Episode Ten Transcript - The Butterflies On The Concrete Podcast : What Got Me Through The Week?
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[Intro Music – “There is poetry all around me…”]
Hello! Welcome to this week’s episode of the Butterflies On The Concrete Podcast: What Got Me Through The Week? This week I’m gonna talk about the Korean Drama, Today’s Webtoon! But first, I need to play a brief disclaimer, so please bear with me for a minute before we begin.
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Alright! Now let’s get started!
Over the last few years I started reading webtoons and that might seem irrelevant to our conversation this week, but let me explain. I found out that Moon Ga Young, who I loved in the drama Find Me in Your Memory, was going to be starring in the True Beauty drama adaptation and so I decided to read the source material in the weeks leading up to the drama air date. (Please listen to episode eight if you haven’t already because it’s where I discuss my love for Find Me In Your Memory more in depth.) True beauty is a webtoon that I adored once I started reading it, and oddly enough I never finished the drama adaptation but I did keep reading the webtoon because it was just that good! Another webtoon that I’ve recently enjoyed is Let’s Play, which someone suggested that I read, and it’s a story that I’d definitely recommend because it’s quite bingeworthy. If there are any other webtoons you’d recommend, please comment on our Instagram page with suggestions!
The reason why I mentioned these webtoons I’ve loved reading in the past is mostly because my adoration of them - and in turn the art form itself - is what made me very excited to watch the drama that I’m discussing this week, which is entitled Today’s Webtoon. I think loving webtoons and also loving writing in general has made me appreciate this drama even more so, but truly anyone could enjoy this drama because it’s well-written and satisfying to watch as a viewer. There were very few loose ends by the end of it, and each conflict was thoughtfully resolved making it a much watch drama in my opinion.
The drama Today’s Webtoon, which I watched on the Rakuten Viki app, is all about the behind the scenes struggles and triumphs of webtoon producers, editors and writers! According to the description provided by Rakuten Viki, Today’s Webtoon is a show that’s based on a graphic novel by Naoko Mazda.
The lead actress of the drama is Kim Sejeong, who plays On Ma Eum, a former judo athlete who becomes a contract employee at Neon Webtoon. This is the second drama of hers that I’ve watched. The first was the Netflix show, Business Proposal, and I absolutely loved, loved, loved that show. It was so funny and just a wonderful, charismatic romantic comedy that’s worth your time. As for the male lead, I’m not entirely sure who the lead actor is. As I watched this show, it seemed like there were two: Daniel Choi, who plays Seok Ji Hyung, the webtoon service team’s Deputy Editor, and Nam Yoon Su, who plays Neon Webtoon’s other new hire, who’s a permanent employee, Goo Jun Yeong. I shipped Ma Eum with both Ji Hyung and Jun Yeong, but this isn’t actually a romance drama. I initially assumed it was, but it’s more of a slice of life drama which I think would be very healing for most viewers.
The plot is very simple and straightforward. Ma Eum joins Neon Webtoon as a contract worker after quitting judo due to an injury. The contract is for one year, but this one year is a very important one for the Neon Webtoon service. Neon Webtoon is just one of many services offered by Neon, its parent company, and there are rumors circulating that if the webtoon service doesn’t increase its profits, Neon, the parent company, will terminate it and shut it down altogether. The staff of this webtoon service has gone through a termination of service before - they formerly worked at a company called GingerToon - and while the Neon corporation agreed to take the editorial team in three years earlier, they aren’t doing very well financially and are now at risk of being replaced. They were given a certain amount of time to produce record profits, and that time is now running out. And the antagonist of the story is an executive who wants to do a merger and acquisition with a more profitable webtoon service company, called YoungToon, and that executive sabotages Neon Webtoon numerous times in an attempt to make that acquisition of YoungToon happen.
Throughout the drama, we watch the webtoon service team try to increase their profits through various means, and in the process we learn about their successful and established artists and we also see them recruit and nurture newer artists as well. We see most of this with Ma Eum primarily at the center of the story, although some other employees do have meaningful storylines also, and she’s the heart of the show. Will the Neon webtoon service succeed in this crucial year, or fail? That is the main plot point, it seems.
Please note that there might be some spoilers ahead as I briefly talk about my favorite aspects of the show.
An aspect of the show that I really enjoyed was how bright, optimistic and resilient Ma Eum was throughout. Whenever she’s faced with an obstacle, she never falters in her determination to help the webtoon service team and it’s artists, nor does she give up on her desire to become a full time employee. One example of this is when her father initially wants her to continue with judo but she stays true to herself and tells him that she has other plans. Another example is that she travels a far distance in order to find the girlfriend of an established artist – Artist Na Gang Nam - someone who draws one of her favorite webtoons- so that he won’t be distracted by her sudden disappearance and can meet his deadline. She also reluctantly encourages him to resubmit a manuscript because she knows he can produce better work. Ma Eum helps the daughter of an legendary secluded artist, Ma Hae Gyu – who the team hopes to work with on a webtoon remake - when an incident happens at her job, then she helps her appreciate webtoons because she hates them after seeing how damaged her father has become. Ma Eum also convinces Ma Hae Gyu, her father – the broken but legendary artist - to recognize that his greatest work of art isn’t his webtoon legacy but his daughter.
Ma Eum always gives each task and challenge that she’s faced with a hundred percent, which is so admirable. Even when her colleague Jun Young says pessimistic things to her, about how the webtoon service team might not last long at the company, because of the rumors, she believes she can work harder and help the team and change the trajectory of the team for the better. She doesn’t just give up and accept defeat.
The best example of how incredible a character Ma Eum is though is her treatment of the newbie artist, Shin Dae Ryuk. Her first impression of him is not very good because he has a tendency to be obsessive when he’s drawing in a way that makes others uncomfortable and she sees him drawing someone one day and confronts him about his behavior on the street. Not knowing who he is, she later recommends him and his work to be a part of a webtoon camp their team is holding so they can find new artists and ultimately she’s surprised to find him there, especially when she realizes that he was the person that she selected! At the camp, he’s bullied by other artists because they don’t think his drawings are very good and because he seems like a loner and like an odd person, but, even so, Ma Eum sees something in his work and advocates for him even though she has some doubts about the kind of person he is. He’s an outcast, that much is clear, but she still sees potential in him when few others do. The chance she takes on him as a new artist is probably the best story arc in the show. He grows as a person tremendously because of her guidance and because she believes in him when no one else does, including some of her team members who question her judgment in recommending him.
As an aspiring author, I’ve often encouraged myself with the notion that all it takes is one yes to change your life for the better. One agent looking at your work and understanding it, one editor advocating for you, is all it takes for your work to reach the masses. This story arc is that notion in practice and it was so endearing to see Artist Shin mature and bloom in this drama.
The newbie Artist Shin has an apprenticeship first with a more senior artist, Mr. Baek, and learns how to improve his drawings and then after he debuts, his work is loved by so many people, even though it’s untraditional and previously had been dismissed by some as odd or weird. It even gets adapted into a drama series. And his immense trauma from his childhood is also healed thanks to Ma Eum, who stays beside him through his writer’s block and other hardships, and helps him gather the courage to reconcile with his family later on. It turns out that his memories from his youth, which have haunted him for years, aren’t the full picture. He was missing vital information that, once relayed to him, changes his perspective of what he went through growing up. Suddenly, a once gloomy and disturbed character transforms into a bright, yet somewhat awkward character now filled with renewed hope.
The senior artist, Mr. Baek Eo Jin, who gave him an apprenticeship did so because Artist Shin knew how to tell an interesting story instinctively, even though he had no formal training and even though his drawings weren’t sophisticated or polished. He was a diamond in the rough, someone who was troubled but still had potential, and Ma Eum saw something in his work and gave him an opportunity instead of dismissing him, ignoring him or shutting the door.
There are several other artists’ stories that are shown in this drama – from another newbie artist Gu Seul Ah who isn’t sure of her talent and faces pressure to find a “real job,” and then overworks herself once she gets her dream opportunity, to an established artist Oh Yoon who tries a new genre and struggles after it isn’t received well. Each of these artists’ stories are beautifully told and add essential layers to the overall narrative of how these hardworking and dedicated producers and editors in the webtoon service editorial team work with artists during the highs and lows of their careers in an effort to bring their readers joy, escapism and fulfillment. And all of the stories conclude exactly as I wanted them to, in a way that makes viewers feel more hopeful.
The other aspect that I loved the most about this show is the overarching theme that you can always dream a new dream. Ma Eum changed her dream from winning an Olympic gold medal in judo to becoming a webtoon producer. The senior artist, Mr. Baek Eo Jin, has an assistant Im Dong Hui who leaves after ten years because he’s jealous of Artist Shin’s brilliance and potential and breaks his laptop during the apprenticeship as a result. This assistant gives up his ten-year long dream of becoming a webtoon artist and becomes a supportive confidant to the person he once envied, because Artist Shin is the person who understood his webtoon when no one else could. And then the webtoon service team itself has a new dream by the end of the show. They once dreamt of moving to the main building of Neon headquarters, and upon reaching that goal, they move forward with a new dream of becoming a successful company globally.
Today’s Webtoon is such a good drama. I highly recommend it, and I hope that you enjoyed hearing about it in this episode. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to me talk about it. If you want to talk more about your opinion of Today’s Webtoon, please leave a comment on this episode’s post on our Instagram page at WhatGotMeThroughTheWeek, or send an email to whatgotmethroughpodcast@gmail.com. The transcript and audio for this episode will be posted on HyssopandEbony.com.
Until next time!
[Outro Song – “Ocean waves on busy streets, butterflies on the concrete. The beauty I could not see becomes a deeper part of me. You remind me You are present in every single thing.”]
Intro & Outro from Magnified (a cappella) © Amber Eboni