Webtoon's Big Move: Partnering with Japan's No. 9 Studio

Webtoon Entertainment, through its Japanese subsidiary LINE Digital Frontier, has made its first investment in a Japanese studio. The lucky recipient is No. 9, a prominent webcomic and manga studio based in Tokyo. This strategic move is aimed at boosting Webtoon's content pipeline in Japan, which is currently their fastest-growing market. No. 9, founded in 2016, is known for popular titles like "Savior of Divine Blood" and "I Am the Strongest Transcendent. " Their webcomics have already been translated into multiple languages for Webtoon's global audience. As part of the deal, No. 9 will appoint an outside director from LINE Digital Frontier to their board. LINE Digital Frontier operates LINE Manga and eBookJapan. Junkoo Kim, Webtoon Entertainment's CEO, sees Japan as a natural growth market due to its rich manga history. He believes this partnership will lead to more incredible Japanese webcomics for both local and global audiences. Webtoon's Japanese LINE Manga app has been topping the app market by revenue in 2024, showing the company's strong presence in Japan. This investment comes as many Japanese companies are looking for international partnerships to expand globally. For instance, Toho acquired leading anime distributor Gkids in North America. At last year's TIFFCOM contents market, TBS Holdings and Fuji TV presented their plans for international expansion, including new U. S. offices and selling their IP libraries.