Manhwa - what is it? History of Korean comics

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Today there are many trends in art that bring invaluable benefits to the development of mankind. Some are just appearing and gradually developing, coming to the masses. Others are already very popular and bring fabulous incomes to their creators. One interesting and rapidly developing trend is manhwa, which originates in Japan.

What is this?

Manhwa are Japanese comics. However, you can find another name - manga. It is worth distinguishing it from anime - Japanese animation. There is an opinion that the Japanese borrowed the idea of creating comics from Western cultures, however, cartoons and images of animals were drawn with ink by Japanese residents thousands of years ago. These drawings were used for education and entertainment.

Manhwa audience

Manga is addicted to people of all ages, whether young children or older women. It helps to forget about everyday worries and plunge into the worldfantasies. Let's look at this direction in more detail.

Manhwa characters

Manhwa and anime tend to show students and office workers, their daily lives. All characters from the past and the future are imperfect, have their own habits and shortcomings. If American heroes are credited with fighting evil, then Japanese ones are ordinary people who attend school, do homework, and quarrel with their parents. The peculiarity of the characters lies in their psychic abilities or exotic friends. There is a stereotype that Japanese heroes have big eyes and thick hair. This is not true in the manga.

The basis is the dreams and hopes of heroes. Korean manhwa is also quite instructive, in which the actions of the characters always have consequences. When they make a mistake, they learn a lesson for the future. All heroes are alive, they grow, develop, acquire new experience and knowledge. Negative characters change and become positive.

Japanese manga theme

As for the subject matter, the manhwa is far from American comics, there are no real phenomena like death. There is no absolute evil, even negative characters have positive traits and the ability to change. Another feature of this direction is "technologization" - the combination of science and technology with the world of fantasy and fiction.

According to the manhwa, life has a meaning to fight for, difficulties that arise can be overcome, andhard work always pays off. With such simple and comprehensive themes, combined with a kind story, the world of manhwa is born.

What makes the manhwa so popular?

To understand what this or that direction is, it is necessary to trace its history. As you know, there have been works of manhwa for a long time. Their story begins in Japan. And to this day, images that are extremely similar to comics are found in ancient tombs.

The main reason for the popularity of Japanese comics is the complexity of the local script, since even today children are only able to acquire a vocabulary sufficient to read books after the age of 12. For this reason, not only Japanese literature was created, but also its analogue - retellings in pictures with small texts, where the whole meaning could be understood from the illustrations.

Tezuka Osamu contributed to the formation of manhwa as one of the main areas of Japanese culture. And mass distribution began in the second half of the 20th century, along with American comics.

Manhwa is printed according to the traditions of Japan from right to left and is drawn in black and white. Almost always, these are serials that are published 15-20 pages in magazines and newspapers. You can also find manhwa in separate volumes called tankōbon. A person who draws a manhwa is called a "mangaka". Mostly texts are written and illustrations are created by one person, but in some cases groups of authors are included in the work.

There is also an amateur manhwa - this is "doujinshi". The mangakas themselves create illustrations for the texts and even publish them at their own expense. In Japan, there are markets where you can buy amateur works. Some famous mangaka started out like this, because in such places you can find your publisher.

Manhwa is the direction of the future, which is becoming more and more popular outside of Japan - in the USA, Germany, Poland and even entering the Russian market.

Past Manhwa

About 30 years ago, comics were considered a bad influence on schoolchildren, and the shops where they were sold were perceived as places visited by unworthy people. Today, manhwa has become an effective tool in culture, mathematics, history and other fields.

In the 60s and 70s, the profession of an animator was practically not quoted, and comics were associated with juvenile delinquency. Today everything has become completely different. Comics are gaining more and more popularity, a huge number of illustrated manuals are being printed. Some of them have even been filmed.

Manga adaptations

The most popular comic book among children and parents is "Magic Thousand Chinese Characters" which makes it possible to learn Chinese characters, although it is not an easy task.

When the merits of manga became obvious to everyone, and the attitude towards this business changed from biased to enthusiastic, the Full House comic book series appeared. The film adaptation became a hit abroadand gained immense popularity among people of all ages.

Representatives of the cinema consider the transfer of comics to the screens as a good way to promote the manhwa to the masses. In the 80s, Lee Hyun Se's book "The Baseball Monster Team" appeared on the screens. Then the film adaptation of Ho Yong Man's comics "Thachcha" about gamblers and "Sikkek" about cooks appeared to the world. In modern times, Internet comics are becoming in demand, such as "Ikki", which Yoon Tae Ho filmed and attracted famous Korean movie stars to this process.

Manhwa in visual arts

Manhwa has also made its way into the visual arts, as evidenced by Lee Chul Joo's 33+Collections exhibition in Seoul. The goal of the organizer was to bring the genre closer to art. The opening of the art market has provided new opportunities in the field of this business, as now the consumer has the opportunity to purchase amazing creations. From now on, Manhwa will never return to the times when it was considered a shoddy culture.

The Manhwa Art Market is an exhibition of authentic comics that can be purchased as complete paintings. The name of the exhibition was not chosen by chance. 33+Collections means 33 well-known masters plus a few obscure up-and-coming artists. Here you can find not only new works, but also works of past years. Comic books, drawings, sketches - all this can be found at the exhibition, which, by the way, was the first of its kind.event in history. The best manhwas will decorate any interior.

In the French city of Angouleme, since 73, international comic book festivals with auctions have been organized. The largest collection of works is located there in the Museum of Comics and has about 8 thousand works.

So, manhwa is Korean comics, the history of which originates in the distant past, but is already taking root in the future.