From webtoons to anime hits: Solo Leveling leads Korean comic adaptation trend

Time of India

23-05-2025

Credits: Crunchyroll
In recent years, a new wave has emerged in anime: hit Korean
webtoons
are being turned into animated series. These digital comics, which have exploded in popularity globally, are finding fresh life on screen.
As one report notes, webtoons have become 'a global cultural and economic phenomenon, similar to K-dramas and K-pop', capturing young audiences with unique storytelling and art styles.
Leading the charge is Solo Leveling, a fan-favorite webtoon whose anime adaptation was produced by A-1 Pictures. Premiering in January 2024, Solo Leveling's first season was a worldwide simulcast, and a second season followed in early 2025. Other major titles quickly followed:
Tower of God
,
Noblesse
, and
The God of High School
were all adapted into anime by top Japanese studios (Telecom Animation Film, Production I.G.,
MAPPA, etc.) in partnership with Crunchyroll and Naver's Webtoon platform. This marks a significant shift in anime sources – Korean creators and studios are now sharing the stage with traditional Japanese manga.
Solo Leveling: The trailblazer
Credits: Crunchyroll
Solo Leveling's anime set the tone. Based on Chugong's webtoon, it aired in Japan January–March 2024 (with Season 2 in Jan–March 2025). Crunchyroll secured global streaming rights, bringing the show to its 15+ million international subscribers. Fan response was immediate: by March 2025 Solo Leveling had 614,300 user reviews on Crunchyroll – surpassing even
One Piece
, which had 600,500 reviews accumulated over 12 years.
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In other words, a one-year-old series overtook a long-running classic in fan ratings, demonstrating the intense enthusiasm for this adaptation. Its high production values (music by Hiroyuki Sawano, dynamic animation by A-1 Pictures) and a story about an underdog 'hunter' getting superpowers resonated worldwide. This success has proved that Korean webtoon IP can launch blockbuster anime – and it has drawn even more eyes to the genre.
Other webtoon anime hits
Credits: Crunchyroll
Following Solo Leveling, several other Korean comics made the jump to anime.
Tower of God
(by SIU) debuted in April 2020 as a co-production between Webtoon and Telecom Animation Film. The anime streamed simultaneously in Korea, Japan, and worldwide (Crunchyroll carried it under its 'Originals' label). The source material was already a juggernaut – the
Tower of God
webtoon has over 4.5 billion views globally – and the anime earned praise for its faithful storytelling and rich world-building.
A second season ran in 2024 due to popular demand.
Noblesse
was next: adapted by Production I.G., its 12-episode anime aired Oct–Dec 2020 on Crunchyroll. And
The God of High School
, animated by MAPPA, ran July–Sept 2020. Each show brought its own fanbase (often mobilized on Crunchyroll and social media) and helped introduce anime viewers to these Korean comics. In fact, Crunchyroll's own announcements highlighted these partnerships: all three series were explicitly listed as Webtoon co-productions.
Together, these adaptations showed that Korean stories – from fantasy to modern-day action – can shine on screen just as much as manga originals.
Studios and streaming power players
These anime are backed by industry heavyweights. Solo Leveling came from A-1 Pictures (known for Sword Art Online, etc.); Tower of God Season 1 by Telecom Animation Film; Season 2 by The Answer Studio; Noblesse by Production I.G.; and The God of High School by MAPPA. All were partnered with Line Webtoon/Naver and often branded as 'Crunchyroll Originals'.
On the distribution side, Crunchyroll has been especially pivotal.
As of 2024 it had over 15 million paying subscribers worldwide and carried roughly 1,800 anime titles – vastly more than Netflix's anime catalog. This massive platform puts new series like Solo Leveling front-and-center to global fans. (Netflix has been expanding its anime too, but its focus has often been on exclusive series; Crunchyroll remains the primary home for many of the webtoon adaptations.)
In short, high-profile studios are bringing in the stories, and streaming giants are broadcasting them to viewers in India and around the globe.
Driving factors behind the webtoon wave
Several cultural and technological trends explain why webtoon adaptations are booming:
Mobile, digital format:
Webtoons are designed for smartphones, using vertical scrolling panels in full color. A market report notes the industry's
'explosive growth'
thanks to this convenient format. With smartphones and social media, digital comics have become mainstream entertainment.
Korean pop-culture boom:
Webtoons ride the crest of the Korean Wave. Just as K-pop and K-dramas enthrall global youth, webtoons have 'rapidly gained international popularity' and are seen as a Korean soft-power export. This cultural cachet makes anime producers eager to adapt stories that might already have buzz among young audiences worldwide.
Streaming demand:
Services like Crunchyroll and Netflix are hungry for fresh anime content, and webtoon IP provides proven hits. Crunchyroll's subscriber growth (from 5M in 2021 to 15M in 2024) and its vast anime library make it an ideal launchpad. (Crunchyroll's 1,800 titles vs Netflix's ~240 highlights its dominance in anime distribution.)
Built-in fanbases:
Many webtoons already have huge followings. For example,
Tower of God
had billions of reads before it became an anime. Solo Leveling's fan enthusiasm was evident from the start – its anime earned 614,300 Crunchyroll reviews in one year, showing a ready audience. These built-in fan communities generate buzz and viewership immediately upon release.
Together, these factors create a feedback loop: webtoons gain popularity online, studios spot their potential, and global streams deliver the anime to even wider audiences, who then dive back into the comics.
READ MORE: Manhwa vs Manga: Why South Korea's Manhwa are winning digital race
Implications for anime and comics
Credits: Crunchyroll
The webtoon-to-anime trend signals a new phase for both industries. Anime studios and streamers now tap a larger pool of international stories, while Korean comics gain richer production and monetization opportunities. This cross-border synergy blurs old lines: Japanese and Korean creators increasingly collaborate, and fans worldwide benefit from a more diverse anime lineup. As Crunchyroll and others invest in co-productions, more webtoon titles (and even non-Korean digital comics) may find their way to screen.
Observers believe this will help anime reach new audiences and give the global comics market a boost.
In conclusion, the success of Solo Leveling and its peers shows that anime is not just for manga anymore. Fueled by smartphones, streaming platforms, and the Korean cultural wave, webtoon adaptations are reshaping entertainment. For Indian and international fans alike, the result is exciting: a steady stream of fresh shows that combine the best of digital comics with animated spectacle. Industry analysts say the trend will likely continue, further entwining the futures of anime and webtoons in the expanding world of digital storytelling.
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