This year, the drama ‘Buy Harvest’ is based on webtoons and web novels in the home theater.

Last year, among the hit dramas, ‘Marry My Husband’, ‘Retirement’, ‘Murderer‘s Difficulty’, ‘Hell’, ‘The Call You Just Made’ were about 20 based on webtoons and web novels, while this year, there are over 30.

Not only can you expand your intellectual property (IP) through dramas based on guaranteed popularity webtoons and web novels, you can also enjoy the effect of advancing into the overseas drama market through global OTTs such as Netflix.

Additionally, the popularity of webtoons and increased sales during the broadcast of the dramas follow as bonuses, and they are considered ‘Super IP’. However, some are concerned that there are gradually fewer opportunities to discover new writers or to return to them.

Starting with MBC’s ‘Motel California’, which capitalizes on the appeal of ‘K-rom-com’, Netflix‘s drama ‘Trauma Center’ starring Joo Ji-hoon, Channel A’s ‘The Witch’, ‘She‘s a Black Flame’, Tving’s ‘Study Group’, and Coupang Play‘s ‘Newtopia’, etc. are coming one after another until February.

Among these, ‘The Witch’, written by popular webtoon writer Kang Pool, is attracting the most attention. ‘The Witch’, scheduled to air on February 15, is the drama based on the fifth webtoon in Kang Pool’s pure love webtoon series.

A drama depicting the romance between Mi-jung, who is plagued by rumors that she always has bad luck, and Dong-jin, who has been watching her since high school, stars Park Jin-young and Noh Jung-eui, formerly of the group GOT7. Director Kim Tae-gyun of the film ‘Dark Figure of Crime’ is in charge of directing.

Also waiting are ‘Good Competition’, ‘Barney and Brothers’, ‘Spring Fever’, ‘Bad Romance’, as well as ‘Now at Our School 2’, ‘Weak Hero 2’, ‘Moving 2’, ‘New Soldiers 3’, which are preparing for new seasons following the success of their previous seasons.

Since the original work has already been guaranteed to be a hit, top stars and star PDs are attracting attention by choosing webtoons without any burden.

‘Fine’, starring Ryu Seung-ryong and Im Soo-jung, is based on the webtoon of the same name by ‘Misaeng’ writer Yoon Tae-ho. It deals with the events that unfold when criminals steal treasure after a treasure island is discovered off the coast of Sinan in the 1970s. Director Kang Yoon-sung of Disney+ ‘Casino’ is in charge of directing.

‘Dear X’, the next work of director Lee Eung-bok, who created the ‘Descendants of the Sun’, ‘Goblin’, and ‘Sweet Home’ series, is a brutal and beautiful melo-thriller about a woman who wears a mask to survive and a man who tries to save her. Kim Yoo-jung and Kim Young-dae will star.


Reporter Lee Jeong-yeon annjoy@donga.com