'Black Friday' and 'Miwohal Geoya' Win Grand Prize at 'Naver Webtoon Jisang Choedae Gongmojeon'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] The grand prize winners of the first round of the ‘2022 Naver Webtoon Greatest Contest’ (hereafter 2022 Greatest Contest) webtoon category are Brown Bear’s “Black Friday” and Manbo’s “I Will Hate You.”

“Black Friday” depicts the story of a fateful boy, Baek Dohwa, who appears before the superhero “Friday,” who finds amusement in watching humans suffer. This action fantasy features a captivating antihero protagonist and showcases high-quality artwork and direction.

“I Will Hate You” is a campus romance about a protagonist who was bullied during school days and reunites with their first love, who caused the deepest wounds, at university. The work received praise for its cute and clean art style and well-expressed heart-fluttering love triangle romance.

The excellence awards went to “Escape from the Show Window” (story by Ppoppi / art by Cheon Suhee), “Escape from Another World” (story/art by Kim Junhyung), and “ORSM Club” (story/art by Hip-hop Sinsun). Additionally, five works received merit awards and ten received encouragement awards, totaling 20 webtoons selected as first-round winners. Both the grand prize and excellence award winners are rookie artists.

The webtoon category of the ‘2022 Greatest Contest’ is divided into two rounds. For each round, the awards are ▲Grand Prize (50 million KRW each, 2 works) ▲Excellence Award (30 million KRW each, 3 works) ▲Merit Award (10 million KRW each, 5 works) ▲Encouragement Award (5 million KRW each, 10 works). Winners receive prize money along with opportunities for official serialization on Naver Webtoon and management support.

Applications for the second round of the ‘2022 Greatest Contest’ webtoon category will be accepted from September 5 to September 12. Detailed application guidelines can be found in the Naver Webtoon announcements.