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Pierce Conran

This article contains spoilers.
Dream jobs can be a double-edged sword. Not everyone finds their way to a position that pays them to do what they love, and reality seldom matches perception.
Among the most coveted jobs in South Korea these days is creating webtoons. But even for the few who do achieve fame and fortune in that field, the cost is substantial – never-ending deadlines and always being at the mercy of your readers.
In Today’s Webtoon, the Neon Webtoon platform has several star writers, but behind their swanky flats and fast cars are a web of anxieties born of the fast-paced and demanding nature of their work.


Webtoons are typically released in weekly instalments, for which artists have to generate around 60 to 80 new panels. Successful webtoons can go on for years.
The Sound of Your Heart currently holds the record, with over 1,200 instalments published over 14 years. Creator Jo Seok famously went without a wedding ceremony or honeymoon when he got married to keep up with his punishing schedule.
Today’s Webtoon: Kim Se-jeong leads high-energy K-drama
At the fictional Neon, the top artist is Na Gang-nam (Lim Chul-soo), whose beloved series Princess Gumiho has been running for five years. Gang-nam’s producer is rookie Oh Ma-eum (Kim Se-jeong), a former judo athlete whose love of webtoons was sparked by Gang-nam’s powerful character.
Gang-nam is an eccentric and getting him to meet his deadlines can be challenging. But more serious problems arise when he hands in pages ahead of time. The new episode is stale, and it’s not the first time.
Showing up on his doorstep, Ma-eum moves Gang-nam with an earnest plea and he heads back to his desk to revise the episode before the deadline.

A few episodes later, Gang-nam is approached by Neon’s more successful rival Youngtoon. He’s given the opportunity to start afresh with a new comic, which would mean wrapping up Princess Gumiho.
Though the success of his creation has been gratifying, it was never the kind of webtoon he envisaged, so the offer of a fresh start is very seductive.
In the end he has his cake and eats it too. He stays with Neon to keep Princess Gumiho going and starts a new series with Youngtoon. Given how frazzled he already is, doubling his workload hardly sounds like a healthy conclusion.
Fellow Neon star Oh Yoon (Son Dong-won) is confronted with a similar issue. He initially saw himself as a serious artist, but years earlier he was convinced by his producer to try his hand at comedy, and this made him the name he is today.

He starts a new webtoon reflecting the artistic direction he’s always wanted to take, but it tanks, inspiring ridicule from readers. Producer Choi Du-hee (Ahn Tae-hwan) eventually musters the courage to burst his bubble and steer him back to comedy. Yoon will be back on the charts in no time, but only by burying his true aspirations.
Less fortunate is Lim Dong-hee (Baek Suk-kwang), who has toiled for 10 years as an assistant to veteran artist Baek Eo-jin (Kim Kap-soo) as he awaits his debut. When young prodigy Sin Dae-lyug (Kim Do-hoon) joins Eo-jin’s troupe and almost immediately lands his debut, Dong-hee lashes out.
After a lot of soul searching he decides he doesn’t have what it takes and gives it all up. He leaves the city unfulfilled, but with a big smile on his face.
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These individual cautionary tales of frustrated artistry and fruitless struggle are compelling, especially compared to the milquetoast issues faced by the writers earlier in the season, but they are only supporting characters in a show that is centred around the workers of the Neon Webtoon planning department.
Ma-eum’s passion and gutsy spirit unexpectedly landed her her dream job, and while the work entails long hours and complex problem-solving, she’s clearly thriving. Her only struggle is letting down her father, who wanted her to continue as a judo athlete, but given that she’s landed on her feet this seems an easy trade-off.
The webtoon planning department, on the other hand, has a crisis on its hands. Staff have a year to right the ship or risk Neon being folded. Executive Heo Gwang-young (Ha Do-kwon) is secretly rooting for their failure, to facilitate a merger that would see Neon absorb Youngtoon.

Deputy editor Seok Ji-hyung (Choi Daniel) is conflicted when he receives a huge job offer from Youngtoon, but in the end he sticks with Neon.
The decision keeps his staff happy, not to mention viewers at home, but does it actually make sense for him? He’s turning down a huge career opportunity to remain loyal to a team that could very well disappear within a few months.
Today’s Webtoon has been exploring dark paths in an industry where integrity and compromise are awkward bedfellows, but these are often overwhelmed by Ma-eum’s unendingly sunny disposition. She brightens the darkness around her, even when we want to explore those shadows.

Meanwhile, the show is building to a revelation involving another rookie, Goo Jun-yeong’s (Nam Yoon-soo) dead sister Ae-ri (Seo Yoon-a) and her connection to Ji-hyun and chief editor Jang Man-cheol (Park Ho-san), which is likely to dominate the remaining episodes of the season.
Today’s Webtoon is streaming on Viu.


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Kim Se-jeong plays webtoon producer Oh Ma-eum in a still from Today’s Webtoon. Lim Chul-soo co-stars as Na Gang-nam, a top webtoon artist in his company.

Lim Chul-soo as Na Gang-nam (left) and Jin Ye-sol as Ji Han-seul in a still from Today’s Webtoon.

Baek Suk-kwang as artist’s assistant Lim Dong-hee in a still from Today’s Webtoon.

Park Ho-san as chief editor Jang Man-cheol (left) and Choi Daniel as deputy editor Seok Ji-hyung in a still from the series.

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Korean drama series is set in the high-pressure world of webtoon creation where writers and artists live under constant stress
Lim Chul-soo plays top artist Na Gang-nam, while Kim Se-jeong plays his producer, in a tale full of broken dreams and unrealised ambition



The K-drama starring Kim Se-jeong is set in the world of webtoon creation, where artists and writers work under intense pressure. The main narrative strand is naive, but some of the side stories are compelling.
