#woolong

Couldn't think of a good title but here it is.

I had brought this up with someone on AO3 a few months about but interesting fact I learned from rewatching CB over the last few months since the beginning of 2022, their fictional currency used in the Bebop universe as well as in other animes by Shinichiro Watanabe, the Woolong uses the same symbol as the Korean Won. Used by both North and South Korea. In the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) it is called the Korean People's Won or Choson-in-won, while in the ROK (Republic of Korea) it is called the Korean Republic Won. The Woolong is also on par with the 1998 Japanese Yen making 1 Woolong less than 1 USD. This is why for example in Mushroom Samba 1,000 Woolongs for a piece of watermelon makes sense as that would be around 7ish dollars if we used 2022 1000 yen to USD currency conversion. Pretty cheap which explains why a 50,000 Woolong award for example is chump change if we assume that the Woolong is partial to the Japanese Yen in the 1990s. This is can all be found on the Cowboy Bebop wikia so this is not some stunning revelation. I just found it to be interesting since I find the history of Asia both its political as well as its economic history to be fascinating.