South Korean comic Eleceed is slated for an anime series adaptation that is being produced by Dandelion Animation Studio and set to premiere early next year. At this year’s Anime Expo, Dorkaholics had a chance to speak with the creators of the manhwa, author Son Je-Ho and illustrator ZHENA, about their work, from characters to powers and expectations and hopes for the anime.
Eleceed is a webtoon series in the action fantasy genre and of course features powers and fights, with friends to be made and enemies to be fought. And to the series creator the most important thing about his work are the relationships between characters.
“The relationship between the main characters is the most important part of the story,” author Son Je-Ho said. “It’s not just about fighting the bad guys.”
Son also noted how the main characters build their relationship on top of hurtful pasts as support for one another.
“Each of them have their own emotional wounds… I want to see how they help each other and mend each other emotionally,” Son expanded.
As a creative team of two, Son and ZHENA have a collaborative process that allows the pair to contribute their strengths while iterating through work that allows each of them to shine.
“First I come up with the story and send it to ZHENA as text. After reviewing it, ZHENA creates a storyboard and hands it over to me,” Son explained. “Once a certain amount of work is complete, I adjust the text accordingly.”
The evolving dialogue between creators as well as what’s on the page is reminiscent of filmed productions.
“It’s similar to how in a movie or drama, the script can be different from the actors’ delivery,” Son continued.
When it comes to thinking about the upcoming anime series, ZHENA is excited about the animation style for Kayden’s transformation.
“When Kayden, as a cat, first becomes human to help Ji-Woo, I’m very curious to see how that animation style is going to be,” ZHENA shared.
When it came to deciding on powers, Ji-Woo’s speed actually tied specifically to his personality rather than just an arbitrary ability.
“Since the protagonist is unaware he is an Awakened One and feels the pressure of having to live while hiding his identity from others, I deliberated on what kind of power to give him initially and decided on his incredible speed,” Son explained.
The webtoon series first released on October 2, 2018 and is currently at over 400 chapters, and the creators continue to take their work seriously as a challenge to be met.
“I don’t think I’ve even found the fun in it yet,” ZHENA said. “It’s challenging.”
Son said news of the anime adaptation provided another source of motivation after years of working on Eleceed. In particular, he began thinking about the new audience that could discover the series through its animated adaptation before seeking out the original manhwa.
“I don’t want to just make it as like a spark of fun… but rather something that’s more interesting as they continue to watch the animation show.”
For Son, that means creating a series whose appeal grows as audiences spend more time with its characters, rather than relying solely on the excitement of its premise or early episodes.
Stay tuned to Dorkaholics for more Anime Expo coverage as well as updates on the Eleceed anime series.
