Like a Butterfly Manga and Morgana and Oz Webtoon (printed)
All Are Comics That Differ Significantly!
There’s so many comics out there: webcomics, manhwa, manhua, manga, and more… You may be wondering—what is the difference between manga and manhwa? What is a webcomic or webtoon?
Don’t worry, for readers new to this world of reading, I have provided an explanation with this post!
All three types are stories written primarily in a comic-like style, with large pictures and text bubbles for speech or other information.
However, American comics typically are associated with superhero-related stories, whereas mangas and manhwas have an extremely wide range of genres. Click on the tabs below to learn more about each type!
Manga
Manga originates from Japan and is a general term for printed comics. Unlike American comics, Japanese manga are usually printed in black and white, with an occasional colored page at the beginning, middle, or on the cover. Mangas are read from right to left, both digitally and physically.
Mangas are often released chapter-by-chapter through weekly or monthly installments, and are available in popular Japanese magazines (that differ by the target reader audience). Or, you can opt to buy an entire volume (book with a series of chapters) of the manga series as each releases.
- In some cases, very popularized manga are made into an anime series or animated movie!
- In many cases, these stories will have references to Japanese culture; including festivals, traditions, food, social norms, and more!
- Manga is often created through a complex process of hand-sketching each page (to put it very simply), although some manga artists choose to mix in some digitally-made aspects too. However, this hand-drawn tradition of manga gives each book a very different feel from each other, and allows authors to greatly differentiate their books through original and unique art styles.
- This manga review blog will write posts mostly about mangas (hence “manga” in the name)!
- Some common applications you can use to read digitally or to buy physical manga include:
Types of Manga
Manga comes in many different forms! The labels below refer to the demographic that a publisher or author is targeting their story to, and sort of does yet doesn’t have anything to do with the actual contents of the manga itself. I know that’s a bit confusing, haha. Let’s dive in:
- Shounen: Manga targeted to younger boys (teenagers and younger)
- Example: Dragon Ball or Naruto
- Seinen: Manga targeted to adult men (18+)
- Example: Akira
- Shoujo: Manga targeted to younger girls (teenagers and younger)
- Examples: Sailor Moon or Fruits Basket
- Josei: Manga targeted to adult women (18+)
- Example: Wotakoi
- Kodomomuke: Manga targeted to kids
- Example: Pokemon
About Demographic Labels
As mentioned before, these terms usually just refer to the target demographic that a manga is designed to appeal to (as a majority).
However, there isn’t one specific type of story that someone is guaranteed to enjoy solely based on their gender identity. Regardless of whether a manga is being marketed to adult men or young girls, the contents of the manga can contain all sorts of genres or topics.
In other words, seinen manga can contain wholesome stories and romance, just the same as how shoujo can contain action and adventure. Many people make the mistake that shoujo = romance or that shounen = action. This is not only untrue, but sort of limits people to what they are “allowed” to enjoy.
This is where debates among the reader community often develop, since mangas under a certain label may have similarities story-wise, but are also not restricted to those similarities. Yes, shoujos often contain romance, but that doesn’t make every romance manga a shoujo, nor does every shoujo contain romance.
Yet, it is hard to deny that there are similarities among mangas under a demographic label. After all, I chase after shoujo most often, simply because mangas labeled as shoujo usually end up appealing to me more.
Although these labels do not necessarily guarantee the type of content a manga will contain—but may lead you towards a selection that is suitable to your tastes. In other words, although they can contain a wide variety of genres regardless of who they appeal to, demographics still do help people find more of what they can relate to or enjoy.
Read Whatever Makes You Happy!
Just because a manga is targeted to a different age or gender group doesn’t mean you can’t like it—obviously. Personally, I think these labels are flexible, and are just meant to help you find more of what you enjoy.
That’s why I try to use other tags in this manga review blog, so you can find more of your favorite genres with less effort (all of my recommendations will have something to do with romance obviously, but the other genres found in the manga can be anything—gore, mystery, adventure, action, slice of life, etc).
Additionally, sometimes publishers or magazines (wherever the manga originates) don’t even make it obvious what the demographic label actually is. To make matters even more confusing, mangas are sometimes marketed as a label different than what they are published as.
Or in other cases, mangakas who typically publish in one demographic end up switching to another. Sometimes it can be confusing, and I can see why some people choose not to pay attention to it all.
Even if you don’t care about demographics, it is important to consider how others may feel. Many readers in the community hold a lot of value for demographic labels, especially in terms of shoujo and josei.
These demographics, which are aimed towards women, often get a bad rep or less representation even though there are tons of amazing shoujo and josei stories out there. Women are often underrepresented in many different industries, so it is understandable for people to have a desire to protect something that is made with their interests in mind!
I don’t claim to know everything about this topic, nor do I care to become an expert. I simply want to share with others the mangas that I have genuinely enjoyed, and help others find more manga that they can love, too.
So, if you seek out a specific demographic of manga because it is one that you often align with, that’s totally awesome. If you read at random and just stick to whatever speaks to you, that works too. Keep reading manga that makes you happy!
For the sake of consistency and convenience, I’ll try my best to mark mangas with their accurate demographic label that aligns with what they have been marked as by the publisher.
However, I would recommend trying a lot of different mangas with different demographic labels from multiple publishers or authors. You should just enjoy manga of any kind, without worrying about fitting into a specific label or group.
And don’t judge a manga simply because of the demographic it is labeled as. You could be missing out on your new favorite series!
With that being said, my blog has recommendations for a lot of romance manga from all demographic labels—but especially shoujo and josei, just because I seem to like those more often, hehe!
Be sure to check out some reviews! ❤
Manhwa
Now that you know more about manga, the difference between manga and manhwa is simple… Manhwa is another type of comic that in some ways is similar to manga, but originates from South Korea and also has a few obvious differences.
For example, digital manhwas are much more common than physical volumes. These are read from top to bottom and left to right in a longer vertical strip that is often completely colored.
A large portion of manhwas are intended to be read digitally and may not even have a physical version, whereas mangas often have a physical volume or magazine feature and may be a little harder to find licensed digitally (although more and more publishers are making digital mangas accessible).
- Similarly to manga, manhwas that become very popular are often turned into a tv series referred to as a k-drama.
- Because these originate from Korea, they often have Korean cultural aspects in their stories!
- A majority of manhwas are digitally drawn, which is also what makes them an easier/more affordable medium to add color to!
- Manhwas actually have their own terminology similar to Japanese manga that describe the genre, too. However, because the reader community is mostly familiar with the Japanese jargon and it is recognized pretty widely by readers, they are often referred to using the Japanese jargon by default.
- The art style can vary widely, anywhere from more cartoonish styles to more intricate, detailed styles.
- While physical formats of manhwa exist, a majority of manhwas are served on digital applications or websites and therefore may be referred to as webcomics (which we’ll discuss next).
You can find manhwa reviews within the webcomic reviews page of RMR!
Webcomics or Webtoons
Webcomics are simply comics available in digital format (on the web, or very commonly served through an app on your phone). The webcomic services I use typically originate from Korea and often consist primarily of digital manhwa.
“Webtoon” is both a general name for digital comics, as well as the name of a very popular South Korean digital webcomic reading service.
It allows experienced writers and new writers to submit their work for viewers to enjoy. I primarily use Webtoon to read webcomics, and therefore you may see me use the word often to refer to both the reading service or as a general term for comic throughout my reviews.
I mentioned before that many webcomic services (including Webtoon) consist of digital manhwa. I want to clarify that this doesn’t mean that every manhwa is a Webtoon, or that every Webtoon is a manhwa.
Sorry if that makes it more confusing! However, webcomics have grown internationally, so there’s tons of stories from all sorts of wonderful creators out there, even if they are not technically manhwas or originating in Korea.
There are many webcomic reading applications out there—however I typically prefer Webtoon and have just stuck with it as my go-to webcomic reading service for many years (although I am starting to slowly branch out). You’re welcome to explore other reading applications out there, though!
If you’d like to give webcomics or webtoon stories a try, get started by checking out some romance webcomic reviews by RMR!
Manhua
I am actually relatively new to reading manhuas, but allow me explain just a bit, to the best of my ability. The term manhua refers to Chinese-originated comics. Like the other above-mentioned comics, manhuas have a unique format that allows them to portray a variety of story genres in an engaging way.
- Manhuas are often produced in full color, similarly to manhwas. It seems that many manhua artists create this color using a beautiful technique involving paint! The style of art and storytelling is unique, and differs visually from manga or manhwa.
- Manhua often features many inspirations or references from Chinese culture!
I haven’t created a separate page for manhua just yet, but be sure to check out the variety of romance reviews RMR has to offer!
As you read more and more, you’ll begin to recognize the different stylistic choices between manga, manhwa, webcomics, webtoon, and manhua in terms of storytelling and art style. All are enjoyable in their own way, so I’ll try to recommend a bit of everything!
As I mentioned before, I am more of a manga enthusiast, so my website’s recommendations may be primarily manga. Also, because I prefer to read manhwa on Webtoon, most non-manga posts in this manga review blog will be Webtoon. Anyway, now that you know the difference between these comics, you can go find a great read!
