Witches & Wine
Review
Writer: Muffin Girl
Artist: Muffin Girl
Publisher: Webtoon
Format: Webtoon
With incredible writing and art by Muffin Girl, creator of the hit series A Budgie’s Life, Witches & Wine is a reimagined fairy tale that will have readers feeling uplifted and cheerful with its heartwarming stories. The webtoon is a magical series about finding love and people who’ll accept you for who you are.
Witches & Wine
ReviewWriter: Muffin Girl
Artist: Muffin Girl
Publisher: Webtoon
Format: Webtoon
With incredible writing and art by Muffin Girl, creator of the hit series A Budgie’s Life, Witches & Wine is a reimagined fairy tale that will have readers feeling uplifted and cheerful with its heartwarming stories. The webtoon is a magical series about finding love and people who’ll accept you for who you are.
A good measure for finding a good CANVAS webtoon is if the creator has previously released a successful ORIGINAL series. When I came across Witches & Wine, not only did the art and story catch my eye, but so did seeing a familiar name in Muffin Girl. To my pleasant surprise, she was also the author of A Budgie’s Life, an adorable Webtoon Original that was quite popular during its serialization a few years back. While witches and princes are a far cry from a story about tiny birds, when creative genius strikes—it strikes. Today, join me as I go over Muffin Girl’s CANVAS series Witches & Wine!
Overview
Witches, magic, curses, birds, and royalty—this story weaves multiple lives together to retell one of the oldest classic fairy tales, The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson. The webtoon begins with the tale about a half-bird half-man prince and a herbalist witch. How will they reach a happily ever after?
Image: Webtoon
Review
As interesting as it is to see fairy tales reimagined, they can be hit or miss. Sometimes the classic story just does not match the modern direction. But in the case of Witches & Wine, it’s what I consider to be a hit. While it takes inspiration from Hans Christian Anderson’s classic The Wild Swans, the webtoon spins an original plot that is compelling on its own. Muffin Girl’s approach to writing the story is one of the most notable aspects of the webtoon. Instead of simply retelling the tale as is, she also weaves in complex ideas like disabled representation to bring new perspectives to the story. It’s also very refreshing to see one of Hans Christian Anderson’s lesser-known stories explored. While we’ve already seen many versions of The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, and The Princess and the Pea, not everyone knows the story of The Wild Swan. Choosing to create a story based on a classic children’s fairy tale tugs on the heartstrings of people who’ve grown up reading or listening to that story.
Beyond its unique concept, Witches & Wine blends classic prose with storytelling, showcasing Muffin Girl’s brilliant writing ability. That poetic style makes exploring the story’s lore about magic and witches feel more whimsical. The plot also hardly ever feels dull as the ending of each episode includes plenty of extra tidbits that add fun and depth to the story. Even “filler episodes” are immensely enjoyable because of how much Muffin Girl is a natural storyteller. Although she takes inspiration from a classic fairy tale, the characters of Witches & Wine still feel very much the creator’s own. All the princes and witches have unique personalities that are exciting to learn about, which makes it easy for readers to follow as the webtoon shifts the story focus and main characters.
Image: WebtoonWhat completes this picture-perfect fairy tale webtoon is the beautifully charming art style. Witches & Wine combines the classic look of traditional watercolor children’s storybooks with anime-style character designs. Looking at how carefully drawn each panel of the webtoon is, you can see how excellent of an artist Muffin Girl is. It’s brimming with feelings of nostalgia which will attract readers who love old-school aesthetics. I particularly love how flashback scenes were executed using split panels that transition from one drawing to the next (e.g. episode 20). The costume designs are immaculate as well with careful, fun, and eye-catching details. Overall, his series is stunning, and I, for one, felt the full effect of story and art together.
The only gripe I have is each main character’s story felt a bit too shortl. Because the webtoon mirrors the style of children’s storybooks very closely, episodes tend to end quickly like a short story. Lengthening the characters’ stories would have been nice as I loved following the herbalist witch and her one-winged prince’s POV. But the series is still ongoing, so there is still a chance for the POVs of characters to be lengthened before everything is wrapped up. Here’s to hoping.
Image: Webtoon
Final Thoughts
Witches & Wine is a webtoon that stands out among the titles from CANVAS. Even though I had an inkling I would enjoy it, I was still amazed at the extent of my adoration for the series. It is such an underrated webtoon that deserves to get more readers on it. Who doesn’t love witches, princes, and wholesome content? If you’re looking for a fun fairy tale, look no further. Then if you enjoy this webtoon as much as I did, Muffin Girl has a beautifully designed volume one available in print to order! Witches & Wine is the perfect webtoon to invest your time.
Who this is for
- Fans of stories written by Hans Christian Anderson.
- People who like traditional watercolor art styles.
- People who want to read wholesome content.
Who this is not for
- People who don’t like fantasy fairy tales.
- Readers who prefer a series with only one central main character.
- Readers who prefer webtoons with long episodes.