Wind Breaker became famous from the budding stage of Korean Webtoon, inspiring countless manhwa stories later - Photo: Webtoon
After more than 10 years with readers, Wind Breaker - one of the most popular sports manhwa on the Webtoon platform - has suddenly announced its cancellation despite having published more than 600 chapters.
The reason is due to the discovery of many acts of copying the paintings of author Jo Yong Seok . This information made the fan community angry and disappointed.
On July 11, the Webtoon platform and author Jo Yong Seok simultaneously confirmed the cancellation of the Wind Breaker series.
In the latest chapter (177), a special notice is attached, in which the author admits to having copied paintings from other artists on the platform to use for his own work over the years.
Jo Yong Seok deeply apologized to fans and Webtoon, admitted his mistake and promised to post the ending of the story on his personal blog to make up for it to readers.
Big shock for Wind Breaker fans and the entire Korean comic community
However, the reaction from the online community is still extremely fierce. Many opinions say that this behavior is unforgivable, especially when Wind Breaker is one of the "icons" of Webtoon with nearly 1 billion views as of 2025.
Wind Breaker premiered on December 8, 2013, telling the story of Jay - a quiet student but possessing a natural talent for cycling, gradually becoming an excellent racer.
The picture frame was copied from a famous moment in Tokyo Ghoul, some readers think this is just an act of gratitude but the frequency of similar comic pages is increasing - Photo: X
The dynamic drawing style, dramatic racing scenes and attractive characters have helped Wind Breaker conquer millions of readers around the world .
With over 600 million reads on Webtoon, the work is considered the catalyst that brought manhwa (Korean comics) to widespread popularity. At one point, Wind Breaker was not inferior to Japanese manga in some popularity rankings.
It was once considered one of the most successful Korean sports series of the decade, and was even nominated for an anime adaptation in the near future.
However, that success was overshadowed by this plagiarism incident. According to information from Webtoon, Jo Yong Seok copied the drawings from many other authors within the platform and "presented" them as his own original work.
It is expected that the author will post the ending of Wind Breaker on his personal blog or publish it as a light novel so that the characters' journeys will be complete - Photo: Webtoon
Fans also pointed out that many panels of Japanese manga such as Tokyo Ghoul; Yowamushi Pedal ... were copied by author Jo Yong Seok and then colored.
This is not the first time the comic book industry has seen a plagiarism scandal, but few cases have been as shocking as this one. Wind Breaker because of its size and popularity.
The deletion of Wind Breaker is considered a great loss for Webtoon in particular and the manhwa industry in general. Not only losing a popular title, Webtoon also faces pressure to restore readers' trust - especially when they always affirm their commitment to respecting copyright and creativity.
Another webtoon was discovered to be a copy of Wind Breaker, fans believe that the pressure of releasing stories every week has exhausted the author Jo Yong Seok and he did this to save time - Photo: Webtoon
The fan community also expressed great disappointment when a work that had been attached to for more than a decade, building a solid position, collapsed because of the author's own mistakes. Many felt betrayed because they had seen Jay as a role model of determination and passion for sports.
However, there are also some opinions calling for author Jo Yong Seok to be given a chance to correct his mistakes, especially since he has publicly admitted and apologized.
However, the majority still believe that canceling the story is the right choice to maintain the principles of transparency and fairness in the online comic creation community.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/truyen-tranh-gan-1-ti-luot-xem-bi-khai-tu-vi-y-an-dao-nhai-manga-manhwa-khac-20250713181302437.htm
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