Is Ordeal Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read

Quick facts
Format	Webtoon, 6 chapters
Run	2024–present · on hiatus
Community score	AniList 7.5
Content	Violence
Where to read	WEBTOON — official

Overview

Che just wants to be the greatest fighter who ever lived, in a world where that ambition means competing with superpowered beings called Kimyos. He's human, or thinks he is, until his mentor is murdered and he sets out for vengeance — only to learn the world of Kimyos runs a lot deeper than he realized, and that he himself might be carrying the power of the sun as the most powerful Kimyo on Earth.

Ordeal is a Naver Webtoon Original written and drawn by Brent Bristol, a Trinidadian creator whose art blends Western comic-book muscle with anime-influenced expression. It's a passion project that grew into a real series, and that origin shows in the best way: this is a book made by someone who clearly loves the genre and wants to put everything he loves about it on the page.

What it does well

The art is the first thing that grabs you, and it earns the attention. Bristol doesn't shy away from making his powerful characters look powerful — if someone can lift a car, they look like they can lift a car — and that physical confidence carries through the fight choreography, which favors weight and impact over pure speed-lines spectacle. It's a genuinely distinct visual identity in a genre where a lot of series start to blur together.

Che's motivation also stays grounded for longer than you'd expect. This isn't a story that jumps straight to saving the world; it starts as one young man's grief and need for answers, and that personal stakes keeps the early chapters focused even as the Kimyo power system opens the door to a much bigger universe. The character introductions get real care too — new fighters show up with genuine entrances, not just stat-block reveals, which matches the creator's own stated love of giving fans the characters they're asking to see.

Where it falls short

The Season 1 mystery — who killed Che's mentor and why — resolves through a conflict that turns out to be smaller and more personal than the buildup suggests, which can feel like a slight anticlimax after the version of the story the opening chapters seem to be setting up. A few stretches, particularly training arcs, slow the pace down more than the momentum built by the fights can really afford.

And because the world keeps expanding with new Kimyos and factions, some newer characters arrive with striking designs and impressive entrances but not much time yet to become more than the fight they're introduced in. It's the natural growing pain of a series still building out its universe in real time.

Verdict

Ordeal is a genuine passion project that's found real traction, and the art alone makes it worth a look for anyone who wants a superpower action webtoon with its own visual voice. The writing is still catching up to the ambition of the world it's building, but Che's story has stayed personal enough to keep the stakes real even as the universe around him grows.