Summary
Manhwa's mobile readability gives them an edge over manga and boosts their growth in the global market. Webtoons' vertical scrolling format caters to mobile devices, enhancing the reading experience in contrast to manga structured for print publication. Manhwa's vivid colors and art style along with sound effects are attracting more audiences.
Level up aloneThe hit anime adaptation has brought Korean manhwa into the spotlight and according to the series' creators, Manhwa may soon surpass manga. Crunchyroll's latest documentary The Leveling of Solo Leveling delves into the success of Solo Leveling, providing insightful observations on the manhwa genre as a whole and its greatest strengths that could make it compete with manga in the near future.
In the documentary, Seo Bum Gang, President of the Korean Webtoon Association explains that manhwa or webtoons have an inherent advantage in the global market because of their nature. Optimal mobile readability. Simply put, manhwa are easy to read on mobile devices, making them perfect for entertaining reading anytime, anywhere.
In Korea, most people carry cell phones with them. They can be used quickly and easily, making reading webtoons simple. I think that is the biggest advantage that Korean webtoons have in the global market.
– Seo Bum Gang, in The Leveling of Solo Leveling.
This advantage and the growing popularity of manhwa is also reflected in the rise of platforms such as Piccoma, the highest-grossing comic app in 2023. Piccoma globally has beaten even the Famous Japanese comic apps owned by Shueisha and Kodansha such as Shonen Jump+, and Manga Poke. Even in the West, The top 3 most successful comic apps are Webtoon, Tapas and Tappytoonall of which primarily host Korean manhwa, webtoons, and web novels, proving that manhwa is indeed growing into manga's biggest rival.
Manhwa's mobile readability will help them surpass Manga in popularity
Webtoons are structured for mobile while Manga is structured for print
Crunchyroll's documentary on Solo Leveling explains that In Korea, webtoons and web novels are part of the “snack culture” where they are seen as a means to pass the time. A huge reason for this is that webtoons can be easily scrolled anywhere, even with just one hand while waiting in line or even while walking on the street.
While many Japanese manga publishers have also recently launched mobile platforms and app subscriptions such as MANGA Plus, Manga is still primarily built for print publication and is not easy to read on mobile devices. Some of the best aspects of manga like double-page spreads and unique layouts don't always translate well to a vertical scrolling format like manhwa. Because of these significant differences, although webtoons were initially less popular in Japan, they have gradually begun to gain popularity, often referred to as “smartoons.”
The very act of scrolling to read gives it a kind of sense of movement, such as the movement of a certain moment or timeline.
– Seo Bum Gang in an interview with Al Jazeera, 2021.
That said, the manhwa's vertical scrolling style doesn't negate any of the advantages provided by the manga's unique arrangement. Similar to manga, Vertical scrolling can also control the pace, tension, timing, and progression of the story being told. The panels of a webtoon can even be likened to storyboards used in animation, conveying movement and action and sometimes even the micro-expressions of the characters.
Manhwa's vibrant art and coloring attracts more audiences
One major difference between manhwa and manga is the art, specifically the colors. Manga is traditionally black and white, and only some of the most popular series have been re-released in color. This is why the main goal of anime is to attract readers to manga by bringing the series to life with sound and color. On the other hand, webtoons or manhwa are mostly colored in from the beginningonly a handful of series are in black and white.
This vibrant art and color is what makes manhwa titles so appealing, often to the point where fans can even forgive a poorly written plot if the visuals are good enough. In fact, the main reason for Solo Leveling's success as a manhwa was even explained in the Crunchyroll documentary as Jang Sung-rak's breathtaking art. In recent times, webtoons have also begun to incorporate subtle sound effects, music, and animations, taking the reading experience to a new level.
Overall, Manhwa is clearly on its way to dominating the future of comics, and it's not hard to see why. While manga has certainly gained a loyal global fan base over the past decade, manhwa and webtoons may soon surpass them in popularity and popularity. Level up alone may just be the flag bearer of this revolution.
Level up alone available to read from Pocket Comics, Tapas and Tappytoon.
Source: MangaMoguraRE/X, After Squid Game and K-pop, Korean webtoon gets Moment in the Sun/Al Jazeera, The Leveling of Solo Leveling/Crunchyroll