Interview with Eosahwa, the Creator of <Extraordinary Night>
Meet the Trending Creator
vol. 236
[Extraordinary Night]
Creator Eosahwa | NAVER WEBTOON
"Truly precious things, must be hidden away carefully."
"I will give it a name you can never take away."
"Even when life feels hopeless and nothing but darkness..."
"Let's not give up on living before our time is up."
A work we desperately want to introduce in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of recovering our light.
The journey of 'Cho-hee', who listens to the hearts of the dead, and 'Won', a black tiger who is more human than anyone else on the boundary between human and beast.
Our interview with Creator Eosahwa of <Extraordinary Night>,
begins right now!
[INTRO]
Q. Creator Eosahwa! Thank you for joining us for this interview! Could you briefly introduce yourselves before we begin?
A. Hello, we are Eosahwa, the creators of <Extraordinary Night>.
For questions that require both of our perspectives, we'll answer separately using ☀️ and 🌙.
We look forward to speaking with you.
[About Eosahwa]
Q. We learned that two creators work together under the single pen name 'Eosahwa'! How did you come to work together?
A. We met in college as classmates.
We became close because we shared similar tastes, and we promised to work together someday, but it didn't happen right away.
🌙: Right before graduation, I had a great opportunity to go abroad as an exchange student and intern.
I had many experiences there, but the most memorable part was introducing myself as being from Korea.
You don't usually have to introduce yourself as Korean when you're in Korea, right?
My internship had almost nothing to do with comics, which actually fueled my desire to create stories that were deeply Korean.
☀️: We went to the same college. We got close because we shared the same aesthetic preferences.
After agreeing to work together in the future, we went our separate ways after graduation depending on our situations. I learned 3D on my own and got a corporate job.
The company I joined was a nice and friendly place, but the commute was two hours each way, which was exhausting.
When it was almost a year, 🌙 happened to return from abroad.
At the time, Pixar's 'Soul' was in theaters, and watching that movie made me decide to quit my job.
And just as we promised, we decided to make a comic together and achieve our dream.
△ Collection of unreleased panels
Q. What kind of work did you do before working under the pen name 'Eosahwa'?
A. 🌙: I worked as an adaptation and storyboard artist. I also prepared to become a producer (PD) for a brief time.
☀️: Before working as Eosahwa, it was my first time officially working on a webtoon, so I joined another creator as an assistant.
My role was to assist with the creator's storyboards, which allowed me to observe the entire webtoon production process up close.
This experience was incredibly helpful. I am truly grateful for it!
Q. Even if you work together, there must be times when you clash while incorporating your personal tastes and values into the work.
How do you resolve these differences in opinion?
A. The process of coordinating our opinions is always fierce.
Even though we've been friends for a long time and thought we knew each other's tastes well,
when we look closely, we often discover differences or things we didn't know about each other.
When our opinions differ, we go through a process of trying to persuade each other, and then we choose the option that better suits the overarching theme of the story.
Q. Your working styles might also differ. Are there differences in what each of you considers more important when plotting the story or drawing?
Or, if there are aspects where your styles match perfectly, please tell us how!
A. ☀️: I tend to place importance on timeliness and emotional details.
If you look closely, the Japanese colonial era and the present have many similarities, and there are still many things that influence us today.
So, I thought it would be nice if we could look at the reality we live in from a different perspective.
That's why I also wanted to depict the characters' emotions extensively.
However, if you focus too much on these aspects, the progression of events can become slow and seem scattered.
In contrast to me, 🌙 pursues narrative consistency, logic, and accuracy,
which is why <Extraordinary Night> hasn't gone off the rails.
The thing we share perfectly in common is the atmosphere we're aiming for.
Following Cho-hee and Won while uncovering the dark and bizarre aspects hidden behind ordinary daily life is a truly fascinating process.
🌙: I consider thematic consistency and logical progression to be important.
However, if I only focus on this, the story becomes too rigid and the characters lose their charm,
so I rely a lot on ☀️ when it comes to emotions and characterization.
The kind of character I can utilize well is someone emotionally dry like Cho-hee.
The parts where we match well seem to be our shared emphasis on timeliness, our perspective on violence, and our preference for dark atmospheres.
△ A scene where a piece of Cho-hee's heart is revealed
Q. Seeing that your work is set in modern history and your pen name is 'Eosahwa', it seems both of you are highly interested in historical themes.
Are there any other eras you find appealing as story materials?
A. ☀️: Actually, it hasn't been long since I became interested in history. My social studies grades weren't good in school either...
But starting around my college graduation, I began to feel intrigued as I organized the fragmented information I knew in chronological order.
So now, I find charm in various eras and enjoy researching them.
I think I liked the Crusades, the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, and the Second Industrial Revolution even when I was a student.
The more I learn, the more fascinating it becomes because there are many things you couldn't imagine in the modern era.
I'm also interested in Viking culture and the Aztec civilization. In Korean history, it's definitely the Three Kingdoms period (especially Silla) and the early Joseon dynasty!
🌙: I am interested in modern history post-Korean War.
While researching the Japanese colonial era, I am repeatedly surprised that not even 100 years have passed,
and my feelings about Korea's modern history, which used to feel distant, have changed a bit.
△ Praying for the peace of the countless people who were in the square that day
Q. We're curious about the studio where you both work together!
A. Fascinatingly, it's a studio with a wooden gate.
However, because the house is over 70 years old, it is quite tough dealing with the heat and the cold.
Q. Please let us know if there are any comics you each loved or still enjoy reading!
A. ☀️: For Korean comics, I like Creator Wanan's <HANA> and <No Home>,
Creator Lee Hak's <Fight Class 3>, and Creator Yang Young-soon's <Denma>.
For Japanese manga, I like Ryoko Kui's <Delicious in Dungeon>, Makoto Yukimura's <Vinland Saga>,
and Hitoshi Iwaaki's <Historie>. I highly recommend them!
🌙: I love all of Creator Wanan's works.
I also found Hitoshi Iwaaki's <Parasyte>, Uoto's <Orb: On the Movements of the Earth>,
and Ryoko Kui's <Delicious in Dungeon> very impressive.
I tend to watch more video media, actually.
I like <Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind>, <Princess Mononoke>, <Gattaca>, <The Shawshank Redemption>, <Million Dollar Baby>,
<Everything Everywhere All at Once>, <The Handmaiden>, <Parasite>, and Netflix's <Black Mirror> series.
Q. Do you have any media you often watch or music you play while working?
A. ☀️: When working, I listen to record vinyl audio to feel the atmosphere of the era.
When I'm doing tasks that don't require thinking, I listen to 'Talkmentary War History,' which I highly recommend.
🌙: I can't have any sound on when I need to concentrate, but when I'm doing physical labor tasks, I often play ghost stories in the background.
[About <Extraordinary Night>]
Q. Fantasy, period piece, and forensics...
Even when looking at them individually, these elements require a lot of preparation, so it's surprising to see them all combined in one work.
I'm curious how and whose tastes were reflected during the planning stages of this project!
A. Both of our tastes were fully reflected.
Because we met and conceptualized this with the goal of working together, we were able to find the intersection of our tastes.
When we first conceptualized <Extraordinary Night>, we even talked about an ensemble drama, a treasure hunt chase, or a mansion mystery. Can you imagine that?
Q. As the Japanese colonial era is a painful part of history, it has been reimagined in various stories across many forms of content.
<Extraordinary Night> creates a slightly different atmosphere by combining fantasy with the sensitive topics of the era's conditions and the independence movement.
How did you end up choosing the black tiger as a subject?
A. Extraordinary Night was first planned in 2022, the Year of the Black Tiger (Im-in year).
While brainstorming things related to tigers, we saw a Jakho-do (a traditional painting of a tiger and a magpie),
and we talked about how it would be interesting if all the animals were pitch black.
Based on that, the current black tiger, Won, and Cho-hee, who is called a crow, came to be.
△ The black tiger 'Won' and the crow 'Cho-hee'
Q. I didn't realize that both the writing and the drawing were collaborative efforts until I read the author's notes.
I couldn't spot any differences in the art style to suggest that two people divided the drawing work. Who created the initial character designs?
A. We're so relieved to hear that it didn't feel disjointed.
The character designs for the main figures—Cho-hee, Black Tiger, and Ja-hoon—were done by 🌙,
while Il-seon, Nagai, Deok-bae, and the other characters' designs were done by ☀️.
△ They are all multi-dimensional characters, so they're overflowing with charm🤭
Q. You mentioned that you work on both the writing and drawing together. Are there any scenes during the storyboard process where your individual tastes were clearly revealed?
A. ☀️: I was happy that people liked the boss's 'cutesy~' eyes.
I also really like the scene in the final chapter of Part 1 where the Black Tiger gets up coldly, as I think the atmosphere turned out great.
Cho-hee's metaphor using the arm, elbow, and hand when she talks about catching Joo Heung-gyeom, and
the scene where Cho-hee walks past the small corpse (Black Tiger) at the fire scene also felt very captivating to me.
🌙: In the latter half of Part 1, when Cho-hee, in despair, uses the hands she had been performing an autopsy with (Actually, it's a very unhygienic scene.) to clutch her face,
and thus, with blood smeared on her face, she says, "It's no use." That's the scene.
△ If you're curious about these scenes, go read the webtoon right now!
Q. You mentioned that you were very shocked when you first decided on the subject matter and started researching.
Are there any specific subjects or incidents among those that were directly used in the work?
A. The Emetine poisoning incident was used directly.
If the 'Hanseong Medical Society' hadn't intervened in this incident that took place in South Hamgyong Province,
the cause of the people's deaths would have almost been concluded as simple cold pneumonia rather than the antibiotics administered by the Japanese.
It was quite shocking that they carried out such clinical trials on civilians.
△...🔥
Q. Set against the backdrop of the Japanese colonial era, the brutal atrocities of the Japanese empire continuously unfold in the work.
It seems you've embedded messages within each episode, personally, Park Ho-jun's line from 'The Name of the Bluebird',
"I will give it a name you can never take away," stayed in my heart for a long time.
In your opinion, which episode best reveals the core message you want to convey?
Or, could you introduce a specific line or scene!
A. The episode that best conveys our intended message in Season 1 is 'The Name of the Crow'.
San-wol was living a life trapped in the death of her missing brother, and
Cho-hee had grown accustomed to killing her own heart while suffering from whispering voices, physical pain, and the gossip of people.
However, when Cho-hee found San-wol's brother, who had turned into a skeleton, San-wol finally faced that death and was only then able to live her own life.
San-wol then tries to share her will to live with Cho-hee. That 'meddling' became a small light for Cho-hee.
Within the story, numerous deaths appear, and the bleakness of the era is depicted, but we wanted to convey that as long as you are alive, you can encounter something sparkling,
therefore, we wanted to send the message to all of us, 'Let's not give up on living before our time is up'.
△ For us who will shine like fireflies🙏
Q. While watching the 'Tiger Tasting Party' episode, I was reminded a lot of the movie 'The Handmaiden'.
Are there any elements inspired by literature, movies, or dramas?
A. Because it's a period piece, we naturally made sure to watch related period dramas and films.
Because we watched stories about people with strong resolve, such as Anarchist from Colony, A Resistance, and Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet,
we think those aspects might have seeped into the characters, and we hope they did.
△...🔥🔥🔥
Q. To include so many elements, it seems you would have had to refine it just as much.
Are there any subjects or episodes you unfortunately had to give up due to length or flow constraints?
A. We are very sad to have left out the materials regarding dog skin requisition and sea lions (Gangchi).
In the early 1900s, dog control and enforcement regulations were implemented by the Japanese,
which involved culling dogs without name tags under the pretext of street hygiene and rabies prevention.
During this process, the people of Joseon fiercely protested, calling it excessive pressure from foreign powers, and it is said that there were even bloody clashes.
In the 1930s, as Japan prepared for war, they requisitioned dog skins for supply provisions, and once again, the people of Joseon had their pet dogs taken away.
The Gangchi also suffered this kind of humiliation; the Gangchi were sea lions that lived in Korea.
The Gangchi were also overhunted to supply war materials, specifically to make their military boots, and the shrinking population eventually led to extinction.
Sea lions and dogs.
We really wanted to shed light on these two subjects that shared a similar fate of sacrifice, but unfortunately, they had to be cut due to the story's progression.
As for the Gangchi, we hear that there is an ongoing project to restore them, so we hope people take an interest in it.
△ If you go to the Dokdo dock, there's a mural of a Gangchi!
Q. You mentioned that during the final editing process, whichever of you is 'less dead(?)' takes charge. Which one of you is more frequently 'dead(?)'...?
A. ☀️: 🌙 worked so hard... so I took over in the later half ^^
🌙: I'm usually the one who passes out more often...
Q. You said the overall storyline has been mapped out. How many parts and total chapters is <Extraordinary Night> planned to have?
A. It is planned to be 2 parts in total, within 100 chapters.
[Outro]
Q. This interview is aiming to be published on March 1st. Coincidentally, this year, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of National Liberation.
We thought this was an absolute perfect opportunity to introduce <Extraordinary Night>! If you agree, make some noise!!
A. Waaaaaaah!
It's truly an honor to be introduced like this in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of National Liberation. As creators of a period piece, we feel incredibly proud.
△ Celebrating the 80th anniversary of National Liberation, and at the same time, we are grateful💐
Q. When are you planning to start serializing Part 2?
A. Our return and the announcement have been very delayed. We think we might be able to return sometime in the second quarter of 2025.
Q. If I have a personal wish, it would be for <Extraordinary Night> merchandise to be released along with the serialization of Part 2... I want a Hoegwangdan lighter. (whisper whisper)
If merch were to be produced, what kind of merchandise would you creators like?
A. ☀️: I like practical merch, so a small cushion shaped like the Black Tiger's face would be nice.
Personally, I'd love to have a fashion book for Cho-hee ^^
🌙: I would also like the Hoegwangdan lighter you mentioned, or the tin case that the Black Tiger cherished, to be produced.
Personally, I've dreamed of an apparel collaboration with a modern Hanbok brand featuring themes of Cho-hee, Black Tiger, Il-seon, and Ja-hoon (...)
△ Merch come out, come out, come out 🙏
Q. Thank you so much for answering this long interview. Please brag a little about your work for the future readers who will soon encounter <Extraordinary Night>!
A. <Extraordinary Night> is the story of 'Black Tiger', an orphaned tiger who meets a bizarre forensic doctor named 'Cho-hee' and vows revenge.
The Black Tiger can turn into a human, and he is growing by experiencing, pondering, and observing people's lives.
Mingling with the people during the Japanese colonial era, how will the Black Tiger change? Will his revenge be successful?
Now, the Black Tiger's final journey will unfold. We sincerely hope you will join us.
△ Hello, Won
Q. Finally, if there's anything you'd like to say to the readers who have been with <Extraordinary Night>, please feel free to share it.
A. We were incredibly grateful that you consistently wrote in the comments that you were waiting for us during our hiatus.
It made our hearts flutter to think that you loved our work enough not to forget or let it fade away despite the long time.
And we were sorry that we couldn't bring any news because the return schedule hadn't been fixed.
But we are overjoyed to be interviewed by Webtoon Guide and to be able to share this with you. We'll see you again soon ^^!!!!!
