Following the success of series such as Solo Leveling, fans can expect to see even more anime adaptations of popular webtoons in the near future. Kim Shin-Bae, CEO of Line Digital Frontier, revealed during a press conference that at least 20 more anime series based on webtoons will be announced this year, as reported by Korean newspaper Hankyung Korea Market.
This marks a significant step up from the company’s 2024 output, which saw 12 webtoons being adapted to animation. Some of the series that have been confirmed for an anime release include Clevatess, launching this July; as well as Dark Moon, Red Ice, and Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, which have not yet received official release dates. Kim also hopes to expand webtoon adaptations beyond anime and into the realms of TV dramas and movies.
The company also plans to further invest in Japanese webtoon production studios to help facilitate more success stories. Kim cited the global popularity of anime and webtoons as a major factor for this expansion, especially considering their popularity in the United States. American companies such as Amazon and Apple have expanded into the webtoon business in recent years, which Kim hopes to coexist rather than compete with.
Other developments that Kim hopes to introduce include using AI to improve webtoon recommendations for existing readers.
