Naver Webtoon continues expansion launching comics-based animations worldwide

A poster for animated feature “Tower of God,” based on a web comic of the same title. / Courtesy of Naver Webtoon

By Baek Byung-yeul

Naver is speeding up efforts to diversify its “webtoon” or web comic offerings by branching out into other types of content such as animation to ride on the fast-growing cultural content market, the internet firm said.

Naver Webtoon, the comic and novel arm of portal site Naver, said animations based on its comics will be released in the United States, Japan and Korea in 2020, including “Tower of God,” “The God of High School” and “Noblesse.”

“This is the first time that animation versions of Korean comics, which were created in collaboration with prominent animation studios, will be launched overseas,” Naver said.

Naver Webtoon CEO Kim Joon-ku / Courtesy of Naver

The company said its effort to diversify its intellectual properties will help expand the presence of Korean comics.

“Naver Webtoon has seen explosive growth around the world, with more than 10 million active users per month in the North American market. By diversifying our intellectual property into animation, the potential of Naver Webtoon's content will be recognized worldwide,” Naver Webtoon CEO Kim Joon-ku said.

“We hope more people around the world will have the opportunity to enjoy the quality content of Naver Webtoon,” he added.

Among the three animations, “Tower of God,” started in 2010 by cartoonist Lee Jong-hui, known by his pen name SIU, will be launched first.

“Tower of God” is available in a number of different languages including English and Japanese. The comic centers around a boy named Bam who has spent most of his life trapped beneath a mysterious tower, with his only friend Rachel. It is one of the most popular comics on Naver Webtoon, recording more than 4.5 billion readers.

The U.S. and Japan are the leading markets in the comic and animation sectors. According to data by the Korea Creative Content Agency, the animation market in the U.S. is valued at an estimated $1.57 billion for 2020 and that of Japan, $521 million. Japan's comic market is believed to be worth $4.03 billion, followed by the U.S. with $1.05 billion.

For the distribution of the animations in the U.S., Latin America and Europe, Naver has collaborated with Crunchyroll, a U.S.-based distributor that operates an animation streaming service. The American company is a subsidiary of AT&T's WarnerMedia.

“Crunchyroll runs an animation streaming service with more than 60 million active users around the world and 2 million subscribers. Given the distributor is offering its service in North America, Latin America and Europe, we expect we can raise the presence of the intellectual property of Naver Webtoon,” Naver said.

For Japanese viewers, the three animations will be premiered on several TV channels including Tokyo MX and BS11. Animation fans in Korea can enjoy the content via Naver's online video platform SeriesOn.

For the production, Naver has collaborated with Japanese animation studios ― Telecom Animation Film produced “Tower of God”; MAPPA is responsible for “The God of High School”; and Production I.G. was in charge of the animated adaption of “Noblesse.”

Naver has been actively working on boosting its capability in the content business. During a Jan. 30 earnings report, the company said its comics business in the fourth quarter of 2019 saw revenue growth of 128 percent year-on-year. It added its global revenue last year was roughly 600 billion won ($493 million).

The company said it had already posted a revenue turnaround domestically in 2018. With the aim of making content one of its key growth engines, the company said it is actively trying to enter new markets as part of its global expansion.

“In terms of Naver Webtoon and our global turnaround, in Korea we achieved our BEP (break-even point) in the second half of 2018. And in the U.S. and the global market, we believe that our current growth is quite important. And so this year, we will continue to be quite aggressive in driving growth from the U.S. market and also entering into new markets, just as we did in Europe,” the company said.