By Honorary Reporter Minnath Azeez from Sri Lanka
Photos = Llama, MBC Drama Now Instagram and Netflix

Making the Netflix global top 10 list, the K-drama "Tomorrow" is the brainchild of webtoonist who uses the name Llama. With suicide as its theme, the webtoon-turned-series follows a team of grim reapers who protect humans from themselves.

On her inspiration for the webtoon, Llama in a May 12 email interview, the artist said, "I saw a man who took his life one day. Afterwards, I thought what if someone saved people from making such an extreme choice? This idea developed little by little and led to the creation of my webtoon 'Tomorrow.'"

Llama is the creator of the webtoon "Tomorrow."

After majoring in visual design at an art school, Llama wanted to become a designer but after working in her field, her interest in webtoons spiked. "I was skeptical of being a designer in that I would have to create work as told by others, so webtoon artist seemed more appealing. This job gave me the freedom to create the way I wanted."

Despite dealing with serious topics, both the drama and webtoon add a supernatural element to the story with the grim reapers from the afterlife company Jumadeung. In the beginning, Llama said she planned to have ordinary people save others from suicide but this would have meant difficult lives for them, so she injected fantasy to make the story more interesting. 

Promotional photo for "Tomorrow."

On why she chose grim reapers, she said angels were her first choice but they seemed too obvious, so she used grim reapers but with the twist that they could save people.

Korean War veteran Lee Young-chun (second from left) is played by actor Jeon Moo-song. 

On her favorite episode of the series, in which a Korean War veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder wants to die, Llama said she thought of people who sacrificed everything for others but received nothing in return. 

"I wanted readers to remember veterans' sacrifices through my story, so I decided on the episode," she said. "If I were a veteran, I would've wanted recognition and appreciation from people the most."

The webtoon "Tomorrow" by Llama on Naver Webtoon

To readers of her webtoon, Llama said in a concluding message, "My characters mostly suffer alone without telling others about their pain. If you're having a hard time, ask for help from others rather than suffer alone. If you hit rock bottom, you can bounce back and climb up. The power to resurface and rise is from the people around you."

kalhong617@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.