Summary
Usually, people hear about manga being adapted into anime series. Webtoons, on the other hand, were often overlooked. However, in recent years, more webtoons have become mainstream works and earned anime adaptations.
Now, it’s common to hear webtoons being adapted into Japanese anime. Some adaptations try to tweak the plot, while others stay as truthful to the source material as possible. Either way, webtoons are proving to be a more rampant source for anime adaptations.
10Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady With The Lamp
A Unique Twist On Isekai
When you think of isekai, you typically imagine men dying and awakening in a mystical land. You watch as they resolve to become heroes withamazing sidekicks. However, this is not the case with Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp.
The original webtoon features Korean names for the modern-day characters. However, in the anime, the characters are given Japanese names.
During her time as empress, Elise was considered unpopular and evil. A rebellion ultimately led to her execution. Following her death, she reincarnates as Aoi Takamoto. With her new life, she resolves to atone for her sins and becomes a doctor. However, when Aoi dies in a plane crash, she awakens as the teenage Elise. Given a second chance at her previous life, Elise decides to use her medical knowledge to aid her people.
9The God Of High School
The Fight To Glory
The God of High School was so popular that it sparked video game adaptations and a light novel release. It’s no surprise it was adapted into an anime in 2020, too! In the God of High School, humans borrow powers from gods to defend themselves from demons. However, this power should not be used to attack gods.
The story follows Mori Jin, a high school student from Seoul, South Korea. Jin competes in a martial arts tournament called The God of High School. In this competition, not only does the winner earn the title of the strongest high school student, but they also get their wish granted by the shady corporation that is hosting the event.
8Recovery Of An MMO Junkie
Finding Love With Video Games
Recovery of an MMO Junkie isa popular anime about video games, and it’s not hard to see why. This romantic slice-of-life is just ten episodes long, making it perfect to watch in one sitting. Despite being shorter than most series, it leaves the viewers with butterflies in their stomachs!
Moriko Morioka decides to leave her taxing corporate job and become unemployed to find her purpose in life. She joins the MMORPG Fruits de Mer and creates a character called Hayashi, who is a boy. In the game, she meets Lily, and they soon become close friends and guild mates. Little does she know that Lily is actually handsome elite company employee Yuta Sakurai.
7Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You A Wizard?!
A Heart-Warming BL
Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You A Wizard?! is a hilarious BL anime. Though it has many comedic moments, it is also extremely heartwarming, making it perfect for anime fans who havea soft spot for romantic comedies.
After living 30 years as a virgin, Kiyoshi Adaci develops the ability to hear the thoughts of anyone who touches him. One day, his powers lead him to accidentally learn that his colleague, Yuichi Kurosawa, is in love with him. Hearing his thoughts makes things awkward, and yet the two end up closer. Will they end up having a happy-ever-after, or will Kiyoshi’s powers get in the way of a potential relationship?
A live-action series of Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You A Wizard?! aired in 2024.
6One-Punch Man
A Comedic Take On The Superhero Trope
Did you know thatOne-Punch Manstarted as a self-published web comic before being adapted into a manga? Later, it was made into the beloved anime series everyone knows it as.
One-Punch Man follows the story of Saitama, a hero who performs heroic acts of justice as his hobby. Thanks to his training, he is able to defeat any enemy with a single punch. While most people would be envious of his power, the fact that he is able to quickly squash his enemies leaves Saitama feeling depressed, causing him to seek a problem that will actually challenge his abilities.
5Noblesse
A Supernatural Dark Fantasy
The Noblesse anime was a long time coming. Originally, a 31-minute ONA titled Noblesse: Awakening was released in 2016, which covered the first volume of the webtoon with major changes to the story. The official anime for Noblesse came out in 2020, with the 2016 ONA serving as the anime’s prologue.
While the original webtoon has Noblesse set in South Korea, the anime is set in Japan.
Cardin Etama Di Raizel (Rai), a powerful noble, has woken up from his 800-year slumber to an unfamiliar modern world. With no knowledge of how to succeed in the futuristic era, he decides to enroll in school and is reunited with his long-time servant, Frankenstein. Rai’s high school proves to be far from peaceful, with his old enemies tracking him down. Now, Rai must protect his friends and find peace in his new life.
4Why Raeliana Ended Up At The Duke’s Mansion
Trying To Change Fate
Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion is a great example of a female lead dictating her own fate. While the original webtoon features a Korean female lead, this is changed in the anime to a Japanese lead. However, this hardly matters in the overall plot, as she is isekai’d into a character in a novel.
Following Rinko Hanasaki’s death in modern-day Japan, she reincarnates asa Raeliana McMilan, a character in a novel who’s destined to die in the original story. Aware of her tragic death, Raeliana strikes a deal with Duke Noah Volstaire Wynknight: she becomes his fake fiancée in exchange for keeping quiet about what she knows from her previous life. Will she be able to avoid her written-in-the-stars death, or is she truly destined to be killed off?
3Tower Of God
A Critically Acclaimed Webtoon-Turned-Anime
Even before news of an anime adaptation was announced, fans of Tower Of God had been begging for the series to be animated. It’s no surprise that when the anime aired, it received a lot of attention from fans of the series despite some tweaks to the plot.
In the original source material and the Korean dub of the anime, the main character’s name is Bam. However, in the Japanese dub, his name is Yoru. Both names mean ‘night’ in their respective languages.
Tower of God centers on Bam, a young boy who spends most of his life trapped beneath the mysterious Tower. For most of his life, he only had his friend, Rachel, by his side. After Rachel enters the Tower, Bam sets off on a journey to find her by any means necessary, even if it means losing his life. With the help of his new-found friends, Bam resolves to reach the top of the Tower.
2ReLIFE
Experiencing Youth Again
This slice-of-life anime series is perfect for those who want to learn major life lessons. It tells the story of someone trying to be the best version of themselves as well as grow past the adversities they experienced in the past. It’s filled with romance and heart-wrenching moments that might cause you to shed a tear.
The story centers on 27-year-old Arata Kaizaki, a man struggling to find full-time work after quitting his job for three months at a black company. One day, he is approached by a mysterious man with a job opportunity. Arata then joins the ReLIFE Experiment, which will make him ten years younger. He enrolls as a third-year-high school student and is given a second chance to relive his youth and to fix whatever mistakes he made in the past.
1Solo Leveling
Maxing Your Abilities And Beating The System
When talking about webtoons adapted into anime, the most popular one is Solo Leveling. The series is set in a world where hunters possess supernatural powers, which are used to fight off terrifying monsters to protect the world.
Initially, Sung Jinwoo was an E-rank hunter and is considered the weakest hunter of all time. However, after experiencing a life-threatening incident, he is chosen by the System to be its sole player, allowing him the ability to level up in strength. With his new-found powers, Jinwoo sets out on a mission to become the world’s greatest hunter. Will he be able to achieve his goal, or will he be trampled by something even bigger than him?
