Villain with a Crush Review: She Tried to Confess and Accidentally Became Korea’s Most Wanted Villain

I discovered Villain with a Crush in the most ordinary way possible: I was randomly doom-scrolling through Instagram when a video about it appeared on my feed.

The video mentioned that the manhwa was completely finished, and that immediately caught my attention. Recently, I have preferred reading manhwa and watching anime that already have complete stories. There is no waiting every week, no wondering whether the author will disappear for six months, and no fear that the story will suddenly stop at the most important moment.

I did not search for reviews. I did not check its rating. I did not even properly investigate what the story was about. I simply opened it and started reading.

And honestly?

This was freaking amazing.

From the cover, I expected a simple romance about a young couple. I thought it would probably be cute, funny, and mostly focused on their relationship. Instead, I found a superhero romantic comedy filled with absurd misunderstandings, secret identities, public manipulation, discrimination against superpowered people, human experimentation, corrupt institutions, and one poor woman who somehow turns every attempt at romance into a national emergency.

A Modern World Filled With Superpowered People

The story takes place in a modern world where certain people are born with supernatural abilities.

Because these powers can be dangerous, the government has created the Superpowered Police, usually called the SP Police. Their responsibility is to control crimes involving superpowered humans and protect ordinary citizens.

However, the system is not completely fair.

People with registered powers can work legally and become police officers, celebrities, or public heroes. Meanwhile, unregistered superpowered people are often immediately treated as potential criminals. Even when they have not done anything wrong, society looks at them with fear and suspicion.

This became one of the most interesting parts of the story for me.

At first, Villain with a Crush feels like a ridiculous comedy about a girl trying to confess to her crush. However, underneath all the jokes, the story asks a serious question: what would really happen if superpowered people suddenly appeared in our world?

Would society accept them?

Or would governments attempt to register, monitor, control, and weaponize them?

The story does not abandon its comedy, but it gradually shows how easily fear can be turned into hatred. That conflict gives the world much more depth than I expected from the opening chapters.

Rosa Park: The Sweetest National Threat in History

Our female lead is Rosa Park, and I genuinely felt sorry for her.

Rosa is kind, shy, socially awkward, and completely terrible at expressing her feelings. She is not secretly evil. She does not want revenge against society. She does not have some tragic plan to destroy the country.

She is simply a young woman trying to hand a love letter to the man she admires.

Unfortunately, Rosa also possesses superhuman strength and teleportation abilities. Whenever she becomes nervous, confused, or frightened, those powers turn a normal situation into a disaster.

Her romantic life begins badly enough. In the opening, Rosa confesses to her high-school crush after liking him for three years. That confession ends in rejection—and almost immediately, a bomb explodes nearby and the building begins collapsing.

Rosa falls from the building, only to be rescued by Doryeong Han, the superstar of the SP Police.

Imagine being rejected by your longtime crush, nearly dying five minutes later, and then being caught in the arms of the most handsome and famous superhero in the country.

Naturally, Rosa falls for him.

Years later, she decides to approach Doryeong and give him a love letter. It should have been a simple confession. Instead, because of her appearance, nervous behavior, overwhelming strength, and absolutely terrible luck, the SP Police conclude that she is a dangerous superpowered criminal.

That is how Rosa Park becomes Blackdog, one of the country’s most feared villains.

Blackdog is a slightly cringe villain name, but honestly, it becomes strangely perfect for her.

Every time Rosa tries to explain herself, something explodes.

Every time she attempts to approach Doryeong, the police prepare for battle.

Every time she thinks the situation cannot become worse, the news reports another terrifying appearance by Blackdog.

She wanted a boyfriend and accidentally built a criminal reputation.

Doryeong Han: The Hero Hunting His Own Biggest Fan

Doryeong Han is one of the strongest and most popular members of the SP Police. He uses a yellow, telekinetic-like power and is treated by the public as a national superhero.

To Rosa, however, he is simply the man who saved her life.

She admires him, collects information about him, tries to support him, and desperately wants him to understand that Blackdog is not actually trying to hurt anyone.

The problem is that Rosa is almost incapable of speaking normally in front of him.

When she meets Doryeong as Rosa, she becomes shy and embarrassed. When she appears as Blackdog, she becomes terrifying without intending to. Doryeong spends a large part of the story investigating Blackdog while having absolutely no idea that the supposed villain is also the awkward woman standing beside him.

That dramatic irony creates some of the funniest scenes in the entire manhwa.

Rosa is trying to protect Doryeong.

Doryeong is trying to arrest Blackdog.

Blackdog is Rosa.

And somehow, almost everyone except Doryeong seems capable of making the situation even more confusing.

The greatest joke is that our justice-loving hero eventually becomes Blackdog’s sidekick, Black Hood. The country’s beloved superhero practically joins the villain he has been chasing, creating one of the funniest identity reversals in the story.

Diana You: Rosa’s Grandmother and an Absolute Powerhouse

Rosa’s grandmother, Diana You, is easily one of the most memorable characters.

When she first appeared, I genuinely could not tell whether she was supposed to be a man or a woman. She has an incredibly muscular body, carries herself like a final boss, and looks capable of destroying an entire building before breakfast.

And honestly, she probably could.

Diana is not merely included for jokes. Her history is deeply connected to the wider conflict involving superpowered humans and the SP Police.

Her relationship with SP Police Chief Gilbae Choi is especially important. They are essentially an older version of Rosa and Doryeong: two people who cared deeply for each other but were separated by fear, duty, misunderstanding, and the way society treated superpowered people.

Their romance is much sadder than Rosa and Doryeong’s.

By the end, Diana loses her powers because of a medicine created to remove abilities from superpowered humans. Her story shows the darker side of this world. Behind the funny superhero battles are people who have spent their entire lives being feared, controlled, experimented on, or treated as weapons.

Diana may look terrifying, but she is also one of the emotional foundations of the story.

U-Seop Nam and the Most Accidental Love Triangle Ever

U-Seop Nam is another unforgettable character.

One day at school, he mistakenly believes Rosa likes him and confidently gives her his phone number. From that moment onward, the poor man becomes trapped inside a romantic web that keeps becoming more complicated.

He is not a bad person. In fact, I sometimes felt sorry for him.

Rosa is obsessed with Doryeong. Doryeong is busy investigating Blackdog. U-Seop misunderstands Rosa’s behavior, and every attempt to fix the situation creates another misunderstanding.

He enters the story thinking he understands what is happening.

He absolutely does not.

Watching his confidence slowly collapse is part of the fun.

The Kang Siblings and Their Perfectly Opposite Powers

The Kang siblings are another funny pair.

The red-haired sister controls fire, while her silver-haired brother controls water. Their abilities perfectly oppose each other, which fits their sibling dynamic.

The water-controlling brother eventually finds a girlfriend who can control plants. That pairing is almost suspiciously perfect. He provides water, she controls plants, and together they could probably run the world’s most supernatural gardening business.

These smaller romances and character combinations help the series feel alive. The story is not entirely dependent on Rosa and Doryeong. Even the side characters receive funny relationships, abilities, and moments of development.

Sei and Jun-Gi Gi Deserve More Appreciation

Sei and Jun-Gi Gi are two of the best supporting characters in the series.

Sei has future sight and works as a streamer, which is already an entertaining combination. She can see what may happen, yet she still exists in a world where Rosa Park can turn a love confession into a city-wide disaster. Future sight is useful, but apparently even destiny struggles to predict Rosa.

Jun-Gi serves as an important backup for Doryeong and remains involved throughout the larger conflict.

Together, Sei and Jun-Gi become far more important than they initially appear. They contribute to the comedy, the investigations, and several major plot developments. Their relationship and teamwork also make them one of the most enjoyable side-character pairings.

I would love to explain everything they do, but that would spoil too many of the story’s better surprises.

Jin Jeong: Rosa’s Obsessive Childhood Admirer

Jin Jeong is essentially Rosa’s obsessive childhood friend with a one-sided love.

I felt slightly sorry for him because everyone cannot win in romance. Unfortunately, Jin does not handle that reality particularly well.

He becomes obsessive, emotionally unstable, and sometimes completely crazy. However, his regenerative ability is genuinely impressive. He can recover from extreme injuries and is practically a manhwa version of Deadpool. The man even returns from death—or at least something close enough to it.

His presence adds tension to the romance because he has known Rosa for years and feels entitled to a place in her life. He is not simply another innocent romantic rival. His attachment becomes dangerous, showing what happens when affection turns into possession.

Gye-Ok Byeon: The Old Woman I Wanted to Kick Through a Wall

The main antagonist, Gye-Ok Byeon, is responsible for much of the suffering behind the story.

Every time she appeared, I wanted someone to kick that old hag out of the story.

She manipulates events from behind the scenes, establishes institutions, performs horrific experiments on humans, and treats superpowered people as tools rather than individuals.

However, the most frightening part of her power is not physical strength.

It is her ability to control public opinion.

Gye-Ok understands that ordinary people are already afraid of those with supernatural abilities. She uses that fear to turn the public against them. She presents superpowered humans as dangerous creatures who must be controlled for everyone’s safety.

This genuinely made me angry while reading.

Imagine suddenly developing an ability you never requested. Then, instead of receiving help, the SP Police place restrictions on you, monitor you, and treat you like a criminal before you have committed any crime.

That is not justice.

The story demonstrates how quickly “public safety” can become an excuse for oppression. A person with power may be dangerous, but that does not mean every superpowered person deserves to be chained, registered, or experimented on.

Gye-Ok manipulates that controversy brilliantly, which makes her an effective villain—even though I hated seeing her face.

Blackdog’s Fanbase May Be the Funniest Part

One of my favorite running jokes is Blackdog’s unexpected fanbase.

The authorities describe her as a terrifying criminal. The media turns every appearance into a national crisis. Meanwhile, members of the public begin treating her like a mysterious celebrity.

She gains fans, theories, merchandise-like attention, and people who genuinely support her without knowing her identity.

The contrast is hilarious.

Rosa is terrified that everyone hates her, while Blackdog fans are probably online arguing about her fighting style, appearance, relationship status, and whether she could defeat the entire SP Police department.

The eventual Blackdog face reveal becomes a massive event because the public finally discovers that the country’s infamous villain is not the monster they imagined.

She is just Rosa.

A shy, unlucky woman who wanted to deliver a love letter and somehow ended up saving the world.

Even the Construction Workers Have Superpowers

Sinyeo Kim and Sangbok Won deserve an honorable mention.

They are basically the superpowered construction couple responsible for repairing the city after villains and SP Police officers destroy everything.

And thank goodness they exist.

Superhero stories rarely consider the poor people who must rebuild the roads, buildings, and public property after every dramatic battle. In this world, construction workers with special powers may genuinely be more valuable than half the heroes.

The villains fight.

The SP Police fight the villains.

Half the city collapses.

Then Sinyeo and Sangbok probably receive another phone call.

They are not the main characters, but their existence is a great example of the series using superpowers for more than combat.

The Romance Is Adorable, but I Wanted More

The romance between Rosa and Doryeong is genuinely cute.

I especially enjoyed their shy and embarrassed interactions. Rosa may possess enough physical strength to terrify an entire police force, but one sincere look from Doryeong can completely defeat her.

Doryeong is not much better.

When the misunderstandings slowly disappear and they begin understanding their feelings, their relationship becomes incredibly wholesome. After everything Rosa experiences—being rejected, branded a villain, hunted by police, manipulated by powerful people, and forced to save the world—she finally becomes the lover of the hero she admired.

That conclusion is satisfying in theory.

However, I am still unhappy with the ending.

Yes, Rosa and Doryeong eventually start dating. Yes, their relationship is confirmed. But come on, author—where is the rest of the romance?

After spending so much time waiting for them to understand each other, I wanted more chapters showing them as an actual couple. I wanted more dates, more awkward flirting, more embarrassing reactions, and more scenes of Doryeong dealing with the fact that his girlfriend is also the legendary Blackdog.

The story gave us the destination, but I wanted to enjoy the journey after they arrived.

A few additional chapters focused entirely on their relationship would have made the ending much more satisfying.

Final Thoughts

In summary, Villain with a Crush is the story of Rosa Park accidentally becoming the country’s most notorious villain while attempting to confess to her superhero idol.

She gets rejected by her first crush, falls from a collapsing building, is rescued by Doryeong Han, develops feelings for him, tries to deliver a love letter, becomes Blackdog, gains a fanbase, exposes a conspiracy, fights against discrimination, helps save the world, and eventually becomes her idol’s girlfriend.

That is one successful love letter.

The series has good world-building, entertaining superpowers, memorable side characters, an effective antagonist, surprisingly serious social themes, and some of the funniest misunderstanding-based comedy I have read in a manhwa.

It is not a masterpiece. Some misunderstandings last longer than necessary, certain parts become chaotic, and the ending desperately needed more romance.

However, it came surprisingly close to being something truly special.

If you enjoy superhero stories, chaotic romantic comedies, secret identities, powerful female leads, and characters who accidentally create national disasters by trying to communicate, Villain with a Crush is absolutely worth reading.

My rating: 7/10

A funny, wholesome, action-packed superhero romance with a strong cast—and a painfully small amount of dating after making us wait so long for the main couple to finally get together.