As a WEBTOON Original With Artist Jor Ros

(Los Angeles, CA)  HiHi Studios — the manga and anime-led studio co-founded by streaming icon Valkyrae and Range Media’s Kai Gayoso — is announcing a new strategic partnership with start-up Otherly Productions, a next-generation studio reimagining how original franchises are created, launched, and scaled for today’s audiences. The first of their collaborations is BAD INFLUENCE, a high-energy, emotionally-raw sci-fi thriller set in a world of candy-colored lies, illustrated by the Barcelona-based artist Jor Ros and co-written by Orson James and Roman Calais. The first three episodes of BAD INFLUENCE are now available as a WEBTOON Original, with subsequent episodes dropping every Thursday. Readers have the option to unlock up to three additional episodes using WEBTOON’s Fast Pass feature.

In BAD INFLUENCE, the city of Weisshorn is a surveillance city, where life is a never-ending parade–literally. Mascots smile from every screen, propaganda loops in cheery jingles, and the people are kept docile by distraction. At the center of it all is Oswald, a charismatic dictator with a showman’s flair and a deep need to control the story everyone lives inside. 

The series follows the adventures of Nel — a hot-headed and haunted young woman, who isn’t buying the dream sold to the masses. Nel joins a rebel gang to take the system down. But the deeper she digs, the weirder it gets. She unearths glitches, ghosts, and truths that no one wants uncovered. Reality’s falling apart. And Nel might be next.

“BAD INFLUENCE is about a reluctant rebel fighting back against the system,” said co-writer Orson James. “Weisshorn is a broad-smiling dystopia where control is asserted through entertainment.The system doesn’t just rule with fear — it distracts, dazzles, and scripts your life through spectacle. If everyone’s smiling, how bad can it be? It’s the surveillance state dressed up as a theme park.”

“Nel’s rebellion is an act of self-discovery,” said Roman Calais. “Nel isn’t just fighting the regime — she’s trying to figure out who she is beneath the roles she’s been forced into. Life in Weisshorn is a mess of lies and trauma, and Nel’s ready to break out. But she’s not the chosen one. She feels lost, confused. Nel carries herself like a fighter, but behind that is a young woman patching over the cracks of doubt and insecurity with stubbornness and sheer will. And, in this world, holding it together might be the most radical act of all.”

Partnering on Otherly Production’s debut is HiHi Studios, a manga and anime-led studio, co-founded by Range Media’s Kai Gayoso and streaming icon Valkyrae (13M+ subscribers). “My community has always been the heart of everything I do,” said Valkyrae, Co-Founder of HiHi Studios. “When I saw what Otherly was building, I knew I had to be part of it. This partnership lets us launch and grow worlds fans will truly care about. Our first IP, BAD INFLUENCE, is weird, wild, and full of heart — and I’m so proud of it. Even if you’ve never read a comic in your life, trust me – once you start scrolling, you’ll be hooked.”

BAD INFLUENCE is available now as a WEBTOON Original, tapping into WEBTOON’s millions of monthly readers and popular vertical scrolling format. Designed for cross-platform expansion, the release is the first step in a broader strategy to scale creator-owned worlds across short-form video, interactive experiences, merch, and long-form content.

“With a pipeline of similar projects launching in the coming year, the partnership with HiHi Studios reimagines how IP can be launched, scaled, and sustained — built for fandom from the ground up, and designed to meet audiences where they already are,” said Otherly’s Bryan St. John.

“BAD INFLUENCE is about defiance, and being bold enough to break away from scripts and algorithms,” said Jor Ros. “The story of Nel, a deeply flawed yet earnest misfit, who is just trying to find her sense of belonging in a world she feels largely disconnected from, has been an incredible experience and opportunity as an artist. I’ve developed a deep bond with the characters in this world, and I think everyone will be able to see part of themselves in them. After all, their story boils down to people trying to figure things out in a relentless world that won’t stop yelling at you so that it can capture your full attention, all of the time.”

For more information follow Otherly Productions on Instagram, TikTok, X, BlueSky and YouTube.

For more information follow HiHi studios on Instagram and follow Valkyrae on Instagram, Tik Tok and Youtube.