Webtoon stories that would work well in anime

There’s been a lot of Webtoon-turned-Netflix Originals lately. I watched Cheese in the Trap, Sweet Home, and Love Alarm, all of which are based on a Webtoon… and all of which I did not finish, lol.

But would it be any different if they were turned into animation instead? Do some stories work better for anime than they do for a live-action? I feel like that question deserves its own post.

Generally, though, I think exaggerated, and fantasy stories would work better for anime than live-action, simply because of the risk with the CGI in live-actions. The live adaptation of Death Note (2015) had excellent CGI for Ryuk, and it didn’t distract from the overall vibe of the story. Another good example is Assassination’s Classroom.

Bad CGI can easily distract the viewer, bringing the viewer back to reality rather than immersing them in the story.

For this post, I thought I would explore what Webtoons would probably work well if they were turned into an anime.

Yumi’s Cells

Yumi’s Cells is a slice-of-life Webtoon that focuses on an office worker, Yumi’s, life. The story is told from her brain cells that control her every emotion, thoughts, and action.

When Yumi falls in love or going through something, we read it from her perspective inside her mind.

Her cells are male and female and generally look the same and wearing similar outfits. This would work so well in anime because of the absurdity of it. I don’t mean this in a bad way, but it just deviates so much from reality that there’s more flexibility in how it can be presented and shot in anime.

Yumi’s Cells is getting a live adaptation. I feel like this could go really good or really bad, depending on how they will portray the cells and how they’ll show their interactions are inside the head.

It seems like it’s already off to a good start with the casting though. Kim Go Eun will play Yumi, and I think the role fits her perfectly.

Distant Sky

I did a brief review on Distant Sky. It’s incredibly dark and intense. The story follows two teenagers who fight to survive in an apocalyptic world.

You have trains falling from the “sky,” swimming through pools of dead bodies, flesh-eating insects, and cannibals wielding chainsaws chasing after the protagonists. I would definitely watch this if it was turned into an anime.

This new world and the events that happen are so creative and fantasy-like that it screams animation. I’d imagine the horror and gore would be amped up if this really got turned into an animation. The story would be 10x scarier.

The art also lacks color, and I’m curious to see if this would change the vibe or how the animators would keep the vibe in animation.

Pyramid Game

Students at Love High cast their votes in a popularity poll that determines the school’s social hierarchy. Suji is a transfer student, and she gets placed in rank F. How can she make her way up to the top?

There are only 4 episodes out at the time of writing this, so it might be too early to decide if it would work well in anime. But the story seems pretty simple, and the setting is also doable for live-action and anime, of course.

All of the students are pretty scary. Some are intimidating, and some are bullies. In anime, I would imagine their personalities to be exaggerated. The female lead isn’t the stereotypical happy-go-lucky protagonist. She’s finding and fighting her way to survive in this brutal system.

I’d imagine that this Webtoon could go a dark or comedic route. The darker route would probably go more into bullying and the psychological torment of this system. The comedic route would involve exaggerated expressions and probably a lot of anime stereotypes with minimal character depth.

My Daughter is a Zombie

This Webtoon is heartwarming. The story focuses on a man who will do anything to keep his zombie daughter “alive” after becoming infected.

There’s a grandmother character in this Webtoon, and she is the most badass grandma you’ll meet. I love her personality, and I can easily see it being a perfect character for anime. The daughter is also another character that would work for anime since, well, she’s pretty much an unresponsive zombie in the beginning.

There are also a lot of comedic moments; most of them happen with the grandmother. She brings joy to a story that really tugs on your heartstrings. Bottom line: I would just watch this for the grandma.

Stalker x Stalker

The story follows two yandere stalkers who fall in love with each other. From the synopsis alone, I don’t think this needs more explanation of why I thought this would work as an anime.

The characters in Stalker x Stalker are… creepy(?) and outrageous that it’d be the perfect rom-com for anime.

But, anyway, I’d imagine this story to have a vibe that’s similar to Kakegurui. Even the art style is similar. Stalker x Stalker is like a chibi version of the art in Kakegurui.

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At the end of the day, I firmly believe that it’s the pacing and the content they decide to include in any adaptation to make it good. While the story itself could be easily adaptable, if the execution is done poorly, then it just ruins the adaptation.