[비즈한국] Around the turn of the millennium, there were creators who left the medium of paper and headed for the ‘Web.’ Breaking free from the shackles of publishing and distribution, they experimented with creative work in new media, and even birthed genres that hadn't existed before, such as ‘empathy-toons’ and ‘emotional-toons.’ Works that depicted their daily lives and thoughts through ‘self-characters’ (personas) drawn in a relatively light style captured the hearts of readers and established a new trend. One might say they were similar to the everyday YouTubers of today.
Just as one's personal diary remains as homework while ‘Nanjung Ilgi’ (War Diary of Admiral Yi Sun-sin) remains a masterpiece, not every daily life story becomes a work of art. Daily life only becomes a work that garners readers' interest when it is imbued with meaning and approaches them as an extraordinary, non-daily occurrence. Thus, ‘daily-life toons’ are not easy. Just as it is hardest to cook a good meal, even though we eat three times a day.
Cartoonist Kim Fanta, who debuted in 2006, has been consistently drawing ‘daily-life toons’ for 20 years. I met with Kim, who recently published ‘Memes and Idioms that You Understand at a Glance,’ at a Mala specialty restaurant in Sinchon this August, amidst the peak of the midsummer heat.
Meeting ‘My Food’ While Chasing Trends
If Mao Zedong's small spark set the fields of China ablaze, the spicy and numbing taste of Mala (麻辣) has set the mouths of Koreans on fire. Looking at media reports, the craze for Mala in Korea seems to have started around 2019, and unlike the short-lived flashes of Taiwanese Castella, Tanghulu, or Ddu-jjon-ku, Mala continues to enjoy great popularity. The Mala spiciness, which has a different texture from the "Korean spicy taste," has caused a major ripple, especially among the younger generation, and it now seems to have settled into our daily lives, moving beyond the level of just an exotic food.
Kim Fanta says she also tried Mala by chasing this trend. “Since I’m a content professional, I have no choice but to be sensitive to trends. So if Tanghulu is trending, I have to go try it once. I tried Mala for that reason, and I found that Mala Xiang Guo (麻辣香锅) suited my palate. I was fascinated by how it was different from Korean spiciness, and now, whenever I get stressed, I say, ‘Let's go eat Mala Xiang Guo!’” When she casually referred to herself as a ‘content professional,’ I could sense her desire for her creative work to be seen as a professional daily activity rather than being placed on a pedestal of mystery and authority.
If Mala-tang (麻辣烫) is a soup dish where ingredients are added to broth and boiled, Mala Xiang Guo is a stir-fry dish where ingredients are sautéed in Mala sauce and oil. In typical Mala restaurants, customers place desired ingredients like meat, vegetables, and noodles in a bowl, and the kitchen prepares them in the requested style; this slightly unfamiliar method sometimes leads to funny happenings. The artist also said she was embarrassed when she first put all sorts of ingredients into a bowl and the resulting portion was too large.
Having read the Ko Woo-young series as a child and delved into Chinese history, the artist has now drawn ‘Memes and Idioms,’ which deals with Chinese classical stories. As we talked about Chinese history and culture, the topic naturally led to Chinese food. The artist mentioned that Liangpi (凉皮), a Chinese-style chewy noodle, and Roujiamo (肉夹馍), which is similar to a hamburger, that she tasted while traveling in Xi'an, remain in her memory.
While ordering a carbonated drink to soothe our numbed tongues, I took the opportunity to ask about her pen name ‘Fanta,’ which I had been curious about all along. As I guessed, the artist took the name from the drink Fanta, and when I asked which flavor she prefers, she replied that the original Fanta is orange.
“If it were these days, I would have become a YouTuber”
The artist has been drawing cartoons since high school. In college, she published fanzines at events like Comic World, which caught the eyes of publishing officials, leading to freelance illustration work and short cartoons. The early to mid-2000s was a time when publishers of cartoon magazines still existed.
Unable to endure the murderous schedule of publishing cartoons, she worked as an English teacher after graduating from college, but even then, she would occasionally upload cartoons to her blog. The collection of these works is ‘Fanta-stic Cosmetics.’ It was a time when content posted in online spaces was being actively compiled into books. The artist added that if it were today, she would have become a YouTuber, and she expressed the opinion that the reason the younger generation is drawn to video content isn't entirely their own will, but also due to social factors like specific media experiences. It was an insight befitting an artist who responds sensitively to shifting times while never losing hold of what she loves.
Kim Fanta-style content condensing daily life
Just as the information the artist gathered with difficulty when there wasn't much content about cosmetics became the material for ‘Fanta-stic Cosmetics,’ works such as ‘Idling Fanta-stic European Travelogue’ and ‘Birth of a Married Woman’ are also based on the artist's experiences and observations. The desire to help others avoid the hardships she went through became her creative motivation. It is Kim Fanta's retort to the world's criticism of "why teach others if you've learned something."
The same applies to ‘Memes and Idioms.’ Seeing her child learn new slang and abbreviations through YouTube, the artist realized that the compressed assembly method of today's language, including memes, resembles classical idioms, and she began drawing educational comics for her children. By being selected for a support project by the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency, she gained confidence and momentum in her creative work. One can sense the heart of the artist, who is also a mother and a teacher.
A necessary element in the process of Kim Fanta reconstructing her daily experiences into cartoons is the time it takes to mature. For example, there is a two-year time gap between reality and the work ‘Birth of a Married Woman.’ Her creative attitude of allowing a maturation period between experience and expression differs from the generalized method of ‘daily-life toons’ that are closer to live broadcasts. It is a unique characteristic of Kim Fanta to calm down fluttering emotions, like heat, to present works that are both comfortable and deep.
In the age of AI, cartoons that are like Mala-tang, filled with human experience…
At the end of the talk about trends, the topic of AI (Artificial Intelligence), which is a hot topic in the cartoon world, came up. The artist believed that while the flow of AI cannot be resisted, the significance of what humans directly experience will become even more important.
“I went to Seoraksan Mountain with my husband a while ago, and I grumbled at first because I didn't want to go. But on the way down, I found myself looking for good hiking boots. It was good because I tried it. When I told my PD this, he said that’s a characteristic of a 'control freak,' and that people like that need to experience things firsthand to control their emotions. I think that experience is essential in today’s world. In an age where anyone can easily have indirect experiences, wouldn’t human insights gained through direct experience become important?”
Hearing the artist's words, I wondered what it would be like if AI could describe human emotions, but humans had never actually felt those emotions themselves. While one cannot find the answers to all problems in experience, perhaps a large part of what constitutes ‘being human’ is still experience. Thus, perhaps drawing out human insights will remain the role of humans for a long time to come. I learn from an artist who drew cartoons because she watched them, and who draws cartoons because she wants to share what she has experienced and learned.
Kim Fanta hints that her next project is an educational comic based on English vocabulary. Her background as an English teacher comes to mind, and the artist herself laughs, saying she thinks a universe of some kind is pushing her in this direction. She mentions that she is also working on a project using Chinese character radicals, recalling how she suffered because of difficult Chinese characters while studying the language. I hope that the artist's wish—that her experiences will lead to joy and new experiences for children and readers—reaches them.
As I wrapped up the interview, the artist added one more thing. “But don’t you think my cartoons are like Mala-tang? Boiling together various experiences I’ve gathered.” I nodded in agreement. A cartoon that produces a spicy and numbing, unique flavor using the ingredients of daily life—that is the cartoon of Kim Fanta.
She debuted in 2006 after serializing a cartoon containing makeup know-how, and has since consistently drawn works including ‘Fanta-stic Cosmetics’ (Haksan Munhwasa, 2008), ‘Fanta-stic Cosmetics for Men’ (Haksan Munhwasa, 2011), the European travelogue ‘Idling Fanta-stic European Travelogue’ (Joongang Books, 2013), and ‘Birth of a Married Woman’ (Kakao Webtoon, 2014-2026), which covers the process from marriage to childbirth, child-rearing, and family life. Recently, she published ‘Memes and Idioms that You Understand at a Glance’ (2026), which can be considered an educational cartoon for classical idioms, as a book after serializing it as an Instagram toon. Her Instagram account is @kimfanta, where you can see updates, news of new works, and personal projects.