Manhwa vs. Manga

[Jammin]

First of all,the problem I see in this thread is that only mainstream series and shonen are considered here.
They are obviously written to appeal to a certain audience and to sell.There are still manga-ka like Oda and Sorachi,who draw whatever the heck they want and not only draw in order to make their series as popular as possible.Admittedly,the majority is different and success is the only thing that matters,but that's shonen.Kids are their core audience and in order to survive they need deliver what they want and there's only so much you can do.Sadly enough,that's what most members of the forum read.WSJ seems to be the only source for manga.Some might even find a manga from SQ like Claymore or Ao no Futsumashi or a series from another magazine like say Air Gear and Soul Eater,but that's it.Same with seinen.Most people read Vagabond,Berserk,Vinland Saga and maybe one more series.
However,they ignore all those beautiful little one-shots.All those slice-of-life short series and underground manga.Moreover,manga-ka like Tsutomu Nihei,Asano Inio and Naoki Urasawa publish amazing manga even to this day.Even older brilliant on-going manga like Yotsuba&! and Blade of the Immortal are forgotten.Heck,there are even newer manga that are promising like I Am a Hero,Anagle Mole,Nisekoi and Gin no Saji, just to name a few.As for the next FMA,don't forget Shingeki no Kyojin,a thrilling manga that seems to shape up into a true masterpiece.So while you can say that the current manga market passed its peak,please don't pretend it's slowly dying.

As for manwha,I guess I can't really comment on that.They only one I've actually read is Noblesse,which seems like an even more retarded Bleach with colors that make me want to throw up.Overall,I somewhat dislike the art in manwha.Most seem like a poor manga rip-off and the usage of color kills my eyes and most shading is ugly.Furthermore,the way you have to read it annoys,as it makes a deadly combination with the often unnecessary wordless panels and the resulting awkward pacing.
I'll try my best to resume The Breaker,even though it did not really impress me, and maybe even continue reading Tower of God,since it's the only one that somehow showed promise,despite the generic art,in order to form a more fair opinion.

I can't say this for certain but if I was a betting man I would wager thornofcarrion, shaheer, blai, Franckie, jorped, phio_chan, k-dom, Shinsatsu, and scav have all read well outside the mainstream; and I know I have though I admit I've never heard of Shingeki no Kyojin before you mentioned it just now. So IMO we are probably all making our judgments with about as good a background of nerdy knowledge as anybody.

Obviously, I don't agree with your assessment of Noblesse, Tower of God, or The Breaker but I'm a huge fan of each(plus the Noblesse reviewer) so that's no surprise. But tastes do differ from person to person...

Still I find it hard to understand how this panel can make you want to vomit.

[k-dom]

Well manwa are not just web comics
As for the art, Google_kun please try this one : annarasumanara, there are others with best art but this one uses the format very originally.

And Jammin Shingeki is close from masterpiece so far

[Jammin]

And Jammin Shingeki is close from masterpiece so far

I read through what I could find of it(about 30 chapters I think). Not sure I'm a fan to be honest. Bit to much of the "shock value gore" and "young soldier not prepared to face battle" stuff for me. It's fine to start things out that way but as the character progress I need to see character's adapt to their situations a little more. For me that is the meat and potatoes of a story like this.

Liked the artwork and world-building though.

[k-dom]

It's a monthly magazine so there are not that many chapter even if it's more than one year old already.
It certainly is more dark and realistic that typical shonen where the hero is crazy strong from the start and always wins with the help of his friends. In that matter it is refreshing and interesting. But let's not get off topic too much, you are welcome to give your opinion on the Shingeki thread
Others web comic with different art style would be
Kiss Wood : The art is really nice, the story was a bit too short but still enjoyable read
Magician : a Fantasy web comic

[AluminumTough]

I have to agree with killer7 manga has gone the route of maximizing profit. Manga is also geared to the Japanese market which I usually tend to not have the same sense of humor as Japanese artist. The whole "pervert" stuff is not what I like to see because, well, to it isn't funny to me. I like Manwha more than Manga due to several different reasons: Manwha has art that is very similar to American style which I like because I grew up with Marvel comics, Manga is geared to Japanese culture and young kids (I'm not either of these, so things like "pervert" jokes and terrible story lines with loads of action are not appealing to me), Manwha tends to have more in depth story lines.

I have just recently (about 2009) got into manga with bleach. I have read several different mangas since then but once my friend told me to read One Piece (it took about of year of nagging to get me to read it) I just looked at manga and was like; no I don't like this the stories are geared for little kids with short attention spans that like strong central character that obliterates the enemies one after another with no story line (but One Piece is not this, the main characters have been beat up and the story line is unpredictable). Not all manga is this way but many of them are. Manhwa, imo, tends to have more in depth stories with enemies that are not just one character but rather and entire group or are hidden this way when some bad guys are killed there can be more story (unlike Bleach).

Manga also tend to tell you right up front what is going on in the story (this is the objective, these are the characters, these are good, and these are bad)...I don't like this. I like to learn stuff over time let it unfold like it is a novel. I want to learn the universe...instead of being told the universe. So, my opinion is that manga is based on more action less story, less character development than manhwa. I prefer the art in manhwa because it drawls me into the characters, I prefer the stories in manhwa most of the time because they are more creative and not based off a culture that I do not understand. I also prefer manhwa because they are not made into anime which makes it much more easy for me to read with out just getting tired and moving to the anime. One final note I find that the stories in manhwa are much more diverse, original, unpredictable, and are geared for people older than 12...but again not all the time.

[k-dom]

AluminumTough, I suggest you replace in your post manga by shonen action manga because what you described is absolutely not manga but only a tiny portion of it. Of course it is the most famous one but you can not say you don't like manga if you have only read one genre.
As for manhwa, I don't see what is diverse, original, unpredictable in titles such as breaker or veritas. I'm not saying they are bad, but you can't say you have never read something similar.

[midorikun]

I love manga just because I've been reading manga ever since I was a kid.
I agree with k-dom. This thread is probably best be titled "shounen manga VS (shounen) manhwa". BECAUSE, Mangas are not restricted only to shounen! I am not really aware of the manga market out there (or shounen-jump whatever) BUT there are a lot of different genres for manga such as, shounen, shoujo, seinen, and many more! And trust me some of them are really worth-reading. If you haven't found any manga that really sort of captured your attention, than I suggest you SEARCH HARDER. For instance, if it comes to shounen manga I think One piece or Inu yasha isn't bad at all. If you want to look for a shounen manga that doesn't involve fighting than go for something like detective conan, and IMO this is a good shounen series. Hikaru no go, or Death note is also another good ones, although it's not purely a shounen. As for another genre, let's say shoujo, there are some good shoujo mangas too, like tokimeki tonight (this is an old one), card captor sakura, or a recent one called kimi ni todoke. SO really, there are plenty of them out there and they have good stories and they are so creative and original! However, There are mangas that have a lot of ecchi stuff going on and yes they can be very annoying and repetitive. I always kinda perceive ecchi in a funny way as a part of japanese culture. It's nothing serious, I guess it's just their way of making jokes (sort of). One thing that I really like about mangas is that they are just so imaginative. I always get so amazed by how mangaka can came up with such a brilliant/crazy/hilarious/disgusting idea (like Crayon SHin-Chan LOL). I find that to be very refreshing and that is why manga will always have an appeal to me. And there is nothing wrong with learning about something that is based off of a culture.

As for manhwa, again, most of the opinions that I've read in this forum only talking about shounen manhwa, not manhwa in general. Because I know several shoujo manhwas that are just plain BAD. But there are awesome manhwas out there too! So I think it all really depends on the authors and the genres, regardless if it's manga or manhwa. You just have to know how to choose a good manga/manhwa that fits your taste.

[2bst2d]

Because I know several shoujo manhwas that are just plain BAD.

Hwang Mi-Ri, anyone? :P (she did do a decent one, Crazy Girl Shin Bia)

I enjoy the "Shonen" manwha trio immensely (Noblesse, Breaker, TOG) but I could say the same of the old Shonen Jump trio (OP, Bleach, Naruto) when they were just as young, so I have fingers crossed. Out of the three, TOG seems likeliest to become epic IMO.

I do love manga for producing some old-timey and ongoing greats (Berserk, Akumetsu, Akira, Nausicaa, etc, and all the amazing oneshots). There's a grandeur to them, particularly in their political dimensions, that I just haven't yet seen in most manwha. Ha Il-Kwon (Annarasumanara) could pull something off, I think. I hope.

I totally agree that current manwhas on the whole seem to have more potential. Kubera and Lessa are two new personal favourites of mine. Kubera is doing a magnificent job at world-building and that lovely grand convolution of plots and characters. Lessa gets more mysterious, interesting, and mythological with every passing chapter.