If you spend enough time in the anime and comic community, you have definitely seen people getting corrected in comment sections. Someone will post a screenshot of Solo Leveling and call it a manga, only for five people to reply, “Actually, that’s a manhwa.”
But what is the actual difference? And what makes them different?
At their core, all three words basically mean the exact same thing: comics. The real difference comes down to three things: where they are made, how you read them, and how they look.
Here is the straightforward breakdown of how to tell manga, manhwa, and manhua apart.
🇯🇵 Manga (Japan)
Manga is Japanese Comics. Manga is the absolute giant of the industry. It is the blueprint that most global fans are introduced to first, giving us series like One Piece, Naruto, and Dragon Ball.
- Where it’s from: Japan.
- The Creator: A person who makes manga is called a Mangaka.
- How you read it: Right to left, top to bottom.
- The Look: Manga is almost always printed in black and white. This isn’t just an artistic choice; it is done because manga is typically serialized in weekly or monthly magazines (like Weekly Shonen Jump), and printing in black and white is much faster and cheaper. The art styles are incredibly diverse, ranging from hyper-realistic to extremely stylized and cartoonish.
- How it’s packaged: Chapters are collected into physical paperback volumes called tankōbon.
🇰🇷 Manhwa (South Korea)
Manhwa is South Korean comics. Manhwa has completely exploded in popularity over the last decade. If you have been reading Solo Leveling, Tower of God, or The Beginning After The End, you are reading manhwa.
- Where it’s from: South Korea.
- The Creator: A person who makes manhwa is called a Manhwaga.
- How you read it: Left to right, top to bottom (just like a standard English book).
- The Look and Format: This is the biggest difference. While physical manhwa used to look a lot like manga, modern manhwa has almost entirely shifted to the Webtoon format. This means they are fully colored, completely digital, and designed specifically for you to scroll down vertically on your phone.
- The Art Style: Manhwa art often features more realistic body proportions, highly detailed clothing, and heavy use of glowing, digital effects for energy attacks and magic.
🇨🇳 Manhua (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong)
Manhua is Chinese comics. Manhua is the oldest term of the three. In fact, both the Japanese word “manga” and the Korean word “manhwa” actually come from the original Chinese word “manhua.”
- Where it’s from: China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
- The Creator: A person who makes manhua is called a Manhuajia.
- How you read it: It depends on where it was published. If it was made in mainland China, you read it left to right. If it was published in Taiwan or Hong Kong, you read it right to left.
- The Look: Like modern manhwa, manhua is heavily pushed on digital platforms and is almost always full color. The coloring often has a softer, watercolor-like finish compared to the sharp, digital glow of Korean manhwa.
- The Tropes: If you are reading a story about “cultivation,” martial arts sects, or a main character trying to reach immortality (genres known as Wuxia and Xianxia), you are almost certainly reading a manhua.
Does the Name Actually Matter?
Honestly? Not really. If you accidentally call a manhwa a manga, the world isn’t going to end. However, knowing the difference makes it easier to find the type of stories you want to read. If you want a black-and-white physical book to add to your shelf, search for manga. If you want a fully colored, power-fantasy that you can scroll through on your phone during a commute, you want to search for manhwa or manhua.
Reader Guild: A community for Manga, Manhua, and Manhua readers
If you’re looking for a community of like minded readers where you can share reviews, thoughts, exciting chapters, and get recommendations, we have one for you. Within our Anime Community, we have a group dedicated to people who read only. You will meet people that read light novels, webtoons, manga, manhua, and manhwa there.
Here’s a link to join: Readers Guild.