As of this writing, the support for Adobe Flash is dead. Effective December 31, 2020, it is encouraged that you must uninstall all plugins that are linked to Adobe Flash to protect your system.
Just knowing this news feels really odd for me. I grew up browsing the internet and enjoying everything about Adobe Flash even during the dial-up connection days. The transitions, movement, and sound–everything. It was one of those features that I look forward to on every website I visited. Even small fansites that are run by Angelfire and Geocities also jumped in putting Flash elements on their pages.
While people remember Flash due to the games and other fun things, I remember it as one of those ways to share stories. This story in particular was officially part of my childhood. So let me tell you about The Doll Maker.
The Doll Maker was a story made simply in Adobe Flash by an artist named Dan Kim. I have been following his work since high school particularly for his Tomoyo42’s Room webcomic (Just a small note that the comic is NSFW and it could be uncomfortable for some people.)
Another Note: Don’t worry, I’m going to explain further how I got into this kind of hell hole way back in the next blog. Don’t worry.
While some of his works were mostly dark and edgy at times, The Doll Maker was the opposite of what he commonly does, and I guess that is why this is memorable. I guess was really caught me into this story is the narration and the music that go along well with this simple story.
I had the Flash file in one of my archives for a long time. I went back to the artist’s site to look for the original link and I think it’s nowhere to be found. I decided to upload it for everyone to watch.
Watching this again at present makes me feel nostalgic. I visited the site and checked out his Twitter and he seems to be living the dream now.
I just feel happy that I got to see and listen to this story again. Quite timing as we are still not out of the woods of this pandemic yet. As for me, I’m going back to those things I love way back to keep myself happy emotionally and mentally.
Take care of yourself. Also, RIP Shockwave and Adobe Flash. You will be forever missed.
DISCLAIMER:The following images used in this article are selected (not whole pages of the webtoon/s) and will only be used for the sole purpose of this review. The Lily Cat does not claim ownership of the webtoon art and images featured.
Official links to the author's webcomics are also included for the benefit of the readers and to support the creator's works.
Thank you for your understanding.
It has been a while since my last review on something related to webcomics (for a very good reason, I will explain later).
This has been long overdue. I honestly wanted to talk about this series for a (very) long time and those who have known for me for years can prove that while this series was ongoing, I couldn’t stop talking about it. So finally, here it is! My review on The Third Party by Enjelicious. Spoilers ahead!
The Basics
The Third Party was released in 2017 (during the hype of Lezhin Comics’ GL Renaissance) in the Lezhin Comics EN website. This was created by popular Filipino artist Enjelicious notable for doing cover arts for the physical release of the Diary ng Panget books as well as other local manga releases in the Philippines. Her ongoing work Age Matters can be read on LINE Webtoon and has earned a massive following to this day.
Going back to TTP, the webtoon won First Place in Lezhin US’ first webtoon competition. When the teaser of the series was released, yuri fans were excited and very much looking forward to it.
The Third Party is centered on the romance of two girls: Gu Jeong Hui and Moon Hae Jin. Gu Jeong Hui is the daughter of the CEO of a TV broadcasting company, GBS. Here’s the thing: Jeong Hui is in an arranged marriage with one of the TV anchors, Kang Sang Hun. She immediately obeyed her father’s wishes of marrying Sang Hun regardless if her life still feels empty. It took a different turn when she met Hae Jin, who is a Producer-Director of the company.
While Jeong Hui’s purpose in GBS was to obey her father and her husband’s wishes, Hae Jin had different agendas to why she was there: to get revenge and answers on the death of her father. She didn’t care if she had to manipulate people to do this. She did everything whatever it takes. However, her plans seemed to have slowed down when she met Jeong Hui. Eventually they fell in love with each other.
The webtoon is roller coaster of intense drama and romance. You are sure to be completely hooked.
Late Reaction to The Hype
Due to I was focused on another webtoon series What Does The Fox Say, I admit I never really got into the hype fully. It was when it reached to Chapter 10 when I finally decided to give The Third Party a read. And oh man, I regretted for not starting too soon.
My Undying Love for PD Moon
I am not ashamed to say that ever since her full appearance in the first chapter, I was completely in love with PD Moon (Moon Hae Jin). Just who wouldn’t? She works in a Media company (which is in my line of career), she’s very beautiful, and just whatever she does makes you wish that she’d noticed you. I always tend to joke that “I want PD Moon to step on me” because of how I greatly admire her from her character design to her constant change as the story progresses.
As The Third Party moves forward, you would probably notice that ever since Gu came into her life, PD Moon was torn of avenging her past or just embrace the present thing she has now. She had Gu, she didn’t need anything else. She was willing to let go of almost everything she worked for because of her. But on the other side of the coin, she was already at that peak where the answers that she always demanded and work FOR YEARS is still conflicting.
The Art, Drama, and Intensity
Reading this webtoon for the first time was really a ride. Almost 90% of the time, each chapter ends with a cliffhanger. But you really can’t ignore the art of this webtoon. This is probably the first webtoon series I’ve read in which 3/4 of each chapter has a background. Most of the time, webcomics are only filled with white background and not many details are added except the character. In The Third Party, however, every panel has a background and the artist really took a lot of effort to add in backgrounds to give the scene a bit more life.
Every Monday night was something to look forward to as the intensity of the story grew as each chapter moves forward.
The Ending
For the benefit of those who haven’t read The Third Party ending (or haven’t even started yet,) I won’t spoil much. When the last chapter was released, I was already expecting a lot of people to comment about the ending. How I wish I can elaborate more–but I have to say that that ending was definitely okay for me. It wasn’t sad or it was a happy ending. It was some that people didn’t expect. While people had a lot to say about it, it honestly gave me hope that there will be a continuation of Gu and PD Moon’s story. I don’t mind how long I will be able to wait for that happen. However, it was a good end for me. Let me know in the comments section what you think of the ending if you’ve read it already. I’m curious!
The Webtoon That Got Me Back to the Yuri Community
Yes, that’s PD Moon in a coffee shop. At the same time, it’s my laptop and me in a coffee shop.
Okay, this part may be a bit personal so incoming feels trip.
The time The Third Party was released, I was at that particular moment of my life when I wanted to leave the Yuri community. The story behind this is very long and I promised my friends to no longer talk about it. I honestly lost the energy and motivation to do the things that I wanted to do. So I made the decision to just quit. However, this webtoon got me back. I read this in one of the darkest periods of my life as a yuri fan. Until now, I am very thankful that this series was made. I think giving a hundred or even thousands of thank you’s to Enjelicious aren’t enough to express how this webtoon got me back to loving yuri and just do stuff for this fandom.
Also, I realized that I have such a connection to PD Moon especially when it comes to the topics of romance and life are concerned. We all make mistakes and we take the wrong risks along the way. However, a certain fragment of your past shouldn’t be a reason not to keep going. We keep going even if we have to keep that someone in our life or let go for the better.
Conclusion
No webtoon series is perfect and The Third Party is one of them. I do not want to go technical or critical on this because my overall conclusion is that this webtoon is a must-read. Some of you may be reading her current work Age Matters, but if you have extra webtoon coins to spare, please do read The Third Party. From art to story, and to the characters. I actually lost count to how many times I’ve read the series. I think you might say this is my go-to yuri webtoon to read, and I do hope it would be the same for you guys too.
2019 was one awesome year for the Yuri fandom. What better way to add in more love into the yuletide season but by seeing our favorite GL series celebrating the holidays, getting ready for the new year.
This year we have spotted a few of our GL content creators posting Christmas art related to their works and here they are.
What Does The Fox Say creator Team Gaji posted a Christmas art of both Sungji and Sumin together. Sumin is wearing a Santa outfit as she was lifted by Sungji wearing a Reindeer costume.
Also, the webtoon (which is published in Korean on Kakaopage) has recently ended. You can read the series officially in English on Tappytoon in both SFW and NSFW versions.
Thai GL manga and webtoon artist Ratana Satis posted a Christmas art in her official Facebook page. Featuring the main characters from hit GL works Pulse, Lily Love, and Lily Love 2 – Frosty Jewel.
Anime streaming platform Crunchyroll announced that they have formed a partnership with popular webcomic platform WEBTOON. The upcoming projects that both companies will be co-producing will be from that latter’s vast library of webcomic series.
Both companies have also agreed to do distribution, licensing, and retail on these upcoming projects. As of this time, they have not revealed the names of the webtoons that they will put into animated adaptations.
“We are extremely excited to be partnering with WEBTOON … WEBTOON has a tremendous catalogue of content and creators that resonate deeply with our audience and we can’t think of a better way to delight fans than by bringing these stories to life through animation.”, says Crunchyroll General Manager Joanne Waage.
In relation to this big partnership, Taylor Grant, WEBTOON Senior Vice-President of IP Development said, “There is tremendous crossover appeal with our audiences … and exceptional creative synergy on the types of stories we want to tell. We’re excited to partner with Crunchyroll to bring our globally appealing characters to audiences and consumers in new ways, as well as create new opportunities for our talented creators.”
Crunchyroll is a popular anime streaming platform notable for streaming popular ongoing anime series the same day as Japan like My Hero Academia and Boruto. Aside from ongoing anime titles, they also have a huge library of previous anime series and movies in which users can stream through their website or through their app on Android and iOS.
After so much waiting, it has finally come true. Seri and Bi-wan’s popular GL webtoon series Her Tale of Shim Chong (popularly known by fans as Her Shim Cheong) now has an official English release on Tappytoon! It’s currently given a 9.9 rating by the readers.
Based on a Korean folktale, two very different women find themselves making the same wish – to leave this world behind. One is Shim Chong, a young beggar living off the kindness of others to support herself and her blind father. The other is the bride-to-be of old Chancellor Jang, sold off to him for the sake of her family. When Shim Chong rescues this new bride from the river, their relationship triggers both love and hidden intentions.
A trailer video was uploaded on Monday for the upcoming 24th episode of Darunni’s GL webcomic series She’s A Keeper. The new episode will be released on Wednesday, April 10. The trailer was created and uploaded by Zoey Medic.
She’s A Keeper is a melodrama, romance, action, and girl’s love story that was originally released on LINE Webtoon until the author announced that the series can be read through the WebComics app (can be downloaded on Google Play and the App Store)
About She’s A Keeper
The rate of kidnapping in Phili has been going crazy. Clara del Samson happens to be a daughter of a multi-millionaire businessman. Meanwhile, the Keeper Corp is best known for their“Keepers” who are experts at protecting elites; one of them is Keeper Elle- who was hired to protect Clara.
What Does The Fox Say creator Alggumba posted on Sunday on their Twitter page announcing that the 100th chapter of the popular GL webtoon series is now in a new home. You can now read the latest chapter (as well as the previous ones) in the website Kakaopages.
Previously, the creator announced that What Does The Fox Say will be ending its serialization with webtoon platform Lezhin Comics on December 31 which means that the series’ chapters will no longer be available for future coin purchase. However, those who have previous purchased chapters will still be able to read them in the account’s ‘My Library’.
About What Does The Fox Say
What Does The Fox Say is a story of the intense love triangle of Sung Sumin, Ju Sungji, and Baek Seju. Sung Sumin is a Team Leader of Hello Studio, a company run by Baek Seju, her ex-girlfriend. Everything seemed to turn around for Sumin when the new recruit Ju Sungji came into the picture. You may read the series in Lezhin Comics.
Alggumba, one of the creators of the popular GL webcomic series What Does The Fox Say announced on Twitter that the webcomic will be ending its service effective on December 31.
Those who have purchased the chapters on Lezhin Comics and want to reread the series will still be able to do so by going to the ‘My Library’ page in the site. The creator will be providing more info soon to whether the webcomic will make its return in the future.
About What Does The Fox Say
What Does The Fox Say is a story of the intense love triangle of Sung Sumin, Ju Sungji, and Baek Seju. Sung Sumin is a Team Leader of Hello Studio, a company run by Baek Seju, her ex-girlfriend. Everything seemed to turn around for Sumin when the new recruit Ju Sungji came into the picture. You may read the series in Lezhin Comics.
In a tweet posted on Friday, webtoon creator Aji shared that the GL webotoon On A Leash will continue once everything is in clear agreements with webtoon publisher Lezhin Comics on the webtoon ownership right. The creator will be providing updates the soonest.
안녕하세요. 아지입니다. 많은 분이 온어리시 재연재에 대해서 문의해주셔서 뒤늦게나마 추이에 대해 말씀드리려 합니다. 온어리시는 계약기간이 끝나 레진에게 게재권을 되찾게 되더라도 재연재까지는 시간이 걸릴 것 같습니다. 기다려주시는 독자분들에게 꼭 다시 연재할 거라 약속드리겠습니다. pic.twitter.com/Z2Rj5yIDkI
The tweet received a lot of replies from fans holding on to hope that the series will come back the soonest.
The announcement of the series’ indefinite hiatus happened last February, the same month Team Gaji announced the cancellation of their webtoon hit What Does The Fox Say.
On A Leash is set in a chaotic battleground where tension and emotions run high. In the midst of the chaos, the story is also centered on the love-hate relationship of Red and Luce (which respectively morph into a dog and snake). You can read the series in both English and Korean in Lezhin Comics.
One book purchase is priced at USD $21 (including shipping). If you are looking for a case to fit all your Lily Love volumes, a soft box is also available priced at USD $3.
Lily Love is one of Ratana Satis’ first successful GL work before her webtoon hit masterpiece Pulse. The series was first released in Thai and was later available for English. It centers on two different girls Donut and Mew as their closeness slowly begins intimate. Their relationship is encountered with a lot of hurdles and doing their best efforts to be there for each other.
