WEBTOON Entertainment Wraps Japan Expo Paris 2024
From July 11 - 14, WEBTOON Entertainment participated in Japan Expo Paris for the third consecutive year, attracting webcomic fans from all over Europe.
WEBTOON Creators from Korea and France attended the event, including Junghyun Kim and Lina Lim, creators of the popular webcomic ”Killer Peter.”
For the first time, this year WEBTOON sold a selection of print webcomic editions at the festival.
Crunchyroll and WEBTOON held a screening event for the "Viral Hit" anime adaptation.
WEBTOON Entertainment, a leading global entertainment company and home to some of the world's largest storytelling platforms, attended France’s Japan Expo in Paris, one of Europe’s largest pop culture festivals. Attending for the third consecutive year, WEBTOON brought a line-up of Korean and French Creators, signings, and fan experiences to the event.
WEBTOON is the leading webcomic platform in Europe, according to data.ai*, and was the sole webcomic platform to exhibit at this year’s event. WEBTOON’s Japan Expo Paris 2024 programming included signings by popular Korean and French webcomic creators, fan meet-and-greets, free giveaways, and a screening of the “Viral Hit” anime adaptation with Crunchyroll.
This year, WEBTOON made a selection of print editions available to fans at the event. Fans were able to purchase titles from WEBTOON’s partnership with Michel Lafon Publishing, one of France's leading publishing houses, including “Marry My Husband,” “Hero Ticket,” “Teenage Mercenary,” “Return of the Blossoming Blade,” and “Unholy Blood.” WEBTOON also unveiled the first print edition of "Killer Peter," giving fans a chance to buy the first copies and meet with Creators Junghyun Kim and Lina Lim. The special edition of "Killer Peter" was sold exclusively at the event, selling over 3,000 copies.
Fans were also able to attend a WEBTOON Tear-Off Poster event, with webcomic posters available for Korean WEBTOON Originals “Just Twilight,” “Cry, or Better Yet, Beg,” and “Killer Peter,” English WEBTOON Original “The Mafia Nanny” and French WEBTOON Originals “Kestrel” and “Saint Angel.”
On the second day of Japan Expo Paris 2024, WEBTOON and Crunchyroll screened the first episode of the “Viral Hit” anime adaptation, joined by series illustrator Junghyun Kim. Kim said, "It's been a longtime dream of mine to showcase my work in the global market, and I'm surprised and grateful that so many French readers have welcomed it." Over 1,800 attendees joined Kim at the screening event.
Yeojung Kim, WEBTOON EU Lead, noted, "France is an important market for comics, with a strong cultural connection to the artform. It’s incredible to see the engagement and excitement for WEBTOON at the Japan Expo Paris. It is a testament to our work building our brand in France, and reaching new fans and Creators in the market. As webcomics have become increasingly popular in France, the Japan Expo Paris has been an important destination for visitors to explore various webcomic IPs from France and all over the world.”
The Japan Expo Paris invites attendees to experience popular culture from around the world. Since its inaugural event in 1999, the event has evolved into a global celebration of comics, entertainment, and pop culture.
*According to the mobile app market data analysis platform "data.ai" (http://data.ai/), WEBTOON's French-language service ranks first among French webcomic apps regarding cumulative revenue and monthly active users from January to June, 2024.