Driven by the success of the Netflix series "Bloodhounds Season 2," views of the original webtoon have surged.
Naver Webtoon said on the 16th that in the two weeks after the first release of "Bloodhounds Season 2" (Apr. 3–16), global views of the original webtoon increased about 22 times compared with the two weeks before the teaser video was released (Feb. 18–Mar. 3).
By language, views on the Korea service rose about 38 times, and Traditional Chinese jumped 123 times. English and Thai service views also increased 20 times and 12 times, respectively.
"Bloodhounds Season 2," starring Woo Do-hwan, Lee Sang-yi and Jung Ji-hoon (Rain), ranked near the top of Netflix's global viewership chart two weeks after its release. Views (the value obtained by dividing viewing time by running time) reached 7.4 million, ranking No. 1 in the non-English shows category. It took the top spot in 14 countries, including Korea, Argentina, Morocco, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
A Naver Webtoon official said, "Although the original webtoon 'Bloodhounds' ended its run in 2020, the influx of readers driven by the screen adaptation's success is extending the life of the intellectual property (IP)."
"Bloodhounds Season 2" was produced by Studio N, a Naver Webtoon subsidiary. Studio N has produced popular Netflix original series such as "Sweet Home," "The 8 Show" and "Trauma Center." Disney+ original series "Vigilante," the drama "True Beauty," "Jeong Nyeon," and the film "My Daughter is a Zombie" were also produced by Studio N.
Studio N focuses on selecting IP from Naver Webtoon originals that are best suited for screen adaptation and turning them into drama series and films. This year, it also plans to present a range of webtoon-based works, including "Four Hands," "The Legendary Military Chef" and "The Remarried Empress."
This also aligns with Naver Webtoon's "mega IP" strategy of expanding popular web novel and webtoon IP into Netflix drama series, animation, games and merchandise. A company official said, "Our goal is to build a 'global flywheel,' a virtuous cycle in which the high recognition of the original gained through global service drives initial success on screen, and the screen popularity in turn brings more readers to the original."
The original webtoon "Bloodhounds" by writer Jeong Chan is currently available in seven languages globally. To coincide with the drama release, Naver Webtoon released a side story with a different plot from Season 2 on the Korea service starting on the 2nd.