“Oh boy, this looks like a manga series,” I said to myself (I knew it was me, as I recognized my internal voice and was wearing my You Don’t Gnome Me socks). “Nope, I won’t read….” But then I saw the cover. Lots of blue, black and this shock of white. (Fascinating. So simple, but that is a real draw. Oh, is that a white wolf?) Then I saw that fateful phrase, WebToons. Oh! I like WebToons. And so, I said, “Self,” (again, it was me and you know why I knew), “you know you do not like to read these on WebToons, that scrolling gets old,” and so I read another format of an online reader copy.
The book is Lumine Volume One: A WEBTOON Unscrolled Graphic novel. I am not sure what Unscrolled Graphic noel means, but this one covers the episodes one to fourteen. This could be an interesting fantasy, manga/anime story, if it did not finish after less than 300 pages (or my version had less than 300). I mean, you need episodes fifteen and on. This is the one drawback I have about WebToons in general, not just Emma Krogell’s story. They move quickly, and have interesting concepts, but it takes forever for things to finally POP! It is a slow burn to get to the main point. We will follow Lumine, a “down-on-his-luck weredog” and his misadventures. There is mystery and intrigue. There are odd manga dads, pouty school boys, and pretty mysterious (and pretty-pretty too) women. There are bodyguards who are part human/part animal (mostly seem to be dogs to really big mean dogs), and fantasy situations that are action packed. There is witchcraft and a futurists/alternative world. It has a little bit of everything to be honest.
The artwork is good, and helps tell a little of the story, but like a lot of manga/anime characters can look alike, or similar. And you are not always given a name right off (I was calling one kid Green Hair for most of it). But they are colorful, details not always enough, sometimes too much. It is a typical manga/graphic novel/WebToon story. So far things are strong ages twelve and up, but I am waiting for the final age range after I get more into it (plus the publisher description has a GLBTQ+ category attached, and while I can see the potential, I have not seen it yet).. Due early December 2023 (possibly in both hard and softcovers).
