ROMANTIC: Love 4 A Walk by Nuria Sanguino and Dom & Mor by DyeMeLikeASunset
Love 4 A Walk is a romance between two polar opposites whose only similarity is their love for dogs.
The unique art style, (the dogs) and the wholesomeness has made the series acquire a stupendous number of 2 million subscribers tuning in every Friday.
The strength of the webtoon also comes from the protagonists who are adults and act their age— a characterization that some romance webcomics commonly neglect. As a result, there is healthy communication between the couple and despite their differences, they ground each other and show each other different perspectives in life.
Dom & Mor is a slice of life, WLW webcomic about a high strung freelance writer and benignant model living in New York.
With a 9.71 star rating out of 10, it gained applause from its fanbase for its diversity, interracial sapphic representation and themes on mental health and healing.
Dom and Mor always converse with each other whenever they’re struggling and make the effort to speak with each other even when it’s difficult.
They show the importance of having understanding and compassion for your significant other’s mental health history and the comfort that comes from someone sticking by your side in your highs and lows.
FRIENDSHIP: The Fox Club by HJ. Hwang
In The Fox Club, the mild mannered Park On-yu and the feisty, mysterious Shin Chae-ri are two unlikely best friends thrust into the club of the reticent and wealthy “Foxes of Sangmok High School”.
On-yu and Chae-ri seem different on paper but their friendship is filled with reciprocated genuine admiration, care and loyalty. Chae-ri’s bold personality comes to On-yu’s defense and the quiet On-yu’s courage also shines when Chae-ri is involved.
You can’t help but root for them to stick together as they navigate their lives as a member of the Foxes.
FAMILIAL: The Last Passage by RD (Writer) and KIRO (Illustrator)
A mother’s love for her daughter is the light against the darkness of the purgatory in this fantasy horror tale.
In The Last Passage, there is no heaven but there is purgatory where troubled, lonely dead people can take refuge on islands — at a cost.
Monsters swarm every corner and the main characters aren’t given a manual to navigate their new reality.
Kim Mi-mi’s devotion to her daughter, Dah-yeon heavily contrasts the confusion and danger the main ensemble cast have experienced.
Like mother figures, she is steady and reliable, and with a fixed goal: to ensure her daughter’s safety. The episodes show the sacrifices she is willing to make just to attain it, even if it’s at the cost of her own happiness and even without her daughter knowing.
Despite being fictional, Kim Mi-mi is every mother we know and she shows us that even love can transcend death.
SELF-LOVE: My ID is Gangnam Beauty by Ki Maenggi
The webtoon is the source material for the high rated 2018 kdrama of the same name starring Im Soo-hyang (Criminal Minds), Astro’s Cha Eun-woo (True Beauty) and Kwak Dong-yeon (Queen of Tears).
Kang Mi-rae undergoes plastic surgery after years of bullying but the cycle repeats itself when she begins to experience ridicule for her “unnatural” features during her college freshman year.
The story offers a commentary on society’s superficial perspective on beauty and the repercussions that unconventionally attractive people like Mi-rae experience.
She is not perfect by any means. Her internal monologue and opinions became influenced by her bullies and malicious peers. She grapples with the question of whether she can change; and when she receives the answer it’s beyond satisfactory. If there’s anything that the story taught us is that the road to self-love is rocky but the results make the steps to attain it worth it.
