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Taste of Illness cover
6.9OUR SCORE
ManhwaCompleted · 26 ChaptersAll Ages · our rating

Taste of Illness

병의 맛; Byeong-ui Mat

by Ilkwon Ha · NAVER WEBTOON · 2018

best for Readers seeking a short, empathetic coming-of-age drama about anxiety, isolation, friendship, and surreal visual metaphors for mental illness.

Story9.0Art8.7Romance3.0
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Ch. 01 · The story

What it's about

Spoiler level: Minor — for the synopsis & review below

Yijun is a lonely student who struggles to connect with classmates and is overwhelmed by a strange black sludge that appears when his anxiety spikes. A school project pairs him with Suni, another isolated student who seems to understand the impossible substance better than anyone. Their tentative friendship gives both of them language for feelings they have hidden. As the sludge grows more hostile, Yijun must face the difference between enduring pain alone and accepting help.

Ch. 02 · Our verdict

My take

Taste of Illness is brief, visually inventive, and remarkably gentle with characters who cannot easily explain what they feel. Ilkwon Ha turns anxiety into tactile surrealism without reducing recovery to a magical cure. The compact length leaves some supporting relationships lightly sketched, but it also gives the story clarity and emotional force.

— Dawna A.

✓ Read it if…

The black sludge makes invisible distress immediately understandable while preserving its messiness and fear. A quiet friendship, rather than romance or heroic intervention, becomes the story’s most persuasive and believable source of meaningful, lasting change.

! Skip it if…

Its slow, inward focus offers little conventional plot or romance, and the symbolic imagery can feel heavy. Themes of anxiety, isolation, and school cruelty may also be emotionally close for some readers.

Ch. 03 · The vibe

Story profile

Story profile
Content Notes
Mental Illness ThemesPanic AttacksHarassmentPsychological Abuse
Ch. 04 · Next up

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