The Painted Soul: How Rakuten Viki and Imaginus Are Redrawing K-Animation

SAN MATEO, Calif. – October 09, 2026

In the modern streaming landscape, resilience is rarely found in the sheer volume of a content library. Instead, consistent value creation stems from proprietary ownership and the strategic leverage of emerging technologies. Rakuten Viki’s latest announcement perfectly encapsulates this shift. The San Mateo-based streaming platform has partnered with South Korean production powerhouse Imaginus to co-produce a new original animated series, The Painted Soul. Premiering globally on October 21, the 10-episode fantasy romance signals a critical evolution in how niche platforms navigate industry headwinds and build permanent moats against global competitors.

The Painted Soul follows Yun Hwa, an apprentice spirit painter who accidentally frees Seol Jin, a mysterious figure sealed inside a painting for decades. Directed by Choi Junbae, a veteran of high-stakes live-action thrillers, the series blends traditional Eastern aesthetics with cutting-edge production techniques. Yet, looking beneath the surface of this fantasy romance reveals a masterclass in defensive business strategy, cross-medium creative adaptation, and the calculated integration of artificial intelligence in modern storytelling.

The IP Imperative in a Volatile Market

To understand the strategic weight of The Painted Soul, one must look at the structural headwinds Rakuten Viki has faced over the past year. In December 2025, Viki’s content-sharing partnership with KOCOWA—a joint venture of Korea’s major broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS—came to an end. This separation resulted in the sudden loss of over 40,000 hours of library content. For a platform serving more than 127 million registered users across 190 countries, a licensing gap of this magnitude could have been catastrophic.

Instead of engaging in a bidding war for third-party licenses to fill the void, Viki accelerated its transition toward an "investor-producer" model. By co-financing and producing original content, Viki secures exclusive global rights and builds a proprietary intellectual property library that cannot be pulled by external distributors.

"Our fans have told us they want more animated content, and they're going to love The Painted Soul, a fantasy romance with a visual style unlike anything else on Viki," said Jaehee Hong, chief content officer at Viki. "We're always looking for new stories from Korea and beyond to share with our audience. We plan to bring more animation to our platform, and this is just the start."

This strategy transforms a vulnerability into a long-term asset. Original animation, in particular, offers a unique value proposition. It caters directly to Viki's core demographic—reportedly 63% Millennials and Gen Z—who demonstrate a high affinity for both Asian animation and romance-fantasy genres. By owning the IP, Viki defends its subscriber base against streaming giants like Netflix and Crunchyroll, ensuring that its core audience has a compelling, exclusive reason to remain on the platform.

Artificial Intelligence and the Economics of Imagination

The production partner for this venture, Imaginus, is a case study in rapid value creation. Founded in December 2021 by Jinnie Choi, the former CEO of CJ ENM’s Studio Dragon, Imaginus has quickly become a formidable force in South Korean entertainment. Backed by nearly $40 million in funding and currently preparing for an initial public offering, the studio operates as a creator collective that embraces technological disruption.

For The Painted Soul, Imaginus utilized artificial intelligence and other digital technologies to develop the concept and storytelling. In an industry currently debating the role of automated content, Imaginus is demonstrating how AI can be deployed as a creative lever rather than a human replacement.

"At their core, our team of artists always wants to tell the most compelling stories," said Hyunjung Lee, chief creative officer at Imaginus. "We worked hard to make The Painted Soul an intriguing watch for viewers, and with the use of exciting new technologies, we were able to enhance our storytelling in meaningful ways. We are looking forward to the debut of The Painted Soul on the Viki platform."

The integration of AI in the conceptualization phase allows studios to rapidly iterate visual styles and narrative structures, lowering the barrier to high-fidelity world-building. This hybrid approach—where AI accelerates the generation of ideas and human artists curate and refine the execution—is becoming the new normal for forward-thinking production houses. It is an efficiency play that maximizes creative output without inflating production budgets, a vital metric for any studio eyeing public markets.

The Showrunner Shift: Finding Freedom in Animation

The selection of Choi Junbae to direct The Painted Soul highlights a fascinating trend within the South Korean entertainment industry: the migration of established live-action directors to the animated medium. Choi is best known for helming complex, suspenseful live-action series such as the serial killer thriller Mouse and the action-comedy Stealer: The Treasure Keeper.

Transitioning from gritty live-action thrillers to an animated romantic fantasy may seem unorthodox, but it speaks to the unconstrained nature of animation. In live-action production, directors are constantly battling logistical limitations, ballooning visual effects budgets, and the physical constraints of set design. Animation removes these barriers, offering a limitless canvas for visual storytelling.

Choi’s background in crafting intricate plots and maintaining high narrative tension is highly transferable. By applying a live-action directorial sensibility to an animated format, The Painted Soul is positioned to offer a depth of character development and pacing that elevates it above standard genre fare. This cross-pollination of talent is a strong indicator of the maturing landscape of Korean animation, attracting top-tier creators who recognize the medium's expansive potential.

Exporting Korean Animation to the Global Stage

While South Korea has firmly established itself as a global powerhouse in live-action television and music, its animation sector—often referred to as Aeni—has experienced a more complex trajectory. Recent industry data indicates robust domestic growth, with the Korean animation sector expanding by 16.5% domestically in early 2025. However, this domestic success has not seamlessly translated into international dominance. During that same period, Korean animation exports saw a significant decline, highlighting the difficulty of breaking into a global market heavily dominated by Japanese anime and Western animation.

This is where the partnership between Imaginus and Rakuten Viki becomes a critical catalyst. Viki provides the missing link: a massive, dedicated global distribution network spanning the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, India, and Southeast Asia. By placing The Painted Soul exclusively on a platform with over 127 million registered users who are already primed for Asian entertainment, Imaginus bypasses traditional export hurdles.

The co-production of The Painted Soul is more than just a new title on a streaming roster; it is a blueprint for the future of Korean entertainment. It demonstrates how platforms can build resilience through proprietary IP, how studios can leverage AI to enhance creative economics, and how domestic animation can finally secure a foothold on the global stage.