D&C Media, Production of Books and Merchandise
Kakao Entertainment Webtoon ‘Beyond Dimensions: Another World Idol’
Achieves 8.8 billion won in Merchandise and Book Funding
The webtoon “Beyond Dimensions: Another World Idol” based on the virtual idol group “Another World Idol” from Parable Entertainment is creating a significant fandom phenomenon among the 10-20 age group.
According to Kakao Entertainment on the 27th, the crowdfunding for the printed book and merchandise of “Beyond Dimensions: Another World Idol” concluded on the 22nd with a record-breaking final total of 8.8 billion won, achieving the highest amount in crowdfunding history.
Following the success of “If I Can’t Debut, I’ll Die”, “Another World Idol” once again sparked a syndrome-level fandom frenzy among the 10-20 age group. The crowdfunding for “Beyond Dimensions” ran from October 23 at 6 PM to November 22 at midnight on the crowdfunding platform Tumblbug. Sales included the webtoon printed edition, a special photo book, figures, keyboards, and various merchandise. The books and merchandise were produced in collaboration with D&C Media, which has over 20 years of publishing expertise.
This crowdfunding achieved an unprecedented final total of 8.8 billion won, with over 35,000 sponsors participating. The average sponsorship per person was about 250,000 won, far exceeding the original goal of 20 million won by approximately 44,000 percent.
The “Beyond Dimensions” funding signaled an early record-breaking achievement, with prior alerts reaching about 30,000 people and surpassing 6.4 billion won within six hours of its launch. This surpassed the previous record fundraising total of approximately 4.2 billion won set by “Magical Girl Another World Idol”—which shares the same universe—and set a new benchmark by a margin of approximately 4.6 billion won for the highest total raised.
The webtoons “Beyond Dimensions” and “Magical Girl Another World Idol” are collaborative projects among Kakao Entertainment, top streamer and YouTuber with 1.72 million followers “UwUAKGOOD”, and Parable Entertainment. The virtual idol group “Another World Idol” consists of six members. Over 500 artists applied for the webtoon collaboration.
“Magical Girl Another World Idol” launched on June 21 and achieved first place in revenue on both KakaoPage and KakaoWebtoon within an hour. Similarly, the webtoon “Beyond Dimensions” launched on July 20 and hit number one in daily revenue on KakaoPage within two hours on its release day, as well as number one in total revenue on KakaoWebtoon.
A representative from Kakao Entertainment noted, “Kakao Entertainment is building a successful business formula for IP based on strong IP fandom with projects like the ‘If I Can’t Debut, I’ll Die’ pop-up store and ‘Another World Idol’ funding. We will continue to discover innovative and diverse IPs at the heart of the IP fandom business.”
Meanwhile, “Another World Idol” is a six-member virtual girl group brought to life by the planning of prominent streamer ‘UwUAKGOOD.’ Their first single album, RE:WIND, released in 2021, quickly amassed a large fanbase (fandom name: ‘Leafy’) among the 10-20 generations. Their third digital single “KIDDING,” released last August, entered the Billboard Korea Top 3 and the Billboard Global 200 Chart.