Everyone else is a Returnee webtoon/manhwa review

"Everyone Else is a Returnee" is a South Korean manhwa with a unique twist on the popular reincarnation genre, reversing it. While the world is whisked away to train for an apocalypse, the protagonist, Yu IlHan, is accidentally left behind.

Imagine this: everyone on Earth vanishes to another world, only to return with fantastical powers and ability to use mana after their training. You, however, are left alone, forced to fend for yourself, for a thousand years. That's the bizarre situation Yu IlHan finds himself in.

Instead of despair, Yu IlHan embraces his solitary existence. He spends years honing his survival skills and forging a connection with an angel named Lita. When humanity returns, boasting otherworldly abilities, Yu IlHan is a hardened survivor, vastly different from the returnees who relied on the other world.

"Everyone Else is a Returnee" is a funny and action packed story about an underdog with determination and resourcefulness. It shows how in a time where many would give up, Yu IlHan was able to find a bright side to his scenario. It is a great premise. 

However, I feel like the Manhwa has a bit of lost potential. 

The premise of the manhwa is incredible, being left for a thousand years as the lone survivor on the earth, absorbing all knowledge left behind by humanity in anticipation for their return. However, this premise is used more of a way to justify why Yu IlHan is overpowered, and just used as a way to make him seem invincible. It seems that in terms of maturity and personality, he did not change in a thousand years, which is highly unlikely. This manhwa could have been so much more, it could have explored his struggles through the loneliness, his change in personality, his resentment, his grief, everything in those thousand years, but it didn't. 

However, I understand why this was done this way, the manhwa doesn't take itself too seriously. It wants to portray a fantasy world with an unlikely protagonist and that's what it does, its light hearted and it isn't a deep read. It is great for casual readers. 

This is what other internet users had to say:
 "I think the best part of Returnee is that it never tries to be anything more than a story full of jokes and references, and is happy being mostly just a vehicle for the author to deliver silliness and warm fuzzy feelings to his readers."

"I liked it for the most part but I definitely felt a little bored at several points in the story, to the extent of almost dropping the series. The author generally made a nice twist that would make me excited again but I can't say this will be one of my favorites ever. The final couple chapters were pretty good but I didn't get invested in the story or characters really so the story doesn't have lasting value for me."

"What a terrible piece of literature, lol" (I believe this is a little too harsh)

Overall, this is a great manhwa for those interested in the genre yet wanting a new perspective on it, overall, this is a 7.5/10!