Image credit: bloomberg
Japanese manga is known for their simple storyline, interesting characters and incredible art style. Its global market size was valued at USD 12.13 billion (2022), with an expected CAGR of 17.4% (from 2023 to 2030). Its true-to-life story depiction has certainly attracted a large number of readers from different age groups and geographical regions.
But recently, Korean webtoons have also become popular among readers. Although there are many reasons, the webtoon adaptation of Korean dramas is contributing significantly to its overall popularity. Besides the dominance of k-revolution, the compelling stories, spaced-out panels and colorful pages have made webtoons a staple among comic lovers. Readers seem to prefer the scrolling mechanism of the webtoon, making it easy to read.
While both mangas and webtoons have a gigantic number of followers, the popularity of the webtoon has made many people wonder whether Korean webtoons can surpass the popularity of Japanese mangas in future or not.
Mangas and anime have been in the industry for quite a long time. Initially, their dominance was limited to Japan only before spreading like wildfire globally in the late 1980s. Their finesse art and black-and-white illustration has made a special place in many reader’s hearts.
Webtoons started two decades back with their diverse content portfolio. It went global in 2014, eventually gaining readers in different countries like Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, India etc.
In 2022, the UAE led the charts of webtoon popularity with the highest number of interested candidates (as per a survey), followed by Saudi Arabia and Australia. Even in countries like the US, webtoons are gradually becoming common for the readers.
Although it may take a long time for webtoons to surpass the manga popularity, it’s surely walking on the right path. This could be justified by their high rise among readers within less time.
Besides the Hallyu wave, webtoons are also quite convenient for readers due to their digital formats. They are created to be read on smartphones, laptops and desktops. Mangas, on the other hand, are created to appear on print in black and white, although there’s been a shift to digital forms lately.
On top of that, readers seem to like the format and colored pages of the webtoons. They also seem to prefer the consistency of the manhwa or webtoon release dates. You can say that webtoons surely have a better grip on digital innovation.
Meanwhile, manga seems to have more dominance in terms of plots, character portrayal and storyline. The perfection in their artwork indicates the experience of mangakas that’s not easy to outpace.
So, can webtoons surpass mangas in the future? Well, it has the potential, but there’s still a long way to go. The dominance between the manga and the webtoon depends on readers’ preferences.
Some people may like the black-and-white traditional prints of the manga while others may prefer the colorful illustrations of the webtoon. Some may be into the vertical text direction (with right-to-left frames) of manga, others may be into the scrolling mode of webtoons. So it all depends on what the readers want.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.