KOREA FOUNDATION

Characters have the power to garner affection. To Korean kids, Pororo and Pinkfong are such examples. Popular characters developed in Korea naturally reflect elements that Korean consumers favor. In ASEAN countries, the popularity of characters that appeal to local sentiments is also on the rise. The animated series Upin and Ipin is beloved among Malaysian children. The series, which began airing in 2007, features the life and adventures of twin brothers, Upin and Ipin. The show has gained popularity in the predominantly Muslim country for its inclusion of Islamic cultural elements. With their trademark shaved heads, the brothers lead the longest-running animated TV series in Malaysia’s history. Upin and Ipin is so popular that a musical theater rendition has also been produced. As the series features rural landscapes and Islamic cultural elements, it has also become widely popular among the neighboring Islamic countries of ASEAN. The official YouTube channel has 8.75 million subscribers, and some videos have even surpassed 100 million and 200 million views, demonstrating the level of influence that the series now enjoys. In Korea, it was introduced during the ASEAN Film Week held at the ASEAN Culture House in 2019.

Viet Nam also has a number of popularcharacters, among which is the pencil family from the stop-motion animated series Say Hi to Pencil!(Xin chào Bút Chì!). This show tells the story of a sentient pencil and his friends, Yellow,Blue, and Red pens, as they go about their daily lives. Each member of the group has a distinct personality, and the story of achieving their dreams has gained popularity among Vietnamese children. With 1.1million subscribers, the official YouTube channel has dozens of videos with over 10million views. Another animated series, the Seven-Colored Rabbit(which originally appeared as a comic book in 2014, has gained praise for its design, content, and global appeal. The central character, an anthropomorphic rabbit, has a cute face, upright ears, round eyes, and wears colorful accessories, representing the common style of the new generation in Viet Nam. Because it rose to popularity through comic books, rather than starting off as a broadcast series, Seven-Colored Rabbit is considered to be highly scalable in other directions. The cute and simple style of Mamuang(the Thai word for mango), the comic book creation of Thai cartoonist Wisut Ponnimit about a little girl, has garnered widespread praise throughout the country, as well as abroad, thanks to the endearing messages contained in each story, such as “We are connected by our hearts, not data” and “The performance is over, but it remains forever.”

Mamuang has a huge fan base, especially in Japan, where character-based merchandise shops can be found across the country. In 2020, Ponnimit’s solo exhibition for Mamuang was held in Korea as well. The series is beloved in many countries for the frank display of human desires and feelings that touches and inspires people. The surging popularity of local intellectual properties may signal their potential to rival dominant global brands, like Marvel and Disney, at least in regional markets. The characters emerging from ASEAN media may also indicate a newfound cultural confidence, as well as a desire among ASEAN countries to share elements of their culture with wider audiences.Just as Pinkfong’s “shark family”video is loved by children around the world, characters from ASEAN may become a huge hit worldwide in the near future.