In short
- In English, manhwa means comics of Korean origin. In Korean the word covers comics from anywhere.
- Manhua is the Chinese word, manga the Japanese one.
- The Oxford English Dictionary added "manhwa" in its September 2021 update.
- Korean adult manhwa are labelled 19+, because Korean law treats anyone under 19 as a juvenile.
Manhwa meaning
Anime News Network's lexicon puts it this way: when used in Korean, manhwa is used to refer to comics of all origins, however when it is used in English, manhwa is used exclusively to refer to comics of Korean origin.
The Oxford English Dictionary took the word in among 26 Korean-origin additions in September 2021.
Manhua follows the same pattern for China: the Chinese word for comics, used in English only for comics of Chinese origin. Apps such as WebComics and the comics side of Webnovel license both manhwa and manhua, though neither is an adult service.
Manhwa, manga and webtoons
Manhwa tells you where a comic comes from. Webtoon tells you its shape: vertical, episodic, made for a phone. The two overlap so much that English sites use them almost interchangeably, and a reader who says "adult manhwa" usually means a Korean adult webtoon. The longer comparison is on webtoons vs manga, and the format has its own entry under webtoon.
Where adult manhwa are published in English
Korean publishers run their own English sites. Lezhin sells episodes for coins and keeps its R-rated catalog on the website and an Android APK. TOPTOON Plus has moved to a monthly membership. Lalatoon, a sister service to Toomics, sells BL, GL and romance episodes for clovers: an episode costs 3 clovers, and the January 2025 web price list puts that between $0.29 (500-clover pack) and $0.48 (25 clovers for $3.99). Honeytoon is a web-only adult webtoon site.
Platform-by-platform coverage is on adult manhwa and in our list of NSFW webtoon sites.
Why adult manhwa say 19+
Korea's Youth Protection Act defines a juvenile as a person under the age of 19
, and Article 16 requires anyone selling media classed as harmful to juveniles to verify the buyer's age and identity. In Korea that check runs through a Korean mobile number or i-PIN. English sites run their own checks instead; Lalatoon, for example, asks for an account and a yes-or-no confirmation of being over 18. More on labels in mature content ratings, and on the other terms in the glossary.
FAQ
Is manhwa the same as manga?
No. Manga is Japanese, manhwa is Korean. In English, manhwa is mostly published as full-color vertical webtoons, while manga is mostly published in pages.
Is all manhwa a webtoon?
Not by definition: manhwa means Korean comics in any format. In practice, almost everything on English manhwa platforms is a vertical-scroll webtoon.
Why do Korean comic sites use 19+ and not 18+?
Because the Youth Protection Act draws the adult line at 19. English sites of Korean publishers often ask readers to confirm they are 18 or over instead.