A Nerdy Dream Come True
- Jan 15, 2020
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 21, 2020
What more could I possibly have to say when it comes to Webtoons? For starters, two words: anime adaptations.
Warning: if you have not read my previous articles about Webtoon and webcomics please pause here and do so. The first article is titled "Caught In Their Web" where I explain what webcomics are and their impact on the comic world. The second article is titled "The Part Two You Never Asked For" where I review the platform Webtoon and all my favorite webcomics they have to offer. These will help you understand some terms and titles that I will be talking about in this installment. Thank you.
In my last article about Webtoons, I reviewed some of my personal favorites, ending with my #1 pick being Tower of God by SIU. In my review of ToG, I mentioned that there have been whispers of an anime adaption in this comics future. Well, I am here today to tell you that we are about to get just that.
My article reviewing Webtoon was written November 2019, a month earlier [October 2019] it was announced that Webtoon would be partnering with Crunchyroll to create and release new anime adaptations of their original content. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Crunchyroll, many look at it as the anime equivalent to Hulu. Now, this is not a completely incorrect comparison but Crunchyroll actually offers more than just its shows. They also have a manga library and serves as a nerdy news outlet as well, reporting on news in the anime, manga and gaming world.
You will notice that though the news was available, none of this was included in my previous article. And it is not because I didn't know about it. I have no other excuse other than to be honest: I thought it was a joke. It was WAAAAY to good to be true. I had just received the heavenly blessing of a Fruits Basket reboot; there was no way any of my other nerdy wishes would be checked off my list any time soon. I still couldn't even believe Fruits Basket took place! What can I say? I was in denial! But after researching the topic and reading dozens of articles on the matter, I have come here to say, YES! This partnership is legit and though no titles have been officially confirmed by Webtoon or Crunchyroll [that I could find], rumors have leaked that their potential first projects will be Tower of God by SIU and Noblesse by Son Jeho.
*PAUSE*
I would like to issue a correction from my previous article "The Part Two You Never Asked For". In my review of Tower of God I stated that it started its run on Webtoon in 2014. During my research today I found that ToG has been running on Webtoon since 2010. The 2014 start date is for its English run. I apologize for the error, thank you for your patience.
*RESUME*
You may not recognize that second title if you are going just based on my articles so far, because I didn't talk about it. But if you have ever been on Webtoons you have surely seen it. It floats around on the top charts and has been around even longer that ToG. To put it in perspective here's a short timeline: Webtoon was founded in Korea in 2005, Noblesse was started in 2007, ToG was started in 2010, Webtoon was launched internationally in 2014 with 42 titles available including both Noblesse and ToG. So, they have been around since the beginning. They are also some of the longest running comics on the app and website, with Noblesse just reaching completion this year. It makes sense that these two would lead Webtoon into this new era, so I believe these rumors are well founded.
However, we have to take a couple points into consideration. For instance, we do not know how large of a team is being dedicated to this task. Other than the original announcement from Crunchyroll and Webtoon on October 15, 2019, neither corporation has released any details on the matter. We do not know the size of the teams, who is being brought in to be on these teams, timelines- nothing, nada, zip. Granted this will take a bit of time, it is a huge project, but I believe they may be feeling the pressure. With the launch of Disney+ and other streaming services, it is important to Crunchyroll that they stay relevant and show that they can keep up competitively with other competing streaming services, all of which have original series which Crunchyroll has not done well with to date. This goes to show, their partnership with Webtoons was a very smart move and offers a lot of amazing opportunity.
With that being said, I want to predict that we will be hearing more news soon, mainly in order to keep the hype up. In fact I am willing to bet that they will not wait past April 2020 to make another announcement. In order for them to make the first announcement in October, they had to be decently far along in their timelines to feel comfortable enough to say something. Six months [April] should be enough time for them to finalize their teams, if they weren't finalized already, and start hyping people up for the upcoming projects.
But which projects will it be? ToG? Noblesse? Ahhhh, did you all forget the lesson I taught you all in the last article? Listen, I do not doubt that ToG and Noblesse will both be receiving animes. I also think it is fair for people to assume that they will be in the first string of releases. But what genre is Webtoons' big player right now? Do you remember? It's romance! Though Webtoon is decently well balanced and has many popular titles in different genres, their romance numbers are nothing to scoff at and lead the boards every. single. week. I am confident that the teams they put together for this partnership will be big enough to roll out multiple anime's at once or in quick succession. And if that is the case, we will be seeing ToG, Noblesse, and one of the big dogs of romance. More than likely it will one of the big three: I Love Yoo by Quimchee, Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe, or Let's Play by Mongie.
My gut reaction was Lore Olympus since it has been holding the #1 spot on the romance chart pretty consistently. But if we look at the sheer number of subscribers and time the creator has been ruling the romance domain, Quimchee with I Love Yoo is who you would look at. I also stated in my review that I Love Yoo works for both genres, romance and drama, which opens the field to more viewers. In fact, I think it works better in the drama genre. But it is that fact that makes me unsure if it helps the cause, or hurts it. I also think Let's Play is a big contender since they were one of the first to roll out a physical copy of their comic and, if I remember correctly, broke chart records doing so on Kickstarter. However, that same reason is why I am not too confident Mongie's comic will be chosen.
For starters, though it had to be approved by them I am unsure how much Webtoon was involved in that Kickstarter, especially if they are focusing on this anime launch. Next, the Kickstarter was supposed to be delivered in December [2019] and has still not been released. As someone who shamelessly participated in the Kickstarter, I will say I am not upset by this at all. It is clear to me that they are taking the time to make sure everything is perfect before release and I am grateful for that. But with the number of delays this is taking, and the fast track timeline I am anticipating for the partnership, I think that takes Let's Play out of the running for the first string of releases.
Another good candidate to keep an eye on would be a previous big three member: Siren's Lament by Instantmiso. To be honest, I think Siren's would probably be the best candidate for their first string. Webtoon is known to have worked very closely with Instantmiso. She goes on tour with them every year and speaks at panels, does meet and greet and autographs. Siren's Lament was also one of the first comics Webtoon made merch for. On top of all that, Siren's Lament is actually her second successful comic with Webtoon AND she was their poster child for a long time. It was ads they had up for Siren's Lament that made me start reading Webtoon! It was her and Kenny Music that brought the music platform to life on Webtoon. She is known for her gorgeous art and it would really translate over well as a proper Shojo anime. Though she is no longer #1 on the charts, she still brings in high numbers weekly. Instantmiso has established herself well as a stable of the Webtoon community and that makes her an excellent candidate.
Either way, let me be clear. I think it would be a mistake if any one of these didn't eventually get an anime. They bring in huge numbers every week for Webtoon, if we are talking from a business stand point. Not to mention the authors and artists deserve the opportunity to further their work and careers which I feel can sometimes plateau at Webtoon. At the end of the day, I don't think this is not a matter of "if", simply a matter of "when".
I was so excited to report this news and then go over all my theories as to how this would go and what comics we would see that I lost track of time and wrote one of my longest articles yet! Second only to my last Webtoon article, go figure. I genuinely am excited to see what this partnership between Webtoon and Crunchyroll brings. I feel so blessed as a nerd, as a fan, as a human being who enjoys things! This has been an absolutely incredible year to be a nerd. We have gotten so many wonderful things that I genuinely believed were only possible in my dreams. But we are at a turning point in nerd culture, maybe we should start bracing ourselves for some better things. What a happy Nerdom!
Thank you so much for tuning in tonight for another installment of one of my favorite topics. I have the most fun when I am writing about nerdy things and I love getting to do some research and learn new things about the topics I love. Read some comics this week and tell me what you are enjoying nowadays! I hope you have a fantastic rest of your week and I would love to see you back on Sunday for The Mess here on My Mess. As always, stay nerdy, stay messy friends!
Comments