Mangairo

In late 19th century Japan, the popularity of manga skyrocketed with the Godfather of Manga, Tezuka Osamu, the creator of Astro Boy. However, scholars believed that the origin of manga started earlier, around the 12th to 13th century, with the publishing of the Chōjū-giga (Scrolls of Frolicking Animals), a collection of animal drawings by various artists. During the American Occupation (1945 to 1952), American soldiers brought European and American comics with them, which influenced mangakas' art style and creativity. There was a great demand for manga due to an increase of readership in the 1950s to 1960s and soon after, mangairo became a global phenomenon with overseas readership starting in the late 1980s to now.

Manhwa has its own history of development. During the Japanese Occupation (1910-1945) of Korea, Japanese soldiers brought their culture and language into Korean society, including the importation of manga. In the 1930s to 1950s, manhwa was used as propaganda for war efforts and to impose a political ideology on civilians. Manhwa became popular during the 1950s to 1960s but declined due to the strict censorship laws in the mid-1960s. However, manhwa became popular again when South Korea launched websites that publish digital manhwa known as webtoons, such as Daum Webtoon in 2003 and Naver Webtoon in 2004. Then in 2014, Naver Webtoon launched globally as LINE Webtoon.

Manhua are comics from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Manhua is said to have started BOLD TOON in the mid-19th century with the introduction of the lithographic printing process. Some manhua were politically-driven with stories about the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong. Yet, after the Chinese Revolution in 1949, there were strict censorship laws, resulting in manhua having a difficult time being legally published overseas. However, manhuajia began self-publishing their work on social media and webcomic platforms like QQ Comic and Vcomic.

East Asian comics have specified content aimed to attract different demographics, usually based on age and gender. In Japan, boys’ shonen manga is filled with high-action and adventure stories like My Hero Academia and Naruto. Girls’ shoujo manga is mainly features magical girl stories like Cardcaptor Sakura and complex romances like Fruits Basket. There are also manga— known as seinen and josei — that skew older and feature more mature content. Similarly, manhwa and manhua have comics aimed at specific demographics.

In Japan, manga chapters are published in weekly or biweekly magazines like Shonen Jump. If a manga becomes popular, it is then published in tankōbon collected volumes. As for digital manhwa and manhua, chapters are uploaded weekly on webtoon platforms.