As a longstanding creator on the WEBTOON platform, Quimchee first debuted her hit drama series I Love Yoo in 2017. The webtoon stars a teenager named Shin-Ae Yoo, whose boring life drastically changes when she meets two wealthy brothers who are at odds with each other. With over 500 million views and six years running, I Love Yoo remains a fan-favorite in the drama genre.
In an exclusive interview, CBR sat down with Quimchee and discussed her long journey as a WEBTOON creator and her upcoming appearance at Anime Expo. She delved into her love for comics and walks fans through the creative process behind her popular WEBTOON series. Along with the interview, Quimchee reveals the exclusive poster for WEBTOON x McDonald's anticipated collaboration at Anime Expo for the first time.
CBR: Can you tell me what first drew you to digital comics and did you ever expect to work with WEBTOON?
Quimchee: I never really expected to work with WEBTOON. I was just happy there was a platform that allowed people like me to share their stories. That's what drew me to digital comics and Webtoon specifically. I found out there were stories out there created by people like me who don’t have experience or aren't working in the comic industry. For the longest time, the impression was that if you don't go to an animation or art school, and if you're not working for Marvel or DC, you don't really have a chance.
You can also forget about getting into the manga scene because if you're not living in Japan or have any connections over there, and you're outside the U.S., you don’t really have a chance making it big with manga. It was nice that WEBTOON was able to break all of that and anyone can make a story.
What inspired the initial concept and creation of I Love Yoo?
This was an interesting story. I started in my sophomore year of high school. I had just discovered all these shojo romance comics and I would read all of it as a way to escape stress from high school and teenage life. I was insatiable because I wanted more and there was nothing I could read anymore that would satisfy me, so I just started drawing my own story. I would inject every single trope or cliché that I like, so it was a bit wild and chaotic.
The comic now is very different from the initial [story] I worked on in high school. When I decided to revisit the story that I created back then to be published on WEBTOON, I decided to recycle those tropes from that comic but add my own little twist to them and use them as a form of critique or commentary. A lot of it started as wish fulfillment when I was a kid, and then I decided to take it seriously.
I Love Yoo debuted on WEBTOON back in 2017 and has well over 200 episodes. What are some of your favorite moments, and what have you learned throughout this journey so far?
My favorite moments are usually ones that provide a lot of catharses. I like highly emotional scenes, especially if they involve the two main brothers in the comic. They don't have the most cordial relationship especially for siblings because they have very clashing, opposing views and principles. It's always enjoyable for me to draw, and I just like drawing the conflict between the two of them. None of them are always 100% right [either], which is what I like. I like it when both the characters are wrong or just a little bit right. It's hard to pick just one side because there’s some truth to what both of them are saying.
There's also a lot of stuff that I learned. It's important to enjoy what you’re doing. If you let other people or outside influences dictate how your story is being told, what ends up happening is you may not like what you're creating, and you're left unsatisfied or even not proud of your own work. You want to make sure there's a balance there, and you actually do like what you’re drawing. The satisfaction bleeds into your work and in turn results in the readers also not enjoying it. At one point, I was just drawing and drawing, and I was more worried about getting episodes out instead of actually liking what I was writing. The readers can tell if I'm not enjoying it because they're not enjoying what they're reading.
I Love Yoo is a drama series with a romantic spin. How do you weave the romantic element throughout the series?
In our day-to-day lives, we build different kinds of relationships. Some of those naturally evolve into something romantic and others are strictly platonic. Sometimes we force relationships. I like to apply that philosophy into the comic and just let things happen organically. If there is stuff that's forced there, it probably won't work out.
Can you walk me through your creative process to develop your own art style, characters, and plot?
The art style found me. It [took] a lot of practice and experimenting to see what you want to improve here and there. You can see the progression of the art style throughout the comic. There was a moment where I figured out how to draw shoulders. There was a part there where everyone had big, massive shoulders, and now I try to tone [that] down. Or you go crazy over one style of lighting, and you start sprinkling it throughout. What you're exposed to also influences your work. If you're always exposed to dramatic lights, it shows in the work, and it sneaks its way into the comic.
You are doing a collaboration with McDonald’s to create a custom illustration for WEBTOON x McDonald's booth at Anime Expo this year. Can you tell me more about this unique collaboration and what it means to you?
It was fun. In the comic itself, there's a fake McDonald’s that I [snuck] where the character works. I was happy to incorporate the real thing instead of having to flip the golden arches upside down just to be safe. It's nice to finally have the real thing on there. It also demonstrates all the opportunities WEBTOON [is] able to provide, like working with big brands like McDonald's. I’m looking forward to Anime Expo.
What are your hopes and plans for the series' future and do you have any other series or projects in mind?
At the moment, I try to focus on completing the comic. I don't want start thinking about other stuff and lose focus. I’m trying to finish the last leg of the story because I already did all the set-up for the way it's ending, so we're going to head to that.
Aside from that, I do have a lot of projects I would like to work on. Lots of different other genres I want to explore because I’ve been experimenting on some different tones and atmospheres with I Love Yoo itself. I think I could do horror or excel in psychological stuff, and I'm gauging the audiences' reaction to validate that I can do it.
What do you hope fans ultimately take away from I Love Yoo and is there anything you’d like to say to them now?
It's okay to like morally gray characters. I want the fans to know they don't have to pick a character. If you like one character, that doesn’t mean you hate everyone else, or you support their views. A character is a character and it’s a fictional universe. If you support a character, it doesn't mean you support everything they're doing, you just happen to like the character. Not everyone is perfect. My characters are not great people. They're all morally gray characters, but that’s okay because that's what makes interesting writing. I also want to thank them for their support. I wouldn't be out here without the readers, and I’m very thankful for them.
New episodes of I Love Yoo are released every Friday on WEBTOON.