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Manwha vs. Manga


Dagger
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Tokyopop recently started publishing a number of manwha (Korean manga) titles, including Demon Diary, Les Bijoux, Snow Drop, Under the Glass Moon, Invu, Ragnarok, Faeries' Landing, King of Hell, and Priest. While many fans don't realize that manwha and manga aren't quite the same thing, I'd be interested in discussing how they differ.

First of all, manwha generally has [i]incredible[/i] artwork, which can be vastly superior to that found in the majority of manga. Just compare Demon Diary or Under the Glass Moon to series like Rurouni Kenshin and Inuyasha--while the latter two are wildly popular, they look amateurish and sketchy when placed next to your average manwha.

Manga artists usually do all of the work themselves. They come up with a storyline, write a script, decide how to organize each page, and so forth. However, I've noticed that manwha is more like American comics in this regard: the job of creating a series is sometimes split between an author and an artist, both of whom are credited on the cover of every volume.

I'm guessing that mal will be the first person to reply to this thread. ^_~

~Dagger~
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[COLOR=DarkOrange]The first and only Manwha I've read so far is [B]Demon Diary[/B]. I have not read any other titles so I can't really compare it artistically to Manga.

But yes, I'd have to agree that so far the artwork in [B]Demon Diary[/B] is really nice.

But you know what, I think that it all depends on the titles themselves. So you can't really say that all Manga, in general, are not as artistically nice as the other Manwha. I'm pretty sure that there are some Manwha out there that are not as nice too. We'll just have to wait and see what other Manwha titles will be released this year.

Aside from that, and based on my limited experience with Manwha, Manwha and Manga are pretty much the same to me. :D

It's all good stuff!

[B]EDIT[/B]: Manwha and Manga layout are similar. Manwha can be found at the same locations where Manga is sold. The only difference is their nation of origin: Korea vs. Japan. Hope that helps!
[/COLOR]
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Ah! Les Bijoux! Under the Glass Moon! Spectacular illustrations! They're just so . . . pretty. Other than that, I guess I hadn't really noticed the difference (except that I couldn't read the sound-effects and cannot pronounce the names of the artists. I can do that with manga.) It all probably depends on how the artists are influenced by other artists--manga and manwha. I haven't seen an ongoing trend in storylines or anything like that to differenciate between them, but I also haven't read many examples of manwha. I'd like to, though; I want to take lessons from these artists . . . .
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[color=firebrick] Ah... yes, Dagger, it feels good to be Korean so I can say this: [size=3] Korean art PWNS Japan art![/size] ^_^

Korea sort of has a 'girly-boy' theme that is present in most of their cartoons/manwhas, and I think they developed the 'inward foot' thing. It's pretty common in alot of the art. A lot of the stories can be a bit lacking, though, which make readers go toward mangas... even though Dagger is right: both a writer and artists work on one manwha together. Other than a difference in art, there aren't any glaring differences between manga and manwha. Both are very similiar in many ways, so I don't think there would be any reason to favor one a whole lot more than the other.[/color]
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[COLOR=Gray][SIZE=2][FONT=Courier New]The only manwha I've ever read is Demon Diary. It was funny, but I didn't enjoy it [I]all[/I] that much. I was kind of hoping for the beginings of a plot._ _ Oh well, it was just one volume, half of which wasn't even Demon Diary, so I can't really take a stand-point on this issue. Damn, I have *got* to teach my friends how to buy manga/wha properly...

The art was quite [I]pretty[/I], though I didn't like the style that much. I tend to go for the more "realistic" (as far as manga can go, anyway) styles. You know, where face-shap, eye-shape, and noses can be as important in identifying a character visually as their hair? Almost. ^_^

I really don't think you can judge an entire country's comic books equally though. Like in North America and Japan, some of them are going to suck. Similarly, some of the art is going to suck. However, you will always find the gems that have both wonderful art and wonderful stories/are so funny and well-drawn you can't put them down. However, societies do tend to lean in the same direction in *some* aspects. For instance: spandex in American comics. *shudder* How I loathe that stuff...

From what I've seen (as in looked at, not actually read), characters in manwha tend to be much more slender and androgynous (sp?). The eyes are generally wider and smaller, and the hands more feminine. Though I'm sure built characters will have less dainty hands, the art seems to follow this trend.

And, oh, the sparkles! I have never picked up a volume of manwha without something that's all sparkly in it. I actually find this quite weird...O.o[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
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[quote name='maladjusted][color=firebrick] Ah... yes, Dagger, it feels good to be Korean so I can say this: [size=3] Korean art PWNS Japan art![/size'] ^_^[/color][/quote]

*grins* Being half-Korean, I feel obligated to second that statement. ^_~

I'm surprised that no one has talked about one of the fundamental differences between manga and manwha. I actually forgot to mention it until I re-read the first volume of Les Bijoux (which, by the way, is [i]absurdly[/i] gorgeous). While manga and manwha have similar layouts, manwha reads from left to right--just like a regular American comic book or novel. When I first saw Demon Diary, I thought that it had been "flipped." Only later did I realize that it wasn't really manga.

This may sound like a technicality, but it's surprisingly important. Flipped series tend to look worse than regular manga, not through any fault of the artist, but rather because the artwork simply isn't meant to be viewed that way. I know people who refuse to buy series which have been reversed, and although I don't advocate doing that, I wonder whether some look at manwha and (because it's left to right) automatically dismiss it.

~Dagger~
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Oh, I didn't realize that. Of course, I wondered why Demon Diary looked like it was flipped, but it didn't sink in that they were just like that. Hmm. Well, good. I hate it when people flip the originals. Blade of the Immortal is still doing that--although if they change it now, after we have bought half of the sixteen dollar books, I'll be mad. (I want them to look pretty on my bookcase.) Actually, they do this weird cut-and-paste thing with the panels, instead of flipping them. Nevermind. This way, Manji's scar is sometimes on the right . . . and sometimes on the left.
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Guest MetalSonic700
Ah! I new there was something weird with my NOT flipped Ragnarock Manga! I wouldnt really say Manwha is BETTER, in artwork or story, than Manga. I didnt even know the difference... except that Myung-Jin Lee doesnt sound Japanese. Seeing as Ragnarok is the only Manwha Ive ever read I really cant judge, but I thought it has just as good artwork as King of Bandits Jing of Hellsing (awesome titles). Lets just say.... its.... debatable.....

PS: Is Dragon Hunter Manwha? The names are different (Myung-ho, Suer-Chong) and its left to riht.
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[i]From what I've seen (as in looked at, not actually read), characters in manwha tend to be much more slender and androgynous (sp?). The eyes are generally wider and smaller, and the hands more feminine. Though I'm sure built characters will have less dainty hands, the art seems to follow this trend.[/i]

[color=firebrick]Yes, yes...makes guys seem very hot...:p Korean manwha art is distinctive at times, but there are also many manga artwork that follows the same trend. But, you're still right. Most of them are like good-looking stick people walking around with giant feet.[/color]

[i]This may sound like a technicality, but it's surprisingly important. Flipped series tend to look worse than regular manga, not through any fault of the artist, but rather because the artwork simply isn't meant to be viewed that way.[/i]

[color=firebrick]I have no idea why they want to flip the books, it's not like we Americans are stupid...! *cough cough* j/k. But yes, I tend to dislike flipped manga/manwha books. They're so...flipped, right? XD Sometimes when a person draws an angled face, it can look sort of mangled when flipped around, and I guess there are more examples. [/color]
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I always thought manga and manwha were the same. On one of the how to draw manga books was the symbol, phonetically, [I]manwha[/I]. I think. In Chinese, my parents always calls mangas [I]manwha su[/I], so I dunno. Maybe it's just the different regions' pronounciation. That's just what I think, and I could very well be wrong.
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[color=firebrick] No, you can tell if a comic is Korean or Japanese. Korean names are always only three syllables long, while Japanese names can be as long as...whatever. *shrugs* Common Korean names are like: Lee, Kim, Chung, Young, etc. Japanese Names: Tatsuya, [enter ten million syllables], etc.[/color]
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well, yeah despite the obvious ethnic difference eg names and places...
It's not like all manwha artists draw the same, nor all manga artists so it's slightly unfair to over generalize by art style. I guess I was trying to say [I]manwha[/I] is the equivalent to [I]manga[/I], with... darn it. Whatever. I'm just really used to interchanging the two terms, so I feel that there is no main "difference" between manga and manwha other than one being Korean and the other being Japanese. It's kind of like the difference between a graphic novel (a good one, and not a comic) and a manga.

Also, you have to look at the publishers. "Tokyo" -pop. The only non-japanese work they're going to publish will probably reach a certain standard. I don't know all the other publishers, but chances are, at least for the US, they mostly specialize in Japanese work.

[SIZE=3]("regions' pronunciation?" What was I on? They're different countries.)[/SIZE]
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[color=firebrick] A company name doesn't necessarily mean that it will only specialize in that area. 'Burger King' sells lots of chicken sandwhiches.

Yeah, they art is similiar, although manwha and manga are usually distinguishable is they have the right characteristics. I'm not saying [i]all[/i] manwah artists draw a certain way, it's just that many of their manwhas have people that are pretty lithe/tall and feminine in a way. *shrugs* From what I've seen, anyway. Tokyopop might specialize in Japanese work, but Korea and China has its fair share of good comics, too.

But there is one difference people really should recognize, manga=Japanese and manwha=Korean.[/color]
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  • 2 weeks later...
Korean pride!!! woot woot! :D

I would agree - manwha is much more...fluid? The lines seem to be more graceful to me...but I dunno. The characters are always so pretty. But yeah, the only problem with manwha is the plots are sometimes kind of...disappointing. The other thing is that I think they insert too many little images. Like all the chibis and everything...sometimes it gets really annoying, and I like to skim it, but that's just me. However, both manga and manwha are fun to read, and there are some awesome mangas out there!
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  • 2 months later...
[COLOR=RoyalBlue]Unfortantly I haven't had the pleasure of reading manwha.

I have never hear it before today. I don't think I've every seen them before in stores. But if they are as good as ya'll say, I look for them.

Are the story lines better in manwha than in mangas? Are is the art work as good as ya'll say?[/COLOR]
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