Hybe's digital cartoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' garners more than 100 million views

By Kim Joo-heon Posted : February 1, 2023, 14:04 Updated : August 10, 2023, 17:22

[Courtesy of Hybe]

SEOUL -- "Dark Moon: The Blood Altar," a digital cartoon created by the agency of BTS and published by Naver Webtoon, the web cartoon wing of South Korea's top web portal service operator Naver, has gained more than 100 million views since it was released 13 months ago. The web cartoon entered the top five in seven language services including German, Spanish, English, and Chinese.
 
The web cartoon depicts the story of a unique relationship between a teenage girl attending a prestigious school in a virtual world and her male peers who are vampire boys. The digital comic book was created through collaboration with ENHYPEN, a seven-member band formed by a joint venture between Hybe and CJ ENM, an entertainment group that produced the Oscar-winning 2020 film "Parasite." In September 2022, the group showcased the concept of the digital cartoon through a song titled "One In A Billion."
 
Hybe said in a statement on February 1 that the cumulative views for the digital cartoon surpassed 100 million. It was the most viewed content among German and Spanish speakers for more than 10 months. The cartoon was also ranked in the top five on many other services including Thai, French, and Indonesian. Naver Webtoon is currently available in about 100 countries in 10 languages. 
 
"We will continue to try hard to create new competitive intellectual properties and expand our business into many other content formats," Hybe's storytelling business division head Hwangbo Sang-woo said in a statement.
 
In South Korea, many web novels have been recreated into webtoons, also known as digital comic books. The text description of web novels can be transferred to webtoon characters' lines. Hybe has rolled out many webtoon and web novel content based on the worldviews of its bands such as BTS and multinational boy band &TEAM. According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, a government body charged with governing cultural content, the global webtoon market stood at about 1.5 trillion won ($855 million) in 2021. 
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