
lol, ppl sayin this story is like ORV and TCF etc... (all these stories are good btw)
the true secret as to why these stories are so similar and "good" is because of the heavy bromance and lack of excessive female characters, that's the secret y'all

I think your reasons are partially correct with a bit more nuance IMO these stories get grouped together because people like the well-developed found family, sacrificial MCs with solid motivations, intelligence over brawn, lack of the “female love interest syndrome” because there are well-written female characters, solid character relationships (which to be fair yes, the most popular are the bromance ones) and cute furry mascots
Heavy bromance and lack of objectified female characters definitely contribute to making these action manhwa the most popular with btoh demographics so that’s pretty neat
soooooo threesome relationships do seem to be the norm in this world. i guess that's one way to avoid second male lead syndrome.
btw, i miss the old art (the Emperor was sooooo pretty in the old artstyle!)