In Magic From The Margins, Latonya “Penn” Pennington explores sci-fi fantasy webtoons and Tapas comics by marginalized creators. For the tenth entry, they’re checking out Lovespells.
Lovespells
Creator: Ryan & Sage
Writer: Ryan & Sage
Artist: Ryan
Genre: Romance
Platform: Tapas
In a fantasy world inspired by JRPGs, Esther is a witch who falls asleep when she uses too much mana. Maria is a magic knight who isn’t too good with magic. After a chance encounter, Esther offers to tutor Maria in magic, all while harboring romantic feelings for her.
One of the first things that hooked me onto this comic is its fun premise. I admit that I’m not usually a fan of slow burn romances, but this one I am willing to stick around for. Not only are Esther and Maria cute together, but the people around them are interesting enough that you want to immerse yourself in the world.
An example of this is how Maria speaks more formally than her fellow magic knights, and they are a friendly bunch who tease each other. Esther has a similar circumstance with her Alchemist Guild friends and the one thing that both friend groups have in common is that they hope that Maria and Esther will get together.
Another aspect of the comic that is enjoyable is the artwork. It starts off in black-and-white but changes to full color by the time chapter three starts. This feels intentional, as Esther and Maria meet for the first time in the black-and-white chapters and start to bond as the pages turn colorful. The use of color makes their meeting more magical, because it enhances the emotional impact of them developing crushes on each other.
Besides the characters and artwork, I also love how witty some of the dialogue is. One of the early lines that I enjoyed was when Esther says to some random adventurers, “Wow, you professionals should’ve stayed in the tutorial forest.” It’s such a fun nod to the video game inspired world they are in.
A final aspect that I appreciate is how considerate Esther and Maria are of each other’s feelings even though they are unaware of their mutual crush. At one point Esther states that she is fine being around Maria even if Maria doesn’t want to be with her romantically. I rarely see this kind of consent and consideration in any work involving romance, so it was surprising to see something that should be the norm depicted.
All in all, Lovespells will surely charm anyone who loves a sweet, slow burn romance in a fantasy world. It’s gay in more ways than one, with fun characters, cute artwork with a creative use of color, and funny dialogue.
Lovespells is currently available to read on Tapas.
Keep up with every entry in K-Comics Beat’s Magic From The Margins column by clicking here.
