Anime April Mayhem! Day 8 Webtoon/Manhwa Special, My Favorites

Since I don’t read enough webtoons or Manhwa to warrant a special month, I decided to include my favorites in my anime and manga month! For any with available printed copies, I’ll leave a link for potential buyers!

Let’s get started.

Kay D.’s Oddity Woods (2019-?), Serialized in Webtoon

The Art of Oddity Woods is available for purchase on odditywoods.com, Oddity Woods Issues are also available

After her father disappears, 12-year-old “detective” Marietta is spirited away into a woods between the living world and the dead. Mary, alongside a strange boy named Wyatt, learn to work together to survive the ghost-infested woods, and find a way to escape. But with the monstrous Conductor following their every move, as well as the chance her father could be long gone, the truth behind Oddity Woods begins to look grim… 

Webtoon Overview

I’m a big fan of Steampunk Fantasy and Over the Garden Wall-esque East Coast folktales. Kay D.’s story is altogether charming and beautifully drawn. I liked the vibrant Autumn colors and rounded designs for her characters. Also, I am always up for spirit trains traveling to the underworld.

Truuuue’s The Gentle Way (2020-?), serialized in Webtoon

Jun is not your average judo athlete… actually, she’s below average. Despite being awkward, shy, and timid, Jun continues to practice judo with a fiery goal in mind: to defeat her greatest childhood opponent. After meeting a mysterious and handsome stranger with outstanding judo skills, will Jun be able to convince him to teach her? A story about loving oneself and falling in love… Come watch an insecure fluffy lamb transform into a fierce queen.

Webtoon Overview

I like this author’s passion for Judo. They take the time to flesh out Judo’s rules and present the characters in a meaningful way. I also like the pencil-like quality for the drawings. Its has a more of an artist’s touch. I’m curious to see where this series goes these upcoming months.

Tri Vuong’s The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn (2016-2019) serialized in Webtoon

Follow the journey of the world’s greatest paranormal investigator – Oscar Zahn. Friend to lost souls, enemy of evil, he may lack a body but that doesn’t mean he’s missing a heart!

Webtoon Overview

This would be higher on the list if the author had plans to continue this story. I loved the mysterious character Oscar Zahn and the three tales portrayed in this webtoon. The art style speaks to my darker German soul, who loves creepy stories that test characters’ grit and courage. Also, Vuong is an incredible artist! Again, I really wish they had plans to continue this story.

LambCat‘s Cursed Princess Club (2019-?) serialized in Webtoon

Meet Gwendolyn – living proof that princesses don’t always have it all. See, although she lives in a castle and her father is the King, Gwendolyn isn’t like a movie princess, or even a fairly-tale princess. She’s got a big heart, but isn’t particularly attractive and doesn’t have a Disney-quality singing voice. But one night, she accidentally stumbles upon the twisted world of the Cursed Princess Club, and her life will never be the same. Hexed and cast out, the ladies of the club are just the people Gwendolyn needs to show her that just because she doesn’t “fit the mold” does not mean she’s any less of a princess.

Webtoon Overview

More than being one of my favorites, I’m simply curious to see where this story goes. Gwen’s troubles, catalyzed by her potential fiancé Frederick, are ones I could identify with. Watching all the characters blossom and grow with each other is a delight to witness. Also, it’s hilarious.

HONGDUCK / NEMONE‘s Seasons of Blossom (2021-?) serialized in Webtoon

Oh, to be young and in love. Oh, to be wild and carefree. The springtime of life is intense, tumultuous, and at times, oh so confusing. Spring, summer, fall and winter — love blossoms in all seasons.

Webtoon Overview

I stumbled onto this webtoon a couple of weeks and it surprised me. It has thought-provoking pacing and character development. I’m also a big sucker for romance stories featuring supposed ill-fitting protagonists. The pacing and feel are most like traditional Shoujo Manga I’ve come across over the years.

Rachel Smythe‘s Lore Olympus (2018-?) serialized in Webtoon

Buy on Amazon October 5, 2021

Witness what the gods do…after dark. The friendships and the lies, the gossip and the wild parties, and of course, forbidden love. Because it turns out, the gods aren’t so different from us after all, especially when it comes to their problems. Stylish and immersive, this is one of mythology’s greatest stories — The Taking of Persephone — as it’s never been told before.

Webtoon Overview

Lore Olympus is the first Webtoon I ever allowed myself to get into. Smythe’s artwork is dazzling, especially how it has a watercolor feeling to it, and an airbrushed flourish. The one thing I don’t like about it is the language at times and the more heavy sexual themes that pop up. What I do like is how these scenes are downplayed nicely, especially considering it’s sourced from traditional Greek myths.

Ha, Il-Kwon‘s Annarasumanara, (2010) Serialized as a Naver Webtoon

There is a rumor that a magician lives in the tent by the abandoned theme park; some even say his magic is real. However, before he starts his show, he always asks his audience: “Do you believe in magic?”

For Yoon Ah-ee, magic seems like a distant memory. Faced with the harsh reality of poverty, she spends all her time studying, working, and taking care of her younger sister in the absence of their parents. She no longer believes in the wonders of magic, just like her skeptical classmate Na Il-Deung, who has been brought up to believe that a good education is the only way to approach life.

When Ah-ee stumbles into the abandoned theme park and has a chance encounter with the magician, her life is changed forever. Annarasumanara reveals a philosophical, heartwarming, and thought-provoking story of what it means to grow up into the person you want to be.

Myanimelist Overview

I didn’t even know what a Manhwa is when I found this. I figured it out after a while when I realized the names were spelled differently than I’m used to reading Japanese Manga. This story is a tear-jerker and full of beautiful symbolism. It made me question the type of adult life I wanted to lead, especially considering the mechanical feel school life and job finding has.

Han Xu,Yuanqi Gongchang‘s Love Like Cherry Blossoms (2016-2018) serialized in Manwhatop

He knows her secret. She knows his secret too. He is the coolest guy in school. She is the curve wrecker of class. They make a deal in exchange to keep each other’s secret. They should be strangers after that promise. But he offers to help her confess to her crush at the same time. Is that true? Is he just teasing her? Or…?

Manhwatop Overview

This story is sort of about the main girl Sakura crushing on a popular guy, but more about her and other characters evolving as people and accepting life changes. What really popped out for me was the artwork. It has such a soft, glowing feel to it.

Han Xu L-Mo‘s Once More (2019) serialized on mangasy.com

Two people who missed their chance to be together in high school because of some misunderstandings, return to teach at their old school after graduating from university. After seven years, however, the male lead doesn’t realize that the female teacher standing before his eyes is the girl from back then!

The two-faced math teacher and the stern female gym teacher meet again. Even though some things may stay the same, the people themselves have changed. Can the feelings that died back then return once more? The secrets from their senior year of high school are slowly revealed…

Mangasy Overview (I fixed some grammatical errors but not too much too detract from what the site did(.

I’ve been following this series for about a year and I love seeing the romance develop. What I really appreciate is how the characters communicate with each other. They don’t just sit and let their feelings fester. Overall, this is one of the most heartwarming stories I’ve found in a while.

Dazzingly Bright (2019-?) serialized in Manhwatop

A webnovel author, 28 years old Yeonsoo, is immersed in developing her new work. But the plan that she had been working on diligently turned out to be unsatisfactory, and she collapsed while being on the phone with her editor. When she woke up, she was in a hospital room. Apparently she collapsed because she hadn’t been eating or sleeping well. The doctor advised Yeonsoo to walk for ten minutes a day as an exercise. And while she started to exercise on an impulse with the man with a limited time(?), ‘Han Gyul’, who was admitted next to her in the hospital, Somehow she felt her heart flutter…?

Enjoy the freshness of an older female lead that unexpectedly gets her heart bombarded by a younger man!

Manhwatop Overview

I’m also a sucker for love stories like Dazzlingly Bright. Yeon-soo and Han Gyul’s relationship unfolds really slowly, much like the chapter releases, in a way that’s heartwarming and genuine. They are sweet to each other, rather than adopting more toxic tropes I have often seen between couples with larger age gaps. Yeonsoo’s job and life situation are very similar to my own. Much like her, I don’t want to fit into the office job or business culture people are caught up in.

2. Han kyoung chal‘s Spirit Fingers (2019-2021) serialized in Webtoon

What do you do if you’re going on 18, totally awkward and lacking in self- confidence? You could just sit in your room all day and all night and study and wonder why you never get asked out…OR, if you’re Amy Song you could join up with the Spirit Fingers – the strangest, hippest, coolest (yet most welcoming) art club ever. But as Amy is about to learn, discovering your TRUE colors is about more than just painting.

Webtoon Overview

Spirit Fingers is completely finished and I loved following every second of it. It doesn’t just feature characters from one age group or background. All of them are of varying ages, with unique life circumstances and stories. This story is about allowing love into one’s life and embracing ourselves for the wonderful people we are. It’s the perfect story for anyone lacking confidence and life direction.

1. Stephen McCranie‘s Space Boy (2015-?) serialized in Webtoon

Available on Amazon for Purchase

A girl who belongs in a different time. A boy possessed by an emptiness as deep as space. A story about an alien artifact, a mysterious murder, and a love that crosses light years.

Webtoon Overview

Space Boy is special. Stephen McCranie’s goal is to write comics that heal and this one definitely does that. I love every aspect of this series from the evolving art, the multidimensional characters, the way relationships develop, and the underlying truths on finding meaning in life despite tragedy. I recommend this story to everyone I meet! It’s truly beautiful and heartwarming.

Thank you for reading! See you tomorrow.

Anime April Mayhem! Day 7, Best Artwork From Manga I’ve Read

Anime April Mayhem! Day 9, My Top Ten Favorite Anime

March Book Madness! Day 9, Tag Tuesday: Top 5 Books I Wish I Had Read When I Was Younger

Kid’s Reading by Walter Firle via BookArt: 30 Stunning Classic Paintings of Reading People

For future reference, I would love to be tagged in any book initiatives! For this post, I am doing a Tag Tuesday post from Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads. Today I will list the top 5 books I wish I could have read as a child.

Book Details

Once, in a cottage above the cliffs on the Dark Sea of Darkness, there lived three children and their trusty dog Nugget. Janner Igiby, his brother Tink, their crippled sister Leeli are gifted children as all children are, loved well by a noble mother and ex-pirate grandfather. But they will need all their gifts and all that love to survive the evil pursuit of the venomous Fangs of Dang who have crossed the dark sea to rule the land with malice and pursue the Igibys who hold the secret to the lost legend and jewels of good King Wingfeather of the Shining Isle of Anniera.

Andrew Peterson spins a quirky and riveting tale of the Igibys’ extraordinary journey from Glipwood’s Dragon Day Festival and a secret hidden in the Books and Crannies Bookstore, past the terrifying Black Carriage, clutches of the horned hounds and loathsome toothy cows surrounding AnkleJelly Manor, through the Glipwood Forest and mysterious treehouse of Peet the Sock Man (known for a little softshoe and wearing tattered socks on his hands and arms), to the very edge of the Ice Prairies.

Full of characters rich in heart, smarts, and courage, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness presents a world of wonder and a tale children of all ages will cherish, families can read aloud, and readers’ groups are sure to discuss for its layers of meaning about life’s true treasure and tangle of the beautiful and horrible, temporal and eternal, and good and bad.

Goodreads Overview

Since childhood, I’ve loved stories that depict the battle between good and evil. I started reading this book last summer, and I marveled at Andrew Petersen’s quirky sense of humor, magical prose, and emphasis on childhood’s place in depicting good people standing up to evil in their life. I love the characters, setting, and beautiful messages scattered throughout this and the other Wingsfeather sequels. If I could travel back in time and give my childhood self this book, I would!

Favorite Quote

So this is a story about light and goodness and Truth with a capital T. It’s about beauty, and resurrection, and redemption. But for those things to ring true in a child’s heart, the storyteller has to be honest. He has to acknowledge that sometimes when the hall light goes out and the bedroom goes dark, the world is a scary place. He has to nod his head to the presence of all the sadness in the world; children know it’s there from a very young age, and I wonder sometimes if that’s why babies cry. He has to admit that sometimes characters make bad choices, because every child has seen their parent angry or irritable or deceitful–even the best people in our lives are capable of evil.

But of course the storyteller can’t stop there. He has to show in the end there is a Great Good in the world (and beyond it). Sometimes it is necessary to paint the sky black in order to show how beautiful is the prick of light. Gather all the wickedness in the universe into its loudest shriek and God hears it as a squeak at best. And that is a comforting thought. When a child reads the last sentence of my stories, I hope he or she drifts to sleep with a glow in their hearts and a warmth in their bones, believing that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

Andrew Peterson

Book Details

Out of this wild night, a strange visitor comes to the Murry house and beckons Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O’Keefe on a most dangerous and extraordinary adventure—one that will threaten their lives and our universe.

Goodreads Overview

I might be one of the few people in The United States who did not read this book in Middle School. I knew it existed, but didn’t think it would interest me. (I was REALLY into fantasy books back then.) I read A Wrinkle In Time when I was 26 and instantly regretted I didn’t take the time to read it as a child. I struggled knowing my self worth for much of my childhood. Meg and I could have been best friends facing these uncertainties together. Alas, it never was.

Favorite Quote

You mean you’re comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it? Yes. Mrs. Whatsit said. You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you.

Madeleine L’Engle

Book Details

For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. 

Goodreads Overview

Sad story of my youth, I never read this book till I was in college. Norton Juster did a marvelous job taking all the quirky Colloquialisms and rules in the English language and putting them to story. It feels like Alice in Wonderland but with proper grammar rules. I really liked Eva Ibbotson‘s books as a kid, and The Phantom Tollbooth feels like it could fit into one of her stories!

Favorite Quote

You must never feel badly about making mistakes … as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.

Norton Juster

Book Details

A sci-fi drama of a high school aged girl who belongs in a different time, a boy possessed by emptiness as deep as space, an alien artifact, mysterious murder, and a love that crosses light years.

To Amy, everyone has a flavor. Her mom is the flavor of mint–sharp and bright. Her dad is like hot chocolate–sweet and full of gentle warmth.

Amy lives on a mining colony in out in deep space, but when her dad loses his job the entire family is forced to move back to Earth. Amy says goodbye to her best friend Jemmah and climbs into a cryotube where she will spend the next 30 years frozen in a state of suspended animation, hurtling in a rocket toward her new home. Her life will never be the same, but all she can think about is how when she gets to Earth, Jemmah will have grown up without her.

When Amy arrives on Earth, she feels like an alien in a strange land. The sky is beautiful but gravity is heavy and the people are weird. Stranger still is the boy she meets at her new school–a boy who has no flavor. 

Goodreads Overview

I. Love. This. Series! I went parousing through Webtoons and came across Stephen McCranie’s series in a featured spotlight. I had read several other webtoons and not been impressed, but I liked the art so I gave it a try. I am so glad I did. I love everything about this series and look forward to new chapters every week. Though I am glad I read this as an adult, I really think my younger self would have ate up this story’s beautiful art and depictions of school life. I also think I would have understood and identified with the character Oliver.

Favorite Quote

Oliver, men like you and I don’t make promises unless we can keep them.

Oliver’s Father, Episode 140

Book Details

The story of the new kid in town – little Yotsuba, a green-haired and wide-eyed girl who doesn’t have a clue… about anything! With no knowledge of the world around her, and an unnatural fear of air conditioners, Yotsuba has her new neighbors’ heads spinning. 

Goodreads Overview

Yotusbato is one of the most relaxing manga I’ve ever read. Yotsuba is such a cute little girl, and the author Azuma Kiyohiko is so funny! When I read it for the first time, I had so many times I laughed so hard I cried. I didn’t read manga as a kid, but if I could give myself a headstart into the Japanese reading world, I would give myself Yotsubato and smile. 

Yotsuba: I’ll get revenge! … I’m going!

Jumbo (in a suffering manner): Yotsuba… please, come back alive…

Yotsuba (heroic): Alright. Even if I die… I’ll come back alive.

—–Yotsuba!

Thank you for reading! See you tomorrow!

March Book Madness! Day 8, The Bhagavad Gita, Translated By Eknath Easwaran

March Book Madness! Day 10, Gregory Maguire’s Egg and Spoon (2014) 3.5/5