Manhwas and webtoons have enjoyed increasing popularity in Korea with the rise of websites that publish self-made webtoons and allow readers to view them for free. Nowadays, more manhwas and webtoons are being adapted into Korean dramas, many of which proved to be successful. Below is a list of webtoons and manhwas made into Korean dramas you should definitely read:
"Cheese In The Trap"
This Naver webtoon tells the story of university students Hong Seol and her senior Yoo Jung. Yoo Jung is the perfect guy -- smart, rich and on top of that, he has a really good personality. However, behind his nice smile is a dark man with psychopathic tendencies. Hong Seol, a hardworking bright student is the only one who can see behind Yoo Jung's real character.
At first, the drama did a good job in translating the webtoon into reality. Park Hae Jin's portrayal of Yoo Jung is very realistic that it feels like the character was written with the actor in mind. They both give off the same mysterious vibe. However, at the latter part, the focus was suddenly shifted to the second male lead, Baek In Ho (Seo Kang Joon) and Yoo Jung didn't have much screen time. The ending also seemed rushed as the original webtoon is still ongoing.
The series will be adapted into a film with the same male lead, but it was reported that the female lead will be portrayed by Oh Yeon Seo instead of the original Kim Go Eun. The movie is a collaboration of Korean-Chinese production team and filming will start in February 2017.
"Orange Marmalade"
A fantasy webtoon where vampires and humans co-exist. Baek Ma Ri is a vampire who hides her identity to graduate from high school. She lives as an outcast but she actually has a great voice and dreams of being a singer. She is caught in a love story with Jung Jae Min and Han Si Hoo. Jae Min is a human who hates vampires since his mother remarried to a vampire, while Si Hoo is Ma Ri's childhood friend and fellow vampire who has a seemingly rough personality but actually has a good heart. The three were involved in the school's band.
The drama version added an original story arc which was set in the Joseon dynasty with the same characters. However, I liked the webtoon better than the drama. They could have focused more on the musical side since two of their main leads are actually musicians, Ma Ri was portrayed by AOA's Seolhyun and Si Hoo was played by CN BLUE's Lee Jong Hyun.
"Goong" aka "Princess Hours"
"Goong" is a manhwa by Park So Hee serialized from 2002 to 2012. In an alternate Korea where the monarchs still exist, Shin Chae Kyung is an ordinary, strong-willed high school student who was arranged to marry the Crown Prince, Lee Shin. Coincidentally, she witnessed the crown prince proposing to another girl, Min Hyo Rin, and the crown prince's cousin, Prince Yul has a crush on Chae Kyung.
Among all adaptations I have watched this is one of the best. From the cast members to the scripts, everything was good. There are some differences in the storyline; Lee Shin does not have an older sister in the manhwa and he abdicated his position as Crown Prince to his younger brother. The ending was also different, the drama was broadcasted in 2006 and that time, the manhwa was not finished yet. In the manhwa, Lee Shin and Chae Kyung really had a divorce.
"Dr. Jekyll Is Mr. Hyde"
To save her publishing company, Geuru needs to obtain a contract from a best-selling author, Jekall. Her mission to make Geuru sign a contract went amiss when she provoked Jekall during his lecture when he mistook her as a tabloid reporter. She treated him to a drink and got wasted, but miraculously, tomorrow morning she discovered the contract was already signed. That's where her love triangle with one man with two different personalities began. This drama was serialized by Daum and you can read it on Spottoon.
It is hard to compare the drama with the webtoon because they are entirely different. The only similarity is the fact that the main male character has split personality disorder. SBS' "Hyde, Jekyll, Me" gave a romantic comedy spin to the original story. Gu Seo Jin is a-cold hearted CEO of Wonder Group who turns into a kind and gentle Robin when his heart rate exceeds 150. It was both a good and bad change. Its downside is, it focused too much on romance.
"Dr. Frost"
Baek Nam Bong, popularly called as Dr. Frost is a genius psychology professor by day and a bartender by night. Aside from his white hair, he is called Dr. Frost because of his inability to feel emotion due to an accident when he was a child, which made him sustain a frontal lobe injury. He uses his reasoning abilities to help the police solve crimes and his life got noisier when he meets a cheerful and meddlesome student Yoon Sung Ah who becomes his teaching assistant.
The drama version only has 10 episodes so it ended abruptly and wasn't able to dig deeper into Dr. Frost's background. His white hair in the drama looks unnatural sometimes. It is way cuter in the webtoon!
