Moving: Does the finale follow the webtoon?
Disney+Kang Full’s Moving webtoon was developed into a well-received K-drama that aired a three-episode finale with the main characters fighting to stay alive. But does the K-drama stick to the webtoon story until the very end?
Prior to the finale, fans were worried as Bong-seok and Hui-soo were going up against a highly trained flying North Korean soldier. At the same time, their parents and Kang-hoon are in danger back at the high school as a group of North Koreans infiltrate to find information and kill the adults.
Tensions ran high until the very end of the Moving finale. Thanks to Kang Full, he helped bring his original storyline to life as he wrote a majority of the K-drama script. Many fans have only watched the K-drama, and have yet to read the full webtoon.
Fans have praised the K-drama for its perfect casting of the main characters, but what about the adaptation of the written source material? There are a few changes that have to be discussed. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
North Korean Doek-yoon is drastically different in Moving webtoon
The setting and overall concept of the final battle in The Moving finale do follow the webtoon, but there are some major changes to the character Deok-yoon.
Deok-yoon and his team infiltrate the school while Mi-hyun and Ju-won are there for a meeting with Il-hwan. Their purpose stays the same: they are looking for his files on potentially gifted students, and to test them. But there’s also the small detail of them believing Ju-won and Mi-hyun aren’t as powerful due to their older age. The Moving K-drama never includes this as a main detail for the North Korean’s attack on them.
Another change was Deok-yoon’s moral character. Fans were impressed that Deok-yoon had a sense of compassion toward his comrades. He felt like the country he’d served used them as pawns and sacrifices. In Moving, he also has a bond with Yong-deuk and Jun-hwa. He’s almost scared to let Yong-deuk go over the fear of losing him. When Jun-hwa’s hand gets severed, he tells him to flee because he has a family to protect.
Here’s where the webtoon tells a different story. In the webtoon, Yong-deuk harbors ill feelings toward Deok-yoon due to his mistreatment of him during his training. Like the K-drama, Deok-yoon is over the roof ledge at risk of plummeting to his death. But in the series, he decides to sacrifice himself to try and stop the vicious chain that has been created.
The webtoon tells a drastically different story. Holding on for his life as Ju-won flung him over, he yells to Yong-deuk – who’s in a classroom below – to save him. Remembering his past, he denies helping his boss and lets him die. Don’t worry, Hui-soo does find him later crying and she consoles him like the K-drama. Jun-hwa does fight Bong-seok and Hui-soo in the gym before getting called off and Bong-seok’s reveal of superhearing is also portrayed.
Moving webtoon doesn’t have Gye-do and Jae-seok in the battle
A major difference in the Moving finale compared to the webtoon is that Gye-do isn’t the one who severs Jun-hwa’s hand and the supersonic North Korean Jae-seok isn’t a secret weapon.
In the K-drama, Jae-seok was a prisoner since he was a child. But he developed supersonic powers and was only used as a secret weapon. He’s called in by Deok-yoon to fight the others. He too had a bond with Yong-deuk and when fatally wounded, he says his goodbyes to his friend and creates a sonic boom that collapses half the school. This character doesn’t appear in the webtoon finale.
The Moving finale also has Gye-do follow Hui-soo to the school and use his electrical powers to send a powerful strike that severs Jun-hwa’s hand and saves Bong-seok and Mi-hyun. In the webtoon, it happens differently. Bong-seok beats the pulp out of him, but Jun-hwa gets the upper hand and points a gun at him.
Mi-hyun screams for help and alerts Kang-hoon and Jae-man in the classroom below. Kang-hoon grabs a pipe and is flung outside the window with the help of his father. He releases the pipe at full force toward Jun-hwa and it severs his hand.
How Jun-hwa gets away is also different. In the Moving finale, Deok-yoon tells him to flee, which is true in the webtoon. Bong-seok goes after him, but Jun-hwa pleads to let him go because he wants to see his mother. Understanding, Bong-seok lets him go.
The happily ever after in Moving finale is the same as the webtoon
For the most part, the Moving finale follows the webtoon until the end, including what Hui-soo, Bong-seok, and Kang-hoon do after graduation.
After the events at school, all three of the characters graduate and Il-hwan is a teacher again. But the K-drama has Kang-hoon join the NIS out of his own free will. The Moving webtoon makes it a point that Kang-hoon has no choice because it was a deal made when he was young to protect his father.
Hui-soo does get into college and Yong-deuk works with Ju-won at the chicken restaurant. She calls him uncle and they become a comical family. At the same time, the news reports a flying hero wearing a yellow jacket saving people from a fire. Hui-soo knows it’s Bong-seok. The K-drama has her look at the bullet scar on her arm, but in the webtoon, she was shot in the stomach.
What about Doo-sik’s reunion with his family? In the webtoon, it’s not as emotional. On a rooftop, you can hear Mi-hyun and Bong-seok talking before seeing footprints in the snow. The webtoon doesn’t show Doo-sik reuniting with his wife and son on the purple rooftop like the K-drama.
The Moving webtoon also doesn’t show Doo-sik killing the NIS director or Jun-hwa killing the North Korean general. There’s also no post-credits scene storyline teasing a Season 2 like the K-drama.
You can read more K-drama news here, find out where to read the original Moving webtoon here, read Kang Full’s comment on the use of AI here, and why actor Lee Jung-ha was happy gaining weight for the K-drama here.