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| Posters for the legal drama, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," left, and the namesake webtoon series / Courtesy of ENA, ASTORY |
By Park Han-sol
"Extraordinary Attorney Woo," a legal drama centering on a genius lawyer, Woo Young-woo, who is on the autism spectrum, will be adapted into a webtoon series of the same title.
The 60-episode webtoon series is slated for global release in four languages ― Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese ― the drama production house, ASTORY, announced on Tuesday. Its exact release date and online platform have not yet been determined.
Starring Park Eun-bin, the show follows Woo as she begins her life as a novice attorney in a top law firm, tackling unexpected challenges and prejudice within and beyond the courtroom.
During the press conference held last week, the actress noted how the role required her to be prudent in playing a character with a disability.
"The first thing I did was to stay away from simply imitating how such a character has been portrayed in the media in the past," she said. "Because my acting could run the risk of spreading wrong, biased ideas (about the disability), it was a job that required my utmost discretion."
"Extraordinary Attorney Woo" currently airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays on ENA and is also available through streaming platforms Netflix and Seezn.
Since its premiere on June 29, the legal drama series has already gained popularity, as it topped Netflix's most-watched show list in Korea and climbed to the Top 10 charts in Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan.
Its latest episode also scored a 1.8-percent viewership rating nationwide, according to Nielson Korea, making it the highest figure ever for broadcaster ENA.
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| The webcomics series, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," will be released in four different languages: Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. Courtesy of ASTORY |
Meanwhile, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" is the latest example of a drama production house seeking to create webcomics based on its original content.
While webtoons have established themselves as one of the major go-to sources for drama and film adaptations ― as witnessed most recently in the cases of "Business Proposal," "Tomorrow," "Yumi's Cells" and "The Sound of Magic" ― more drama production companies like ASTORY are seeking to go the other way around as well.
SBS' "Our Beloved Summer," which aired from last December to January, produced a webtoon based on its romantic comedy narrative surrounding the two protagonists, Choi Ung and Kook Yeon-su.
As a prequel to the actual show, which follows the unwanted reunion of ex-high school sweethearts after the documentary they filmed together goes viral, the namesake webtoon series takes the readers back to the two characters' school years.
MBC's 2000 period drama, "Hur Jun," SBS' 2008 melodrama, "Temptation of Wife," KBS' 2014 romance thriller, "Healer" and JTBC's 2019 rom-com, "Be Melodramatic," are some of the other Korean shows that will be adapted into webtoons in the coming years.
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