Red String (webcomic)
Encyclopedia
Red String is a webcomic
series created by Gina Biggs. Starting in 2002, this story chronicles the daily life of a Japanese high school student, Miharu Ogawa who discovers one day that she is the victim of an arranged marriage
. The series premise is based on the red string of fate
of Japanese and Chinese mythology. It has a definite shōjo
manga
influence and is primarily a romance story. The first three volumes were published by Dark Horse Comics
.
had licensed the title for publication. The first seven chapters of the series, mostly edited and touched up for print with Dark Horse Comics, were collected into Volume 1 and released on January 28, 2007. Volume 2 was released January 30, 2008, and collected chapters eight through fourteen. The third volume comprised chapters fifteen through twenty one and was released on May 8, 2008. No further volumes will be published by Dark Horse.
The series continues to be released online for free. In addition, a full-color art book titled Threads was released by the author in 2006. Threads II, a follow-up artbook was released in early 2009 and is also self-published by the author.
There is also a radio play in production based on the comic. Crystal Miller of the Voice Acting Alliance initiated the project in September 2005, later passing the reigns to Biggs. On November 7, 2006, the first chapter was released, and as of April 2008, three chapters and one supplement have been released.
The comic is a member of the Create a Comic Project
.
team and was in love with Maya Chiaki, the team captain. She moves to Tokyo in Chapter 15. Side Story 2, which takes place between Chapters 16 and 27, reveals that she has joined her Tokyo school's film club and started dating Hanae Niijima, who returns her feelings. is a friend of Hiroshi's who is known as a "lone wolf" to most students. Initially, he does not seem to like Reika or Miharu very much, and demonstrates this with snide and piercing remarks and a rough attitude. However, he has been known to offer Miharu advice and he is a very responsible older brother. More recently he has begun to think of Miharu and Reika as friends, and a growing affection for Reika has undoubtedly been unfolding in Eiji. When Reika starts dating Aizaku, Eiji tries to talk her out of it because he knew Aizaku was cheating on her. This eventually led to a fight between him and Aizaku. Reika later on discovers Aizaku's playboy side resulting their relationship to come to a end. Eiji and Reika becomes closer after the accident and they eventually became a couple when Reika returns her feeings for Eiji.
team and the team's ace. She is friends with Fuuko and Karen, and also enjoys karaoke
. She's also confused about her sexuality. Her father is American, so she's only half-Japanese. is the president of the Astronomy
Club, of which Reika and Hiroshi are also members. 16-year-old Seiko loves the night sky, and aspires to be an astronomer. She (correctly) guesses that Reika is a member only because Hiroshi is and offers her some pearls of wisdom, telling her that her pictures of stars are actually quite good. is a classmate of Karen. He and Karen love each other, but Karen's engagement with Makoto Yosue prevents them from being together. is the captain of the school's baseball team. He likes Maya, and tried to support her when almost everyone else gave her the cold shoulder because of some rumors about a relation between her and Fuuko. attends Harusono High School and becomes Miharu's friend. She is a high class and somewhat snobby girl who grew up with Kazuo. She dislikes Tomi. attends Harusono University with Kazuo and works at Café Charm. attends Harusono High School and becomes Miharu's friend. She attends Harusono to try to get a rich husband because her family is poor. She dislikes Kikuko.
.
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
series created by Gina Biggs. Starting in 2002, this story chronicles the daily life of a Japanese high school student, Miharu Ogawa who discovers one day that she is the victim of an arranged marriage
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
. The series premise is based on the red string of fate
Red string of fate
The red string of fate, also referred to as the red thread of destiny, red thread of fate, and other variants, is an East Asian belief originating from Chinese legend and is also used in Japanese legend. According to this myth, the gods tie an invisible red string around the ankles of men and women...
of Japanese and Chinese mythology. It has a definite shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
influence and is primarily a romance story. The first three volumes were published by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
.
Publication history
Red String was first printed in 2005 as a self-published work under Gina Biggs's all-female comic group, Strawberry Comics. On May 1, 2006, the author announced that Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
had licensed the title for publication. The first seven chapters of the series, mostly edited and touched up for print with Dark Horse Comics, were collected into Volume 1 and released on January 28, 2007. Volume 2 was released January 30, 2008, and collected chapters eight through fourteen. The third volume comprised chapters fifteen through twenty one and was released on May 8, 2008. No further volumes will be published by Dark Horse.
The series continues to be released online for free. In addition, a full-color art book titled Threads was released by the author in 2006. Threads II, a follow-up artbook was released in early 2009 and is also self-published by the author.
There is also a radio play in production based on the comic. Crystal Miller of the Voice Acting Alliance initiated the project in September 2005, later passing the reigns to Biggs. On November 7, 2006, the first chapter was released, and as of April 2008, three chapters and one supplement have been released.
The comic is a member of the Create a Comic Project
Create a Comic Project
The Create a Comic Project is a youth literacy program and webcomic created by John Baird. The program uses comics, many taken from the Internet, to encourage children to write their own narratives. The program began in November 2006 at the main branch of the New Haven Free Public Library as an...
.
Main teenage characters
Most of the comic focuses on the life of Miharu and her teenage friends. is the main character of Red String. She is a sixteen year old Japanese High School student with bleached-blond hair, is rather out-spoken and trendy, and is close friends with Reika and Fuuko. She is also betrothed to a stranger against her will, however she soon discovers that she and her fiancé have actually already met. is the male lead of Red String, he is Miharu's 19 year old fiancé. His family has firm plans for his future which he feels trapped by. He does, however, have genuine affection for Miharu, as she does for him. is one of Miharu's two best friends, and Miharu and Reika have known each other since childhood. Miharu helped Reika through some tough times in middle school that left a mark on Reika's reputation (despite Reika's innocence in the matter). She had a crush on Hiroshi Aizaku and begins a relationship with him but she later finds out the playboy side of him and thus, their relationship ended. She laters on relises her feelings for Eiji and they became a couple. is Miharu's other best friend. She is also 16 years old, and though she only met Miharu and Reika when she began attending high school she was quickly accepted as part of the group. Her family moves often, usually due to her father's company reassigning him. She was a big fan of her school's volleyballVolleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
team and was in love with Maya Chiaki, the team captain. She moves to Tokyo in Chapter 15. Side Story 2, which takes place between Chapters 16 and 27, reveals that she has joined her Tokyo school's film club and started dating Hanae Niijima, who returns her feelings. is a friend of Hiroshi's who is known as a "lone wolf" to most students. Initially, he does not seem to like Reika or Miharu very much, and demonstrates this with snide and piercing remarks and a rough attitude. However, he has been known to offer Miharu advice and he is a very responsible older brother. More recently he has begun to think of Miharu and Reika as friends, and a growing affection for Reika has undoubtedly been unfolding in Eiji. When Reika starts dating Aizaku, Eiji tries to talk her out of it because he knew Aizaku was cheating on her. This eventually led to a fight between him and Aizaku. Reika later on discovers Aizaku's playboy side resulting their relationship to come to a end. Eiji and Reika becomes closer after the accident and they eventually became a couple when Reika returns her feeings for Eiji.
Secondary teenage characters
is a girl in the same year as Miharu, Reika, and Fuuko. She is "the envy of all the girls in school and the desire of all the guys", and a top student to boot. However, she has a superiority complex and especially likes to pick on Miharu and her friends. Her popularity has waned somewhat lately as Maya Chiaki's has increased. is an attractive student in the same year as the girls. Reika has a crush on him, and he seems to be oblivious to this. He seems to be a generally nice guy, but seems to have a bit of a womanizing streak. He is a member of the Astronomy Club, which Reika also joined to get closer to him. If he's not hanging out with one or more girls, he may be found chatting with Eiji Hayashihara. He eventually dates Reika not because he likes her, but to steal the person that Eiji likes as he becomes more popular than himself. Although he was dating Reika, he was playing with other girls. Thus, leading a fight between him and Eiji, following a breakup with Reika. Aizaku then finds out that he had hurt many people and apologizes to Reika and Eiji. is a year older than Miharu and her friends. Makoto claims that he is Miharu's fiancé, however his appearance was actually due to a mix-up between Miharu's parents and his own. However he was still determined to court Miharu and take over her father's restaurant - Ogawa-ya - one day, even transferring schools to get closer to Miharu (to her dismay). However, after meeting Miharu on the roof after school one day to apologize for his actions during the summer, he tells her that he will start giving 'Miss Karen' his fullest attention. is Miharu's older cousin. She works in Ogawa-ya as a waitress and she seems rather cold. She has been manipulative where Miharu and Kazuo were concerned, and nearly caused lasting damage to their relationship. She had been affected by painful memories. is the 17-year-old captain of the school volleyballVolleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
team and the team's ace. She is friends with Fuuko and Karen, and also enjoys karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
. She's also confused about her sexuality. Her father is American, so she's only half-Japanese. is the president of the Astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
Club, of which Reika and Hiroshi are also members. 16-year-old Seiko loves the night sky, and aspires to be an astronomer. She (correctly) guesses that Reika is a member only because Hiroshi is and offers her some pearls of wisdom, telling her that her pictures of stars are actually quite good. is a classmate of Karen. He and Karen love each other, but Karen's engagement with Makoto Yosue prevents them from being together. is the captain of the school's baseball team. He likes Maya, and tried to support her when almost everyone else gave her the cold shoulder because of some rumors about a relation between her and Fuuko. attends Harusono High School and becomes Miharu's friend. She is a high class and somewhat snobby girl who grew up with Kazuo. She dislikes Tomi. attends Harusono University with Kazuo and works at Café Charm. attends Harusono High School and becomes Miharu's friend. She attends Harusono to try to get a rich husband because her family is poor. She dislikes Kikuko.
Parents
The teenagers' parents are seen and mentioned in Red String on occasion, but they are most often relegated to background characters and comic reliefComic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
.
- Miharu's Parents: Miharu's parents run the family business Ogawa-ya, a restaurant and sushiSushiis a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
bar. Her aunt, uncle, and cousin Karen work there too. Her father runs the business and cooks and her mother is the head hostess. - Karen's Parents: Karen's parents are Miharu's Uncle , and Aunt . They work at Ogawa-ya as a chef and waitress, Jiro is the younger brother of Miharu's father and even though they aren't twins they look incredibly alike. You can tell them apart because Jiro has an ear-piercing and Miharu's father does not. Also, Miharu's dad wears glasses and Jiro does not.
- Kazuo's Parents: Kazuo's parents are and . Kenta works in the Fujiwara family's pharmaceutical company, and is in fact in line to inherit leadership. Kenta and Emi married quickly after finding that Emi was pregnant with Kazuo, after a whirlwind romance between his parents.
Siblings
Some of the characters have siblings who also make an appearance.- Kazuo's Sisters: Kazuo has two younger sisters, the elder of two is called , and the younger is called . When they first meet Miharu they get confused and mistake Karen for her. They are slightly disappointed when they see Miharu, but they do warm up to her.
- Eiji's Brothers: Eiji has a younger brother called , and an elder brother called . All three Hayashihara brothers are rather alike.
- Maya's Brother: Maya has an older brother called who is a fashion designer. Like Maya he is half Japanese, half American.
Chapters
Further reading
External links
| Fan translations |
|---|
| German |