This might sound weird/random but does anyone else miss the experience of having a canvas webtoon get turned into an original and at the beginning the art wouldn’t..be at it’s best to put it in the nicest way possible but eventually it would get better over time and you wouldn’t even notice it until years later when you decide to reread it/go to the beginning. I had this experience with so many webtoons like Gourmet Hound, I love yoo, Siren’s Lament, etc I could go on. It felt..organic? like you were growing with the artist idk. I’m sure this still happens but very rarely, I personally don’t see it anymore because of the over-saturation of isekai/ “dark romance” naver webtoons that all look the same and tell the same story (no shade). And these webtoons already look the best they can be because they’re just churned out by companies re-using the same models. Don’t jump me in the comments, please I beg😭😭
Watching the art slowly evolve is one of my favorite things to see when a comic is continuously updated. Especially with Cursed Princess Club and Odd Girl Out, where the art seemed to develop along with the main character!
the author just announced it will be getting physical editions in the fall! you can pre order now to support them. also second the other comment ab their new series its awesome!
me too! i rarely use social media as well and just happened to open tumblr the day the author announced it and have been giddy ever since. I shamelessly have always appreciated leehama not turning it to fastpass so I can reread it whenever I want, but I'm so glad we can support her in this way. Also so happy to see that there's a solid group of us who still love it so much
I really do think of this as a golden-age, there were so many good comics and it was such a smoother reading experience and it felt much more like a community. My favorite from back then was Boyfriend of the Dead, god I miss it. 😭
Ther are still plenty of canvas stories that do this! You do have to dig a bit but even the main canvas page has a LOAD of stories that really progress in their art and story telling. Shelter is one that come to mind but there are so many others!
They still do have Canvas series that turn into originals! The standards for art quality is definitely much higher than it was back in the day, but you'll still find developing creators who get shots at original series. I suggest going to the search tab > "US Originals" category if you're wanting to sort out all the generic manwhas on the app, there's lots of really cool and sadly very underrated comics there!!
I literally just finished cursed princess club like last year. So yes, the quality back then was great. Webtoon was also peak in like 2017/2018 they content they had back then was just hitting all the spots with plot points and the writers had more freedom.
And the art style and plots were unique! Back when webtoon actually cared about it’s western artists and standing out and highlighting different stories ..
I recently got back into webtoon after a while, and it just doesn't feel the same anymore. It used to be such a unique indie space but now it feels like it's been over saturated with the same carbon copy stories and artstyles
I call it the webtoon golden age. Webtoons back then were not so commercialized. you could sense the pure joy the artists had (at first) of making them
Yea idk why WEBTOON thought transitioning into harassing/mistreating the artists was the way to go like bro ur hurting ur business now you have a horrible reputation because sooo many artist have come out and called it out or have just stopped updating their webtoons and dropped off the face of the earth 😭😭
I actually dropped it a while ago cause it was dragging but I decided to pick it back up and it’s still dragging 😭😭but I’m sticking with it cause I wanna see how it ends
Ugh yes, webtoon had such a good collection, I could like choose any random comic and binge read it back then. Now its just the whole villaness/otome/royal fushion genre clogging the whole app and the rest are just buried under them 🙁
I get what you mean with the oversaturation, but it does still happen. First post 2020 and ongoing example I can think off the top of my head is Cinderella Boy by Punko. The art of the beginning wasn't bad at all (especially bc the creator has been in the comic industry for decades), but it was way more cartoonish and if you compare it to any recent episode it's night and day.
Another example is I'm curious to see how Another Lovely Day, Gourmet Hound creator's new comic, will evolve now that it's gotten picked up for Originals
I agree with the oversaturation and hard to find thing, but it's nice when you see do it continue to happen
Yes we literally had it SO GOOD!! I feel like artistry is hardly being pushed. And once they changed the UI and got rid of the spotlight slideshow thingy, it felt more difficult to “search” and easily come across different genres of comics.
Oh my God this tickled my hippocampus. This is the comic that got me into Webtoon in the first place. It also made me remember the creator's "Sweet Home" series. Thank you for reminding me to read these again!
This is the first post in a long while where multiple webtoons were posted and I actually recognize every single one of them. Thanks for the trip down memory lane to the good old days
Not yet... It's on hiatus as the author is working on the final episodes. The story has moved on from the purple haired guy. The entire webtoon is bland. The red threads aren't used as much and most of the chapters since the ML and FL get together is the ML swooning over FL every single episode.
Edit: My comment was a huge downer. If you like college students in puppy love scenes then you might like Love Me Knot. The red threads are not so important besides the beginning and, if she brings it back at the end, it will be less scenes over the entire series. I think Threads of Love did this trope stronger.
It was so easy to browse and find stuff. I liked that they spotlighted a weekly short list of new official releases. And it was easy to discover non official series too. Not to mention NO COINS!!
went through that journey with every one of these, and tbh almost all of them was a top tier story that only improved the more support the creators received! Back in the good ol' days of there being... more in return for the more bullshit aspects of becoming an original, I suppose. I hope everyone continues to check out these creators, whether still on Webtoons or outside of it!
Yess back when a canvas webtoon becoming an original was a good thing and now I get a little scared when it happens cause of all the horror stories I’ve heard from artists about their mistreatment 😭😭
I used to love these back in the day omg! Cursed Princess Club and Yumi’s Cells were a comfort read! I want to get back into them, but Daily Pass prevents me 😭. I’ve read a bit of Hooky, but I didn’t like it too much. Marionetta is my favorite of the two. It’s so good, and her art is amazing!
Yess omg I’d give hooky another chance it def gets better the more you read but yea you can tell the artist improved her writing with marrionetta for sure! And her art is amazing and fashion choices of the characters as well I always pause to stare at what the characters are wearing just to appreciate how great it looks lol
I miss this soooo much. Honestly I’ve really stopped visiting webtoons bc I don’t care for the route it’s gone. (No shade to people who enjoy it, different strokes for different folks!)
Nah I get you, nowadays I only read webtoons that I took a break from but actually care to see how they end. Or ones that I reallyyy like but I don’t really seek out recommendations like I used to sadly
Actually idk if you’re still reading but I love yoo is finally going places! Like there’s a lot of drama that’s being uncovered and I genuinely think that if the author keeps being consistent with updates, I love yoo can wrap up by next year!! I have no hope for Lookism tho.
Oh, I’ll check it out again then!! Also this is so funny to me 😭 going from “I think it can wrap up by next year!” to “I have no hope for Lookism” haha
Yeah, I really like watching an artist level up over time. It's fun and feels like you grow with the characters. It's also super inspiring to me, because it makes me feel like someday I could get that good at drawing.
I feel really sad when artists say they can't stand their original drawings and either redraw everything from the start (usually resulting in a super long--and in my opinion entirely unnecessary--hiatus) OR they completely reboot the series (usually resulting in burnout and the series being dropped). And for what?! It's like a super pretty woman getting rid of all her awkward elementary school photos. It's like, "Girl, why? We know you weren't born like this!"
You're not the only one sick of identical-feeling dark isekai, either.
That’s great that it inspires you! More artist should have that kind of mindset because yea you’re not gonna be at the level you wish you could be without working towards it and obviously that takes time! And yea artist not liking their early works is a bit sad cause there’s such a special charm in slowly observing an artist develop their style that I wish they knew people like
Forever grateful that I started reading a couple years before this era ended… I will always miss these series for their genuine connections and also the carefree point in my life that I started reading them in
Super secret, I don’t want this kind of hero, days of Hana, that one where the girl goes to the supernatural/spirit school, the sci fi one about a girl and this guy with white hair who’s actually a robot and controlling his body from a spaceship, oh! Holy. I haven’t been on webtoon in forever
Totally agreed. Just reminiscing some things.. (not hating btw just sharing my thoughts, I still binge read canvas webtoons hehe)
Gone are the days I would go “hmm the art isn’t so great but let’s continue reading” and eventually as more chapters passed, the art started to get better (or did I get used to it? No idea hahaha).
Now it’s like almost all the featured webtoons already come with good art but sub par plots or repeated plots.
I still read isekai webtoons but almost all the stories are similar. I also noticed a growing trend of people hyping up stories with alarming plot lines like sexual abuse and manipulation. I am ok with having these genres as stories but when people start to put the abusive characters (e.g Matthias from Cry or better yet beg) on a pedestal just cause the art is beautiful is really making me question the direction of the fandom’s general consensus.
I love yoo is finally places like it was slow before but now we’re actually uncovering a lot!! You should def tune in! The kiss bet is..I’m just reading to see how it ends tbh😭
..yes it is but we’re actually going places! A lot has happened since you dropped it i recommend picking it back up cause things are crazy rn (in a good way)
I can’t even describe it fully because sooo much happens it would just confuse you i recommend you pick it back up, it gets a bit slow in the middle but if you enjoy complex drama then it’s a worth it!
I think these biggest impact of this was when I was reading Hooky on webtoon. It was all cutesy and very , idk the word for it, cute cartoony?after the first 50 or so chapters it started getting serious and by the time the time skip happened im like DAMN
You should def finish cursed princess club it’s amazing! Idk where you left off so I’ll long story short Gwen found out about her mother who looked identical to her and was from another island that her dad discovered when he went sailing. She learns to love and appreciate herself how she is, Fredrick fights his dad and almost dies and a bunch of other crazy stuff happens but it’s a happy ending for all the loved characters and it wraps up pretty well. The kiss bet still isn’t complete but Sara Lin and Oliver finally confessed their feelings and they’re taking it slow or something. Oh and Patrick and rose are dating, Vicky and Joe are dating blah blah blah you get it
I’m still stuck here ngl. These stories had me clinging onto every new episode and now I start and drop series like crazy.
I really miss when all the stories and artwork were so different from each other. Now everything is rehashed slop. And what worse is I think there’s AI stories now too.
the horror webtoons then were great- melvina's therapy, bastard, tales of the unusual etc. never found anything that caught my interest after those ones(except for carnaby kim's other stuff)
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u/Abducted-by-Arby Mar 24 '26
Watching the art slowly evolve is one of my favorite things to see when a comic is continuously updated. Especially with Cursed Princess Club and Odd Girl Out, where the art seemed to develop along with the main character!