One interesting thing about the Korean webtoon industry is just how much information is available online if you know where to look for it. Or, in this case, when someone who sits next to you at work knows where to look for it.
Earlier this week, I was in on a conference call and the topic of Korean government grants came up. For those who don’t know, the Korean government has been funding cultural content for decades doing everything from covering convention costs to marketing and production costs.
Yes, the obvious ones are big events like K-Con and the K-Comics Festa which are partially funded by the Korean government. But then there are booths at licensing fairs, translation costs for webtoons, and production for animated projects.
Because these are public grants, many of the recipients are publicly listed after the titles are chosen. And in this case, the 2026 Animation Prodcution Grant for series’, feature films, IP projects, and content for young adults was announced back in April and includes a few webtoon titles.
These webtoon titles aren’t just in production, the studios producing them have received funding from the Korean government to do so. Speaking as someone who’s applied for Korean government grants in the content sector, the requirements are strict. Which means barring any catastrophic developments, these are essentially confirmed for streaming and (in one case) theatrical release.
Let’s get to it.
Latna Saga: The Survival Sword King
This is the big one and the one I’ve kept my eye on since it was announced back in 2024. It’s notable for two reasons: (1) Red Dog, the studio that produces the webtoon, also operates an animation studio which will be handling the anime adaptation which is a first for Korea, but more importantly, (2) Studio Pierrot of Bleach and Naruto fame will be collaborating on the project (!!).
So while I wasn’t surprised to see “Latna Saga: The Survival Sword King” on the list in the #2 slot, I was really excited to have actual confirmation that the project is still underway.
I Don’t Want This Kind of Hero
Certainly the oldest webtoon on this list and one that has been left behind by current readers is I Don’t Want This Kind of Hero which was published in Korea back in 2011 and English in 2014, both on the WEBTOON platform. The bigger news behind it is the production studio, Laftel. If you don’t know who they are, that’s fine but they are the biggest anime streaming service in Korea which is saying something considering how crowded the market is.
I had to double check this and the only thing I found in English was a screenshot of a Korean blog post by a producer at Laftel confirming that I Don’t Want This Kind of Hero was being adapted to anime… on Reddit.
+99 Reinforced Wooden Stick
This one isn’t a major surprise considering how insanely popular it was in Korea not to mention the amount of money Naver spent promoting the title all around Seoul. But upon further inspection, there isn’t any news about this item… anywhere
That being said, an application for government funding is a serious deal. And the fact that they were approved can only mean that the studio had proof of licensing and proceeded far enough into production that the government felt comfortable handing over a check.
Low Tide in Twilight
This one made my jaw drop. Partly because it’s a title that was contracted and published during my time at Lezhin, but mostly because it had never come up on my radar until now.
The company on the grant is Studio Animal, but Soyomo has been promoting this project all over social media since late August. Considering Low Tide in Twilight is an adult title… we’ll have to see what form the final series takes.
There are currently some animation tests available to see on Soyomo’s twitter and Youtube pages, but be warned… they’re rough. We’ll have to hope that the final product has some more polish.
Study Group: Pi Han-wool Origin
The Study Group webtoon series on Naver will be taking to the screen with this feature animated film being developed for theatrical release. The studio behind the title is Studio Emation which has worked since the early 90’s on titles like Futurama, Adventure Time, Samurai Jack, Scooby-Doo, Grafity Falls, and… literally tens of other titles.
This might be the first time the studio works on a webtoon project and they’ve certainly chosen a heavy hitter. There are plenty of rumors about YLab’s troubles (the studio behind the Study Group webtoon), but a hit feature would certainly go a long ways to helping turn that around.
Elixir of the Sun
During my time at Lezhin, getting the English license for this title was a MAJOR win. It was one of those titles I never stopped talking about and one that my coworkers were definitely tired of hearing me rave about it.
We’ve had a few tidbits of news here and there with auditions for the Korean version taking place earlier this year. This is definitely one of DCC’s strongest webtoon titles, so I think we all have our hopes high for this one.
Exorcism Chronicles 2
Exorcism Chronicles released last year and made its way to streaming (on Disney + in Korea) after getting some decent reviews. The fact that it’s getting a sequel is… not surprising.
And that’s it folks.
There are multiple other titles, yes. But so far as I can tell, they’re not webtoon adaptations so I’ve left them for someone else to cover.
As for me, I’ll be reviewing the application guidelines for next year when my own work will be requiring me to apply for this grant for (hopefully) a webtoon adaptation that I’m currently drafting myself.
Fingers crossed folks!
Laftel is currently animating One-Room TA, which remains classified as a mature Boys' Love manhwa. So I'm not at all surprised they'd go for another mature manhwa next. However, there's indeed a huge gap in NSFW scenes between this title and Low Tide in Twilight. Moreover, that one is often called out for certain 'problematic' themes and the level of violence portrayed. We'll see how that goes!