KOREAN WEBTOONS:
Ever heard about Korean Webtoons?
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If you are familiarized with comics in general you won’t have problems understanding this term, since they are essentially digital comics that are created and published online.
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They are typically created in a series, with each episode being released on a regular schedule. In Korea, this webtoon are fairly more popular than traditional comic books as we know them. Are getting a global success in the last years thanks to the media industry.
How did Korean Webtoons get so famous?
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Besides their unique art style and storylines, their accessibility and communication available for the readers to the artist made them popular with younger generations. Korean webtoons will get you closer to the Korean culture, and country itself, plus it is a great way to practice the language since the dialogues are not complicated and the drawings will guide you.
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The internet and technology surge in South Korean helped in way increase the popularity of this webtoons also known as webcomics. A particular reason is their accessibility, you have access to tons of them to the reach of your hands, phones, tablets, laptops, all these gadgets make it easier and faster to access no matter where we are.
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K-dramas have also helped in the growth of its popularity by bringing these webtoons to the screen, which has made part of the audience discover the Korean webtoons thanks to adaptations like “Sweet Home” or “All of Us Are Dead”.
K-dramas Adaptations from Webtoons
We have gathered a list of what we think are the best Korean Dramas based on Webtoons you should read and the watch in your free time!
Itaewon Class: Park Sae-ro-yi lost his father in a car accident caused by the son of a rich man who is the CEO of a major food service company, He is now looking for revenge.
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Hellbound: Mysterious creatures kill people who were decreed to die by an angel beforehand and send them to hell.
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Memorist: A detective called Dong Baek works with a criminal profiler named Han Sun-mi to solve murders in Korea.
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All of Us Are Dead: It takes place in a local high school that becomes ground zero for a zombie outbreak.
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True Beauty: It is about a high school girl named Ju-kyoung who is bullied due to her “ugly” face, but that only encouraged her to learn how to apply makeup from a video sharing platform and can change her look.
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What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim: Lee Young-joon who is a rich vice president at a large company in Korea has a secretary called Kim Mi-so who has worked with him for many years that suddenly decides to quit her job and Young-joon wants to know why she is quitting and try to make her stay.
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Extraordinary You: Eun Dan-oh realizes she is part of a manga and wants to change the fate that has already been written for her by the author.
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Hell is Other People: A countryside man named Yoon Jong-woo goes to Seoul and lives in a small rental unit where he ends up meeting strange residents.
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Sweet Home: The story takes place in an apartment complex called Green Home that is filled with people who want to escape from their problems.
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Love Alarm: Jo-jo gets involved in a love triangle due to an app that allows people to know if someone likes them if they are near them.
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Are Webtoons the same as Manga or American Comics?
Comics and manga have been present in our childhood and maybe even now are still an essential part of our hobbies. We are more familiar with both terms, but what about webtoon? Let’s break it down and see the difference between them.
American Comics
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- Presented on print in color
- Text reads horizontally
- Mostly Superheroes topics
- Distributed as magazines
- Shorter story arcs
- Movies and cartoons are based of comics
Manga
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- Presented on print in black and white
- Text read horizontally, and in a reverse order (even when translated to English)
- Plenty of Anime is based on manga
- Helps you learn the language
- Distributed on a magazine or book
- Presented in print form which makes harder to keep track of the next issue, and even more por non-japanese people who need to wait for English scans.
Korean Webtoons
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- Presented in digital format
- Illustrations come in color
- Text read vertically
- Easier adaptability for smartphones and tablets
- Next issue usually presented the following week making it easier no to miss it.
Popular Writer and their Webtoon
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As stated above, Korean webtoons is a window to Korean culture and humor, and if you are more curious about the topic, or simple you just want to improve your Koran, reading a webcomic will help you. From comedy to tragedy or action to romance, you have plenty of genres to choose from.
Here are some popular Korean Webtoon writers and their webcomic just for you!
- Yaongyi – True Beauty 여신강림
- Kim Kanbi, Hwang Youngchan – Sweet Home 스위트홈
- Narak – A Business Proposal 사내맞선
- Lee Yunji – Something About Us 우리사이느은
- Lee Yul – A Compendium of Ghosts 신기록
- Shin Jinwoo, Hong Soonsik – Janitor K 청소부 K
- Hwal Hwasan, Geum Sagong, Sugiki Harumi – Backstreet Rookie 편의점 샛별이
Where to Read Gorgeous Webtoons?
You can find these and many more Korean webtoons on dedicated websites like:
WEBTOON
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Website here
TAPAS
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Website here
TOPTOON
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Website here
LEZHIN COMICS
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Website here
The difference between them doesn’t make them better one from another, each one has their own artwork style and content, webtoons can be a more for casual reading while manga and comics can offer more complex topics.
At the end it all depends on your preferences and likes, but you surely can enjoy these three gorgeous forms of literary art.
Which webtoon would you love to read first?
