Webtoon Animation Thrives Through Korea-Japan-North America Collaboration [K-Content Japan]

Crunchyroll Reveals Behind-the-Scenes of "Solo Leveling" Production
Next Title "The Greatest Estate Developer" to Adopt Day & Date Dub

Korean webtoon intellectual property (IP) is growing into a global blockbuster by merging with Japanese production technology and North American platforms.

Still cut from the animation 'Solo Leveling'.

Kanako Takahashi, producer for the Crunchyroll Animation Co-Production Team, presented the co-production and distribution strategy for Korean webtoon-based animations at the 'Korea-Japan Content Co-Production Week' hosted by the Korea Creative Content Agency in Tokyo on the 29th. Crunchyroll, a subsidiary of Sony Group, operates offices in fifteen regions around the world, with North America as its main market. Starting with "Tower of God" in 2020, followed by "The God of High School" and "Solo Leveling," Crunchyroll has led the animation adaptations of Korean webtoons.

Producer Takahashi stated, "I believed that by combining Korea's excellent IP with Japan's outstanding animation production technology, it would be possible to create mega-hits on a global scale." This vision became a reality through projects jointly undertaken by Korean IP holders, Japanese production companies, and Crunchyroll. However, challenges such as rights coordination and localization arose due to the differing production processes and business practices between Korea and Japan.

A representative case of localization is "Solo Leveling." With Japan's Aniplex and the animation studio A-1 Pictures involved, the project was designed from the planning stage to target the global market. All on-screen texts were written in English, and Crunchyroll directly oversaw the translation into English.

During the post-recording phase, the challenge of rendering proper names of characters and locations when adapting Korean webtoons into animation was addressed through dual voice recording. For the global version, voice actors recorded the protagonist Sung Jinwoo’s lines, while for the Japanese version, voice actors performed the counterpart character, Shun Mizushino. This strategy took into account both the desires of the original fandom and the acceptance of Japanese television viewers.

Kanako Takahashi, producer of the Crunchyroll Animation Co-Production Team, is announcing co-production and distribution strategies for Korean webtoon-based animations at the "Korea-Japan Content Co-Production Week" held in Tokyo on the 29th. / Korea Creative Content Agency Tokyo Business Center.

The series was provided with subtitles in fifteen languages, dubbed in thirteen languages, and included Korean voice acting. Just before its broadcast, exclusive world premieres held in five cities—Paris, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, and Mumbai—were sold out, and the series achieved a global platform rating of 4.9 points from 1.06 million viewers.

The next title is "The Greatest Estate Developer," set to premiere next month. Based on a novel by Park Saenal and a webtoon adaptation by Redice Studio, the anime is being produced by the Japanese mid-sized studio J.C.STAFF. The first episode has already been screened at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, USA, and Japan Expo in France, receiving positive reviews.

Crunchyroll is also changing its distribution strategy. Traditionally, dubbed versions in foreign languages were released two to three weeks after the subtitled version, but now the company will implement "Day & Date Dub," simultaneously releasing dubbed and subtitled episodes. This initiative, which offers subtitles in eleven languages and dubbing in fourteen languages in real time, is aimed at reducing illegal viewing and boosting early popularity.

Producer Takahashi said, "We plan to further strengthen these cross-border collaborations in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.