Sung-Rak Jang, alias Dubu, died on July 23 at the age of 37, said the Redice studio, which he ran. This specialized in the production of webtoons and other manhwa, comics in a very specific format, inspired by manga, from South Korea.
Dubu made himself known with the adaptation of a series of light novels by Chugong, published between 2016 and 2018. The webtoons taken from the books, for their part, were released between 2018 and 2021. Proof of the popularity of the series, an anime version is expected in 2023, directed by Shunsuke Nakashige and animated by A-1 Pictures.
In France, the webtoon Solo Leveling is published by the Delcourt group, and more precisely the KBooks house, in a translation by Sabrina Damoune. A sign of the title’s success, the publisher had made it the setting for its visit to the recent Japan Expo recently. Volume 1 of Solo Leveling has sold nearly 150,000 copies since its publication in April 2021 (Edistat figures). Volume 7 should appear next September at KBooks.
Solo Leveling is not Dubu’s only work: he notably worked on the manhwa Beautiful Legends and the manga adaptation of the series Space Dandy. He had created the Redice studio in 2018, specifically directed towards the production of manhwa.
« We want to thank readers for all the love and support you have shown for Solo Levelingand we invite everyone to think of Mr. Sung-Rak Jang, may he rest in peace “, said the studio on Twitter.
A mobile game is also planned around the license Solo Levelingwith a release in 2023, a priori.
