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Photo: ‘The Sound of Magic’ Annarasumanara ‘The Sound of Magic’ is a new South Korean drama on Netflix that examines mystical themes with its witty one-liners and musical numbers. The series is an adaptation of Ha-Ilkwon’s manhwa (South Korean graphic novel), ‘Annarasumanara’. The word “annarasumanara” is said repeatedly throughout the drama and is essentially similar to the sayings of “abracadabra” but in Korean. The screenplay adaptation is written by Kim Sung-yoon who also directed the drama and who is known for his work on ‘Love in the Moonlight’ (2016) starring Park Bo-gum and the popular Netflix K-drama ‘Itaewon Class’ (2020) starring Park Seo-joon. The series is not as lengthy as other South Korean dramas as most typically have 13 to 16 episodes, but ‘The Sound of Magic’ has one season with 6 one hour long episodes. The cast has iconic actors and actresses as the main characters consist of upcoming stars such as Hwang In-yeop and Choi Sung-eun,...

Despite being hardly known outside Korea and Japan, webtoons (comic strips or manhwa published online) are on the rise. South Korea is the leader in the advanced technology that allows the comic and graphic novel industry’s digital transformation, and their market grew by 65 per cent in 2020 only. Korean companies specializing in this art form are rapidly extending their arms outside Asia, thanks also to the general increase in global popularity of South Korean culture, the so-called Hallyu. Like manga, they offer well proven stories to film and drama producers, minimizing risks and therefore, the entertainment industry’s interest in them is growing rapidly. They are definitely here to stay, and we will hear more and more about them in the next years. Wisely, The Florence Korea Film Fest this year for the first time dedicates a whole section to them with 4 film adaptations. “Start Up” is one of them.