Naver Webtoon said on the 21st that I Am Maru, produced based on the popular webtoon Maru Is a Puppy intellectual property (IP), ranked No. 1 in Netflix Korea kids institutional sector. It also made the top 10 in Netflix Korea overall.
The animation of the same name Maru Is a Puppy, first released in November last year, also entered the rankings alongside it, reaching No. 7 in the Netflix kids institutional sector. The two series currently stand at No. 1 and No. 9, respectively.
I Am Maru is a YouTube channel created by Naver Webtoon with Sandbox Network, and in August 2024 it unveiled content using the Maru Is a Puppy IP for the first time. The channel has surpassed 100 million cumulative views and 340,000 subscribers. Since May, the YouTube content has been re-edited into six episodes of 15 minutes each and released on OTT (online video service) platforms such as Netflix and Tving, and on TV channels such as Tooniverse.
A Naver Webtoon official said, This Netflix result is significant in that it shows the Maru Is a Puppy IP is expanding its fandom beyond existing webtoon readers to kids and family viewers.
Maru Is a Puppy began serialization on Naver Webtoon in June 2022 and concluded in November 2024, and even after the conclusion has expanded its IP through animation, games, popup stores, and brand collaborations. In November last year, it was released as an animation via the animation OTT service Laftel, and in July last year it was also launched as the cafe management simulation game Maru Is a Puppy: I Became a Cafe Owner? Awesome!
Naver Webtoon is steadily strengthening a structure that expands popular IP discovered on its platform into various businesses outside the platform, such as animation, games, merchandise, and brand collaborations. A company official said, Going forward, through various businesses that can expand and extend the life of IP, we will work to diversify creators' revenue structures by enabling works and characters to gain popularity across a variety of online and offline channels, regardless of whether they are ongoing or concluded.