As you might know, I thoroughly enjoy reading webcomics. So much so that I printed one of them (Better Days if you’re wondering and yes, all 600+ strips of it) and even had it book bound just so I can carry it around. That book of mine was sadly lost though thanks to some inconsiderate person.

That isn’t the subject of this post though. While that book was in my possession, it often stayed in my bedroom. There, I occasionally read through it, always giving voices to the characters. It wasn’t just reading it aloud with a monotonous voice, I would shift my voice just to fit the characters. With the majority of the cast being girls, I often did female voices and would laugh at myself on how silly I sounded. That also depended on the mood of which the characters were in so my voice wasn’t really constant and often followed their emotions.

Where it all began.

It’s fascinating how something minimal can really bring life to a character. It’s also an effective way of getting attached to the characters and more importantly, the comic’s story or theme as a whole. With you lending yourself to portray the character’s emotions, you can’t help but feel giddy when they’re happy or downright miserable when they’re down. So you might say, an animated version with proper voice actors and all the jazz of said webcomics would be amazing! Sadly, that doesn’t always work out. Take this for example:

Now, I do occasionally read CAD and think it’s an OK comic (pretty funny at times) but that video was just… randomly unfunny. It might be the less than fluid animation, or rather the voices. I’d have to admit though that Lilah’s voice is quite fitting but Ethan’s and Lucas’? Not so much. Point is, it felt dull and pretty much just made the characters more 2D. Maybe some music would’ve made it a lot better? If so, let’s move on to VGCats’ atttempt:

Now that’s a lot better. Though the whole animation part is gone, it just has an overall better vibe to it. The voices really fit the characters’ scenes and actions (Krug and Pantsman and the “World of Pain” ones were awesome) and there’s music! Appropriately used music if I may add. Music is a double-edged sword. Use it badly and you’ve got yourself a pretty boring or cliche scene but use it well and it really pays off. It’s even much better when the characters are the ones doing the singing. Not convinced? Well, here’s a little experiment for you.

If you’ve read up on Bittersweet Candy Bowl (which I really recommend doing as it’s a charming webcomic and because you won’t get anything that’s going on in the chapter), you’ll notice that chapter 24 is filled with songs. Now, instead of reading it plainly, try singing the lyrics (that is, if you know the tune of the song of course) or read them along with the song playing. It’s a truly joyous experience as every song just fits the scene perfectly. The title of the songs are posted in the “Author’s Comments” section located directly below the comic strip but just in case you’re lazy, here are the links to the songs:

  1. Como Si No Nos Hubieramos Amado (Page 1. Play until 1:11) (Translation)
  2. I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing (Page 2. Play until 1:18)
  3. If I Could Fall In Love (Page 3. Play until 1:18)
  4. White Flag (Page 4. Play until 0:24)
  5. Cool (Page 4. Start at 0:35; play until 0:59)
  6. Si Yo Me Vuelvo A Enamorar (Page 4. Finish the song if you like) (Loose translation)

And that’s about it. Hope you enjoyed the little experiment.

That ends this post. Thanks for reading and good day.

PS. If you could translate the last song correctly, please inform me. I’d greatly appreciate the effort. Thanks.

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