The Economist reveals that Korean comics have begun to overshadow Japanese mangas

In its latest weekly issue on December 10, 2022, The Economist noticed a statistic that revealed that Japanese mangas are beginning to be overshadowed by Korean manhwas.

Under the "Toon Wars" section, The Economist released an article titled Japanese mangas are being eclipsed by Korean webtoons. The report showcased the striking decrease in the market audience for Japanese comics by 2.3%

While mangas faced a decrease in their print, the global webtoon market as a whole reached a value of $3.7 billion. It is also expected to almost double to $6 billion by 2030. To unravel the reasons behind the shift in audience from mangas to manhwas, The Economist dwelled on an analysis that laid out the reasons.

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The digital mode of Korean manhwas wins favor from the market audience over the physical prints of Japanese mangas

Owing to its uniqueness in art style and narrative delivery, Japanese mangas and Korean manhwas have had a long history of appeasing the comic market. While manhwas follow the conventional style of European comics in its reading method, mangas have the reputation of being the only kind of comics that are read from right to left. Moreover, the captivating plot and impressive illustrations are great additions to its attraction.

However, the traditional approach of Japanese mangas alongside the ever-evolving Korean manhwas has been the root cause of the influx in the market audience. Mangas that have been rolled from the 1960s has a unique style of organization and presentation of images and dialogs, and this might not be ideal for digital readers.

The constant adjustment of size to get a clearer view of the manga is a barrier for many readers to motivate their reading, mostly adhering to the reason that mangas are designed for physical prints. Korean manhwas, on the other hand, have modified their designs to suit the liking of a digital reader, therefore serving a larger audience.

Although this might seem like a small difference, the Korea Creative Content Agency revealed that the domestic manhwa market size bags up to 1.538 trillion KRW as of 2021. Another advantage that manhwas have are its use of smart marketing, which mostly revolves around plots that hold a popular interest and urge people to read them. Additionally, quite a few manhwas use the popularity of shows such as Squid Game and stars like BTS to attract more audiences.

Considering the growing popularity of K-drama, many Korean webtoon adaptations of K-dramas have also urged fans to track back to their comic versions. Regardless, The Economist also puts forth that Japanese mangas still have its loyal customers returning to enjoy their strong and intriguing plots while admiring their unmatched black&white illustration and craftsmanship.

Meanwhile, the news has left many Japanese manga fans upset at the decreasing readership since they have held a strong position in the world of comics for decades. Despite the loyal fanbase, it's likely that the mangas' readership will further dissolve as they grow older.

Regardless of the ups and downs of Korean manhwas and Japanese mangas, fans are happy with the day-by-day growth of the comic market as it gains more attention from people by evolving into popular culture.