Last year my Adventboost contained several webcomics. Not so this year; I guess I just haven’t started reading that many new comics this year. But, I have started reading at least one that deserves boosting:
Raruurien by Ann Maulina
When a portrait of the main character from Raruurien, Rien, first drifted across my Twitter feed by initial reaction was: “Oh, is that a picture from A Bride’s Story?”. While I don’t really have the eye for art to tell if the art in the comic is really that similar to that in one of my favorite manga (A Bride’s Story by Kaoru Mori), the beautifully intricate way the clothes are drawn in each of them nevertheless make me connect the two. So I did what I often do: I bookmarked the comic and left it for a rainy day. I finally read it just a couple of weeks ago!
Raruurien is a slice-of-life comic with a strong fantasy element and a historical-but-not-the-real-world setting. It is about the Rien, who is a widow and also a witch, and her two young sons Ra and Ruu. Ruu, previously a promising magic student, has had some kind of accident and can’t remember how to use magic (or much of anything, really, the poor thing) and Ra is very impatient for his brother to be back to normal (poor thing, him too!).
There are currently 3 chapters and a couple of small extras up on the website and I very much get the feeling that the story has really just gotten started. It has a very nice, mellow pace and while I can’t wait to find out more about the world and the background of the characters, honestly, I hope it takes its time with it. I love a good slice-of-life with a lot of worldbuilding and characterization but not too much action, and so far Raruurien is just that. And the art is just so beautiful! The design of the characters, the scenery, the facial expressions, the clothes! The color schemes are amazing, too. Everything is so beautiful and well-made! It’s worth reading just for that alone, I think.
Ann Maulina is an Indonesian artist and is super talented. You can follow her on Twitter @Ann_Maulina, and check out her Facebook page here. She also has a Patreon page where patrons get exclusive Raruurien content (honestly, she is very high on my list of people to Patreon once I decide my finances can handle a few more pledges). Go check out her stuff, read the comic and enjoy!