Kakao's Piccoma app goes viral in Japan with K-style webtoons

Vertical scrolling and binge comics set publisher apart from competition

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The manga app Piccoma has exploded with over 30 million downloads. (Photo by Yuma Ikeshita)

YUMA IKESHITA and SHUNJI ONUKI, Nikkei staff writers

TOKYO -- In just a few years after launching, Piccoma has become the top manga app in Japan by publishing a mass of digital comics adopting the aesthetics of South Korean webtoons.

Kakao Piccoma, owned by South Korean internet company Kakao and based in Tokyo, runs its main comics studio from a condominium in the city's Shibuya district, where artists can be seen working on new webtoons. Last year, the company opened its second and third studios in Seoul and in Tokyo's Roppongi district.

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