Hello, my ghoulish fans since you have waited oh so very long for my next webtoon spotlight here it is and by golly is this one a doozy as I'm going to be covering a real underrated gem along with two more dark webtoons and finally a respect spotlight for the 24th. Now without further ado, let's delve deep into what I think is the most underrated Webtoon, Soul Cartel by both Haram and Younji Kim.
Summary
Soul cartel takes place in a world much like ours, but beneath its surface lies the Underworld, a spiritual realm that is home to witches, monsters, demons, and angels. Five hundred years ago, Mephistopheles, the Archdevil of battles, craving a challenge tried to corrupt Faust: a human of transcendence. However, even with his bitter defeat at God's hand Mesphito still wanted his grand rematch and so sought Faust's reincarnation in hopes of finishing the fight. Enter Shioon, a young medium tasked with sending rampant souls into the afterlife and who unfortunately gets wrapped up in a conflict that would soon affect the Underworld itself.
Characters
Mephistopheles: the great Archdemon of battles, Mephsotpheles since the beginning of creation has sought stimulation through challenged and combat. He is often a very childlike and impish personality but will always be merciful to those around him if they show enough praise or potential which shows that he is not as bad as he seems. He is my fave in the series and is by far the most entertaining.
Shioon: Another human born of transcendence Shioon is a young boy gifted with infinite improvement after each fight. To try and find his parents, he travels with Faust, Mephisto, and his older sister soonin to find their souls and bring them home. While he is certainly a very nice and friendly boy willing to take his role as medium and judge of the contract seriously, the events of the story turn him into a battle-hardened warrior, unwilling to give in till his last drop of blood has been shed.
Soonin: As the older sister of Shioon, Soonin spent most of her adolescence taking care of her little brother and keeping up the family business. Due to her experience in the underworld, Soonin is a woman of strong will and wit who will do anything to do her duty as a sister and medium.
Faust: Easily one of the smartest characters in all of Webtoon Faust is a man of great notoriety from both angels and demons. He is a very polite and well-mannered individual who has made many friends across his long life. As a man who transcends wisdom and intellect, he is very loyal to his allies and has shown on many occasions to use his big brain to get out of any scenario, even if it means risking his life.
Overview/Good stuff
Honestly, Soul cartel, despite having a slow start, is kind of perfect. The art gives a lot of dramatic lighting to make everything have a glossy look to it that enhances much of the magical techniques of the series. The worldbuilding is also insanely good as well. The underworld is filled with a combination of classical and Christian mythology, an intricate magic system, and a great plot that progresses things naturally. You have a great sense of what this world contains while also wanting to know more. A great running theme of the webtoon itself is often about how far you're willing to go to progress at the cost of and the concepts of freedom and evolving from what you once were.
The fights are also straight bangers with almost every good guy getting their interesting fight scene to shine. Not even Mephistopheles has a perfect win record despite his immense power and experience. There is a lot of strategy and intensity to the battles that make no win feel like a clean one.
Also, this Webtoon knows how to pile the drama. Despite their powerful connections, the characters are always in constant danger, which often forces him to be very creative with their abilities and put their lives on the line to win the day ultimately. Our heroes also have a real sense of unity between each other, which makes them a joy to watch on their own and together. Combine that with low pages per chapter, and we got ourselves a very bingeable book. Though I will admit that these characters lack a little depth, or at least as much as I would like given that they really should have been more chapters to explore their doubts and fears and how they move on from there given their interesting backgrounds. I also wish we got more time in the human world or have it be more at stake with some of these arcs, but that's just me. Plus, they suffer from some really deep translation issues. Still a great story though.
Epilogue
Overall, Soul Cartel is one of my fav manhwas; I wish that it got more chapters and more popularity, with every featured webtoon getting a million subscribers in such a short time I think that even though the story is done, hopefully, it gets the spotlight it deserves one day. But in the meantime, I will have to see where the spotlight takes us next.