Author | Mao Lina
Editor | Li Chunhui
From "My ID is Gangnam Beauty" in 2018, " Why Secretary Kim is like ", 2019 "Others Are Hell", and then to the popular Korean drama "Itaewon Class" in early 2020, Korean comic-adapted dramas have become similar to the adaptation of the big IP of Chinese online literature.
Obviously in the 1980s and 1990s, the Korean animation market was still dominated by the strong Japanese cartoons like China. In a blink of an eye, Chinese comics have achieved some results, but comic adapted dramas have never made any major breakthroughs. Whether it is the ancient IP "The Fire King" or the " Hot-blooded " (adapted from the comic "Yanshi Fan"), which is dominated by traffic actors Huang Zitao and Yi Yang Qianxi and , it is difficult for them to even reach the top of the domestic broadcast rankings, let alone going abroad.
But Korean comics have been transformed and have become the most important IP resource pool in South Korea.
16, the Korean comic adaptation attacked 90s Korean dramas had "three treasures" - car accidents, amnesia, and incurable. Except for a few long comedies, most Korean dramas have the theme of abusive love and bitterness. While earning the audience's tears, a large number of homogeneous dramas have also begun to make people feel bored. The route of the early Korean comic adaptation drama is similar to the sweet pet dramas that are popular in China today. It is basically "the domineering president falls in love with me." If you eat too much sugar, you will get tired of it. If you watch too much, you will get annoyed. The sweet-sweet Korean comic adaptation will soon usher in dusk. Zhang Geun Suk and IU starring the comic adaptation drama " Beautiful Man " was cold, and the transformational work of the national sister Moon Geun-ying and the comic adaptation drama "Mary's Outside the Night" also received less response than expected. In addition, around 2013, the trend of the Korean TV series market began to shift to supernatural and ghostly themes, and the girl comics, which mainly focus on love elements, are no longer favored by the market. abandoned the elements of "sweet pets" and other elements in the girl comics. "Unborn" is a record of the ups and downs of Korean social animals. Although the plot itself has not been able to escape the influence of the "hot-blooded" trend of early Japanese cartoons - the protagonist gradually found his life goal with the help of his friends and began to struggle. But the more realistic style still made this comic adaptation drama recognized by Korean socialites. Mary Sue comic adaptation drama " A Day I Stumbled to Hit " seems to be a replica of campus love dramas such as "Meteor Garden", but in fact it discusses a popular online topic "What should you do if you find yourself a character in a novel or comic?" The success of the comic adaptation drama is naturally inseparable from the original comics. Korean comics that take into account both reality and exaggeration create a confined space for the audience to indulge in it. comics and colorful comics solves the problem of mobile phone reading experience; the short and concise plot and unexpected ending are more in line with the young audience's pursuit of tension, excitement and reversal; the Korean online comics industry has risen in the mobile Internet era, and has produced online comic platforms such as Naver Webtoon, Daum, Toomics, Kakao, and Lezhin. At the same time, because there are many newcomers, if the author wants to stand out, he must ensure high-quality creation and update frequency. This makes many Korean comics serialized at a very fast speed, almost daily updates, and the work completion cycle is also short. Some editing strategies of the comic adaptation drama "Mengbean Biography" Japanese and Korean comic adaptations have many successful works, and the overall number of domestic comic adaptations and successful cases are relatively weak (and because we have strong online articles, there will be no comic adaptations for a while). The most successful one at present is, "Take My Brother Away" is an example, and it is also a colored comic. Horizontal comparison of popular Korean comics and domestic comics in recent years, the biggest reason for the failure is the theme. How to break through the 2D circle of comic modification is a common problem. Looking at several popular Korean comic adaptations, the original work is about popular social issues. Even ordinary audiences who don’t know the original work will still be attracted by the theme. "Attack on Titan" live version html At the end of March, the role-changing storm of Huace's comic adaptation drama " Long Song Xing " has made another wave of gossip. The final decision of Dilraba and Wu Lei’s younger brothers are definitely high-end models in comic adaptations, so they have a strong presence in the new wave of costume dramas. Popular Korean comics almost all fall on real social issues, and it is easy to find breakthroughs to attract passers-by. The trend of costume big IP comics that continues in China can only rely on big stars and original fans to put more effort into it.
In 2004, "Full House" adapted from the Korean girl comic was released. The fresh setting of big stars falling in love with ordinary girls, the relaxed and funny plot, and the happy ending of lovers finally getting married, made this TV series popular as soon as it was broadcast, with the highest ratings as high as 47%, and it was successfully traveled to many countries.
In 2006, another TV series "Palace" adapted from the comic of the same name was broadcast. In the 21st century, South Korea is still in a constitutional monarchy, and a civilian girl meets and falls in love with the crown prince. Starring Yong Eun Hye and Jo Ji-hoon for this drama, he won the Best Newcomer Award for the MBC Acting Awards that year, while Korean travel agencies opened up a new popular travel route with the "Teddy Bear Museum" in the drama.
until the unexpected popularity of the comic adapted drama "Unborn" marked the arrival of the era of worldly comic adaptation.
Since 2017, Korean comic-adapted dramas have officially entered the 3.0 era - the themes are blooming, and the cruelty of reality and the fantasy of the underworld are blending.
Also the domineering president fell in love with me. "Why Secretary Jin is like this" is based on the real workplace. The relationship between the male and female protagonists is a natural transition from superiors and subordinates, and the female protagonist's initiative in love is more obvious. The common wealthy struggles in Korean dramas have also been abandoned, and replaced by daily sand sculpture interactions. Although sweet pets are not changeable in nature, they are more realistic than the big star falling from the sky.
"My ID is Jiangnan Beauty" theme of "Ugly Girl Beautiful" is not new in the drama market, but the comic-adapted drama has stepped on the national hot topic of "plastic surgery". Coupled with the anti-routine attributes of the male protagonist "bits to appreciate the bitch" and "poisonous tongue protecting his wife", it is not surprising that it can become a small hit of the year.
Korean comics, just like Chinese online literature?
For a long time, Korean local comics could only follow the imitation of Japanese comics and survive with difficulty, and are mostly limited to love themes. Until the rise of mobile Internet, Korean comics gave them the opportunity to overtake.
mobile phones have changed people's reading habits. Japanese cartoons that pay attention to the sense of lens, delicate style and complex plot are gradually no longer suitable for short, flat and fast reading needs. In addition, Japanese comics are mostly made of black and white manuscripts, and their reading experience on mobile devices is not as good as paper books. Korean comics aimed at this opportunity, benchmarked against the shortcomings of Japanese comics, and took advantage of their own style. The emergence of
Unlike Japanese comics that take the craftsman route, the genre and industrialization of Korean comics determine that young creators can participate in it with a lower threshold, and a large number of newcomers have been poured into the Korean online comic industry. In addition to serialization income and adapted writers, Korean cartoonists themselves are becoming increasingly "commercial". It is no longer new for popular cartoonists to star in variety shows, and some cartoonists even act as regular guests of the show.
Currently, most Korean comics are online updates. Compared with publishing comics, the Internet can receive readers' feedback and adjust their works as soon as possible. Just like our online literature, the reason why Korean comics are full of various anti-routines and precise clarifications is largely due to the online update model.
online comic platform also promote the author's commercial creation. As some platforms stipulate, "meat" must appear within the first three chapters of BL comics. How to naturally transition to "meat" without affecting the progress of the plot also tests the authors' creative ability.
The South Korean government has also contributed significantly to it. The Korean Cultural Industry Revitalization Institute will regularly collect and evaluate works to provide new authors with support for their works. The support methods include promoting overseas serialization of works, animation, games, film and television, secondary development based on original works, and obtaining guidance from predecessors.
In addition, the South Korean government is also refining relevant policies and laws, such as the "Content Industry Revitalization Law", "Comic Revitalization Law", and "Artist Welfare Law" to protect the rights and interests of creators and promote the comic industry.
The secret of comic adaptation not falling out
Go back to recall, Hong Kong comic was very popular back then, and the works of cartoonist Huang Yulang " Dragon and Tiger Gate " and "Tathagata's Palm" were brought to the screen; Ma Rongcheng and Danqing's comic " Fengyun " have film and television versions, and the starring actors were both popular stars at the time, and now they are memories of the post-80s and post-90s.
Of course, success is always a minority, and there are many incidents everywhere. The Japanese once remake the national comic "Sailor Moon", but no one bought it and scolded him; the Korean comic-adapted movie "Multi-celled Girl" had a bleak box office, and the beauty Kim Yubin could not save it.
Whether it is "Gangnam Beauty", "Itaewon" or "Secretary Kim", the story is all realistic background. The protagonist's dress is not a strange costume, and his words and deeds are still within the logic of ordinary people. When performing film and television adaptation, both the original party and ordinary audience can accept it.
The original work chosen for domestic comic adaptation is much more imaginative. The original protagonist of "The King of Fire" is an ancient gods, and the story background is mainly based on the Tang Dynasty. In addition to the active era when the original author You Sulan was, Taiwanese comics were deeply influenced by Japanese comics, with beautiful and fantastic characters, and their experiences were too grand. In this way, the adaptation must conform to the original work and cater to the current public aesthetics, which ultimately will not please both sides.
, and domestic comics often choose "big IP" with their own fans. However, large IPs often have too grand world view settings, which are not only difficult to be filmed and television, but also far from the resonance of ordinary people. The Japanese cartoon "Attack on Titan" has many fans, but even in Japan, which is passionate, middle-aged and octopus culture, its live-action comic-revised movies cannot escape Waterloo's fate.
But Xia Da 's original comic book has been serialized since 2011. To be honest, it is not considered an IP of "golden age". The costume theme is indeed not time-consuming, but the audience's tastes change very quickly.
