Discussion Manhwa vs. Manga

[thornofcarrion]

Korean Comics or rather more popular term would be Manhwa, are becoming more and more popular with the passage of time. In this thread we can discuss the similarities manhwa shares with manga, or how they differ from each other. We can also discuss what we like or dislike about manhwa.

My personal thoughts are many people do not get into reading manhwa because of the earlier impression. Manhwa series during 2000-2005 were not known for their art or the storyline. Back then the argument was perhaps correct that manga, in general, was better. The characters weren't as interesting as we saw in manga.

However, it is not the case anymore. Many series like Verits, The Breaker, ID, etc have gained popularity worldwide and attracted large audience. The art is great along with intriguing storylines. The character design is most improved aspect in my humble opinion.

I really like to know your thoughts on this matter.

 

[shaheer]

well depends, manga industry is definitely much bigger and manhwa seems to be localized in terms of topic
most of the manhwa has similar story/ main they like to uphold the main a lot etc etc
my fav manhwa is veritas which is closely followed by breaker i feel that in this genre no manga can possibly surpass it but manga does have the upper hand when bench markers are viewed like say Berserk, 20 th century boys, Mushishi

 

[blai]

I personally thing that while a lot of the popular Mangas has lost a lot of it's glory and has had it's story more or less, crushed, a lot of Manhwas has risen with a solid plot, good development, and interesting characters. Basically, the quality of the bigger mangas has decreased, while the quality of the bigger Manhwas has increased. That's why I think a lot of eyes has turned to the Korean Comic market. I also believe it has something to do with exploring, wanting to find new things. People always want new things whether it's a different brand of Cellphones or it's a different type of Comics. Manhwas and Mangas aren't that different per se, only the way you read them. Art differs from Manhwa to Manga just like it differs from Manhwa to Manhwa, or Manga to Manga. But, since the quality has increased (rapidly) lately on the Korean side it has become a more and more acceptable choice, or market to explore, if you may.

So, my opinion is that it's a combination of a decreasing quality in the top Manga market, an increasing quality in the top Manhwa market, a curiosity and an acceptance that wasn't there before. And most of all - availability. Because, if people who wants to explore find the Korean Comic market, read the Manhwas, and like them. Then obviously the word will start go around that Manhwas aren't that shabby after all and before you know it, a Manhwa section was found on MangaHelpers ​

 

[scav]

I personally thing that while a lot of the popular Mangas has lost a lot of it's glory and has had it's story more or less, crushed, a lot of Manhwas has risen with a solid plot, good development, and interesting characters. Basically, the quality of the bigger mangas has decreased, while the quality of the bigger Manhwas has increased. That's why I think a lot of eyes has turned to the Korean Comic market. I also believe it has something to do with exploring, wanting to find new things. People always want new things whether it's a different brand of Cellphones or it's a different type of Comics. Manhwas and Mangas aren't that different per se, only the way you read them. Art differs from Manhwa to Manga just like it differs from Manhwa to Manhwa, or Manga to Manga. But, since the quality has increased (rapidly) lately on the Korean side it has become a more and more acceptable choice, or market to explore, if you may.

So, my opinion is that it's a combination of a decreasing quality in the top Manga market, an increasing quality in the top Manhwa market, a curiosity and an acceptance that wasn't there before. And most of all - availability. Because, if people who wants to explore find the Korean Comic market, read the Manhwas, and like them. Then obviously the word will start go around that Manhwas aren't that shabby after all and before you know it, a Manhwa section was found on MangaHelpers ​

i second that, the quality of mangas is decreasing. Atm almost every new serie that i pick is a manhwa. Im getting used of Mangas, almost every mangas that i try, i have that feeling of "deja vu". But im not saying manhwa are better that mangas, the country doesn't determine if a story is good or bad.Some Mangas are better than some manhwa and some manhwa are better than some mangas.To me its just atm in japan most of the authors are trying to make mangas suitable for shonen jump(so i find most of the popular mangas, a bit too childish and only focused on little kids: DGM, reborn, air gear etc....), or they're some serious seinen. I like more manhwa cuz i didn't read them alot in the past, so its something new for me. The art is different (noblesse, ares ) of what im used, and they add a comedy part in their seinen also they aren't too serious with some big wall of text.

 

[Shinsatsu]

IMO? Manhwa have an extremely good art which makes them very attractive especially if it's a seinen.
I don't believe that we can compair the stories and say that manga or manhwa has better stories than the other (because it depends on the writer = an individual that we cannot judge his entire branch (manga or manhwa) according to his story).

 

[blai]

I don't believe that we can compare the stories and say that manga or manhwa has better stories than the other (because it depends on the writer = an individual that we cannot judge his entire branch (manga or manhwa) according to his story).

Well, technically it doesn't. Of course the artists and writers are deciding what they want to make, but it's the Market that decides whether or not it will prosper or fall. And if you go through the mangas that have topped the weekly polls during the last years you'll note that there isn't that much difference over the years. There are three or four settings. And then there are three or four environments. Then there are three or four genres.

That's why I appreciate Manhwas so much. I have, just like [user]scav[/user], felt that when I read Mangas I get tons of deja vu's and I find myself connecting chapters, settings and arcs with other mangas and in the end I don't get anything new out of it. So I just breathe the same air over and over again, getting less and less oxygen with each breath. That's where Manhwas open that window and let that new, fresh breeze with air come in so you can get the Second Wind that'll let you go for a little longer.

 

[Franckie]

Generally with manga nowadays its hard to find a series that has a solid storyline. I don't know about other readers, but I need a grasp on the storyline no matter how mundane the plot may be. Stories with incoherent/mind boggling/screwy plots (e.g. Air Gear, Bleach, Inu-Yasha) drive me nuts. And the majority of series I've read possess this trait.

I admit I haven't read a lot of manhwa yet, but what fascinates with what little I have read is the genre's intricate storytelling. Authors often have multiple plot threads that are all interdependent of each other running simultaneously. Furthermore, each major plot point of a series receives adequate development. Rereading the series in its entirety shows how well the story fits together as if it were a jigsaw puzzle. Storytelling is also done in a straightforward manner.

Other strong points manhwa include are decent main leads, the complexity of the setting's morailty, and decent artwork.

 

[killer7]

I think manga nowadays concentrate only on profits, and wither this manga will be popular and will the sells be high or not. Each year the manga that got serialized become Eicchi and stupid storyline but that doesn't mean that they can sell the Figures with a high prices or make games for it. One of my friend doesn't care if the anime stupid or not as long as there is hot characters in it, It will be awesome 2 him. Also as ( scav ) said they only concentrate on becoming famous in shonen Jamp, so that they can be recognized in the manga industry.

As for me I like Old manga which is most of them is seinen, am getting tired of any story that the Hero get angry and can beat up the bad guy in 5 sec while he try that in the manga to but for his friend he can do anything ( No good reasons for winning only hurt my friends and I can kill u ).
I doesn't matter whither it is Manga Or Manhwa as long as It has strong storyline and fun 2 watch , it will fit me.

 

[k-dom]

What I found surprising is that the mahnwa have started to make some webcomics while I'm not aware of any manga using this medium (tell me if I'm wrong). I find it strange because webcomic is probably the next trend in comic industry worldwide and I cannot imagine Japanese miss it.

 

[maxikki]

it we were to compare them i think manga would be the mainstream side and manhwa would be considered the indie side of the comic industry in asia

 

[NoT LucK e]

I like my manga but The Breaker is soooooo good!

 

[jorped]

Everything depends on the artist. Until now i have appreciated more the manga world, but manhwas like Noblesse really make this "fight" hard
If the story is good ... that's the only important thing

 

[phio_chan]

What I found surprising is that the mahnwa have started to make some webcomics while I'm not aware of any manga using this medium (tell me if I'm wrong). I find it strange because webcomic is probably the next trend in comic industry worldwide and I cannot imagine Japanese miss it.

I agree that there are lots of webcomics right now. Almost all manhwa I've read are in form of webcomics. Perhaps Japanese manga industry does not really regard this as something worth the try because they feel that they are strong enough with the physical form, the comics? People would still buy the manga book in real life if they are interested in certain titles or simply to try new series. Maybe that rate is still in a number tolerable despite the high level of online manga Edited Mangas. Korean manhwa might not be so lucky so they decided to share it online in form of webcomics? Just my guess. :3

Everything depends on the artist. Until now i have appreciated more the manga world, but manhwas like Noblesse really make this "fight" hard
If the story is good ... that's the only important thing

I totally agree with this.
Since the first time I read comic, I have only read Japanese manga. And after all those times I'm used to the 'fantasy' artwork of Japanese manga. I said 'fantasy', because when I started to read Korean manhwa I feel like their artwork is more towards the 'realistic' artwork. Korean manhwa brings different touch in world of comics, especially webcomics with their full-colored pages. It makes things more lively, and the characters feel more 'real'. Still, that doesn't make manhwa superior towards manga, or vice versa. What matters now are the plot and the artwork, and at the end it also depends on people's preferences. ^^

 

[Jammin]

Believe it or not I think I like Manhwa better.

I say that because I see potential in these relatively new manhwa that I just don't see in manga right now; such as Noblesse, Tower of God, and The Breaker. The world of manga has some strong new comedy series and some great series that have been around forever but nothing fresh. Would anyone say there has been a manga series created in last 2 years that has the potential to be a good as something like Fullmetal Alchemist? Because if their is I have not read it.

Just look at what I think is generally considered the flagship manga publication Shounen Jump...

One Peice is steady as a rock.
Bleach is on the last arc.
Naruto seems like it's coming up on the end.
Hitman Reborn is a fun battle-manga with a mediocre(at best) plot.
HunterXHunter is a series with decent potential that had one terrible arc which turned it's narrative into such a tangled mess that I'm not even sure is fixable.
Nurarihyon no Mago is good but suffers from painfully slow pacing.
Bakuman peaked a while ago and was chasing it's tail last time a checked.
Toriko is funny but I think it's far too gimmicky to achieve much drama-wise,
Medeka Box is an fun but flawed week-to-week series that has yet to really get a real plot going.
Magicano and Sket Dance are both fun series but their plots have very low ceilings in terms of quality.
Gintama and Beelzebub are both fantastic but they are much more comedy than action/adventure and that probably limits what they can achieve.

And it seems like it's like that across the manga landscape to me. Lots of "good" stuff that will never be great. The Manhwa landscape on the other-hand seems filled with series that could actually be great.

 

[Googlez_kun]

First of all,the problem I see in this thread is that only mainstream series and shonen are considered here.
They are obviously written to appeal to a certain audience and to sell.There are still manga-ka like Oda and Sorachi,who draw whatever the heck they want and not only draw in order to make their series as popular as possible.Admittedly,the majority is different and success is the only thing that matters,but that's shonen.Kids are their core audience and in order to survive they need deliver what they want and there's only so much you can do.Sadly enough,that's what most members of the forum read.WSJ seems to be the only source for manga.Some might even find a manga from SQ like Claymore or Ao no Futsumashi or a series from another magazine like say Air Gear and Soul Eater,but that's it.Same with seinen.Most people read Vagabond,Berserk,Vinland Saga and maybe one more series.
However,they ignore all those beautiful little one-shots.All those slice-of-life short series and underground manga.Moreover,manga-ka like Tsutomu Nihei,Asano Inio and Naoki Urasawa publish amazing manga even to this day.Even older brilliant on-going manga like Yotsuba&! and Blade of the Immortal are forgotten.Heck,there are even newer manga that are promising like I Am a Hero,Anagle Mole,Nisekoi and Gin no Saji, just to name a few.As for the next FMA,don't forget Shingeki no Kyojin,a thrilling manga that seems to shape up into a true masterpiece.So while you can say that the current manga market passed its peak,please don't pretend it's slowly dying.

As for manwha,I guess I can't really comment on that.They only one I've actually read is Noblesse,which seems like an even more retarded Bleach with colors that make me want to throw up.Overall,I somewhat dislike the art in manwha.Most seem like a poor manga rip-off and the usage of color kills my eyes and most shading is ugly.Furthermore,the way you have to read it annoys,as it makes a deadly combination with the often unnecessary wordless panels and the resulting awkward pacing.
I'll try my best to resume The Breaker,even though it did not really impress me, and maybe even continue reading Tower of God,since it's the only one that somehow showed promise,despite the generic art,in order to form a more fair opinion.

 

[Jammin]

First of all,the problem I see in this thread is that only mainstream series and shonen are considered here.
They are obviously written to appeal to a certain audience and to sell.There are still manga-ka like Oda and Sorachi,who draw whatever the heck they want and not only draw in order to make their series as popular as possible.Admittedly,the majority is different and success is the only thing that matters,but that's shonen.Kids are their core audience and in order to survive they need deliver what they want and there's only so much you can do.Sadly enough,that's what most members of the forum read.WSJ seems to be the only source for manga.Some might even find a manga from SQ like Claymore or Ao no Futsumashi or a series from another magazine like say Air Gear and Soul Eater,but that's it.Same with seinen.Most people read Vagabond,Berserk,Vinland Saga and maybe one more series.
However,they ignore all those beautiful little one-shots.All those slice-of-life short series and underground manga.Moreover,manga-ka like Tsutomu Nihei,Asano Inio and Naoki Urasawa publish amazing manga even to this day.Even older brilliant on-going manga like Yotsuba&! and Blade of the Immortal are forgotten.Heck,there are even newer manga that are promising like I Am a Hero,Anagle Mole,Nisekoi and Gin no Saji, just to name a few.As for the next FMA,don't forget Shingeki no Kyojin,a thrilling manga that seems to shape up into a true masterpiece.So while you can say that the current manga market passed its peak,please don't pretend it's slowly dying.

As for manwha,I guess I can't really comment on that.They only one I've actually read is Noblesse,which seems like an even more retarded Bleach with colors that make me want to throw up.Overall,I somewhat dislike the art in manwha.Most seem like a poor manga rip-off and the usage of color kills my eyes and most shading is ugly.Furthermore,the way you have to read it annoys,as it makes a deadly combination with the often unnecessary wordless panels and the resulting awkward pacing.
I'll try my best to resume The Breaker,even though it did not really impress me, and maybe even continue reading Tower of God,since it's the only one that somehow showed promise,despite the generic art,in order to form a more fair opinion.

I can't say this for certain but if I was a betting man I would wager thornofcarrion, shaheer, blai, Franckie, jorped, phio_chan, k-dom, Shinsatsu, and scav have all read well outside the mainstream; and I know I have though I admit I've never heard of Shingeki no Kyojin before you mentioned it just now. So IMO we are probably all making our judgments with about as good a background of nerdy knowledge as anybody.

Obviously, I don't agree with your assessment of Noblesse, Tower of God, or The Breaker but I'm a huge fan of each(plus the Noblesse reviewer) so that's no surprise. But tastes do differ from person to person...

Still I find it hard to understand how this panel can make you want to vomit.

 

[k-dom]

Well manwa are not just web comics
As for the art, Google_kun please try this one : annarasumanara, there are others with best art but this one uses the format very originally.

And Jammin Shingeki is close from masterpiece so far

 

[Jammin]

And Jammin Shingeki is close from masterpiece so far

I read through what I could find of it(about 30 chapters I think). Not sure I'm a fan to be honest. Bit to much of the "shock value gore" and "young soldier not prepared to face battle" stuff for me. It's fine to start things out that way but as the character progress I need to see character's adapt to their situations a little more. For me that is the meat and potatoes of a story like this.

Liked the artwork and world-building though.

 

[k-dom]

It's a monthly magazine so there are not that many chapter even if it's more than one year old already.
It certainly is more dark and realistic that typical shonen where the hero is crazy strong from the start and always wins with the help of his friends. In that matter it is refreshing and interesting. But let's not get off topic too much, you are welcome to give your opinion on the Shingeki thread
Others web comic with different art style would be
Kiss Wood : The art is really nice, the story was a bit too short but still enjoyable read
Magician : a Fantasy web comic

 

[AluminumTough]

I have to agree with killer7 manga has gone the route of maximizing profit. Manga is also geared to the Japanese market which I usually tend to not have the same sense of humor as Japanese artist. The whole "pervert" stuff is not what I like to see because, well, to it isn't funny to me. I like Manwha more than Manga due to several different reasons: Manwha has art that is very similar to American style which I like because I grew up with Marvel comics, Manga is geared to Japanese culture and young kids (I'm not either of these, so things like "pervert" jokes and terrible story lines with loads of action are not appealing to me), Manwha tends to have more in depth story lines.

I have just recently (about 2009) got into manga with bleach. I have read several different mangas since then but once my friend told me to read One Piece (it took about of year of nagging to get me to read it) I just looked at manga and was like; no I don't like this the stories are geared for little kids with short attention spans that like strong central character that obliterates the enemies one after another with no story line (but One Piece is not this, the main characters have been beat up and the story line is unpredictable). Not all manga is this way but many of them are. Manhwa, imo, tends to have more in depth stories with enemies that are not just one character but rather and entire group or are hidden this way when some bad guys are killed there can be more story (unlike Bleach).

Manga also tend to tell you right up front what is going on in the story (this is the objective, these are the characters, these are good, and these are bad)...I don't like this. I like to learn stuff over time let it unfold like it is a novel. I want to learn the universe...instead of being told the universe. So, my opinion is that manga is based on more action less story, less character development than manhwa. I prefer the art in manhwa because it drawls me into the characters, I prefer the stories in manhwa most of the time because they are more creative and not based off a culture that I do not understand. I also prefer manhwa because they are not made into anime which makes it much more easy for me to read with out just getting tired and moving to the anime. One final note I find that the stories in manhwa are much more diverse, original, unpredictable, and are geared for people older than 12...but again not all the time.