Webtoon Spotlight

Spotlight#11: Soul Cartel

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. So now, without further ado, let's delve deep into what I think is the most underrated Webtoon, Soul Cartel by 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 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, despite his bitter defeat at God's hand, Mesphito still wanted his grand rematch and sought Faust's reincarnation to finish 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 them and bring them home. 

He is undoubtedly a very nice and friendly boy willing to take his role as medium and judge the contract seriously. However, late in the story's events 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 living in the underworld, Soonin is both a strong-willed, devoted, and witty sister and medium.

Faust: Easily one of the most intelligent characters in all of WebtoonFaust 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 throughout 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 that enhances much of the magical techniques of the series. The worldbuilding is also insanely good as well. The underworld combines 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 influential connections, the characters are always in constant danger, forcing them to be very creative with their abilities and ultimately put their lives on the line to win the day. 

Our heroes have a real sense of unity, which makes them a joy to watch by themselves or together. Combine that with low pages per chapter, and we got ourselves a very bingeable book. However, 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 exciting 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 severe translation issues. Still a great story, though.

Epilogue

Overall, Soul Cartel is one of my favorite manhwas; I wish it got more chapters and more popularity. However, with every featured Webtoon getting a million subscribers in such a short time, I think that even though the story is over, hopefully, it gets the spotlight it deserves one day. But in the meantime, I will have to see where the spotlight takes us next.