Webtoon manhwa is a resource exploited by Korean film company to adapt to the screen. Many movies and television adaptations of webtoon manhwas have created unexpected successes. In the subway station, cafe, or pedestrian street, it is not difficult to see passers-by watching, gliding their fingers on the touch screen of a phone or tablet. And if someone has not a smile on their face, they probably enjoy reading a webtoon manhwa on the Internet.
In 2005, the webtoons service was born, becoming the premise for the webtoon manhwa to create attention and spread. At that time, some works by famous comic author Kang Do Young were selected by filmmakers to be adapted, such as Apt, 26 years, Timing, … However, it was not until Secretly Greatly (2013), adapted from the webcomic Covertness by author Hun, attracting 6.96 million viewers. Superisely, the webcomic becomes the best-selling work in history. Korean cinema at that time.
Secretly Greatly ushered in the heyday of webtoon manhwas, as Korean filmmakers quickly shifted their selection of scripts from webtoon manhwas. Different genres are suitable for audiences, such as romance, horror, adventure, romance, and fantasy. With more concise and impressive content, webtoon manhwa becomes a fertile ground for filmmakers to exploit. Misaeng”, “The Girl Who Sees Smells”, “Orange Marmalade”, “Scholar Who Walks the Night”, “Hyde, Jekyll, and I”, “Flower Boy Next” are just a few of the successful works that have been released since then. “Save Me,” “Inside Men,” “Door”. While the dramas were storming in peace, “Misaeng” (2014) startled with a rating of 8.24 percent, which was the highest at the moment. The official narrative of “Misaeng” generated a sensation in the Korean entertainment business, fueling interest in the film “Incomplete Life: Prequel.”
According to the multinational research agency Strategic Analysis, the proportion of Koreans who possess a smartphone reached 67.6 percent in 2012. It means that 7 out of 10 individuals will have access to the Internet at any time and from any location.
Huge profit
The Korean manhwa market is estimated to have a revenue of 894 million USD in 2017, of which webtoon manhwa accounts for more than 70%, and this industry has an estimated growth rate of 8.6% per year. Some of the webtoon manhwa’s most successful works are “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” (2017) and “Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days” (2018), both adapted from Joo Ho Min’s web manhwa “Along with the Gods.” It is considered the most successful webtoon manhwa series when continuously creating miracles in the history of Korean cinema. “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” has more than 14.4 million views, becoming the second highest-grossing film in Korean cinema history, grossing $108 million. Part 2 “Along with the gods: The last 49 Days” continuously broke viewership records on the first day of its release, reaching 7, 8, and 9 million views, the fastest in Korean cinema history.
Currently, the manhwa section on the Naver website – which has promoted more than 220 artists – attracts 7.5 million views per day. With a growing fan base, dozens of webtoon manhwa artists have been able to make profits from advertising contracts to signing contracts to sell rights to movie and television scripts. A-list artists can also become celebrities, being invited to talk shows and autograph events that attract thousands of fans.
Webtoon manhwa is a new genre
Webtoon manhwa are different from traditional comics in three ways. First, each book is released as a long vertical graphic strip to make it easier for users to follow on smartphones or computers. Second, because webtoon manhwas are seldom printed on paper, they are frequently colorful rather than black and white. Finally, some webtoon manhwas incorporate music and animation.
Like other forms of online publishing, webtoon manhwa has many payment methods. Some webtoon manhwas allow a limited number of chapters to be read for free and require a fee to read the remaining chapters. Some other webtoon manhwas only allow you to read a certain number of chapters per day for free. Webtoon manhwa authors can earn money through the ads displayed on the webtoon manhwa.
Thanks to the growth of smartphones and tablets, webtoon manhwas have started to appear on new platforms such as mobile apps. Authors began to include music to heighten emotional effects, interactive actions to pique readers’ interest and direct attention to specific aspects.
Before 2014, fans had to rely on unauthorized fan translations to read the webtoon manhwa in English. Line, a Naver company, began producing webtoon manhwas in English through the Webtoon manhwa service in July 2014.
The webtoon manhwa market and derivative products are currently valued at 420 billion won (8,136 billion dongs). Although digital comics are becoming more and more popular, paper comics are still the main format of retail comics. Some publishers publish both online and print content.
Webtoon manhwa has high competition
Recently Naver and Kakao have invested trillions of won in companies like Webtoon manhwa and Web Novel (web novel) overseas. Today I will talk about the context of opening up the competition between two big Korean enterprises in the acquisition and merger in the field of Content Creation.
Since 2014, Naver has officially promoted its online comic platform to overseas markets such as Southeast Asia and has quickly taken root with its unique growth model. Naver plans to actively promote the popular manga to readers in more languages in the future.
The download of the Kakao webtoon manhwa shortly after its introduction, according to studies, demonstrated the application’s fierce competition. In addition, the app surpassed Naver Webtoon manhwa to reach first place in the Japanese market. Kakao Webtoon manhwa has a lot of room for growth, which means that the battle between Kakao and Naver in the worldwide webtoon manhwa industry will continue to be tough in the future.