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Part II. Storytelling in the Information Age ] 63
can also be traced back to the practicality of the format, as they are free
micronarratives that can be accessed visually on a smartphone. 1he other
reason for their popularity is that webtoons are uploaded to the platform in a
serialized, episode-by-episode format. Ihe webtoon portals offer a selection
of content based on different genres. Ihe common thematic characteristic
of all the genres is the critical attitude toward South Korean society, and
the dialogues are characterized by light black humor. The stories are often
about topics that young people can easily identify with: typical protagonists
of webtoons are hard-working, exploited workers or recent graduates who
are unemployed (Jin, 2020b).
Webtoons combine serialism, oriental narrative technigues and comic
book aesthetics. In South Korea, many webtoons have been used to produce
excellent films and video games. One example is the series The Witch, based
on the famous webtoon by Kang Full. Hellbound, a socially-critical fantasy¬
horror-action series available on Netflix, is also based on the webtoon narrative
format."
The guestion arises as to whether the webtoon and its film form represent an
adaptation or a transmedia extension. While the films may add characters and
narrative elements to the webtoons, and in the case of series the inclusion of
audience reguests may lead to differences in the narrative, Park and colleagues
(2020) have nevertheless categorized the phenomenon as adaptation rather
than transmedia storytelling (Park, Lee & Lee, 2020). However, the position
is relative considering that the cinematic representation of fragmented,
compressed comic book narratives in webtoons (and manga) provides a
completely different dramaturgical representation of the same story.
Webtoon conventions are also relevant to transmedia storytelling as their
hosting platforms support user participation by allowing users to create
webtoon pieces in different genres and have followers similar to influencers.
Webtoon platforms can also be connected to popular social media platforms
which will alert followers when a user has posted a new episode. The creators
of highly viewed webtoons can earn a significant amount of money if a large
number of subscribers follow their work, and the most successful webtoons
are often turned into feature films or series.
An examination of the Far Eastern model of transmedia storytelling can
provide a number of models for Western transmedia storytelling practices.
Steinberg (2020), examining the phenomena of intense transmedia storytelling
that evolved from the Japanese manga-anime world, finds that the four
pillars of transmedia storytelling are (1) the medium; (2) the storyworld;
(3) the characters; and (4) the interconnectedness or continuity between the
extensions. However, in addition to these it is also important to consider the
cohesion of the communities of potential recipients and fans, so transmedia
storytelling requires additional management tasks: (5) taking into account
4 https://www.webtoons.com/en/thriller/hellbound/list?title_no=3598