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Live-Action Series The Legend of Kitchen Soldier Sparks Increase in Web Novel, Webtoon Readership
posted on by Wonhee Cho
The live-action series The Legend of Kitchen Soldier is driving a sharp resurgence in the original web novel and webtoon. According to Naver Webtoon on May 20, views of the original web novel surged 170 times in the week after the series debuted, compared to the week prior to its teaser video rollout. The webtoon saw a 61-fold increase over the same period.
The spike reflects a familiar trend in the industry, where successful live-action adaptations reignite interest in the original works.
The Legend of Kitchen Soldier, originally written by JRobin and drawn by Jin-soo Lee, follows a conscripted soldier who unexpectedly finds his calling in the army kitchen. Armed with a kitchen knife instead of a rifle, he embarks on a game-like quest to become a legendary mess hall chef, leveling up through bizarre culinary challenges.
Ji-hoon Park plays the lead role of Kang. Park gained recognition for his roles in Weak Hero, a webtoon-based live-action series, and the film The King's Warden, establishing himself as a rising actor. The movie amassed more than 16 million viewers in Korea.
The Legend of Kitchen Soldier live-action series debuted in Korea on May 11 on the Korean streaming platform TVING. In North America, fans can watch the series on Rakuten Viki.
Currently, neither the web novel nor the webtoon have English releases.
Source: YNA (Jin-re Chang)
