Round 2
LnR
Goals/Intentions:
Now this, I have to say, is a unique goal--to spread awareness about the happenings of the Philippines. I have to ask why. I'm confident there's good reason, don't get me wrong, but it is such a high concept that I feel compelled to know the context. I will say, in the interest of honesty, clarity, and context, that the Philippines are definitely a place that I never give a passing thought. Now, I imagine most people don't give most countries even a single thought. There's a lot to think about. Still, maybe that's why I'm intrigued by this motivation on yours--it is a unique goal, about a uniquely under-the-radar nation that has only recently gained attention due to its uniquely colorful leader.
All of this said, I have to admit, I did not pick up on the Philippines setting unless explicitly stated or when I was reminded by Filipino/Tagalog language moments. I'll go into this more in the Art section, but it bears mentioning now that my reading experience was compartmentalized. There were normal episodes, and there were informational episodes. The former were the usual comings and goings of the characters, and the latter were what felt like specials, where I would get a taste of Filipino culture. This may or may not be a problem, depending on the nature of your intent. I can't call it a negative either way, personally.
Art:
Right off the bat, I'll say that I have no technical issues. Granted, I may not have as critical an eye, and I am certainly not in the top percentile of artists--so perhaps I'm just not equipped to detect the errors. At the very least, take this as assurance that the layman will probably not have too much to say against the technical aspects. Perhaps there are arguments to be made for the first half of the comic so far, but recent page confirm that you have the system down.
I'll take this time to make my cardinal praise: this is one of the cleanest, most polished looking comics I've seen, when it comes to the art itself. No errant specks or lines, nothing more or less than need be. It seems a functionally perfect economy of detail. The linework is confident and slick. Yeah, I don't have anything to complain about, technically. I guess I could resort to nitpicking consistency... R gets slimmer or plumper in numerous frames, L's torso-arm ratio fluctuates, etc...
Now, Stylistically... If you were going for adorable, you've succeeded. Classic Disney with a splash of CalArts. Hard to not go "D'awwwwww....", especially when that little girl shows up. That heartwarming, hopeful tone you're going for? It's accomplished before a word is said by this style. It is warm and comfortable. No doubt this is helped in great part by the crayon/chalk strokes, the pastel cloudy backgrounds, and generally warm color. Truth be told, I cannot think of anything I can objectively call out as an issue when it comes to the art. It's form fits its function. It complements your goals. My only thought about that is a question about the Philippines, again. It's a story about living in Philippines, and at least half of the relevant cast (L and Andre) are foreigners. What's more, R looks not-Filipino as well (at least to the untrained, foreign eye that I have).
This is only a problem insofar as, once again, it seems to blur the spoken interest in putting a spotlight on the Philippines. The overtly Filipino cousin and her husband are the only real glimpse of natives. This is made all the more intriguing by your decision to turn all background characters into identical shadow people, which I can only imagine is a method of saving time, but it conveys a message of "These people are basically like the ones who are actually fleshed out." That is a strange pairing when half the cast is foreign born. Like I said, this is only really a problem if your intentions about Philippines awareness are high octane. Otherwise, I didn't think anything of it.
As a last note, and question, I have to wonder about R's leg hair. I know there's an attitude out there now about body image, and I have no intention of unraveling any of that myself, but for the record, I will state that it is comically shocking to see such a traditionally cute art style suddenly have aggressively hair legs on a woman. It is definitely eye-catching. Personally, I found it gross, but, again, I recognize there's an alternative approach to such things online these days, so it's more an observation than a nitpick.
Writing:
There are some interesting things going on here. That's not necessarily a good or bad thing, mind you. I'll start with my most important observation/grievance: I have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on, really. If there's a plot, I can't see it beyond the incremental intimacy between L and R. Outside of their courtship, I feel like I'm being taken on a journey by the Ghost of Christmas Present--events seemingly happening in parallel to one another, all disconnected by place and context, but connected by cast and general theme. From your description, I 100% expected a serial work, not the episodic chimera you have, here.
This could be a time bomb. I came into this review ready to call the episodic nature of your comic a non-issue, but I think I changed my own mind. The story is often disjointed, awkward, and strangely paced, and this flies in the face of the advantages of an episodic series--the reliable cycle and comfort of process, the thematic flow, etc. I'll say again that I can perceive no narrative structure or arc beyond the slow burning romance between L and R. We intersect with their lives now and again, no more or less. I am left hollow. The cute art style begins to take on a new, less endearing meaning.
The real culprit, here? Your choice of tone--heartwarming and hopeful. My cardinal complaint about your comic is that it is not hopeful. Not only that, but, as it is now, it is inherently incapable of being hopeful. There is nothing to hope for, because there is absolutely zero peril or conflict. Being episodic means it is rigidly loyal to the status quo--everyone likes everyone, everything works out, there are no meaningful pressures on the status quo beyond L's momentary spat with his brother (which, being episodic, comes out of nowhere without any context) and R's temporary stress about her job (which just comes off as one of the informational episodes, as I mentioned earlier).
Your comic is cute, but it is constantly treading the line between sweet and saccharine. It is constantly in danger of being insipid, despite the many soliloquies about internal mental and emotional struggles. You have troubled characters who overtly talk their way out of any potential darkness, or they are immediately rescued from dark places by nearby characters. These moments of doubt and fear are not conflicts, they are essay prompts. Suddenly, I'm not so sure if I'm reading a comic or a scrap book of motivational posters from high school. There is nothing to hope for in your hopeful story, because the characters have it already. The people around them love them, accept them, and are actively helping them. Perhaps they're hoping to be free of their doubts and fears. Well that doesn't work much, given how routinely those doubts and fears are confronted and rationalized away. And it's not even like we see lingering doubt. We see open acceptance. The status quo is eternal--except, apparently, for L's social ineptitude, which is quick becoming more a prop than an actual problem. It causes no real problems, it only introduces new ways for the people around him to do right by him.
Summation:
If you are trying to write a narrative of any kind, then you should seriously consider introducing meaningful challenges to be overcome. Otherwise, any hopes (heh) you have of writing a genuinely uplifting and life affirming story are doomed to being superficial, saccharine, and hollow. Your art style is adorable, but it suffers the same fate as the writing--if it is not backed up by some authenticity, some degree of meaningful, encroaching, challenging darkness, then any character it might have had is soured and turned into off-putting banality.