Summary
Webtoon’s Japanese sister platform,Line Manga, has just become the highest-grossing platform of the month in Japan, and its success may be a sign that manhwa is indeed surpassing manga. While Piccoma has been dominating the international market for quite some time, Line Manga has been steadily gaining traction in Japan, and its latest milestone proves exactly whichmanhwa are gaining popularity over mangain Japan.
According to data posted on X by MangaMoguraRE,Line Manga has taken the top spot as the highest-grossing app in Japan for the month of Mayfor the first time in four years. The data originally generated by Data.AI reveals Line Manga yielded $46.1 million in revenue, surpassing theinternational manga giant Piccomaand even popular gacha games like Fate/Grand Order and Honkai: Star Rail.
While Japanese publishers likeShueisha have tried to capitalize on the webtoon mania through initiatives such as JumpToon, manhwa platforms like Piccoma, Webtoon, and Line Manga are making the most of their head start and continue to grow in popularity. Webtoon has already established a firm hold in the West and Naver’s other subsidiary, Line Manga, may seriously compete with Kakao’s Piccoma in Japan as well.
Webtoon’s Marketing Genius Proves Why It’s Overtaking Popular Manga Apps
Korean manhwa are on the rise and Webtoon’s genius marketing proves exactly why popular manhwa apps are leaving Japanese manga platforms in the dust.
Line Manga’s Success Reveals the Most Popular Manhwa in Japan
OnlyThe Remarried Empressis Successful Both in and Outside Japan
Line Manga largely owns its latest success to a host of wildly popular titles likeThe Remarried Empress, Teenage Mercenary, The Dragon King’s Bride, A Man’s Man, andSaviour of Divine Blood,each of whichgenerate well over 100 million yen a monthin terms of sales in Japan. Of these titles, onlySaviour of Divine Bloodis a Japanese webtoon and is set to be licensed in English starting in June, 2024.
Overall, though manga has been the untouchable giant in Japan for decades, manhwa with their vibrant colors, easy accessibility and unique storytelling, are poised to challenge the throne. Fortunately, this will translate to moremanhwa getting anime adaptationsjust as spectacular asSolo Levelingin the near future.
