Webtoons dealing with company life gaining popularity… salaryman as main character

▲ Thess photos, provided by Naver Webtoon, show the poster of 'Reborn Rich.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

▲ This photo, provided by Naver Webtoon, shows a scene in "A Man's Man." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, provided by Kakao Entertainment, shows a scene in "Hell Employee (translated)." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) - Office workers has begun to appear in modern background webtoons, which were filled with professions such as doctors, lawyers, and prosecutors.

 

The story of achieving one's goal through past memories or special abilities with salaryman, or office worker, as the main character is gaining popularity, according to the webtoon industry on Monday.

 

The webtoon that leads this trend is the “Reborn Rich," which drew much attention as it became a drama last year.

 

It tells the story of Yoon Hyun-woo, an office worker who started as an employee at Sunyang Group, a wealthy company, and rose to the position of general affairs director of the Future Strategy Planning Headquarters, waking up as Jin Do-joon, the youngest grandson of Sunyang Group, and taking revenge.

 

Based on a popular web novel by Munpia, the drama of the same name recorded 26.94%, the second highest ratings in JTBC's history, and webtoon is ranked third among Naver Thursday webtoons. .

 

The original web novel webtoon “A Man’s Man” is similar in genre as "Reborn Rich."

 

It is about Han Yoo-hyun, the main character who has risen from a salaryman to a CEO, but lost his friends and family, going back to before the entrance exam while drinking, and going through difficulties by protecting his colleagues, unlike his previous life when he lived a life only looking at the top.

 

"A Man’s Man" is ranked No.7 in the order of male popularity among Naver Friday webtoons.

 

“Hell Employee (translated)” is a webtoon that has the fantasy setting of the devil and deals with company life. 

 

The food-loving devil possessed by the body of job-seeker Ko Soon-moo starts working at a large food business unit. It asks questions about the difference between humans and demons, showing how the main character, who is a devil, is on a roll at various stages, from joining the company to training centers and task forces.

 

The webtoon is serialized every Tuesday on Kakao Webtoon and received the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award at the Korea Content Awards last year.

 

“Office Worker Who Sees Fate (translated),” which the main character who becomes a shaman with the ability to see fate with physiognomy and fortune, joins Hyunjin C&T, and “I became a Genius Salesman (translated),” which the main character, who was a pharmaceutical company salesperson, becomes a genius salesperson after gaining the ability to hear others’ minds, are representative webtoons that deal with company life.

 

The biggest popular factor of these webtoons is that the majority of readers who work for companies can easily sympathize.

 

This is because interviews, projects, and in-house politics that everyone would have experienced appear as major events.

 

"I often thought it was ridiculous when I saw romance webtoons set in the company," said Lee (33), a reader who goes to a large company, adding, "On the other hand, I felt that ‘Reborn Rich’ knew and wrote relatively well about company life."

 

Another attraction is the fast and cheerful flow of the story by making the main character use special ability to overcome difficulties.

 

If the main character returns to the past, he or she judges the situation based on knowledge and experience that he or she already know, and sometimes overcome the crisis based on unusual abilities such as novelty, devil's ability, and mind reading that ordinary people cannot have.

 

As the popularity of company life webtoons with such capabilities grows, the movement to discover similar genres of intellectual property (IP) is also notable.

 

Kakao Entertainment announced in September and October last year that it would look for web novels that include all three keywords: "modern," "talent," and "professional."

 

 

 

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Yunhee Cho.)

 

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