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According to JoongAng Ilbo, the Economist on the 10th published an article titled "Japanese cartoons blocked by Korean webtoons." According to it, the size of the manga publishing market fell 2.3% to 265 billion yen (about US$1.6 billion) last year, while the size of the global webtoon market has already reached $3.7 billion, and by 2030 it will reach 56 billion yen. It is expected to grow to billions of dollars.
Webtoon is a vertically scrolling digital manga originating in South Korea, and is a coined word combining "Web", which means posted on the Internet, and comic "Cartoon". Taking advantage of the characteristics of posting on the web, the work is characterized by vertical scrolling and full color. There are various genres such as comedy, love story, and fantasy. Appeared in the early 2000s, with the spread of smartphones and tablet devices, many works have been translated and are gaining popularity not only in South Korea, but also in Japan, the United States, and other countries.
Webtoons have also changed the upbringing of manga artists. Until then, manga artists had built up their careers by working as apprentices to manga magazines published by publishers or as apprentices to famous manga artists, aiming to make their debut. Manga artist has appeared. It can be said that the door has become more open to amateur manga artists who aim to become professionals.
In July of this year, the award ceremony for the "Eisner Awards", also called the "Academy Awards of the manga world," was held in the United States. The winner of the "Best Webcomic" category of the same award was "Roa Orionpos" serialized in South Korea's Naver Webtoon.
In addition, two works by Korean authors have been nominated for the 50th Angoulême International Manga Festival, which will be held in January next year. The Angoulême International Manga Festival in France is also called the "Cannes Film Festival of the manga world".
Choi Kyu-seok's "Grill", which is nominated for the competition section, depicts the process of confrontation between a section chief who was instructed to unfairly dismiss an employee and a labor activist against the backdrop of a large French mart. is. It has been serialized on Naver Webtoon every Tuesday since December 2013. It received high praise from readers and experts, and in 2014, it received the "Today's Our Manga Korea Manga Association President's Award". It was made into a TV Series in 2015.
The Economist mentioned above points out that while webtoons are enjoying rapid growth, Japan's manga industry is in decline. "Since the 1960s, the conservative structure of the manga industry, which has adhered to conventional methods, has created such a contrasting situation."
On the other hand, citing works such as Masahiko Inoue's 'Vagabond' and Kentaro Miura's 'Berserk', the Economist said, "Manga has preserved its strengths, such as the structure that can convey complex stories and the delicate drawings."
The popularity of webtoons shows no signs of slowing down, even in Japan, which used to be the "absolute powerhouse" in the world's manga market. According to a survey conducted last month by MMD Research Institute, a market research company, of about 14,500 men and women aged 15 to 69 who own a smartphone, tablet, or computer, more than 40% of the comic app and service users turn out to read webtoons.
Yoon In-Han, the founder of South Korea's first webtoon production company, YLAB, cannot hide its popularity in Japan. In an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo in August of this year, Yoon said, "Even if (webtoons) were accepted in other countries, I thought they would not be accepted only in Japan, where the published manga market is strong. However, the trend quickly changed, and now Korean webtoons are destroying the Japanese manga ecosystem."
Attention will be paid to how Japan, a “manga powerhouse”, will respond to the rapid growth of webtoons in the future.
2022/12/17 09:34 KST
