Ask John: Are There Any Anime Based on Manhwa?

Question:
Are there any anime series based on Korean manhwa?

Answer:
In a limited sense, just one Korean manhwa has ever been adapted into a Japanese anime, but several anime productions have distinct Korean origins. The 2004 anime feature film Shin Angyo Onshi was a Korean and Japanese co-production based on Youn In-wan & Yang Kyung-il’s comic series that was concurrently published in South Korea as “Sinamhaengeosa” and in Japan as “Shin Angyo Onshi.” To most Americans, the original comic is widely recognized as a “manga,” but the story was initially composed in Korean then translated into Japanese. So while Shin Angyo Onshi may be legitimately called a “manga,” it’s equally, if not more, a Korean manhwa.

Korean writer Dall-Young Lim composed the Kurokami and Freezing comic serials that were both adapted into Japanese anime TV series. Lim created Kurokami with Korean illustrator Sung-Woo Park and Freezing with Korean illustrator Kwang-Hyun Kim. Yet despite the Korean nationality of their creators, both comic stories were created for the Japanese market and were initially published in Japan, making them “manga” with Korean origins rather than “manhwa.”

Japanese animation studio Realthing, in association with Japanese studios Telecom and Studio Comet, produced the 2009 anime television series Fuyu no Sonata based on the hit Korean live-action TV drama Winter Sonata (Gyeoul Yeonga). In order to respect the original source, the anime actually employed 23 of the original drama’s cast members to voice the anime characters. The anime series was broadcast on Japanese television in Korean with Japanese subtitles. However, an anime based on a Korean TV series isn’t the same thing as an anime based on a Korean comic.

Madhouse’s 2007 anime television series Maple Story and Gonzo’s 2008 anime television series Slap-up Party: Arad Senki are based on the Korean Maple Story and Dungeon and Fighter: Slap-up Party computer games, respectively.

Although not based on any earlier comic, the 2001 television series Geisters: Fractions of the Earth is noteable and relevant because it was co-directed in South Korea by Jang Jong-Geun and in Japan by Koji Itoh and Sumio Watanabe. The program’s 2D animation and character design were crafted in Japan by Studio Kuma while the show’s 3D animation and mecha design were composed in South Korea by Frame Entertainment.

A bit farther off topic but possibly still relevant, the 2005 Korean animated series Jang Geum ieui Kkum, a spin-off from the live-action historical drama Dae Jang Geum, was dubbed into Japanese and broadcast on the NHK television network under the Japanese title “Shojo Changumu no Yume” beginning in April 2006.