- Strategic publisher partnerships fuel BL bestsellers—merchandise drives explosive revenue growth

Contents First, the company behind the global webtoon platform Tappytoon, announced that its official merchandise shop 'Club JEM' recorded approximately 580% revenue growth over the past year.

Tappytoon is expanding its North American webtoon graphic novel distribution network by leveraging proven IP. Following a 2023 partnership with Penguin Random House, the platform secured a 2025 partnership with Seven Seas Entertainment, a leading North American publisher of manga and webtoons. The company has now built a diverse lineup spanning Romance Fantasy to BL (Boy's Love).

Performance has been particularly strong in the Boys Love category. Cherry Blossoms After Winter reached #1 on Amazon's BL Manga Best Sellers list and is now four volumes in. Wet Sand climbed to #17, and Dear. Door, released in October, landed at #8. These results demonstrate the synergy between Tappytoon's IP curation and its partners' publishing expertise.

Print success is also fueling offline momentum. At Anime NYC 2025 in August, Tappytoon and Inklore (a global pop-comics imprint of the Random House Worlds) showcased the newly released English print edition of King's Maker Vol. 1. The Club JEM merchandise booth offered limited-edition items for sale timed to print releases of King's Maker, The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway, and Wet Sand, drawing enthusiastic fan responses.

Contents First's strategy of synchronizing print and merchandise releases is producing substantial results. When the English graphic novel for BL webtoon Dear. Door launched in October 2025 from publisher Seven Seas, Club JEM released a limited merch set featuring a cover wrap, bookmarks, stickers, among other exclusive items. The prepared inventory sold out early, prompting a second pre-order run for the set, demonstrating how graphic novel launches can extend to immediate merchandise demand. Club JEM serves as Tappytoon's official merchandise shop for global fans.

“Merchandise for webtoons and stories from Korea is still nascent, but our global fans have shown over time that they want more of everything we bring,” said Ernest Woo, Chief Strategy Officer at Contents First. “After such an overwhelming response this past year both on- and offline, we’re excited to expand Club JEM merch and build upon Tappytoon’s decade of IP curation and platform experience.”

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“After such an overwhelming response this past year both on- and offline, we’re excited to expand Club JEM merch and build upon Tappytoon’s decade of IP curation and platform experience.”