Contents First, Digital Comics Leader and Tappytoon Creator, Achieves Major Milestone as its Original Romance-Fantasy Webtoons Score Big Hits in Japan

The East Wind of the Altas and The Mistress Runs Away ranked #1 on Japan’s top webtoon platform, LINE Manga

LOS ANGELES & SEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Contents First, the creator of Tappytoon and a global leader in the digital comics industry specializing in IP development, production, distribution, and transmedia, announced today that it crossed a major milestone with its romance-fantasy webtoons, achieving great success in Japan, the world’s largest manga market.

Two of the company’s original webtoons, The East Wind of the Altas and The Mistress Runs Away, ranked #1 on Japan’s top webtoon platform, LINE Manga, in September and July, respectively.

The East Wind of the Altas ranked first in LINE Manga’s comprehensive rankings on September 9th. It also gained significant success across Asia and topped the romance-fantasy category on KakaoPage. The Mistress Runs Away secured the top spot on LINE Manga in July and ranked in the top 10 in popularity on webtoon and manga platforms like KakaoPage, Kakao Global, and Mecha Comic. Currently, it is serialized in eight languages, including Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, English, French, and German. Contents First’s original webtoon Ashtarte ranked #2 on LINE Manga in January. With its success in Japan, the company’s in-house webtoon studio, Tappytoon Studio, which created the titles, witnessed a staggering six-fold increase in year-over-year revenue.

“The widespread popularity of our webtoons in the traditionally manga-focused Japanese market holds immense significance,” said Sun Bang, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Contents First.

Webtoons Soar in Popularity in Japan

Primed with large numbers of webtoons, the LINE Manga and Piccoma platforms are now competing for the top spot in Japan’s app stores, reflecting the enormous popularity of webtoons in Japan. Major Japanese publishers such as Shueisha and Bandai Namco have each announced plans to launch their own vertical scroll webtoon platforms for late 2023 and 2024. Even big tech companies have entered the space this year, with Apple launching a webtoon section in its ebook app for Japan in April, and Amazon serving webtoons for Japanese users since August.

According to Bang, the company’s success in Japan, the world’s largest and most active comics market with manga, is due to expertise gained from operating its flagship content platform, Tappytoon, now topping 8 million users. Since Tappytoon’s 2016 launch, Contents First established a webtoon production chain with a network of top-notch artists and partners and expanded its premium content libraries while internalizing the know-how for planning and producing content that today’s millennial and Gen-Z readers enjoy. The company has also been ramping up content production and now has three other webtoon production companies in addition to Tappytoon Studio creating original IP and new content: C&C Revolution, Maru Comics, and Studio Alive.

“Following our success as a distributor and our Tappytoon platform, we’re confident that Contents First can make an even bigger impact among readers around the world now that our very own comic studios have been proven in major markets such as Japan, North America, and Korea,” said Bang. “We are further growing our online and offline distribution channels and accelerating the expansion of our top titles with publishers and entertainment companies.”

About Contents First

Contents First, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Seoul, is a global digital comics industry leader. With its flagship content platform, Tappytoon, the company offers an extensive collection of Korean webtoon and web novel titles, reaching 8 million users across 240 nations in English, German, and French. Contents First has transformed how stories are consumed and experienced through its robust IP and comics production chain, collaborations with top-notch artists and partners, and expanding its premium content libraries beyond popular smartphone apps into mediums such as film, OTT, online games, books, merchandise, and more. For more information, visit us at www.contentsfirst.com.

Contacts

Mary Placido

SKC, Inc. for Contents First

mary@skc-pr.com
+1 (415) 218-3627