While up-and-coming K-pop group MAYHEM is steadily rising in popularity, the group's fame comes at a price. Pressured by the CEO of the company who believes any press is good press, member Jaewon a.k.a Wyld is forced to portray a controversial persona. As MAYHEM's "bad boy", 'Wyld' is a playboy entangled in nonstop rumors and scandals. Hiding behind his fellow members' backs, Jaewon must endure the fickle press in order to help keep MAYHEM's momentum going.
On top of all that, being an idol is no small feat. Jaewon must navigate through dangerous unwanted attention and the strongly hierarchal and competitive structure of the entertainment industry.
Lost in Translation began as a self-published project on Tapas and Webtoon Canvas on July 21, 2017. In 2019, the series was picked up and licensed by Webtoon Originals and the previous version was deleted. On February 13, 2020 the series officially relaunched with the prologue and three chapters. It can be found here
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This series provides examples of:
- A Day In The Lime Light: While the series is focused on Jaewon/Wyld, there are episodes dedicated to the other members.
- Art Shift: Some scenes will shift the characters into chibi versions of themselves and back again.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Ugliness is correlated with sketchiness.
- Bland-Name Product: Instead of "Naver", "Nover" is used.
- Celebrity Is Overrated: Arguably the series is based off this trope.
- False Confession: What began Jaewon's scandalous reputation.
- Formerly Fat: Minyoung. Her body image issues stem from this
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: When Dongho was living on his own, he had a cat named Boba.
- Korean Pop Music: MAYHEM is a K-pop band
- Mean Boss: CEO Kang. He seems to prioritize the company's economic status and will emotionally manipulate Jaewon/Wyld into continuing the false rumors.
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Jaewon/Wyld isolated himself from his members to the point where they thought he hated them. As they get more familiar with each other, Jaewon's selflessness shines through.
- Nice Guy: Daehyun
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Daehyun (Dae) is inspired by Jae from DAY 6.
- Not What It Looks Like: Jaewon/Wyld has a lot of these. All his scandals are based off of extraordinarily unfortunate misunderstandings or staged by the CEO.
- Villain Reveals the Secret: The CEO reveals Jaewon's status as an idol (and a controversial one at that) to his mother.
Episodes of this series provide examples of:
- Delinquent Hair: Discussed by Jun when he asks Jaewon if he's a criminal because of his dyed red hair.Jun: So... Your hair. Why'd you dye it red? Are you in a gang or something?
- Stalker with a Crush: Sohee, an obsessed fan, stalks Jaewon with various methods and eventually manages to get in his bedroom in Episode 19
