The world of manhwa is under the spotlight once again with the recent announcement of a new Tomb Raider King. Kadokawa officially confirmed that webtoon This popular work by 3B2S and writer Yuns of REDICE STUDIO will get an animated adaptation.
Unlike most adaptations that are usually done entirely by Japanese studios, this series is a Korean animation production that will be shown in the Japanese market.
The plan, project will begin airing in July on Fuji TV and Kansai TV channels with Japanese localization titles, Tokutsuo. This signifies the strong expansion of Korean content into the global anime market, following in the successful footsteps of its predecessors.
Ambition to Become the King of Tomb Looters
The story of Tomb Raider King is set in a world where mysterious tombs suddenly appear all over the earth. Inside these tombs are relics that can grant their owners supernatural abilities. Jooheon Suh is an explorer, digger, and tomb raider who works hard to collect these relics.
However, misfortune befell him when he was betrayed by the party that hired him and was on the verge of death due to a powerful new relic attack. Instead of dying, Jooheon is thrown back in time, precisely 15 years before the events of the appearance of the tomb and the relic began.
Armed with foreknowledge of where the tombs are and the power of relics that no one else has discovered, he is driven by a burning sense of vengeance. Jooheon is determined to monopolize all the relics and crown himself the “Tomb Raider King”, so that no one else can use them to oppress him.
Production Staff
Although it will air in Japan with dubbing In Japanese, the animation production was actually handled by Studio EEK, a South Korean animation studio. This move is quite unique as it combines Korean production creativity with Japan's massive distribution infrastructure.
To ensure that the audio quality is up to the standards of anime audiences in Japan, Keigo Fukuda of IMAGICA EMS was appointed as the editor for the version of dubbing Japan, with dugout acted as Sound Producer.
Here is the list of key staff involved in project This:
- Director & Series Scripts: Seung Wook Woo
- Character Designer & Chief Animation Director: Hyun-Jung Lee
- Chief Animation Director: Hyung Jun Heo
- Music: Ju Young Kim
- Color Design: Jee Sun Hwang
- Art Director: Seung Chan Kang
- Sound Director: Gun Yoon, Kisuke Koizumi
One of the main attractions of this adaptation is the lineup of voice actors or seiyuu the top tier involved.
Here is the list of the main cast:
- Ryoga Goriki (Jooheon Suh): Yoshimasa Hosoya
- Irene Holton: Saori Hayami
- Taisei Ogawara (Tae Joon Kwon): Junichi Suwabe
On the music side, girl group Korea's QWER will perform the Opening Theme Song titled “Show Down”. Interestingly, this will be the song tie-up It is the first anime for the group and will be sung in Japanese lyrics.
Tomb Raider King Connection with Solo Leveling
If you look at the visuals of this series, you might feel a familiar feel of Solo Leveling. This is no coincidence as Tomb Raider King is under the auspices of REDICE STUDIO, the same studio founded by the late DUBU, the illustrator behind the adaptation of the manhwa Solo Leveling.
Although the animation studios that handled the two were different-whereas Solo Leveling was produced by Japan's A-1 Pictures and this series by Korea's Studio EEK-the visual DNA of the original source remains strong. REDICE STUDIO's Yuns is the scriptwriter for this webtoon, which adapts the original novel by SAN.G.
REDICE is known for its sharp character designs, stunning visual effects, and “cold” protagonists. Story elements such as the RPG system, power-granting relics, and plot weak-to-strong is the common thread that connects these two series.
Many fans speculated whether the similarity of these elements would be able to attract a fan base of Solo Leveling which was a massive hit. For those of you who want to read the original story before watching the animation, the English version of this webtoon was released digitally by Tapas, While the print version is published by Ize Press. Let's see if this adaptation will satisfy the expectations of manhwa readers when it airs this Summer.
