From fantasy to romance, BL, thrillers, horror, historical and more, we’ve got it all! Follow this series for recommendations every alternate week, and don’t forget to share your thoughts with Kpopmap in the comments section down below! You can check out last week’s recommendation, “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” below! Webtoon Recommendation Of The Week: Your Favorite Apocalyptic Web Novel Becomes Reality & You’re The Only One Who Knows How It Ends - “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” KCULTURE STORIES|Sep 2, 2022
This Week’s Recommendation: “Once Upon A Small Town”
The highly anticipated K-Drama “Once Upon A Small Town” has recently premiered on Netflix, and it is already garnering an enthusiastic response from viewers all over the world. Starring Red Velvet’s Joy, Choo YoungWoo and Baek SungChul, it is a classic fish-out-of-water tale about a city boy, Han JiYul, who is thrown into a rural village where he must run his grandfather’s animal clinic until he returns from his Europe tour. There he meets a cop, Ahn JaYeong (Joy), and a sweet romance blooms between them. The drama is based on a web novel by Park HaMin, which was published via RIDI Books in 2019. In March of 2022, they released a webtoon version of the same by Darangeo with a characteristic old-school art style that truly captures the essence of the original perfectly. The characters come to life in full colour and endear themselves to us, doing more than justice to the original source material. The English version, available on Manta, is detailed and nuanced, making sure that no sentiment is left behind or lost in translation. Not only does this make the work accessible to a larger audience, but the fact that such attention is paid to each and every aspect of the webtoon also makes it incredibly impressive. Spoiler Alert! The webtoon starts off with Han JiYul in a car with his parents, which meets an accident and leaves JiYul mute. His grandfather takes him to the countryside, where nature will hopefully help him rest and eventually speak again. There he meets Ahn JaYeong for the first time, and the two develop a genuine friendship. They play together, learn new things, and have the best time ever, but that is until JiYul has to return to Seoul. Before leaving, he gives her a card, telling her his name and promising to meet again. However, she doesn’t take it too well and starts to cry at the thought of not being able to see him anymore. Although she is upset, she doesn’t leave without a goodbye, to which JiYul responds with a wave. Years later, JiYul has become a successful veterinarian in Seoul, but he must return to the same village, Huidong, to take care of his grandfather’s clinic. The man has spontaneously decided to go on a 6-month European vacation, leaving all his responsibilities to JiYul, and he has no choice but to comply since he was pretty much blackmailed into coming to Huidong. Once he gets there, his grandfather is nowhere to be found. Afraid that he might have missed his last moments, he tries to scale the wall to his house, only to be caught by a police officer, who mistakes him for a thief. This is none other than Ahn JaYeong, Huidong’s mainstay. Thus begins a tale of adventure, love, romance, and friendship as the bright youths of Huidong find their true happiness. You can read the “Once Upon A Small Town” webtoon in Korean here and in English here. Are you watching “Once Upon A Small Town”? Share your thoughts with Kpopmap in the comments section down below!
Dream Casting: 10 Korean Actresses/K-Pop Idols Who Would Be Perfect As The Female Lead Han HaNa In “A Good Day To Be A Dog” Alongside ASTRO’s Cha EunWoo KDRAMA STORIES|Sep 5, 2022 5 Facts You Need To Know About BTOB Yook SungJae’s Character In Upcoming K-Drama “The Golden Spoon” KDRAMA STORIES|Aug 31, 2022 “Under The Oak Tree”: A Poetic And Delicate Webtoon You Need To Start Now KCULTURE STORIES|Aug 31, 2022 An Introduction To “Joseon Lawyer”: The Latest Webtoon Getting A K-Drama Adaptation Starring Woo DoHwan, WJSN’s BoNa & VIXX’s N KDRAMA STORIES|Aug 25, 2022
