K-drama review: Today’s Webtoon – bright office drama starring Kim Se-jeong ends on satisfyingly complete note

This article contains spoilers.

3/5 stars

The Korean dramas on air this year have mostly been supercharged stories that are, more often than not, light on resolution. Today’s Webtoon – though hardly the most challenging series we have seen in 2022 – proved to be a refreshing antidote, tying up its run with a pleasantly neat ending over the weekend.

Ex-judo athlete Oh Ma-eum (Business Proposal’s Kim Se-jeong) began the season as an unlikely new temp worker in the struggling webtoon division of the larger Neon tech conglomerate. The underperforming department was not even housed in the main Neon complex.

The year and season that followed were a test for her as she sought a permanent post, and for Neon Webtoon – which had to prove its own value in the same time frame, or close up shop.

To no one’s surprise, happy endings were forthcoming for everyone – but what made the show worthwhile was the journey to get there and the growth along the way.

Neon Webtoon’s flagging sales and its talented, temperamental stable of writers forced their parent company to put them on notice. Though chief editor Jang Man-chul (Park Ho-san) and senior editor Seok Ji-hyung (Daniel Choi) did their best to right the ship, Neon director Heo Gwan-young (Ha Do-kwon) secretly tried to sabotage them to acquire their larger Youngtoon rival for his own gain.

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Part of Heo’s strategy involved relying on Ma-eum’s ambitious colleague Goo Jun-yeong (Nam Yoon-soo), who wanted out as soon as he was transferred to the webtoon division and who chafed at working alongside the bubbly Ma-eum.

Ma-eum’s passion and brightness quickly wore down his gloomy disposition and soon after turning turncoat for Heo, we saw his conscious niggling away at him.

His occasional sourness was explained when we discovered that his sister Goo Ae-ri (Seo Yoon-a) had died while working at Gingertoon, the company run by Man-chul and Ji-hyung before it was bought out by Neon.

Once Jun-yeong learned that Ae-ri was in fact a treasured member of the team, his last embers of dissent died down and he began to work against Heo.

This proved to be a vital asset for Neon’s survival – but it was not the only thing that kept them afloat.

Neon is a business after all, and while we root for the characters, it would feel hollow if they were only saved by Jun-yeong’s secret activities or from an unexpected success among their writers.

Instead, the crucial element of their survival happened when they grew as a company. Fearing the loss of their top creator Na Gang-nam (Lim Chul-soo), who was torn between Neon, Youngtoon and his personal responsibilities, Neon Webtoon suggested starting a new subsidiary company co-headed by Gang-nam.

This broadened Neon Webtoon’s portfolio, gave Ji-hyun an opportunity to rise up as the other co-head of the subsidiary, and ultimately convinced the Neon board that the webtoon division was worth saving.

A similar growth happened with Ma-eum towards the end of the show. She appeared competent from the get-go when compared to other characters, but the one thing that held her back was her too optimistic and naive passion.

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Ma-eum and editor Kwon Young-bae (Yang Hyun-min) had previously gone head to head over writer Goo Seul-a (Jeon Hye-yeon), and it happened again when they both separately pitched to her during a competition.

Ma-eum won out – but, recognising her own failings, she ended up asking Young-bae to team up with her.

At the close of the finale, with everyone happy, fulfilled and presumably heading towards a bright future, the Neon Webtoon team vacated their outpost office and crossed the bridge to join the main Neon headquarters.

The only element of the show that does not get a clear cut endpoint is Ma-eum’s love life. Ji-hyung clearly had eyes for her but, after turning down the chief editor post at Youngtoon, he was moved on to head up a new company.

That left her younger colleague Jun-yeong. The pair had steadily grown closer over the season, aside from a few ups and downs and quickly allayed misunderstandings. In the closing episode, Jun-yeong finally and earnestly confessed his feelings to Ma-eum, while insisting that she take her time to think about it.

By the close of the series, we do not yet know what the future holds for them. Given the rosy disposition of the ending, however, we need not worry about them too much.

Following her breakout turns in The Uncanny Counter and Business Proposal, Kim Se-jeong continues to be a compelling presence on screen. Her performance as Ma-eum was occasionally a little too broad and starry-eyed, but her natural charisma is undeniable. She can only get better and she has plenty of time to do so.

Today’s Webtoon is streaming on Viu.