Interview: Orson James & Roman Calais on Their New Series BAD INFLUENCE

“May you live in interesting times.”

When I was a kid, I was told that this phrase is an ancient Chinese curse, as interesting can mean a plethora of things, often discord and turmoil. It wasn’t until years later that I learned that the phrase wasn’t Chinese in origin, but probably English, and a misunderstanding at that.

It was one of the many lessons I learned early on: that we shouldn’t take anything at face value, that what we see as truth or novel or even as entertainment is often misappropriated or skewed, in benign to nefarious ways.

“May you live in interesting times.” Regardless of the phrase’s origins, we certainly find ourselves in a world more interesting and uncertain than ever before, if we ever close to certainty in the first place.

That’s why the inaugural episodes of Bad Influence, now on Webtoon, struck such a chord. Written by Orson James and Roman Calais and produced in collaboration with HiHi Studios and Otherly Productions, Bad Influence follows a world that appears fun and an indulgent delight, but whose confectionary surface hides a dark, fascist underbelly. I spoke with James and Calais recently about the idea behind Bad Influence, the sometimes-blurred lines of entertainment and propaganda, and the timeliness of the series.

During our interview, Calais says of Nel, Bad Influence’s protagonist, that she’s tired of fake smiles and can’t pretend the world is well anymore. The world can feel heavy right now, but sometimes fiction can help inspire and make the load less heavy. Bad Influence is certainly doing that so far.

FreakSugar: So, before we get into the webcomic itself, what is the genesis of Bad Influence?

Orson James: We asked, what if Disneyland was a dictatorship? That unlocked lots of interesting creative possibilities for us – this surreal, pop-drenched dystopia where everything looks fun on the surface, but the real cost is your freedom. It also helped that we both worked and met in the world of advertising, so we have first had experience at the art of selling happiness.

Roman Calais: Yeah, Bad Influence is absurd, but also uncomfortably close to real life.

FS: What is the idea behind Bad Influence? How would you describe the series’ characters and world?

OJ: It’s a high-impact, action fantasy-sci-fi thriller – it’s definitely inspired by anime but video game worlds and mechanics as well, with a sharp emotional core. It’s bold, fast, chaotic… and it also has something to say about modern life and culture.

RC: Yes. But it’s also not afraid to slow down. At the heart of it is Nel. She’s reckless, sarcastic, a bit of a loser. But mostly she is over the fake smiles that surround her. She doesn’t trust anyone, but she can’t sit back and pretend things are okay. She’s angry for all the right reasons, and that makes her weirdly hopeful to follow.

OJ: And then there’s Oswald – our villain. But really, he’s more than that. He’s the architect behind Weisshorn, a city that he created. He’s charming, terrifying, and convinced that forced happiness is the answer to everything.

RC: The world is this hyper-stylized nightmare: giant screens, grinning mascots, catchy anthems that drown out dissent. It’s loud, it’s bright, it’s fun – and totally rotten underneath. But what is really interesting about it, is that unlike a lot of other dystopias most people are perfectly happy with their lives in Weisshorn. That tension is what makes this place and ultimately Nel’s quest so interesting.

FS: I think a lot of us can feel like Nel–but not necessarily in action. How do you get in the headspace to write for her?

RC: There are two parts to Nel. First, there’s the part that feels alienated and overlooked – I think most people carry a bit of that somewhere. As a writer or anybody putting yourself out there you experience it all the time. You pour yourself into something and it goes undiscovered or gets dismissed for reasons that feel meaningless. That part isn’t hard to connect with.

OJ: Then there’s the quieter, fiercer side of her – the relentless one. I know people like that. They’re not loud, not trying to start a revolution, but they live with a kind of built-in resistance. It’s not a choice, it’s just how they survive – by fighting for everything.

RC: The wilder, more defiant side of Nel comes out of the world itself. We spent so much time building the logic of Weisshorn – its systems, rules, rewards. Once you understand what she’s up against, her actions don’t feel outrageous. She’s just reacting, honestly, to a broken reality.

FS: The first three episodes and the conceit of the series are quite timely. Do you pull from the real-world when crafting your stories?

OJ: Definitely. Because of our background we’ve always been fascinated by how media and tech shape the way we think – not just the events themselves, but how they’re packaged and sold back to us. That’s where Bad Influence really began: the idea that control doesn’t always come through force – sometimes it’s through entertainment, distraction, and endless noise.

RC: But it’s not just about the big picture. It’s also about how all of that pressure lands on the individual. When reality feels fractured, and everyone’s tuned into their own version of the truth, it’s easy to start doubting yourself – wondering if you’re the one getting it wrong. That creeping disconnection is central to Nel’s world. People talk about gaslighting, and it’s become a buzzword – but in this story, it’s the culture itself doing the gaslighting.

OJ: That said, there’s a flip side. The individual has more tools and power than ever before. You can reject the script, take your own path, break things open. That’s where Nel’s rebel energy comes from – it’s energizing.

FS: Following up on that, are there any pieces of pop culture that particularly have influenced your work or approach to the story?

RC: A big influence was the culture of influence itself – and how warped it’s become. In Bad Influence, your social standing can rise or fall based on everything you do. It’s baked into the world: where you live in Weisshorn depends on your ranking. When your whole life is public – captured, shared, streamed – there’s this pressure to curate yourself constantly. You start to fracture under that spotlight. Nel’s refusal to play that game is what isolates her… but it’s also what makes her powerful.

OJ: And then there’s the corporate entertainment machine. Weisshorn is basically a twisted, militarized theme park – think Disneyland meets surveillance state. The mascots, the amusements, the branded joy – it’s all designed to distract and pacify. That overproduced gloss hides something much darker underneath, and that clash is core to the story.

FS: The look of the book is dynamic and unnerving at times–in other words, perfect. What is your collaboration like with the creative team?

OJ: First of all, thanks for saying that. It means a lot. The truth is that the style really comes naturally to Jor. If you haven’t checked out his other work, you should – he’s wildly talented. He pulls from all kinds of pop culture – Americana, anime, old-school comics – and remixes it into something totally his own. But there’s always a twist. He has this built-in resistance to anything that feels too cute or too clean. Even the roundest, most colorful characters have a weird, slightly off quality. It’s what makes the world of Bad Influence feel fun and uneasy at the same time.

RC: He’s brilliant at tone. Every panel moves with energy, but also carries weight. There’s texture, grime, and life in it – you feel the tension just under the surface. That balance is what makes the collaboration so exciting.

FS: What do you see as the future of surveillance in this country and the world? Or the future of entertainment and propaganda? I feel like we’re becoming inured to a lot of images and advertising that, at one time, would have left us shaken.

OJ: We’re already seeing the lines blur between what we consider “real life” and what’s happening online. That divide is collapsing fast. A few days ago, my son was tricked in Roblox–his character frozen, his stuff stolen–and it hit him like it was real. And in a way, it was. That crossover between digital consequence and emotional reality is the future.

RC: The pace of this shift is wild. And it’s not just about surveillance in the traditional sense–cameras and tracking. It’s about persuasion. Frictionless tech. Consent windows you click just to access a site, not because you understand what you’re agreeing to. We’re heading into a world where influence and manipulation are ambient–baked into the interface. The real question becomes: how much do we even notice or just willingly accept?

FS: If you had one last pitch for Bad Influence, what would it be?

OJ: Full-throttle fight scenes. Neon-drenched heists. Rooftop chases. It’s stylish, surreal, and sometimes very funny–but there’s always something deeper bubbling underneath.

RC: It’s about waking up in a world that wants you to play along–and deciding not to. If you’ve ever felt like something’s off but couldn’t put your finger on it, Bad Influence will speak to you.

OJ: It’s Alice in Wonderland meets a Gorillaz music video.

The first three episodes of Bad Influence are now available on Webtoon.

From the official press release about the series:

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.