Vaude For Thought: Rise of Manhwa and Manhua

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the fifth edition of Vaude For Thought where I will give my thoughts on certain topics and for this edition of Vaude For Thought, it's about the rise of manhwa and manhua.

Let's get started.

Vaude For Thought: Rise of Manhwa and Manhua

Now, before I get to the topic in hand, for those who are not aware, what is manhwa and manhua? Well, you guys know what manga is as manga is basically a Japanese comic book. Manhwa is essentially a Korean comic book/manga while manhua is a Chinese comic book/manga.

Alright, now, you're probably wondering what's the difference between manga, manhwa, and manhua besides them being made from different countries? Well, I'm going to explain the differences between all three and how manhwa and manhua been on the rise for the past few years.

In terms of main differences between manga, manhwa, and manhua, they include the way they're being read, character designs, color, and the way that they're published.

Let's start on what they're being read first.

When reading manga, they're generally read from right to left instead of left to right like in Western comic books as generally, most Asian countries read from right to left which includes Japan.

However, when it comes to manhwa, they're read from left to right just like with Western comic books which is a lot easier for Westerners to get into the series as they're used to reading from left to right opposed to right to left in manga.

When it comes to manhua, they vary depending on the manhua itself as they can be either read from left to right, or right to left which is something for everyone. 

Granted, which direction you read doesn't really matter in terms of the content and material of what's given to manga, manhwa, and manhua, but the fact that there is something for everyone for Westerners and Easterners alike is great which continues the expansion of manhwa and manhua specifically worldwide.

Now, let's talk about character designs.

A lot of people are drawn to manga, manhwa, and manhua due to their amazing art styles and character designs, but what makes character designs between manga, manhwa, and manhua different from each other? 

For manga, character designs are more stylized compared to manhwa and manhua as you would not see these looks of characters in the real world most of the time unless you see cosplayers cosplaying as them.

For manhwa and manhua, their character designs tend to lean more on realistic-looking characters where these character designs look more realistic, and you can see most of them looking like ordinary people in the real world.

As I mentioned before, not all manga have stylized character designs and not all manhwa and manhua have realistic character designs. It all depends on the artists who threw them and the way they portrayed those characters in their designs. Regardless of whether or not character designs are stylized or realistic looking, as long as the art is great and the characters are well drawn, it doesn't matter the design. Though, the character designs on manhwa and manhua are great in their own right compared to manga and that is an increase of international appeal among people as manhwa and manhua because of that.

Now, let's talk about the color in manga, manhwa, and manhua.

People tend to have a lot of attention on certain visual when they are in color and with manga, manhwa, and manhua, it's no different. 

With a lot of people reading manga, they tend to see when manga chapters are published, they tend to be black and white most of the time which is still true to this day when it comes to published manga. Granted, these manga will eventually have color when republished, but generally when chapters of the manga are published for the first time, they're in black and white opposed to having any color at all.

When it comes to manhwa and manhua, however, their episodes when published are in color opposed to black and white when it comes to manga.

Granted, not everything that is in color is great, but color does give attraction and attention that something in black and white does not tend to get. This is probably one of the reasons why manhwa and manhua have been getting more popular as of late due to them having color when published for the first time compared to manga which only has black and white when published as color does bring appeal and more eyes than black and white.

Finally, let's talk about the way manga, manhwa, and manhua are being published.

Just like with books and novels, manga, manhwa, and manhua have their own way of being published and they differ among each other while also similar in some cases.

When it comes to manga, they are generally published in a collection of chapters into a volume and then get sold as a volume once it's published. With most manga in the industry, they do show a chapter of the manga on magazines through the manga publisher as well as their applications online but doesn't publish the chapter by itself unless it's a standalone manga with no consideration of volumes whatsoever.

As for manhwa and manhua, they're a bit similar to manga where they also have volumes with a collection of episodes, but the main difference is that manhwa and manhua published their episodes on their applications online as well as on print. In other words, the way manhwa and manhua are published is the opposite of manga where they publish their episodes weekly rather than a collection of episodes into a volume like manga.

 

Now, granted, the way manga, manhwa, and manhua, are published may differ from another, but that doesn't change the fact that they can still bring their work to the world in their own way and it's great to see. When it comes to manhwa and manhua, their way of publishing works, and it has garnered interest among people across the world as it continues to rise in terms of popularity and growth.

Overall, despite manga, manhwa, and manhua being similar in some respects, they're also different from each other as well which makes them great in their own way. Manhwa and manhua are great due to their stories, characters, and art style similar to manga as they continue to rise in popularity and growth which makes me happy to see. It is only a matter of time before manhwa and manhua can reach the same level as manga in the future as I hope they continue to do so as they're really good and for those who haven't checked them out yet, I would recommend doing so.

If you guys want me to do a future article/editorial on what manhwa and manhua I would recommend reading, let me know in the comments below. Until then, manhwa and manhua are awesome!

Well, that's my fifth edition of Vaude For Thought.

Hope you guys enjoy this.

If not, that's fine too, but if you can explain, I would appreciate it.

Thank you for reading.

What is going to be my next article/editorial?

It will be video game related, but in terms of the topic, I will let you guys decide.

Vote here on what I should write next:

Next Article/Editorial From Vaude Influence

Top vote will be the next article/editorial I'll write on EXO.

Have a great day/night everyone!