The Pale Horse

This entire series so far is in opinion... a haunting masterpiece. This series pushes all of the right emotional buttons, and in unexpected ways. The artwork is OUTSTANDING in every way, it takes lots of influence from Victorian era realist artwork. It also pays homage to Victorian Gothic literature, in it's story, tone and pacing.
The story is the highest point of this manhwa. The story starts of as a conventional fairy tale, but this is turned on it's head by having characters you ACTUALLY care about. The pacing and tone start out slow and light hear-ted, but it quickly picks up speed and becomes drastically darker and scarier in tone.

So I give this series a solid 10/10.

So many plot twists and betrayal. I didn’t finish reading it but it’s amazing because of how it made me hate some characters but then start to feel bad for them because of what happened to them in the past and detailed stories of who made them into who they are now. There’s so many connections between characters too, many characters encountered each other in the past. Also there were so many characters that appeared to be good people but ended up being bad. Gave me some trust issues but that’s ok.

Personal notes:

Some backstory around chapter 160

Chapter 186

Chapter 212

Chapter 214 sad

<<No spoilers in this review>>

I never knew I would find something so introspective and in line to my own thoughts. This manhwa brings out the evil and hope in humanity all into one crazed story about a lady who just wants to be human. The Pale Horse is a mixed thriller, romance, horror, psychological manhwa which will leave you haunted not from the supernatural beings in the story, but in your own thoughts and emotions.

Sin is what makes us human.

While the main plot of the story tries to establish certain sympathy between the reader and every character in the story, no matter how evil or deceitful they are, the main premise always has to do with what is right or wrong. What is true or false? What makes us human or inhuman?
The story is comprised of multiple twists and turns. The author purposefully leaves out plot points just to weave them back into the thriller later on. Hae-Yun Choo plays a lot with perspective and untrustworthy or trustworthy narrators. Even when we think one thing is explained, another explanation for the same event comes into play. If you think there is a plot hole, the next episode covers it up. The story seems to satisfy your need for a perfect ending but dangles it on a rope and plays with that need. If this doesn't interest you, then I don't know what does.

The art reflects how we are drawn to beautiful things, even if they are evil. Everything is illustrated in the most perfect ways. Every character looks how the author wants us to see and unique scenes are purposefully colored or drawn differently. The composition is well thought of, so is use of light and shadow in every panel. The author always takes into consideration what mood she wants to display while also creating good pace for the story. I can tell Hae-Yun Choo has taken a considerable amount of time planning, illustrating, and coloring The Pale horse.

Everything in this manhwa makes me want to adore it, cherish it, and hold it in my arms while I cry at night. I started out loving every character yet hating everyone. The author knows this and toys with this emotion later on. Rose, Pierre (Peter according to MAL), Theo, Guiness and more that you will meet later on... I love them all. The thoughts, actions they take, development they undergo, and their introspection all feel so human-like. So alike to what I think everyday and how I evaluate, justify, and analyze my own actions. Their sinister thoughts yet hopeful thoughts all reflect my own beliefs and selfish thoughts and it hurts at times. This manhwa made me feel sad when the characters were sad, happy when they were happy, angry when they were angry. I mean this with every character. No character is left behind in this manhwa. I assure you that.

When I started reading this last year, I found that I was unable to stop. When the updates had stopped for a bit I felt so empty. This is the first manhwa I have ever felt the need to buy right away. The art is so incredibly precious and beautiful, even if I can't read Korean I know that the emotions still show through every panel. Even though I have had many nights feeling absolutely terrible for being human, it gives me purpose to live. I thoroughly am appreciative of the parallelism there is in this manhwa about reality and supernatural beings and the thoughts of actual mankind. I enjoyed every moment there was in The Pale Horse, even the ones that made me sad.

Overall, I highly recommend anyone who loves to think or are just into thrillers and guessing plot point. Trust me, it's at least worth a try. The art captivated me but the story made me stay.

I am speechless because of this webtoon , Hope I give it justice by what I'll type
This webtoon is a masterpiece , a very underrated one.

What first catches your attention will probably be the beauty of the art , it is what caught my attention , then once you start the first chapters you will be intrigued to continue and never stop.

Simple story from the synopsis yes ? well it gets an easy 10 / 10 from me , and I'm sad I cant possibly give it more than that , I personally adore shocks and goosebumbs more than anything else in a story I read , and even if you ever find similar themes to other mangas the way the author brought all this up is outstanding and one of a kind , This story is not what you think it is , Art of deception is one of the best traits a manga/manhwa author could have and I salute this author for that.

Art : 10 / 10
As I mentioned before its the reason I started it since the synopsis wasn't that intriguing , and it will just suck you in , beautiful designs and characters , eye-catching coloring , and detailed graphics which is a thing I rarely find in webtoons.

Characters : 9 / 10
The characters and relationships in a shoujo manga can either make or break the manga , we all know shoujo mangas that got popular due to these facts alone since most of shoujo stories themselves are similar , characters of this webtoon are unique and their development is great and the author did an amazing job transferring what the character thinks/feels to the reader , and each character almost has his/her screentime somehow , no neglected characters even if the story focuses on some.

Enjoyment : 10/10
Easy 10s Pale horse well done , I dont even remember the last time I read the chapters with this excitement and finished the whole 40 chapters in 3 - 4 hours WITH getting emotional and having so many facial expressions while reading which is rare , truly happy I stumbled on this one.

Overall : 10 / 10 naturally.

Take an advice , leave whatever you are doing if you have the time and give this gem a try and it will be a new experience that you will never regret trying.

"THE PALE HORSE," THE DARK HORSE WORTHY OF THE READ
I'd like to make a recommendation for readers of this manga, but after sitting for approximately 6 minutes, I am only able to come up with... not one. Yes, I have read other stories of this genre; no, I have not read another that can touch the glory that belongs to "The Pale Horse." As a reader of much manga, some manhwa, and the occasional webtoon, I try to pass over three types of stories: "sickeningly fluffed," "pure grit and spit," and lastly, "what in the world did I just read, I can't even-." This story is far from any of those and will have you pulled in by... the first page? That was enough for me to begin following the moves of this dark horse, and here's why:

THE BRILLIANCE OF IT'S SIMPLE DARKNESS
When this gem first released, I'm saddened to say, I passed over it due to it's "small name" nature. Therefor, I have boredom to thank for this priceless discovery. After picking a certain manhwa out at random, I dived into this juicy plot of malice and met the grand characters bound by it. I. Was. AMAZED. The characters are enchanting as you find yourself being able to relate to a persona or their mundane problem. Usually I find that the presence great characters will sometimes lead to a lacking motion in the story, but not this time. "The Pale Horse," never so gentle on the heart-strings, gives the a reader a tour through their emotions as it begins to paint one of the stories that everyone has either experienced or been witness to; a story about not quite fitting in.

QUITE THE DARKWORK TALE
I present this work with a 10/10. I can only hope my own works will turn out so fantastic.

A dark, gothic Victorian fantasy story that explores the different facets of humanity and blurs the duality of good and evil. How this manhwa is not more well-known is frankly criminal. This is one of the most sophisticated and beautifully written manhwa I've ever read with its complex characterization, heavy thematic messaging and deep introspective meaning. It portrays the nuances of love and family, revenge and betrayal, the loss of innocence and the best and worst of human nature. Although I can't really say whether this manga is historically accurate, but it really does seem like the author did her research and took the sociocultural implications of the time and place into context in developing the story.

This is not your average guilty pleasure supernatural romance. In fact, if you're looking for a sweet mindless lovey dovey story, this is not for you because trust me, IT WILL HURT.


Story - 10/10

Well-paced with carefully crafted storylines and interweaving flashbacks. The writer really takes her time to set up all the elements and building to the mystery and then pays them off beautifully. It's a haunting, mature, emotional and occasionally tragic journey deep in literary meaning and thematic resonance.


Art - 10/10

The art is amazing and just really, really pretty. There's not much else to say about this.


Character - 10/10

One of the areas where this series really shines. The characters are incredibly well-developed, incredibly complex, deeply flawed and yet utterly human and understandable. This series does not shy in making its characters fall in grace or suffer horribly. There are no black-and-white characters. No straight-laced heroes and no definite villains. And none are more intriguing than Rose, who IMO, is one of the most compelling and multifaceted female characters I've ever seen in a manga/manhwa/anime. As the story goes on you will discover a new side of her layer by layer shedding more light as to why she is the way she is. The side characters don't in any way fall short either. Each one is excellently developed and the multiple POVs only enrich the story and add to the narrative complexity, blurring the distinction between the heroes and the villains.


Enjoyment - 10/10

Although it can be a bit heavy, I wasn't at all bored once. It's an engrossing story that is truly binge-worthy with constant twists and turns that will leave you breathless.


Overall - 10/10

In a sea of generic isekais with the same recycled plots, I don't always have the highest opinion of manhwas as truly great ones are far and few in between. But this manhwa stands out as a rare gem among gems. I can't recommend it enough.

This series is quite wonderful and its amazing that the artist has been able to sustain the story for so many episodes. It's surprising how it grows in scope so fluidly. There are constantly new story lines being added that create a consistent universe. And there are so many surprises along the way that I would have never seen coming.

I've read the webtoon originally in Korean but there are constantly new translations coming out. one of the recent ones is https://www.spottoon.com/workHome?book_no=39 It just shows that the story is worth sharing continuously. A must read! And the art is amazing too.