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Manhwa

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Manhwa (Hangul: 만화, Hanja: 漫畫) is the general Korean term for comics and cartoons (including animated cartoons). Outside of Korea, the term usually refers specifically to South Korean comics. It is influenced by Japanese manga; noted in the style of drawing and story lines.[citation needed]

Manhwa style

Manhwa has been influenced by the dramatic modern history of Korea and resulted in diversity of forms and genre[1], but including a mainstream style similar to manga. Distinctive manhwa can be found in editorial comic strips, artistically-oriented works, and webcomics serials.

Typical characteristics of manhwa:

  • the style of character designs - manhwa aimed at teenage girls (which make up the majority of English-translated series) have a distinctively angular style of abstraction which contrasts with the more "cute" and rounded style of their Japanese, Chinese and western equivalents. This is the most obvious difference at a glance, but does not necessarily apply to manhwa aimed at boys or adults.
  • The face and eyes are often exaggerated in a cartoon style while the figure is more realistic in proportion. [2]
  • the left->to->right direction of the book (still quite obvious, but not very reliable, as some manga and manhua are 'flipped' around to the western way)
  • the Korean name of the author/artist - usually double-barreled and with syllables that do not exist in Japanese (usually the most reliable method, the only exceptions being when a culturally-neutral pseudonym is used, or when the artist is of Korean ethnicity but resides in another country such as the USA)
  • the untranslated sound effects (not always present) are in hangul, not kana or hanzi.

There are now a number of publishers specializing in English translations of Korean comics, and by and large they are unafraid of calling them "Original Korean-Language manga" and "manhwa".

Manhwa in the United States

Due to the explosion of Japanese manga's popularity in the America, many of the licensed titles acquired for the American market seek to emulate the popular elements of other successful series.[3] Recently, long-running webcomics serialized via Internet portal sites (e.g. Media Daum) and personal homepages have become both the creative and popular basecamp among the younger generation in Korea.

Direction of text

Manhwa is read in the same direction as English books, horizontally and from left to right, because hangul is normally written and read horizontally, although it can also be written and read like Chinese and Japanese, that is, vertically from right to left, top to bottom.

Theoretically, the reading direction of manhwa should make it more accessible to Western audiences when compared to Japanese and Chinese comics, but so far the relative obscurity of Korean culture has canceled out this apparent advantage, and the word remains relatively unknown in the English-speaking world. Instead, English translations of manhwa have achieved success by targeting the manga and anime community, to extent that manhwa are often marketed as Original Korean-Language "manga".

Animation and Live-Action adaptations

Unlike Japan, animations based on Korean comics are still relatively rare (though there were several major hits in the late 80's and early 90's with titles such as Dooly the Little Dinosaur and Fly! Superboard). However, live-action drama series and movie adaptations of manhwa have occurred more frequently in recent years. Full House in 2004 and Goong ("Palace" or "Princess Hours") in 2006, are prominent examples as both have been accounted as the best dramas of their respective years.

In 2007, The Great Catsby, an award-winning Korean webcomic, was adapted into a live-action drama, after a run as an on-stage musical in 2006. The title will also be adapted into a feature film in late 2007. [4][5]

Priest, a popular manhwa that has been translated to English in recent years, will also go into production as a movie by U.S. film studio Screen Gems. To be released in 2008, it is produced by Sam Raimi, directed by Andrew Douglas, and will star Gerard Butler as the title character.[6][6]

Korean manhwa publishers

North American manhwa imprints

Notes

  1. ^ http://capcold.net/eng/blog/?p=10
  2. ^ Brad Brooks; Pilcher, Tim. The Essential Guide to World Comics. London: Collins & Brown. ISBN 1-84340-300-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ http://www.time.com/time/columnist/arnold/article/0,9565,1152700,00.html
  4. ^ "The Great Catsby: Hit Korean Internet Comic Drama-tized into TV form debuts in 4 days". Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  5. ^ "Drama Wiki Entry: The Great Catsby". Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  6. ^ a b Olsen, Kevin Noel (January 252007). "Amityville Director Set to Direct Priest Film Based on Tokypop Graphic Novel". Silver Bullet Comics. Cite error: The named reference "priest"" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

See also

Manhwa information

Festivals

Manhwa on mobiles

Associations

Information and studies

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