Welcome to Convenience Store
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Logo featuring main characters.
The images are from left to right, Park Jeom-jang, Kang Min-jun, Lim Eun-ah, and Kim Hye-yeon.
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Genre
| Comedy
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Author
| Ji Kang-min
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Publisher
| WEBTOON
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Original run
| February
2008
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Welcome to Convenience Store
(
Korean
:
와라! 便宜店
;
RR
:
Wara! Pyeonuijeom
) is a South Korean
webtoon
created by Ji Kang-min. The webtoon began in February 2008 and received an award at the
Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival
that same year. A paperback version was released on October 23, 2008.
Welcome to Convenience Store
was adapted into multiple
animated series
, as well as a
mobile game
distributed by
Kakao
. Characters from the webtoon have appeared in a variety of media and merchandise.
Development
[
edit
]
Photographer Ji Kang-min started drawing
Welcome to Convenience Store
in 2008, thinking it would be nice to release a story based on one of the most well-known settings. Kang-min gets a large amount of
fanmail
containing stories and concerns from retail employees, some of which he introduces to the webtoon. Kang-min stated in 2010 that the webtoon doesn't make him much money, which was his reason to expand to different types of media, such as animation.
[1]
In an interview with
The Korea Times
, Kang-min stated that when he started drawing cartoons, he overworked himself as there was a large amount of labor to do. During this period, he spent two days per week writing up
scripts
, and the other five days to draw the cartoon itself. As of 2015, he only needs two days to draw the comic itself, as he no longer has to use up his time with routine processes. For example, he no longer needs to draw backgrounds, as he adapted
3D-rendered
backgrounds. Kang-min stated that his life motto is to "not to skip a meal and not to pass a night without sleep," and that he is currently "fully benefiting from my digitalized environment."
[2]
In 2015, Kang-min started a new webtoon series titled
The Commute Family
, which focuses on the everyday events in
public transportation
. The new series is published on
KakaoPage
rather than Naver.
[2]
Summary
[
edit
]
Welcome to Convenience Store
chronicles the everyday, yet silly events at a fictional South Korean convenience store. Though the webtoon is purely episodic in nature, it features a recurring set of
part-time workers
. Kang-min initially intended to focus primarily on the store's employees, but after receiving positive responses from his readers, he shifted the focus of the webtoon more to the customers.
[2]
Other media
[
edit
]
In 2010,
Yoo Se-yoon
of the
comedy music
duo UV revealed "Convenience", a music video featuring characters from
Welcome to Convenience Store
.
[3]
Convenience store chain
7-Eleven
featured characters from the webtoon on its products, and some of the characters have been realized as toys by Korean toy manufacturer Oxford Blocks.
[2]
Animation
[
edit
]
A
web animation
based on
Welcome to Convenience Store
was produced in October 2009. Published on
Naver
and later broadcast on
Tooniverse
, the animated series was intended for promotional purposes rather than direct profit, and it was the first web animation based on a webtoon, or "
Ostuni
".
[1]
[4]
An animated television series based on
Welcome to Convenience Store
was announced in 2010, and eventually produced by cable channel Tooniverse in 2012. The series was produced as part of the 2010 "Annie Challenge" and was aired as 20 episodes, each 30 minutes long.
[5]
Members of the South Korean boy band
Infinite
appeared in the series as guest stars, as well as singing the opening theme "Always Open".
[6]
[7]
Mobile game
[
edit
]
Welcome to Convenience Store
was adapted into a
mobile game
in 2014, distributed through
KakaoTalk
. The video game, titled
Work It! Convenience Store
, quickly became one of the top-selling games on
Google Play
.
[8]
The game won the "Best Korean Mobile Game Business" in 2014.
Work It!
exceeded 500,000 downloads in the first weeks of its launch, and has been downloaded by over five million people as of March 2016.
[9]
In
Work It!
, the player takes on the role of manager of a convenience store, as which he can decorate the building, purchase wares, and perform a variety of chores. Through the course of the game, a player can eventually create their own "unique" convenience store.
Work It!
includes various intricate systems such as
street vendors
and
plant food
that allow players to
micromanage
their store.
[9]
The game also features various mechanics that allows the player to assist or compete against other players.
[10]
Reception
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
with: popularity. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
March 2016
)
|
Welcome to Convenience Store
received an award at the
Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival
in 2008.
[11]
Characters from the webtoon were exhibited as a
pop-up store
in the Korean Comics Museum in January 2015.
[12]
In 2010, Kang-min's webtoon spurred some political controversy when he published a page featuring a girl apprehending a
shoplifter
based on the way he looked.
[13]
Kang-min apologized shortly after, and stated that he would give "more careful consideration when selecting the material" to use in the webtoon in the future.
[14]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"累積 照會數 4億 웹툰 TV애니로 본다"
.
Korea Daily
. August 15, 2010.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"
'Digitalization gave me more time for creativity'
"
.
The Korea Times
. September 30, 2015.
- ^
"유세윤 'UV'의 새 뮤비 '便宜店'의 主人公? 알면 '깜놀'
"
.
vop.co.kr
. August 17, 2010.
- ^
"가까워진 '웹툰' 가까이하기엔 너무 먼 '國內 애니메이션'
"
.
OhmyNews
. June 18, 2013.
- ^
"人氣웹툰 '와라!편의점', TV애니메이션으로 再誕生"
.
Hankook Ilbo
. September 3, 2010.
- ^
"Infinite's L transforms into an animation character"
.
Korea.com
. Xports News. January 13, 2012. Archived from
the original
on July 13, 2015.
- ^
Lee, Nancy (March 29, 2013).
"Infinite Members Become Voice Actors for 'Wara! Store' Cartoon"
.
enewsWorld
.
- ^
"노현아-유영욱 "'와라便宜店'은 現在 賣出 피버모드"
"
.
Hankyung.com
.
Korea Economic Daily
. March 17, 2014.
- ^
a
b
小龍 (March 11, 2016).
"國民級經營類手遊神作《打工?!便利商店》登台確定!事前登錄活動正式開催!"
.
Gameapps.hk
.
- ^
Jerry (March 18, 2016).
"《打工?!便利商店》公開遊?玩法 首波宣傳影片?先看"
.
ggn.gamer.com
(in Chinese).
- ^
"SICAF 2008"
.
Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival
. May 21, 2008.
- ^
"韓國漫畫博物館에서 만나는 '와라! 便宜店' 캐릭터 팝업스토어"
.
1gan.co.kr
. December 24, 2014.
- ^
"웹툰 '와라!편의점', 草綠色 글씨2番 一波萬波…"愼重하지 못한 判斷 罪悚"
"
.
講院日報 홈페이지
(in Korean)
. Retrieved
April 12,
2018
.
- ^
"
'와라!편의점' 지강민, 天安艦 諷刺·選擧弘報 論難 一波萬波"
. Asia Today. June 2, 2010.
External links
[
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]
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First published in Korean
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First published in English
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First published in Indonesian
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First published in Japanese
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Adaptations
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