YMMV / The Breaker

• Abandon Shipping: A lot of fans have lost interest in Sae Hee (some even question who she is) with Shi Woon, especially in New Waves. This due to her time out of focus and her Obstructive Satellite Love Interest Damsel Scrappy Status compared to the other more competent girls he is surrounded by now. Doesn't help that she just randomly disappeared when the S.U.C. attacked Shi Woon's school.
• Alternate Character Interpretation: Is Shi Woon's mom a well-meaning, hard working single mother? Or a self-absorbed mother who cares only about her job and is predominantly absent from her son's life, failing to notice any of the turmoils he faces? Even when she finds out about his absence in school, she makes it seem like she only cares about him disappointing her and refuses to listen to his side of the matter.
  • Shi-Woon. Is he really Oblivious to Love or is he merely Obfuscating Stupidity regarding his Unwanted Harem because he realizes the political consequences of hooking up with any of them? There is subtle evidence for the latter. He takes Sosul on a date to the beach and they make sand castles because that's the most her body can handle, and he tells her when she objects. He's called Jin-nie cute, and teased her when he caught her preening in a mirror. Lastly, when he's visiting Sera in the hospital, he makes perfectly clear that he heard and is responding to her Anguished Declaration of Love, to her chagrin.
• Angst? What Angst?: Does Shi Woon even know that Shiho's dead?
  • It's plausible he just assumes that she escaped with Chunwoo since nobody's told him otherwise, but it still seems more like the writers have just forgotten about her for the time being.
• Awesome Art
• Damsel Scrappy: Sae-Hee has good intentions, but her presence always causes more trouble for Shi-Woon instead of helping him.
• Die for Our Ship:
  • Jinie, Sera, or Seosul for those ship one of them with Shi-Woon. Ironically despite being the first girl, pretty much no fan ships him with Sae-Hee.
  • It gets a little messy when one considers the details. Since Shi-Woon is the Head of the Sun Woo Clan, he may be arranged to marry within the clan, which might be either Seosul or Jinie due to the previous history of heads not marrying in the clan, thus nearly destroying the clan from within. It might be a priority for him to do so especially since this is a personal Berserk Button for Kwon who abandoned his own daughter and granddaughter, because his daughter was thought to marry an outsider and bore a child with a foreigner. The truth is that she lied and took the blame for the Head marrying outside the clan because she knew that it would piss off her dad so much that he would try to kill the Head. Sera is interested, but she feels like she is a Hopeless Suitor because she is not in the Sun Woo Clan. However, it should be noted that Shi-Woon is a substitute head and if Seosul returns to her position, Shi-Woon has no position anymore. Yes, this is one instance where shipping gets political.
• Fridge Horror:
  • In-universe. The Black Forest Force shuts down the electrical energy for all of Seoul. Many characters wondered how powerful the Black Forest is to do such a feat. Out-of-universe, many people would definitely be harmed in just a short amount of time. We are treated with a short scene of chaotic traffic, but it's not shown how much more chaotic it is in the hospitals. Then, we have to remember how close Seoul is to North Korea's border and how many artillery is pointed at Seoul, the in-universe characters have to pray North Korea wouldn't attack them when seeing another good opportunity. (It is noted however, all military bases will probably have a generator.)
  • Another one related to North Korea. Would they waste another opportunity to invade the South if the South Korean government and Murim are busy fighting the Black Forest Force?
• Fridge Logic: If the martial artists are really that powerful, it raises questions such as how China and Korea could be conquered by foreign powers. Or how Chinese martial artists could be prosecuted in the Cultural Revolution. It's better to remember the MST3K Mantra while reading both this manhwa and Veritas.
• Growing the Beard: The manhwa starts off as okay. But as Shi-Woon grows more badass, the more the story quality grows.
  • New Waves is ARGUABLY a step up from the first series.
  • It finally fully grew by 110. As Shi-Woon finally realized he is not a Puppet King and the Sun Woo are truly there for him, he is giving a Curb-Stomp Battle to anyone who bad mouths his title or the clan.
• Ho Yay: See the page.
• Magnificent Bitch: Haru of the S.U.C. A Dark Action Girl that even Li-Joo fears, a Master of Disguise and The Strategist.
  • Sera as well, although she is a good guy.
• Moe: Sosul, Shi Woon and occasionally Sera and Jinie.
• Moral Event Horizon: When Chang Ho attempts to rape Sae Hee.
  • Chun Woo's appearances in New Waves see him either providing or dispensing minions to destroy various individuals in such ways leading to the belief that it has already been crossed.
• Nightmare Fuel: ... hello there, Mamungi.
  • Compared to this guy, Mamungi's almost adorable.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Jung Lae Won is finally starting to head this way from Chapter 165 and beyond after telling his superiors to ''piss off'' upon learning that they intend to sacrifice the people of Seoul for the better of mankind. The one thing that still holds him back in the fan's eyes is him shooting Shi-ho way back in the first series.
• She's Just Hiding: I'll have you know we're not in denial about this with Shiho!! Honest!
  • This becomes a factual twist as of chapter 38 of the sequel.
• The Scrappy: Chang-Ho is very unpopular mostly because he's a completely unrepentant asshole. When the S.U.C's Psycho Serum nearly killed him, his haters were very pleased.
  • Sae Hee for being an Out of Focus Satellite Love Interest who only serves as a Damsel in Distress whenever she appears in the story.
  • Jung Lae Won, the Government Glasses Guy, is this on both sides of the fourth wall. Most characters despise him for being a scheming, arrogant, manipulative motherfucker that they need to keep around because he's the only chance they have with an alliance with the Government, and the fans despise him for being a scheming, arrogant, manipulative motherfucker who causes so many problems he seems to be paid to do so and yet, miraculously, still isn't dead yet. To quote one fan:
  "Glasses guy, is like... a brat? Like a bratty little kid. His character has so much development, and so many sides, and all those sides are various levels of annoying."
• Squick: Shiho's teasing Shi Woon in a way that's clearly meant to imply that they've slept together early on in the comic. Keep in mind, Shiho is a grown woman and Shi Woon is a minor. The scene was clearly meant to be comedic, especially since they didn't actually do anything even remotely romantic, but some western readers were still not fond of the implications.
• Take That, Scrappy!: Chang Ho's Phlebotinum Overload was a very popular event in the fanbase, the fans were horribly disappointed that Shi-Woon knocked him out to keep him from killing himself.
• The Woobie: Shi Woon.
  • Becomes an Iron Woobie as the series goes on.
  • Jerkass Woobie: Chun Woo after Shiho's death. Jinie, early on in New Waves.
  • Stoic Woobie: Sera especially during chapter 76.