The Uncanny Counter Volumes 2 and 3 Review

Trigger warning: bullying

In Volume 1, 18-year-old high school student Mun was introduced to the world of spirits. Comatose people wake up if a spirit from Yung, the afterlife, decides to share its powers with them, turning them into Counters. They gain supernatural abilities, but they need to hunt evil spirits that escape from Yung.

Mun became a Counter when the Counter hosting a spirit died not too far from him. He now needs to work with the rest of his newfound Counter team to catch the culprit who has been killing people in his area while also learning how best to use his new skills and manage high school bullies. However, it’s hard for Mun to balance his new life with school and friends. The abilities he gained are physical, and now he’s not only stronger than the average human, but also his limp has disappeared as well. It’s hard to trick his two best friends, so Mun can’t help but lie to them.

The high school bullies instead are another matter. When Mun stops them from hurting other students, they decide to get revenge by kidnapping and beating up Mun’s two best friends. Faced with this situation, Mun loses control of his powers, and it’s only thanks to his Counter friends that he’s able to stop himself from taking things too far.  But it seems that Hyukwoo, the leader of the bullies, is linked to Mun in more ways than anyone could have expected. Mun’s parents died in a car accident when they were investigating the truth behind an attack against fellow police officer Motak Ga. Motak was looking into the company Taeshin Construction, which has relations with Hyukwoo’s family. What happened to Mun’s parents and to Motak might have been an accident. The latter is still alive and a Counter, but unfortunately, he cannot remember much of his past or what he was investigating when he had his accident. The mystery about the truth deepens, and it won’t be too long before Mun will have to face one of the assailants related to his past and find the truth behind his parents’ deaths.

While Volume 1 left me uncertain about this series, Volumes 2 and 3 cemented my interest. They have more action and more mysteries that involve the reader in the investigation to find the truth. Mun is unaware of the true reason for his parents’ car accident. His Counter team is afraid of what will happen once he finds out the truth—like losing control of his powers, which will bring serious measures from Yung. Things are kind-of precarious at the moment for Mun, due to the way he behaved when his friends got hurt… another misstep and Yung will get involved!

What I really appreciate about these volumes is that although the bullying is present and quite intense, Mun doesn’t use violence until everything else doesn’t work. While in these types of stories it’s common for the victims to fight against the bullies and show how strong they have become, Mun is already strong from the get-go, but he opts for the legal solution. He tries to convince the victims to report the bullying to the teachers and the police, but unfortunately they are too scared to do anything against Hyukwoo as his family is quite influential. It’s only when the bullies decide to beat up his friends to teach him a lesson that Mun loses control and ends up fighting. Thankfully, Motak gets there in time to stop Mun from going too far, and now the police cannot turn a blind eye to the situation.

Fans of crime shows will find the mystery surrounding Mun’s parents’ and Motak’s accidents most interesting. Teashin Corporation and evil spirits are linked somehow, but how? One of the Counters, Hana, has the power to view memories from an object and she drops some uncomfortable truths to the Counters. An evil spirit that they have been hunting also seems to have powers that he shouldn’t have. Who is he and what does he want from Mun? So many questions, and so few answers as the mysteries just seem to intensify as the story progresses.

The Uncanny Counter is written by Jang E (who sometimes appear as Jang Yi) and released by Ize Press. It started as a digital comic on Tapas and due to its success, it was developed into a K-drama, which is currently on Netflix. Volume 4 was released in December 2024.

Our review copies from Ize Press were supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.