Dark Heaven

Description

Conor, a Korean-American, lives in a city where same-sex marriage has been legalized, but where racist and homophobic hate crimes are still frequent. He joins a band with the blond-haired, blue-eyed Simon and the two go on to create their own “dark heaven” in an abandoned church. Feelings develop between the pair, but light cannot dwell with dark, and their time together will soon come to an end...

Original Webtoon:
Ridibooks, Bomtoon, Lezhin, Naver Series, MrBlue, BookCube

Official Translations:
English, Japanese, Spanish

Note: The series was removed off Lezhin US on Dec 15, 2020 but as of July 7, 2021 was re-added back on the site.

Type

Manhwa

Related Series

Guardians of the Lamb (Spin-Off)

Associated Names

Paraiso Negro

Тёмный Рай

다크 헤븐

다크헤븐

Groups Scanlating

Lezhin

Latest Release(s)

c.2-6 by Lezhin 9 years ago

c.1 by Lezhin 9 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

82 Chapters (Complete)
6 Volumes (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

N/A

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

Click here to view the forum

User Rating

Average: 8.5 / 10.0 (148 votes)

Bayesian Average: 8.13 / 10.0

35%

27%

21%

Last Updated

August 8th, 2025 9:16am PDT - 2 months ago

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Genre

Drama Mature Romance Tragedy Yaoi
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Usagi Yojimbo

Monstress

Nibiiro no Hako no Naka de

Zashisu

Horyo Eiyuu ~Sutegoma ni Sareta Kendo wa Tekikoku de Nariagaru~

Recommendations

N/A

Author(s)

Juns

Artist(s)

Juns

Year

2016

Original Publisher

Jaedam

Lezhin (Re-uploaded)

Ridibooks

Serialized In (magazine)

Lezhin (Lezhin)

Ridibooks (Ridibooks)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Copin Comics (Defunct)

Lezhin US

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #648

(-108)

Monthly Pos #1266

(-257)

3 Month Pos #1722

(-736)

6 Month Pos #2761

(-518)

Year Pos #3542

(-611)

List Stats

On 142 reading lists

On 222 wish lists

On 270 completed lists

On 15 unfinished lists

On 214 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

dropped

by whitelotusflower
2 years ago

Rating: N/A

couldn't handles goofy appearance

Was this comment useful? Yes

Good but Violent and Sad

by MangaGirl1999
2 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

This comic contains content that some readers may find uncomfortable, such as depictions of drug use, rape, sexual content, and violence.

Happy Ending 🙂 Yeeee

... Last updated 2 years ago

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I think this is a masterpiece!

by dia69
2 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

The story is really so well written. Not only that, the reader finds himself forced to think not only about the story itself, but in general about discrimination not only against gay couples in earlier times and what terrible things they may have had to endure. How they were persecuted and hunted by ignorant people, even by their own families. How many relationships have broken down because of this and how many have broken down because of it and have denied themselves or even committed suicide. It's so horrible that you don't want to think about it. Not to forget that there are still countries where they are treated, persecuted or hunted in exactly the same way.
But the author always managed to give the reader a breather during the more happy moments... until the next disaster came, and there were quite a few. 😏
And although I usually read a Manhwa in one go, here and there I had to read something else at the same time to calm myself down.

Was this comment useful? Yes

Just lived it!

by koja.kojyte
3 years ago

Rating: N/A

One of my favorit stories. Complex, realistic, has a lot of depth. Bouth main character lovely protraif with there pluses and minuses. The love can be seen in hot love scenes and there interactions, hobies, dialogues. Secondary characters are great! Love style in unique and pritty to look (just a pitty that sensorship is quite high, essen kisses are sensoved). So highly recommend the wonderful, complex story!

... Last updated 3 years ago

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Oh well

by TheOneWhoGotAway
3 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

This manhwa covers so many dark topics.. The first chapters were very excruciating indeed. However I think some parts are a bit hard to understand.. I am still thinking who died watching that TV and why..

I had abandoned all hope for a happy ending but i got a happy ending

I don't know why but i can't seem to hate simon's brother.. oh well!!

... Last updated 3 years ago

Was this comment useful? Yes

Breathtaking, Dark, and Well Written

by SureinDragon
4 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Rating: 10 (Masterpiece)
Time of Review: Chapter 82 (Lezhin)

There's not a lot for me to say that has not already been said about this webcomic. It. Is. Amazing. Every character has depth and nuance, even the ones who do so much harm in the series. The author has perfect control over the tension throughout the story, bringing the reader on a roller coaster of emotions. Also the paneling oh my gosh. I read Dark Heaven after JUNS second work, Guardians of the Lamb, and in both work they show an absolute mastery over creative use of paneling for comics.

It is not by any means an easy read. The story contains many sensitive topics along with very visceral depictions of violent acts, and an abundance of explicit sex. I cannot recommend this webcomic to everyone because of that, as many readers might find some scenes extremely distressing. Please use your discretion if picking up this story.

Overall, an amazing read and worth your time, if you have a heart of steel.

Personal thoughts on the story below the cut:

It's a shame that JUNS glossed over Simons drug addition during the time that he was apart from Conor. Even though the period was only 6-ish months, he most likely would have suffered from some serious physical and mental harm, along with painful relapses afterwards. It just seemed unrealistic and a missed opportunity, because survivors of substance abuse would be a minority JUNS would like to cover.

You Might Also Like: I have honestly never read anything quite like this before. If being a mlm story is not required, then I highly recommend The Lady and Her Butler. Otherwise, the authors second work Guardians of the Lamb is a must!

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Great Read!

by mewmewchii
5 years ago

Rating: N/A

I originally wanted to read this series when it first came out but with only a couple of chapters posted I dropped it due to lack of interest, that was a mistake. I binge read this in a couple of days excited to see what will happen to Connor and Simon, their romance is depicted very realistically, you can feel the genuine love and friendship they have for each other with every interaction they share. You get to see them grow up in a society that forces them to hide their love, not only because of their homosexuality but also because of their different races.

I have a lot of love for this series but I do have some issues, like the pacing for instance, the sex scenes were beautiful, the fact that they were a verse couple added to the realism but I felt that they were over gratuitous and slowed down the story while making it try to catch up. The time jumping didn't help either since they would go back and forward. There was some indicators to help such as obvious signs of de-ageing or Connor's tattoos but it got a little confusing since in the middle of a scene they would flash back to two moths earlier without a clear indicator that it's a flash back. I also didn't like that there was one sole villain in the end, it would have been better if they did keep it as a network of evil doers or utilized a character that would have held significantly more weight to the men's relationship.(but this is a personal issue rather than an issue with the story it's self)

The fact that Veronica didn't really have much significance through out the whole story just made the twist fall flat. Don't get me wrong the climax was amazing, I was a the edge of my seat reading it but it seemed like a cop-out to use her like that when it would have been better for her to have been a part of some one else's master plan.

TL;DR- Amazing read with realistic settings and relationships, if you can look past the prime time T.V. drama-esque third act it'll quickly become your favorite.

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Off to a breathtaking start but..

by OmNom
6 years ago

Rating: N/A

.. then this manhwa quickly conformed to regional narrative norms of typical contemporary Korean fiction and by that I mean not a masterpiece. Which is a damn shame because the first chapter was absolutely gorgeous with beautiful cinematic shots and great atmosphere building and will get you instantly hooked, and the relationship depicted between Simon and Conor starting from their childhood days all the way to adulthood is remarkably sensational. The last three quarters of the story unfortunately progressed exactly how I would expect a cliched K-drama to with so many irritating plot device cliches and predictable characterisation coupled with dragging politics and a badly-executed thriller subplot. Having said that, I can't deny the incredible chemistry between the leads, and the way their unconditional love and bonds were portrayed is exceptionally stunning. Again it's a shame that the author couldn't elevate the story and its characters with a more tactful and nuanced delivery, but it'd be a lie if I said she didn't get anything right.

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My heart aches.....

by liontaraki
8 years ago

Rating: N/A

What attracted me in this series was the main couple. They fell in love when they were kids and since then they cannot deny their feelings for each other no matter what. However, the set of this story is very dark; they live in a neo-nazi kind of dystopia. The police supports the perpatrators of hate crimes and leaves these cases unresolved. The media hides the truth or presents fake news that promote racial hate and discrimination. Politicians are immoral and perverted but for the public eye they keep up appearances. White-skinned, blue-eyed people are adorned by the whole society and everyone else is treated like he/she is less than. Gay marriages were legalized but gays are scorned and victimized just like before. People of colour, homosexuals, human-rights activists etc hold no position of authority and are oppressed but remain silent when at the same time the racists hold openly huge events and demonstrations to spread their message further across.

Loving each other in secret and letting only a few people know of their relationship, these kids were trying their damn best to live on but circumstances forced them to be apart and now every damn side character and their mother is trying to keep them forever apart. My "must protect" instinct is screaming with every page I turn but there's nothing I can do about it... I really want this story to have a happy ending that includes a marriage ceremony for Conor and Simon and a tragic death for all the side characters I don't like, starting from all the racists, Conor's cousin, Simon's boss and all his clients, Tamara, Jerry, Conor's colleagues at work, pretty much all the other characters that appeared in the story until now...

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This should seriously be made into a movie.

by likalaruku1
8 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

A realistic interracial gay couple trying to survive in a very religious fictional european country who's social politics on everything but women haven't broken past the days of Martin Luthir King Jr. Two boys fall in love with eachother in school & form a band with their gal-pal.

Rather than the usual trite melodrama that keeps couples from hooking up right away in BL, the men are already lovers with the world trying to tear them apart. Homophobic religious parents, a KKK-like gang that beat down on asians, blacks, & homosexuals, a greedy racist female music producer who wants to sign Simon ad a solo act & bleed him for every penny he's worth, a selfish woman who will go to extreme measures to force a gay man who loves someone else to be hers, & being set up by a crooked cop as a martyr & scapegoat for a murder.

Latter chapters may come off as pandering to the authoritarian left, if you ignore that it's basically set in Russia & written from a Korean perspective, but it actually points out how ignorant is is to take sides at all on political extremes like brainless sheep looking for a place to fit in & feel good by looking down on people who don't fit inside the narrow margin of your political bubble.

... Last updated 8 years ago

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