far more devastating and hopeful than it really meant. Firstly, the author quotes the infamous verse of King Solomon's book of Ecclesiastes (bible), "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity" to which King Solomon portrays the meaningless of life since we all die and all the efforts go to waste. What King Solomon wanted to portray in the book of Ecclesiastes is the meaningless of life when you toil after materialistic things, but on the other hand, if you toil after the glorification of the One Triune God, it is all counted as worthy. The author does an INCREDIBLE job in building up the theme of what King Solomon wanted to portray in Ecclesiastes using the story and the reason the sniper lived for, the band of thieves performing immoral actions to satisfy their needs/get their revenge, the girl's memory of the bus and the sickness, and lastly even the death of the girl. While all seemed meaningless and hopeless, the author ends the message of "horizon" with the boy finding hope in Jesus Christ and placing his trust by grabbing his nail-pierced hand.

In conclusion, the message is this, the world is cruel, evil, and disgusting because of sin, and living a life with a hope placed on materialistic things that will come to pass will only bring delayed suffering. However, we can find true hope in believing in the eternal King, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sake of mankind.

p.s please have grace on my review as it is my very first! I want to thank you for reading it up to this point and hope that you understood what I was trying to say. If you have any question regarding with Christianity or desiring to understand the depth of the message (understanding it in depth is why I loved this masterpiece so much) please reach out to my ig @timewithJesus

Mar 2, 2021

czanx

Recommended

I feel compelled to write a review on this, never once has a story really gripped the essence of my being so much as this one.

It's depressing. The harsh dynamic between the pure beauty of life and love, and its equally beautiful fragility. One day we are all going to die, it's inevitable, and being afraid is okay. Having worries is okay. Having fears is okay. It's part of what makes life as beautiful as it is. Stories like these genuinely make me happy; which I'm aware contradicts the very first line of my review. You're not alone in this vast and wide world and ...

Dec 8, 2020

Zestiria

Recommended

Story-10

This Manhwa is about a boy and a girl walking on a straight road trying to find the end of it's road, while walking on this straight line. The boy and the girl met many kinds of hardship, there's a lot of stuff showing their past, we haven't get to look much of the main character's past story but the girl's past story make me cry. There's a lot of emotions showed in this manhwa and those things are the ones that make me love this show. Though the ending felt a bit rushed, i thought this thing is gonna have a sad ending, ...

Aug 4, 2022

CrawlinChaos

Recommended

The review in a nutshell is great story with good experimental art that evokes emotion from the reader. Please read it.

Story: The story of the horizon centers around a boy in a world not unlike ours except a mass scale war destroying all semblance of order and honor. Humans roam a dead world and are conditioned to view each other as problems or resources. The reason for the mass destruction is never given, but that is not necessary. Korea, in our world, has gone through a horrific war of foreign influence, of people from beyond the horizon using their lands as a battlefield. The ... threat of war is also present in their minds, so the reason the powder keg ignites is less important than the fact that it ignites. The desolation is broken by sounds of gunfire, of missiles fired from miles away, of screams and then silence. Humans are simultaneously a relief and a worry. The boy meets a girl, and they walk on a road. They walk forward.

Art: The art is extremely well done. I'm not a usual reader of Korean comics, but this is a FAR step ahead of what I have usually seen from there. It goes beyond American and most Japanese comics I've seen as well. It evokes emotion through exaggeration of human facial expressions. Contemplative dread is seen in the eyes, the pain of the heart contorts their faces, the great big smiles of happiness. Serenity of Love. It also becomes more abstract, thoughts of death and loneliness become scribbles in the brain or a deep abyss. As someone who struggles with depression at times, this is a good showcase of what it feels like.

Characters: It's a short manhua so do not expect a lot of development from the side characters. This does not mean they are bad characters. Some people seem to think if you're character doesn't have some kind of great journey of retrospection that you see, they are bad and flat. These characters are not bad in my opinion. They serve their purposes and do it very well. All these people used to be like you and me. Living a daily grind and finding satisfaction if something or other. We meet them thrust in this world, and we can see what it has made them. Their character is what they've become and if you could see yourself becoming that. Personally, it strikes me. You just see desperation now, it is anxiety inducing. You want life to go back to how it was, so they never have to do these things to survive again.

Final thoughts: This is a depressing story. Frankly I avoided it for this reason. I can not handle these stories like I used to. But I had heard it was bittersweet, not all is bad. I hope you do not see it as a spoiler since I will not say what EXACTLY happens, but it is true, there is hope in here. I'm a Christian, I struggle with it sometimes but I love going to church, and this story handles suffering in a similar way. Suffering is not to be ignored. It can not be. It will EAT you if you do. You will suffer. It will hurt. It will break you down. And you can build yourself up. Is there suffering that will end you? Of course, no one lives forever. Is there suffering that will temper you? Of course, you can not realistically have lived long enough to read this if hardships could knock you down forever. All we can do is live in those between moments, to be strengthened by our suffering and say tomorrow brings tomorrow. You do not have to be Christian to believe this, of course. I have finished Mob Psycho before this and I think there is a similar message there.

While you are here, love one another.

Jan 10, 2023

LightNoragami1

Mixed Feelings

I like the concept and idea behind this manhwa more than the actual execution. The chapters are all fine but I feel the emotional message didn't always come across as strongly due to some poorly placed writing, also some of it felt a little convenient, plus the Boy's outlook on life and death did a 180 pretty quickly. However, there were some superb chapters and I can truly recognise the fantastic ideas and messages in play. I like both the boy and the girl, and their story is defo a sad one, I think that sadness is what will stick with me from this series, ...

Dec 15, 2022

Phigamm

Recommended

I have never written a review before but this deserves it. I try not to use the word masterpiece that often and look at things objectively. This story is truly incredible. in 21 short chapters, it has so much to offer. it was an emotional roller coaster.
you should read it, it won't even take you an hour.

in just a matter of minutes, you are invested in the characters, and you feel for them emotionally and the war-torn world the story opens into. it is incredible.

the world-building and the direction of the story is a 10 and it's executed perfectly.

The characters are ...

Apr 7, 2021

Jeevs420

Recommended

fucking masterpiece, undoubtedly

The most my emotions have fluctuated in such a short time period, yet in only 20 so chapters you become so emotionally attached to any character in the story, and you feel the punch when one meets their own demise.

If you've read Aku no Hana u should know how good it is being one of the other few mangas I rate a 10 this is completely on par with the characters, depth, plot, and just everything it's so amazing.

The only flaw personally I can really think of is that, I wish it was just longer, I wanted it to keep going, yet ...

Dec 28, 2020

Catch33

Recommended

It's a mostly contemplative, harsh and bleak story, sort of in the vein of Blame! which means little dialogue and loneliness abound. It will make you react emotionally whether you like it or not, it's abrupt and brutal in it's approach for sure in regards to the relationships within The Horizon. By no means it conveys schadenfreude, you will root for the characters like you're there.

I recommend witnessing for yourself this tragic story has humans are portrayed like merciless survivors, hopelessly clinging to life when all hope is gone. It has a beautiful depth to it and is, in my opinion, deserving of the highest ...

Apr 11, 2021

Ryoma663

Recommended

A story on the face of it looks so simple, plain and unoriginal but perfectly executed both when it comes to the flawless storytelling or just the straightforward yet interesting characters but what really stood out to me was the remarkable art.

It consisted for the most part of only black and white and there were nothing as epic or detailed as in other mangas such as Berserk, Gantz or Slamdunk but it felt like every panel had an emotion within it and it kept whispering "keep reading" or "what's gonna happen next?" The emotion was brought up by the detailed expressions of the characters, ...