AX 2025: Webtoons and the art of battle

Comics Beat was invited to WEBTOON‘s panel at Anime Expo 2025, where top creators and producers gathered to explore what truly defines a “battle” in storytelling. Like gambling, panelists explained, combat can raise the emotional stakes, turning every win or loss into something that resonates deeply with readers.

The panel featured Uru-chan, creator of the beloved unOrdinary; Brandon Chen, producer of Just a Goblin; Ethan LeBlanc, producer and editor at WEBTOON; and Frederick, a longtime veteran of the manga industry.

Fighting in anime and other East Asian media tends to avoid the style of the ’90s comic era defined by creators like Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, and Rob Liefeld—an era we’ve known and loved for its grungy, over-the-top brawls and “turn-your-brain-off” action scenes. While fun, those fights have become somewhat of a cliché. In contrast, Eastern media often presents combat as both a physical and philosophical challenge.

Ethan LeBlanc highlighted the importance of that philosophical side, especially the moral questions behind a fight, breaking it down with four key questions:

• When is the fight taking place?

• Where is it happening?

• Who is your character—what do they believe in?

• Why are they fighting?

While beginners might rely on basic tournament arcs to suggest stakes, deeper stories explore how the outcome of a battle shifts the world—or, at the very least, changes someone in it.

Even the rhythm of a fight matters. Uru-chan shared how something as simple as landing three small hits followed by one major strike can create visual and emotional weight. Fighting, in itself, is like a song—the ideas you want to convey form the symphony, while the weight of the hits and the rhythm they follow are the vocals. Some songs begin with the chorus, others with the verse, and the same goes for fight scenes.

So, where does WEBTOON fit into all this?

According to Frederick, WEBTOON stands at the frontier of modern comics. Its vertical scroll format gives creators unprecedented freedom to experiment with pacing, movement, and reader immersion. It’s a platform where boundary-pushing, industry-shaking ideas find a home, and creators like Uru-chan are leading the way. In unOrdinary, for instance, she uses the scrolling format to control the tension, direction, and pacing of each battle.

Now is the time for creatives to feast on this once-in-a-lifetime storytelling buffet.

For more coverage on Anime Expo 2025 news, you can find it right here on the Anime Expo 2025 archive on The Beat!

Source: Anime Expo