Webtoonist Min Songa stays true to herself with an eye on what sells

Webtoonist Min Songa, the artist behind "The Girl Downstairs (Doona!)" (2019-2022), prefers to draw pretty girls because drawing boys is boring, but she is keenly aware of what the market wants, despite a lack of interest in fan feedback.

A panel from the Naver Webtoon series “The Girl Downstairs [Doona!]” (2019-2022) [NAVER WEBTOON]

Manifestation — if you keep believing, then it shall come true. And it did for webtoonist Min Songa.

In all of her works, the web comic artist never forgot to mention her love for two of her favorite things in the world: Pretty girls and idols. So when no other than singer Bae Suzy — the very icon of pretty K-pop idols — acted out the main character for the screen adaptation of her most popular work, Min saw her dream finally come true thanks to all those years of hard work.

“I think I used up all my luck with getting Suzy,” Min said, reminiscing back to when she first learned that singer and actor Bae will be taking the lead in “Doona!” (2023), a Netflix rom-com original series based on Naver Webtoon series “The Girl Downstairs [Doona!]” (2019-2022).

“I loved it on the set, watching the actors,” she continued. “But all I can really remember is that I was trying so hard to stay calm and not to mess it up. Even before then, I was trying to stay poised so that I wouldn’t be disappointed even if everything went south.”

Born in 1988, Min is a seasoned webtoonist with 13 years of experience in both printed comics and web comics. Her first Naver Webtoon series, “Nano List” (2016-18), with a unique female-centered sci-fi action narrative with powerful heroines and a not-so-special male protagonist, became a hit that appealed to both male and female readers.

Webtoonist Min Songa [NAVER WEBTOON]

The “every pretty girl in town likes me” theme continued with “The Girl Downstairs,” which centered around a retired K-pop idol singer, Doona, and an ordinary boy upstairs named Joon. Min even collaborated with K-pop girl group Le Sserafim on a webtoon series titled “Crimson Heart” (2022-23), which portrayed the fictional background story of the girl group that was created to help give a narrative to the group’s music.

Min’s love for K-pop idols is abundant in her author’s blog, which is open to the public but with a closed comment section, symbolizing the balanced relationship between herself and her readers that she wants to keep — providing a peek into her thoughts as a person but only slightly so as not to reveal her true identity, and also off-limits to internet bullies or overbearing readers so as not to be swayed by their opinions.

“I try my best not to read the comments from readers, even though I know — as a fan of someone else’s work myself — that people want to have an influence,” Min said.

A still from “Doona!” (2023), a Netflix rom-com original series based on Naver Webtoon series “The Girl Downstairs [Doona!]” (2019-2022) [NETFLIX]

“I distanced myself from people’s thoughts because I know that’s the only way I can keep myself grounded for the long haul. It’s my job to keep the weekly episodes on schedule and stick to the story that I intended to make from the beginning. I think that the best kind of gift I can give to the readers is if I take them by surprise — never make them predict my next story.”

Having started her new action series “The Cloud Dream of the Nine_Zero,” Min sat down for an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily to talk about being a webtoon creator in the age of global online platforms and the flood of so-called K-content. The following are excerpts from the interview, edited for length and clarity. Q. With the screen adaptation of “The Girl Downstairs” into “Doona!” did you have certain hopes of how it would turn out?A. I did wish that it would turn out exactly like my original, but at the same time, I wished that the producers would make their own dreams come true through “Doona!” I know that every fan would have had a different idea in their minds, and I also came to think that it would be better if the screen adaptation was drastically different from the original, so that there would be a reason for people to enjoy both versions. Otherwise, there would be no fun in it, right?

Webtoons and television are two completely different mediums of communication, and so I think they should open doors to completely different interpretations to make it fun for audiences of both formats.

A still from “Doona!” (2023), a Netflix rom-com original series based on Naver Webtoon series “The Girl Downstairs [Doona!]” (2019-2022) [NETFLIX]

A still from “Doona!” (2023), a Netflix rom-com original series based on Naver Webtoon series “The Girl Downstairs [Doona!]” (2019-2022) [NETFLIX]

Did you read through the comments when the drama came out?

No. I make it a rule not to read online comments. I try to distance myself from people’s opinions because I know that once I get immersed in them, I will sway, and that won’t be good for my career in the long run.

In the past, when comics were regularly published — which is still much the case in Japan — there weren’t online comments that authors were immediately exposed to. The only feedback we got directly from the readers would be the letters they personally sent us on paper. So when I started webtoons for the first time, I was confused. Was this really how it should be? But anyway, I made peace with it. But don’t you have your blog open to the public?

Yes, but I keep the comment section closed. It was kind of like branding, so to speak. It’s like an identity that I’ve built myself so that the readers could feel some sense of connection, but it won’t affect my personal life. I only disclose the things that I want people to know about me as an author and nothing else.

My affection for female K-pop idols, for example, is very much intended. I think it’s the perfect subject — I don’t seem like too much of a geek, and it’s popular enough for a lot of people to identify with my tastes. Plus, it’s gotten me the chance to work with an actual idol, right? (laughs)

Korean webtoonists including Min Songa meet with fans in Thailand in 2019. [NAVER WEBTOON]

Korean webtoonists including Min Songa attend a signing event in Thailand in 2019. [NAVER WEBTOON]

What do you think is the ideal relationship between an author and a reader?

This is difficult because, being a fervent fan of someone else myself, I know exactly what it feels like to want to become closer to someone through their work. I write comments and even try contacting them myself, because I want to be seen by them. But at the same time, I try to keep it cold as an author.

I set my path very early on in my career to not “try to be loved” by people. I aim for the commercial side of this job, not the love. At the end of the day, I think “good” work is work that sells well. Of course, I won’t draw something only violent or unethical to get people’s attention, but I think it’s part of our job to think about the sales side, not just whether our piece is good.

I know that there are a lot of authors out there who have great ideas and are just so focused on making a masterpiece, but I think that’s what’s giving authors the “starving artist” stereotype. We as authors need to figure out what the public wants — the content that they are willing to pay for — to get them to pay for our content and keep ourselves well-fed and happy from that income. Have you seen comments written by foreign readers?

Again, I try to stay away from comments. But yes, I have read them a couple of times. I felt surprised, but nothing really beyond that — until I got a chance to go abroad and talked to some people at a party, and they were talking about the “Doona!” Netflix remake. So when they asked me what my job was and I told them that I actually made the original “Doona!,” it felt so good to think that my work was traveling further out into the world, and that was validating for me.

Scenes from Naver Webtoon series “The Girl Downstairs [Doona!]” (2019-2022) [NAVER WEBTOON]

Do you feel that the comic market has grown after going online?

Hugely. The publishing market and the webtoon market aren’t even comparable on the same scale. If the published comic market was like our own little league in the countryside, the webtoon market is the big leagues.

But the webtoon market has to grow bigger. I know it can. To be honest, more people still read Japanese manga than Korean webtoons, and global readers probably prefer something from their own countries. Korean content has to do better to truly become a leader. Why do your stories center on “pretty” female characters instead of good-looking male characters?

That’s a simple answer. It’s no fun drawing men. Seriously — they have similar hair, and there’s just such a limit to how much I can express. I love drawing women, especially pretty women. It gives me joy just drawing the illustrations. It gives me the strength to push through the difficult labor.

But right now, I’m actually working on an action piece, sort of, that centers around young men, but it’s no fun drawing it. (laughs) Do you have any specific ideas that you want to draw in the future?

I have at least four to five. My problem isn’t the lack of ideas, but that I keep piling them up. I have a lot to say, and so it looks like I’m going to keep making something until I’m well over 60 years old.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]