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Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) announced on Monday that Return of the Blossoming Blade, the martial arts webtoon, has emerged as the most popular title among South Korean webtoon readers.
In the “2024 Comics & Webtoon User Survey,” which polled 3,448 webtoon readers, Return of the Blossoming Blade claimed the top spot for most-read webtoons. This marks a significant shift, as Lookism—which held the number one position for three consecutive years since 2021—dropped to second place.
Other highly ranked webtoons include Newlywed Diary, Solo Leveling, Manager Kim, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, and Tower of God.
Return of the Blossoming Blade tells the story of Chung Myung, a martial arts master who reincarnates 100 years after his death to restore his once-thriving sect, now in ruins.
Based on a popular web novel, the webtoon has been a commercial success. The original novel achieved 700 million cumulative downloads on Naver Series, one of Korea’s biggest web novel platforms.
Lookism follows the life of high school student Park Hyung-seok, who experiences a dramatic shift in his life after gaining a second, more attractive body. The series, with its themes of bullying and social class, has resonated with male readers. Since its debut in November 2014, Lookism has become a long-running hit, with over 10 billion cumulative views. The series inspired a Korean-animated series from Studio Mir that debuted on Netflix in December 2022.
While Lookism has maintained a strong following among male readers, Return of the Blossoming Blade has achieved broader appeal. It is popular not only with traditional martial arts fans—typically men aged 30 to 50—but also with younger audiences and women.
According to the survey, Lookism remained the top choice for male readers (16.1%), with Return of the Blossoming Blade ranking second (13.9%). Among female readers, Return of the Blossoming Blade ranked second (6.2%), behind the slice-of-life webtoon Newlywed Diary (10.1%).
KOCCA highlighted this shift, noting that Return of the Blossoming Blade has drawn unprecedented female readers to the traditionally male-dominated martial arts genre.
The survey, conducted between May 20 and June 20, targeted South Koreans aged 10 to 69 who read webtoons at least once every two to three months. Respondents were asked to list their top three favorite webtoons.
This diversification in reader preferences underscores a growing trend in the webtoon industry: creators are increasingly tailoring their works to appeal to a wider demographic, transcending traditional genre boundaries.
Source: KOCCA
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