Webtoon popularity definitely reached new heights in 2022 and among many platforms that offer this type of content, one stood out in the United States – Tappytoon. This platform, which is the home of Solo Leveling webtoon, among other things, currently has over 7 million members worldwide (5.5 million members in the US) and offers many titles through its freemium reading model. But just how did Tappytoon come to be and what are some of the biggest webtoon trends right now? Anime Corner got a chance to ask the company’s founders, Sun Bang (current CEO) and Ernest Woo (Chief Product Officer), some questions that we’ve always been curious about.
How did Tappytoon come to be? What was the webtoon landscape like back then compared to now? Although it was in 2016, I’m sure the pandemic changed a lot.
Ernest Woo: We developed Tappytoon for a year and a half and then launched it in 2016. Back then, there were only a couple of other platforms mainly building upon indie and creator(user)-submitted titles. Not many places focused on Korean webtoons as we know them today, but we saw interest in them in the “underground” and fan communities. Once we launched our platform and stories, we grew very quickly. More recently, the pandemic and staying at home, along with some major new titles, expanding to French and German, and new formats like web novels all gave significant boosts.
What would you say was the biggest difficulty you faced when starting out?
Sun Bang: K-webtoon was still new to readers; its style and vertical digital were considered niche. It was challenging to explain to those unfamiliar with webtoons that they are essentially full-color comics, just presented slightly differently. Now with many successful K-dramas based on webtoons and the global rise of K-pop and entertainment, Korean movies sweeping awards, the situation has changed.
What title(s) helped with the popularity of the platform? What was the “big break” for Tappytoon?
Ernest: What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim. We secured that title and almost right after our release, the K-drama remake exploded globally. Solo Leveling was key in bringing in action fans and male readers our way and opened the gateway for us to license even more major action fantasy titles.
How do you choose your licenses? What does the process of licensing look like?
Sun: We have relationships with the major webtoon and web novel companies. Our internal committee considers all facets from proposed and released titles from these partners, including art style, story, diverse themes, genre, production quality, and more. Of course, our readers’ needs and requests are also highly considered, and we may specifically seek those titles out for Tappytoon.
Do you have some examples of series that performed better after getting picked up (or better in the original language)?
Ernest: I Got Pregnant with the Tyrant’s Child (Romance), The Skeleton Soldier Couldn’t Defend the Dungeon (one of our top Action titles) are examples that did better on Tappytoon. The reasons are always different, but we see that certain plot lines or situations tend to perform differently for Korean readers versus international readers.
How do you navigate the licensing/translation/promotional process when the title in question deals with sensitive and potentially problematic themes such as abuse, violence and similar?
Sun: Having a safe experience is really important to us, and we try to handle such subjects with care. We won’t simply cut or censor something just because it’s objectionable or problematic because overcoming such situations is often important in the narrative as told by the creator. We have warnings or disclaimers that alert the readers to the chapters and/or the title, but we are always mindful of how things are presented.
According to your data, Romance is the most popular genre with Boys’ Love in second place. These two overlap – did you expect BL to be so popular when you first launched?
Ernest: We were confident our BL titles would do well, but we didn’t expect them to be at this level when we started out. The BL audience is very dedicated. There is a certain overlap, and we find that to more and more readers, it matters less whether a love story is heteronormative or two people of the same sex. What matters is the story is well-told, and can readers empathize with the characters, bonus if the men are hot. With so many good, nuanced BL coming out, it’s a good time to be a BL fan.
The majority of Tappytoon’s readership consists of female users. What do you think is the reason for this? What are the top read titles by them?
Ernest: We made a conscious effort to reach female readers, who we felt were somewhat overlooked by the US comics and superhero industry at large, dominated by the big 2. We knew female readers wanted something different, something that never existed for them before in the mainstream — we knew we could deliver that – like really well-made female-centered stories and comics. They would be a good fit for audiences familiar with manga from Japan, and fans that just love to read (everything from novels to magazines, and blogs). Plus, our stories are in full-color and easy to access on any smartphone.
Sun: More importantly, many of our stories are about strong-willed, smart, leading women out to take charge of their life and love, protect someone, and right some wrong, whether personal or a more significant issue. They are literally the center of their stories or working towards it, utilizing all the tools and skills they have to shape their worlds how they see fit. Empowerment, inspiration, catharsis, and even humor, it’s all there, and it resonates with our female readers.
Light and Shadow, Father I Don’t Want This Marriage, and The Broken Ring are some of our top female reader titles for those very reasons.
What does the male audience (the “other 26%”) read?
Ernest: They’re reading our Action and Fantasy titles, including hits with intricate artwork and epic battles, like Solo Leveling and The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon. Some of our male readers venture into our key Romance and BL/GL titles, too.
You recently started providing novels on your platform. Can you share some stats with us? What are the most popular titles of this type?
Sun: We’ve only recently begun web novels so we’re working hard to promote and expand them further. The Broken Ring is one of the most popular romance novels right now. Having both the novel and webtoon versions creates a synergy so that readers from one version can easily try out the other format, and they end up enjoying both.
What was the most requested implemented feature for the app in the past year?
Ernest: Undoubtedly, launching web novels was most requested. Dark mode, so it’s easier on your eyes at night, was also finally added this year.
How big of an issue is piracy in the webtoon/web novel industry? What areas can be improved to help steer users toward legal reading platforms?
Ernest: When we started Tappytoon, we knew piracy was a problem and still is today. We aimed to bring the biggest titles, officially, in better quality, with professionally produced translations, and ultimately contribute back to the ecosystem so that more of these great works can continue to be made by talented creators and storytellers. There is always more to do, and we continually strive to improve on quality, speed, presentation, accessibility, etc. It’s really about respecting the work of the creators and supporting their choice to make a living with their craft.
How do you connect with (potential) readers and what they might like? Quite a few anime/manga tracking websites now list Korean content, do you find those helpful when it comes to following trends or finding new titles to license and attracting users?
Sun: We try to have an active presence and connect mainly through social media, where many of our readers are. We know about those tracking sites, and they help us see trends or a different perspective on how our released titles are doing in addition to the fan reactions on social media, but there are other sources of consideration for finding new titles to license.
Speaking of trends, what do you think will be the next big thing in the webtoon sphere? Currently, it seems like villainesses are everywhere.
Sun: I don’t think it’s limited to a certain genre or trend, but about originality from story and character building. The reason why K-webtoons are so popular now is that the stories are fresh and new, that readers have never seen before. Also, that’s why recent K-dramas and movies are based on K-webtoons.
Ernest: Stories about villainesses, royalty, kings, queens, etc., will always be around. I don’t think they are going away. I do think BL and GL are on the rise and will gain even more ground. Action and Fantasy titles tend to have a lot of world-building, and the ones that do it well will cross over to other mediums, such as animations and games like Solo Leveling. But in the near future, the dramas with a hint of fantasy or K-dramas will dominate more quickly.
What can we expect from Tappytoon in 2023? Any titles we might have heard of or perhaps new partnerships?
Ernest: We’re wrapping up this year with some amazing partnerships. We also set up a joint venture with Redice (makers of Solo Leveling and BTS webtoon 7Fates: Chakho). 2023 is when projects from all these new partnerships will start coming out to the world, but I’m afraid I can’t get into specifics.
Next year is when a bunch of titles that first appeared on Tappytoon will become available in US bookstores, so keep an eye out for that.
Sun: In the meantime, we started Tappytoon Studios this year to create our own all-new titles, such as Aristité was Blessed with a Curse, The Mistress Runs Away, and more, and the response so far is telling us we’re on the right track. We’re in touch with publishers from the US, France, Germany, and Japan.
Check out Tappytoon’s official website.
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