#really curious to see the full panels and start collecting the manga
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oh I'm cryin in the club so hard right now guys! šš§”š§”š§”
#mha leaks#mha#bnha#bnha leaks#thank you horikoshi#im so glad i found this series the past year and was able to be part of the fandom#as it came to a close so i could experience all these emotions real time#really curious to see the full panels and start collecting the manga#but this final panel means so much#nat talks mha#not to mention shiggy's final appearance! š„¹
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The Wild and Wonderful World of WEBTOON Series
Ā Many anime fans are familiar with manga, with lots of classic and modern anime being adapted from the medium, such as Naruto, One Piece, Bleach, and many more drawing on their graphic novel counterparts. But this season, a different comic tradition is responsible for starting a new anime trend with the adaptation of Tower of God: Korean manhwa, specifically, WEBTOON series! But what are WEBTOON series and what makes them so unique? Arenāt they just Korean comics? Well, you may be surprised to learn that WEBTOON series are a global phenomenon, with readers and creators all over the globe! And furthermore, theyāre a wholly unique digital platform that relies on the screen of your phone to help tell the story. If thatās got you curious, then read on!
First, itās probably important to specify that WEBTOON series and manhwa arenāt the same word. Much like manga, manhwa just means ācomicā when translated from Korean. WEBTOON series are a type of comic, but a very specific digital mediumācompared to print comics, there are a lot of differences! WEBTOON series occasionally get printed as paper copies, but these are mostly collectible items rather than the regular way to read them. Instead, WEBTOON series are designed to be read vertically on screens, most specifically smartphone and tablet screens. If Tower of God made you curious enough to go check out the WEBTOON series, you might already be aware of this verticality, but for new readers, WEBTOONās approach to reading style is very unique and can take a bit of getting used toābut it's certainly rewarding when you dive in!
Unlike manga or American comics, WEBTOON series donāt generally rely on panels and gutter layouts on single pages. Instead, WEBTOON series use an āinfinite canvas,ā with readers scrolling vertically down as they read chapters. WEBTOON series chapters vary in length, but many of them are pretty long. If you were to try and print out an entire chapter, youād find yourself printing 30 plus pages or more for most titles, and a lot of those pages would be blank! When I started reading WEBTOON series, this negative space was something that really caught me off guardāat first, I kept thinking my screen wasnāt loading. I realized that titles used this white space (or black or gray!) to space out story beats and big reveals, making tense, dramatic moments even more hair-raising as my own reading speed affects how quickly Iād see what happens next. (This may come as no surprise, but WEBTOON series are really, REALLY easy to binge read!)
In fact, this use of vertical reading space and chapter size makes another aspect of WEBTOON series somewhat shocking in comparison to manga: theyāre in color! While many WEBTOON series use negative space to help with that burden, itās still quite impressive to think about how much work goes into creating weekly chapters with full color, and these vibrant comics really make their unique worlds pop on the screen. In many cases, WEBTOON series will change their background colors from white to black, or some other variation, in order to transition between things like time changes (night and day or even past and present) or to really ram home emotional moments. Watching all of the color drain out of even the page youāre reading can make the gut punches in some WEBTOON series really hit hard!
Similar to manga, WEBTOON series cover almost every possible topic. Youāll find WEBTOON series about school life, professional careers, sports, fantasy, sci-fi, and almost everything in between. On the off chance that you catch up on a long-running series, youāll find plenty of other titles to take their place. When I first started reading WEBTOON series, I only read about five stories. Now, my subscription page is up to fifty titles! Letās just say they can be addictive and leave it at that! Perhaps something that fewer people know, though, is that WEBTOON series artists arenāt just Korean. There are many creators from all over the world publishing WEBTOONS series and the variety of art styles and storytelling really make the platform something unique and magical to explore.
In 100 percent honesty, I was actually a pretty late adopter to WEBTOON series, as I always preferred reading physical mediums over digital and never found reading manga on my phone very entertaining. Something about "turning" pages digitally, waiting for them to load, and other things just made the experience less desirable than picking up a volume and reading it. During a layover on a flight earlier this year, I found myself stuck without much to entertain myself with except my phone and remembered that a friend had suggested I check out Tower of God. Five hours and one flight later, I had nearly drained my entire back-up battery and read my way through most of Season 2. Since then, Iāve been hooked. If youāre like me, and skeptical of digital media, I really think you should give WEBTOON series a try. In fact, Iāve got a few personal recommendations ready to get you started! All of these can be found on Naverās WEBTOON website orĀ appĀ check (here for AppleĀ or here for Google)and you can start reading them right away!
Tower of God
This is the WEBTOON series that got me into WEBTOON series, and from other Tower of God fans Iāve spoken to, that seems to be par for the course. The series has been running for nearly ten years now, so you have a LOT of reading to catch up on if youāre only just getting invested thanks to the anime this season! The adventures of Bam, Khun, and the rest of the Regulars sucked me in with itās deep, unraveling story and I found myself having to force myself to stop reading ājust one more chapterā before bed. Creator SIU has stated heās had the story planned out from the start and it really does feel that way as you read through it, seeing little details you didnāt think about before suddenly become relevant, or small bits of dialogue or art that you didnāt understand before suddenly rushing back and making you go āHEYYY, wait a minute!ā as some new development unfolds. SIU manages to follow a large, diverse cast of characters throughout Tower of GodĀ and the series absolutely deserves the attention itās getting right now. If youāre curious to see what happens to Bam and company after the anime ends, there is plenty of Tower of God waiting for you in the WEBTOON series!
Ā GOSU
Iāve always been a huge fan of martial arts movies. I fondly remember how I used to watch badly dubbed martial arts flicks with my grandma as a child. GOSU, by Giun Ryu and Mun Jeong Hoo, takes me back to the magic and excitement of martial arts stories. GOSU might be the most gorgeous WEBTOON series Iāve ever read and the authors really know how to let visuals do the storytellingāthere are some truly breathtaking moments in GOSU that are conveyed solely through still, almost unchanging landscapes. Protagonist Gang Yong is really quite something and there have been times when Iāve audibly gasped or yelled at big moments in this series. With the wave of WEBTOON series titles getting adapted into anime, Iād absolutely put GOSU on my list of series Iād love to see get an anime. If you like martial arts stories, or just really gorgeous art, GOSU is worth the read!
Lore Olympus
Rachel Smytheās Lore Olympus was a series I frankly never expected to read, let alone love. Talking about Greek mythology usually makes me think back to college humanities classes or playing God of War, and while both of those were great, they weren't usually my cup of tea. Iāll admit that I actually ended up reading this one because I kept seeing it so highly ranked on the WEBTOON appāseriously, itās number one in like, every demographic and overallāand finally gave in to the not so subliminal message that Iām obviously missing out on something here. And boy, was I! Lore Olympus is a simple concept: reimagining mythological Gods and Goddesses in somewhat āhumanā situations. This story is a bit mature and dramatic, but the romance and suspense in it are really something, and the art is colorful and gorgeous. Persephone and Hadesā story has never been so gripping and I find myself always waiting for the next chapter to drop.
The God of High School
Yongje Parkās The God of High School was an easy sell for me since it evoked memories of classic school battling anime like Tenjho Tenge and a hint of fighting games. Since the anime is about to begin, I wonāt spoil anything, but the action in this series is top-notch with gorgeous art to match! Like Tower of God, this WEBTOON series has also been running for quite a while, meaning youāve got plenty of material to get through. Jin Mo-Ri is a pretty deceptive protagonist, too. At first, I just assumed heād be the usual battle-crazed fighting style character, like Goku, but heās got his own unique personality that helps set him apart. A lot of my enjoyment of The God of High School comes from the supporting cast, which Park has really done an amazing job with. The main trio of characters is fun and strong and it always feels exciting to see various martial arts and skills used in this series.Ā
Sweet Home
If you like horror or zombie movies, this series might be right up your alley. I got quite a few friends into reading WEBTOON series by getting them to read this relatively new title that features some of the creepiest and imaginative monster designs Iāve seen in a while. Sweet Homeās authors Youngchan Hwang and Carnby Kim really manage to hit that survival horror itch, and in terms of using the WEBTOON series medium, I canāt think of many other titles that take advantage of the vertical scrolling pages like Sweet Home does to deliver some absolutely bone-chilling moments. As a monster horror series, it is only fair to warn you that it can be a bit gruesome at times, so please keep that in mind if you decide to check it out!
Ā WEBTOON series are becoming a global phenomenon. The market for them is estimated to be over 300 million USD a year currently, and with anime adaptations and even larger potential audiences about to learn of them through Tower of God, The God of High School, and Noblesse, I can only see those numbers going way up! If youāve never tried WEBTOON, then now is absolutely the time. I guarantee youāll find a series youāll absolutely want to read, and then another one, and another one, and another oneā¦ Uh oh! How did that queue get so huge?! Anyway, happy reading, and I hope this helped get you interested in the wonderful world of WEBTOON series!Ā
Are you a WEBTOON series fanatic? Is this your first time hearing about them? Let us know what titles you like and what you think about WEBTOON in the comments!
ā”ļøĀ Catch up on watching Tower of God today!Ā ā¬
ļø
Ā Ā Nicole is a frequent wordsmith for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on herĀ Twitch channelĀ while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog,Ā Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter:Ā @ellyberries
Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story,Ā pitch itĀ to Crunchyroll Features!
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My Week in Manga: May 22-May28, 2017
My News and Reviews
As has been previously mentioned, a couple of weekends ago I attended the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (which Iāve apparently been going to for five years now). It took me a little longer than I had originally planned, but I did finally manage to post my random musings on TCAF 2017. In the post I write about some of the major highlights of the trip and attempt to summarize prominent themes that emerged during the panels that I attended. Last week I also spent a fair amount of time with my family in Ohio. I was already planning on going down for the long weekend, but that weekended turned out to be much longer than initially anticipatedāmy maternal grandmother passed away on Tuesday, so I left town on Thursday instead of Saturday. While the occasion was a sad one (though not entirely unexpected), it was wonderful to see so much of my family and everyone is doing really well considering. I also got to hear some great family stories and learned a bit more family history than I previously knew.
Unsurprisingly, I wasnāt really online much at all last week and was all sorts of distracted, so Iām sure there are plenty of things that I missed. However, The OASG had a great feature on Kazuhiro Fujitaās The Ghost and The Lady which combines a review and an interview with Finola Austin, the cultural consultant for the English-language edition of the manga. Seven Seas also made another series of interesting and exciting manga license announcements: Giant Spider & Me: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale by Kikori Morino, Fauna and the Dragonewtsā Seven Kingdoms by Kiyohisa Tanaka, Ultra Kaiju Anthropomorphic Project by Shun Kazakami, Saint Seiya: Saintia ShÅ by Chimaki Kuori, and Leiji Matsumotoās original Captain Harlock.
Quick Takes
Girlsā Last Tour by Tsukumizu. There is a fairly common conceit in manga and anime which can basically be described as cute girls doing things. Though Iāll still happily read it, itās a category of manga that doesnāt especially interest me and I donāt usually intentionally seek it out unless thereās an additional hook of some sort that I am curious about. In the case of Girlsā Last Tour, it was the mangaās post-apocalyptic setting and a recommendation from a friend that caught my attention. And Iāll admit: I enjoyed the first volume much more than I expected I would and definitely plan on reading more. For the most part I find Tsukumizuās artwork appealing, although in general the character designs are less inspired than the backgrounds. Chito and Yuuri are two young women traveling together across the wasteland in search of food, fuel, and the comforts of home. At this point in the manga itās unclear what brought about the end of civilization or even how many survivors there are. (Chito and Yuuri spend most of the first volume alone together, but at one point they do meet and briefly team up with a mapmaker, so they arenāt the only ones left.) The backstory may never be fully explained as Girlsā Last Tour is mostly about Chito and Yuuriās everyday lives. Girlsā Last Tour is a surprisingly delightful and charming series although it it has a melancholy air to it as well.
My Monster Boyfriend edited by C. Spike Trotman. Smut Peddler started as a series of minicomics before blossoming into a series of anthologies. My Monster Boyfriend is the first thematic Smut Peddler project as well as being the first Smut Peddler anthology to feature full-color artwork. The stories in My Monster Boyfriend are also longer than the ones included in the seriesā previous installmentsāthe anthology features ten erotic comics, the work of fourteen different creators. Unlike most of the comics anthologies that Iāve recently read, I was actually already familiar with most of the contributors to My Monster Boyfriend. The volume has a great lineup and I was not at all disappointed with the collection. I was particularly pleased to see the representation of a wide array of genders and sexualities. My Monster Boyfriend continues the sex-positive, queer-friendly trend of Smut Peddler. Considering the volumeās motif (inhuman men and their sexual partners), all of the stories included are fantastic by nature. However, there is still wonderful variety in style, approach, and genre. Some of the stories are comedic while others are quite serious; some comics lean towards horror while others tend towards romance. My Monster Boyfriend can in turns be sweet, scary, and sentimental.
By: Ash Brown
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