Oh Seong-dae

Oh Seong-dae (Hangul: 오성대, Hanja: 吳城垈; born November 18, 1982) is a South Korean webtoon artist. He is best known for creating a horror thriller anthology webtoon series Tales of the Unusual.

Oh Seong-dae
Born(1982-11-18)November 18, 1982
Nationality South Korea
Area(s)Webtoon artist
Pseudonym(s)Seongdae Oh
Notable works
Tales of the Unusual
The Cliff
My Wife's Memories
Beauty Water
Oh Seong-dae
Hangul
오성대
Hanja
吳城垈
Revised RomanizationO Seong Dae
McCune–ReischauerO Sŏng Dae
In this Korean name, the family name is Oh.
Oh Seong-dae at Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival 2015

His other works include The Cliff, a survival miniseries about two men who trapped at the edge of a cliff; My Wife's Memories, a supernatural drama follows a middle-aged man who witnesses the ghostly impression of his deceased wife’s memories after she suddenly passes away in a tragic accident; and Beauty Water, a body horror story is about a young woman who gains her perfect beauty by using a cosmetic liquid product that can allow people to reshape their looks just as well as plastic surgery. When she become addicted to the product, until she discovers a terrifying side effects that begins to affect her.

Life and career

Oh Seong-dae was born on November 18, 1982 in Seoul, South Korea. He developed a love of drawing since he was in elementary school. He graduated from Seoul National University of Science and Technology. He also studied subjects about art and design. He started working as a designer, but he quit shortly afterwards. Seong-dae went into webtoon as he participated in a comic competition held by Naver, which gave him the chance to debut.[1]

From October 2009 to November 2010, Author J was released on Naver WEBTOON follows an eponymous deceased novelist whose consciousness is transferred into an AI and encased within the computer. From April 2011 to August 2012, Bonbon au Chocolat was released on Naver WEBTOON is about a funny love story between the two middle school students and from July to August 2012, The Cliff was released on Naver WEBTOON focuses on two men who go hiking in the woods then accidentally fall and trapped at the edge of a cliff, while waiting for someone to save their lives, the tensions between two of them begin to rise. When days pass with no indication of help, the cliff becomes a stage for confrontation, violence, and madness.

On May 8, 2013, Seong-dae created an anthology webtoon series Tales of the Unusual, and published on Naver WEBTOON. Compared to previous webtoons, Tales of the Unusual contains horror and thriller genres, with elements of supernatural, psychological, suspense, mystery, satire, black comedy, drama, science fiction, and dark-modern fantasy. For its artstyle, Seong-dae opted for a monochromatic black and white, grayscale, with muted and darker colors rather than utilizing mild and vivid colors in contrast to its previous works.

Seong-dae described Tales of the Unusual as "strange", "unusual", "thrilling", and "mysterious", often with more darker tone than previous webtoons. The series consisting of standalone, self-contained short stories follow characters (or recurring characters from previous webtoons), who find themselves in strange and unusual events. Some plot elements of each story details with different topics such like real-life events, social issues, viral phenomenon, paranormal events, urban legends, and usually involving bizarre and supernatural occurrences with an unusual and unexpected twist.

Seong-dae cited an influences in Tales of the Unusual was inspired by the works of Junji Ito, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, R. L. Stine, Franz Kafka and Haruki Murakami; as well as korean horror films; an anthology television series, such as The Twilight Zone, Goosebumps, The X-Files, and Black Mirror; and films directed by Jason Blum, M. Night Shyamalan, Darren Aronofsky, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, and Alfred Hitchcock.

In June 2013, an anthology film Horror Stories 2 was released on June 5, 2013. One of the stories is adapted from The Cliff.

From July to August 2014, The Cliff received English and Chinese translations by WEBTOON. On July 1, 2014, Tales of the Unusual also received an official English translation by WEBTOON. Since then, Tales of the Unusual received more attention from Korean and global viewers, making it the most popular webtoon on the WEBTOON platform.

In August 2014, Sina Weibo user Yaoyaoxiaojing (妖妖小精) translated My Wife's Memories into Chinese and posted it on her Weibo. 550,000 people had shared the comic just after two days she had posted it, making it an instant hit among the Chinese community, and bringing Seong-dae much fame.[2][3] In October 2014, Tales of the Unusual also received an official Chinese translation by WEBTOON.

On February 10 – 15, 2015, Seong-dae attended the Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival along with fellow webtoon artist massstar. Both of them hosted autograph sessions for their fans in the booth of WEBTOON.[1][4][5]

In June 2015, Sina Weibo user Hanmansimida (韩漫思密达) translated Beauty Water into Chinese and posted it on her Weibo. As the story touched contemporary social issues, it was quickly been viewed by over 1,000,000 people, making it an instant hit among the Chinese community and raising Song-dae's profile in China once more.[6][7][8] After knowing this, Seong-dae thanked the Chinese readers on Facebook in Chinese.[9]

On October 1 – 5, 2015, Seong-dae attended and gave autographs to his fans with fellow webtoon artist Jo Seok, Son Jae-ho, and Lee Kwang-soo at China International Comic Festival EXPO. On October 19, 2015, WEBTOON released a promotional animated trailer for Tales of the Unusual, produced by an animation studio, Delpic Design Studio.

On December 18, 2015, Seong-dae received a "Webtoonist of the Year" for his webtoon, Tales of the Unusual on WEBTOON's Webtoonist Day. On June 9 – 10, 2016, Seong-dae also attended and gave autographs to his fans in the booth of WEBTOON at Beijing Comic-Con along with fellow webtoon artist Jo Seok.

In 2017, the Japanese television series Yo nimo Kimyō na Monogatari was released. One of the episodes is adapted from My Wife's Memories.

In 2018, the first print volume for Tales of the Unusual was released on June 15, 2018. On February 21, 2019, the first animated short series based on Tales of the Unusual was released on the Naver WEBTOON YouTube Channel.

On September 18, 2019, Seong-dae announced that Tales of the Unusual is going on hiatus to be renewed for a second season after the first season concluded. After 8 months of hiatus, the series was resumed on May 20, 2020. On October 25, 2020, an English version of Tales of the Unusual was also resumed after 11 months of hiatus.

In 2020, an animated film adaptation of Beauty Water was produced by a South Korean animation studio, Studio Animal. After debuting at several international film festivals, it was released on September 9, 2020, in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Despite the story's popularity among the Chinese, due to souring Korea-China relations after the former deployed the THAAD missile defense system, no Chinese investors would support the film and it was not released in China.[10]

On November 3, 2020, Seong-dae won "Today's Our Manhwa Award" for his webtoon, Tales of the Unusual by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Works

Long and short comic
  • Author J (소설가J, October 2009 – November 2010, 48 episodes)
  • Bonbon au Chocolat (봉봉오쇼콜라, April 2011 – August 2012, 69 episodes)
  • The Cliff (절벽귀, July – August 2012, 9 episodes)

One-shot comic
  • Bunker Man (벙커맨, September 2012, 1 episode)
  • The Ghost in the Celling (공포의 만화책, June 2013, 1 episode)
  • Invocamus (Invocamus, July 2014, 1 episode)
  • S.O.S (S.O.S, July 2015, 1 episode)
  • Machine Ghost (June 2016, 1 episode)
  • Shadow Makeover (그림자 성형, August 2019, 1 episode)

Tales of the Unusual
  • Tales of the Unusual (기기괴괴, May 2013 – Ongoing, 82 stories)
  • Season 1 (May 8, 2013 – September 18, 2019)
    • 2013 — 2014 (10 stories)
      • The Gallery of the Damned (저주받은 갤러리, May 15 – July 17, 2013, 10 episodes)
      • An African Incident (아프리카에서 생긴 일, July 24 – August 28, 2013, 6 episodes)
      • To Kill a Magician (마술사 죽이기, September 4 – October 9, 2013, 6 episodes)
      • The Reset Elevator (리셋 엘리베이터, October 23 – November 13, 2013, 4 episodes)
      • My Wife's Memories (아내의 기억, November 20 – December 25, 2013, 6 episodes)
      • Camping (캠핑, January 8 – 15, 2014, 2 episodes)
      • A Mysterious Package (상자 키우기, January 22 – February 12, 2014, 4 episodes)
      • The Mysterious Potter (곰보할배 도자기, February 19 – March 12, 2014, 4 episodes)
      • Winning Numbers (당첨번호, March 26 – April 30, 2014, 6 episodes)
      • Ghost Hunting (귀신잡기, May 21 – June 16, 2014, 5 episodes)
    • 2014 — 2015 (9 stories)
      • The Painting (여인화, October 15 – 22, 2014, 2 episodes)
      • Evolving Reincarnation (진화환생법, October 29 – December 17, 2014, 8 episodes)
      • The Chat Room (채팅만남, December 31, 2014, 1 episode)
      • Murderous Rage (살의, January 7 – 21, 2015, 3 episodes)
      • Lex Talionis (Lex Talionis, January 28, 2015, 1 episode)
      • Beauty Water (성형수, February 4 – April 22, 2015, 11 episodes)
      • Growth Water (괴모수, May 6, 2015, 1 episode)
      • The Man and the Dog (남자와 개, May 13 – July 1, 2015, 8 episodes)
      • The Dream-sharing Stone (꿈공유석, July 8 – 29 2015, 4 episodes)
    • 2015 — 2016 (9 stories)
      • Regeneration Seed (재생종자, August 12 – 26 2015, 3 episodes)
      • The Ghost App (심령어플, September 2, 2015, 1 episode)
      • The Ghost Polaroids (고스트 폴라로이드, September 9 – 16, 2015, 2 episodes)
      • Jayce's Pen (제이스의 펜, September 23 – October 21, 2015, 4 episodes)
      • Insomnia (불면증, October 29, 2015, 1 episode)
      • The Break-In (도난, November 4 – 11, 2015, 2 episodes)
      • Lucidity Controller (루시드컨, November 25 – December 23, 2015, 5 episodes)
      • Earth Warrior Taletron (지구용사 기괴트론, December 30, 2015 – January 20, 2016, 4 episodes)
      • Bone Dice (본 다이스, January 27 – February 17, 2016, 4 episodes)
    • 2016 — 2017 (12 stories)
      • Kiveiru's Library (키베이루의 서재, May 14 – June 22, 2016, 8 episodes)
      • Real Implant (Real Implant, June 29, 2016, 1 episode)
      • Revenge (복수, July 6, 2016, 1 episode)
      • Drawings (그림, July 14 – 20, 2016, 2 episodes)
      • Lurker (Lurker, August 3 – 24, 2016, 4 episodes)
      • The Pet Wig (애완가발, August 31 – September 7, 2016, 3 episodes)
      • The Future Spirit (미래사령, September 21 – November 23, 2016, 10 episodes)
      • The Teleporter (순간이동기, November 30 – December 21, 2016, 4 episodes)
      • Demonic Bloodweed (마혈초, December 28, 2016 – January 11, 2017, 3 episodes)
      • Mini-Me (미니미, January 18 – 25, 2017, 2 episodes)
      • Ghost Home Care (고스트 홈케어, February 1 – 8, 2017, 2 episodes)
      • The Package (택배, February 15 – 22, 2017, 2 episodes)
    • 2017 — 2018 (14 stories)
      • Eternal Life Pills (영생환, March 1 – May 10, 2017, 11 episodes)
      • A Special Meal (특식, May 17 – 24, 2017, 2 episodes)
      • Soul Trapping (봉혼, May 31 – June 21, 2017, 4 episodes)
      • The Hole (Hole, June 28 – July 5, 2017, 2 episodes)
      • Ghost Design (고스트 인테리어, July 12 – 19, 2017 2 episodes)
      • Gold Motel (골드모텔, July 26 – August 16, 2017, 4 episodes)
      • 14K (14K, August 30 – October 4, 2017, 6 episodes)
      • The Bug (벌레, October 11 – 18, 2017, 2 episodes)
      • The Mole Stitcher (점잇귀, October 25 – December 6, 2017, 7 episodes)
      • Scene Box (Scene Box, December 13, 2017 – January 3, 2018, 4 episodes)
      • Hair (머리카락, January 10 – 24, 2018, 3 episodes)
      • More Days (More Days, January 31 – February 14, 2018, 3 episodes)
      • The Carbonated Virus (탄산바이러스, February 21 – 28, 2018, 2 episodes)
      • Confinement (감금, March 7 – 21, 2018, 3 episodes)
    • 2018 — 2019 (18 stories)
      • The Tournament (대회, June 6 – 13, 2018, 2 episodes)
      • The Unusual Hospital (기괴병원, June 20 – 27, 2018, 2 episodes)
      • Growth Mountains (성장산, July 4 – 18, 2018, 3 episodes)
      • The Human Door (인간현관, July 25 – September 5, 2018, 7 episodes)
      • Friends (친구, September 12 – 19, 2018, 2 episodes)
      • Watermelon (수박, October 3 – 10, 2018, 2 episodes)
      • Brain Contamination (뇌오염, October 17 – November 7, 2018, 4 episodes)
      • Change (Change, November 14 – 21, 2018, 2 episodes)
      • A Boy and a Murderer (소년과 살인마, November 28, 2018 – January 9, 2019, 7 episodes)
      • Acc Plants (Acc Plants, January 23 – February 27, 2019, 6 episodes)
      • The Stationery Store (문방구, March 6 – 13, 2019, 2 episodes)
      • Magnet (Magnet, March 20 – April 24, 2019, 5 episodes)
      • Makeover (성형귀, May 1 – 22, 2019, 4 episodes)
      • Cafe (카페, June 5 – 12, 2019, 2 episodes)
      • Head (Head, June 19 – July 17, 2019, 5 episodes)
      • VR (VR, July 24 – 31, 2019, 2 episodes)
      • Karaoke and an Odeng Truck (노래방과 오뎅트럭, August 7 – 14, 2019, 2 episodes)
      • Thief (도둑, August 21 – September 11, 2019, 4 episodes)
  • Season 2 (May 20, 2020 – Ongoing)
    • 2020 — 2021 (10 stories)
      • New Beauty Water (뉴성형수, May 20 – August 5, 2020, 12 episodes)
      • GAME (GAME, August 12 – September 2, 2020, 4 episodes)
      • Black Mist (검은 안개, September 9 – 23, 2020, 3 episodes)
      • The Gym of the Damned (저주받은 체육관, September 30 – October 21, 2020, 4 episodes)
      • The Reaper (저승사자, October 28 – November 18, 2020, 4 episodes)
      • The Living Doll (생인형, November 24 – December 16, 2020, 4 episodes)
      • Brain (뇌, December 23 – 30, 2020, 2 episode)
      • A Webtoonist's Dream (웹툰작가의 꿈, January 6 – 20, 2021, 3 episodes)
      • Hypnosis (최면, January 27 – February 17, 2021, 4 episodes)
      • Miss Anesthesiology (마취여왕, February 24 – March, 2021)

Adaptations
  • Horror Stories 2 (2013)
  • Yo nimo Kimyō na Monogatari (2017)
  • Tales of the Unusual Animation (2019)
  • Beauty Water (2020)

References
  1. "【TiCA15】WEBTOON《觸不可及》及《奇奇怪怪》漫畫家獨家專訪" [[TiCA15] Exclusive Interview of the WEBTOON Artists: Writers of unTouchable and Tales of the Unusual] (in Chinese). Gamer. 2015-02-11. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  2. 洋蔥滿點！故事「妻子的記憶」感動55萬網友：我哭好慘 [Full of Onions! Story My Wife's Memories Touches 550,000 People's Heart: I cried so badly] (in Chinese). ETtoday. 2014-08-29. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  3. 超催淚靈異故事 《妻子的記憶》用哭50萬人 [Tear-jerking Supernatural Story My Wife's Memories: 500,000 People Shed Tears] (in Chinese). Apple Daily. 2014-08-27. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  4. "「WEBTOON 每日漫畫」宣布參加 2015 動漫節" [WEBTOON Announce Participating 2015 Comics and Animation Festival] (in Chinese). Hong Kong Silicon. 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  5. "雙韓作家來台會粉絲，WEBTOON 首度進台北國際軍動漫節" [Dual Korean Writer Come to Taiwan to meet their fans, the First Time WEBTOON Joining Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival] (in Chinese). Hong Kong Silicon. 2015-02-11. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  6. 重口味漫画最适合深夜转发？ (in Chinese). 文汇报. 2015-07-08. Archived from the original on 2015-07-09. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  7. 你看过奇奇怪怪漫画《整容液》但一定不了解吴城垈 (in Chinese). 北青网. 2015-07-08. Archived from the original on 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  8. 朋友圈疯传恐怖漫画《整容液》 韩国漫画家讽刺整容业 (in Chinese). 观察者网. 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  9. "오성대 added 2 new photos" (in Chinese). 吳城垈. 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
  10. "[INTERVIEW] Creators behind 'Beauty Water' satirize absurdity of lookism". The Korea Times. 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
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