The Korean wave or Hallyu has grown in popularity in the last decade with an increase in the number of fans for K-pop stars’ music, K-Drama entertainment, Korean movies, Korean webtoons, etc. I enjoy reading the Lezhin webtoons online and also have been an ardent fan of K-Dramas. This was when I discovered an incredible connection when I found some interesting K-Dramas based on some popular webtoons. While I prefer to read the webtoons first and then check out the screen adaptations, you can choose whatever you want. It is interesting to compare scenes and storylines.
1) Rugal
The action-based sci-fi series is based on a popular comic by Rel.mae. It is about a detective Kang Ki-beom fighting a war against Argus, a criminal group. Kang has lost his wife and wants to avenge her death. When Kang, along with a special team of members with bioengineering technology abilities, are assigned to ruin Argus. Rugal was released on Korean network OCN in March and subsequently available on Netflix as a 16-episode series. The webtoon version was available on Toomics.
2) Itaewon Class
This is a story of inspiration and accomplishment. It is about how a young man works hard to become rich and fulfill his father’s dream. It tells the story of friendship, hard work, revenge, sacrifices, and love. The main character loses his father in an accident caused by a rich man and then avenges the death by becoming rich. Itaewon Class is available on Netflix. The comic version was published by Daum webtoon and had over 14 million subscribers. It was one of Daum Webtoon’s most significant successes.
3) Mystic Pop-Up Bar
This is another popular webtoon from Daum, that was also converted to a T.V. series. Mystic Pop-Up Bar is for fantasy lovers and tells a story about a pocha or outdoor bar with mysterious working. Daum webtoon has 183 episodes available for free to read, and there are 7 more for premium users online currently. The T.V. series produced by the JTBC version is again available on Netflix and Viki.
4) Memorist
It is the Korean version of ‘Mentalist’ based on a webtoon with the same name. The fantasy thriller action is a story of detective Dong Baek, who has a superpower of reading memories. He uses the power to solve serial murder cases. Interestingly, the T.V. version has amazing similarity in cast, storyline terms with the original webtoon. The creator of the webtoon Memorist – Jae Hoo had also expressed delight about the similarities. The T.V. episodes are available on Viki, and the webtoon can be enjoyed on Daum Webtoon.
5) D.P. (Deserter Pursuit)
This webtoon is still not adapted to the video version, but it is from one of my favourite webtoon comics company Lezhin comics. I am waiting for the online version as Netflix recently announced it would be producing the series based on the webtoon D.P.: Dog Days by Kim Bo-tong. It tells the story of a South Korean Army private Jun-ho, assigned to a unit responsible for arresting deserters or AWOL soldiers. He encounters a bunch of confused young soldiers and his struggle to pursue them to chose better. Director Han Jun-hee, known for his films Coin Locker Girl and Hit-and-Run Squad, will team up with the original webtoon writer, Kim Bo-tong for the Netflix series adaptation. D.P.Lezhin Studio will produce D.P. in association with Homemade Film.
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