SAMG Entertainment's TV series animation "Catch! Teenieping" and theatrical feature animation "Heartsping: Teenieping of Love" have brought new vitality to the stagnant domestic animation market. After going public, the company focused on not just the success of a single work, but on nurturing scalable intellectual property (IP) through substantial investment. In particular, by directly targeting Japan, an animation powerhouse, they proved the competitiveness of their works and accumulated the know-how required for IP business development. With precise demand analysis, they created characters and narratives aimed at the differentiated market of "the Alpha Generation nurtured by the Generation Z," reaching their peak with the release of "Heartsping: Teenieping of Love" this year. Despite not yet reaching a full profit trajectory due to the nature of animation IP, they are overcoming their limitations by aggressively targeting overseas markets and expanding their IP content. In the animation market dominated by Japanese and American companies, K-animation has demonstrated its power and emerged as a new benchmarking case.
Animation is no longer just the domain of young children. Animation series have begun to find a place in the midst of the Generation Z’s "work-life balance." As animation continues to function as a healing content that resonates across all generations, the big challenge now is how Korean animation can establish its status in this era of rapid change.
Looking at the major successes in the domestic box office from 2023 to 2024, it's noticeable that animated feature films have actually outperformed live-action films in terms of box office success. "The First Slam Dunk," based on the popular manga Slam Dunk, achieved nearly 5 million viewers amid the craze of repeat viewings, known as "N-cha watching." Makoto Shinkai’s "Suzume" reached 5.6 million viewers, Pixar's "Elemental" surpassed 7.2 million, and "Inside Out 2" recorded an astounding 8.8 million viewers. While the performance of live-action films has been sluggish in the post-pandemic era, animation has taken the lead in attracting audiences.
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This content was translated into English by AI (using DeepL) from an article that was originally written in Korean in the DBR (Donga Business Review). Therefore, please understand that there may be some awkward expressions.
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