Secondo l’Economist (link alternativo), i webtoons (un formato di fumetti che si presta particolarmente alla digitalizzazione) coreani iniziano a rappresentare un serio contendente allo strapotere dei manga giapponesi nel mercato globale dei fumetti.

Yet Japanese manga are being eclipsed by Korean webtoons. Last year the manga print market shrank by 2.3% to ¥265bn ($1.9bn). The size of the global webtoons market was meanwhile valued at $3.7bn—and projected to reach $56bn by 2030.

Though webtoons such as “Itaewon Class” and “Solo Levelling” have become popular among Japanese consumers, most Japanese publishers have stuck doggedly to manga. “The Japanese industry is very conservative,” sighs Mr Lee. “There’s a strong belief that it’s better to stick with precedent.” The manga industry’s business model, in which stories are first published in weekly magazines and then in books, has hardly changed since the 1960s.

L’articolo ha scatenato anche una discussione su Hacker News.