World
BreakWorld
BreakWorld Break takes place in a Victorianesqe setting filled with magic and other fantasy elements. It has all the classics from castles to knights, nobles to swords and swashbuckling. The story itself follows a young man cursed to be a Dreamscaper. Dreamscapers nightmares become reality and end in the deaths of many, given this eventuality they are executed upon 'awakening' or first growing into power. It also follows the young man's sister, a noble and widow, who fights to save the young man from the world and himself.
Ruarke: Raurke is a dreamscaper. His nightmares become reality and wreak havoc on the world. Unlike most dreamscapers he has escaped execution and has managed to retain his sanity for the most part. He keeps with him a pet, Kujo, who is a phantasm created by his dreams. Most dreamscapers have no control over their creation but Ruarke has received some mysterious help...
Anri: Anri is a young noble who is both happy and sad. She lost her brother when he became a dreamscaper, unable to protect him from her stepfather to be. And at a very young age she's already become a widow. She is competitive, and skilled with the sword. She also have a very large stubborn streak.
Daiyamund: Daiyamund is a Royal Knight, and an expert with both sword and magic. He was pledged to Anri's late husband as his personal knight, and now stays with Anri since his death. He is not required to do this, and his reasoning for it has not yet been fully explained. He is as stubborn as Anri, and often very annoyed by her and her actions.
World Break is a beautiful webcomic to look at. The prologue is in black and white, as is a flashback sequence early in the story. This is for the mere 'past' effect, as the rest of the story is in full color. The coloring is an almost pastel style that makes great use of light and lightplay on the background and characters themselves. Everything is set in a very stylized Victorian era fashion, from clothing to area settings. Each character has a distinct look, from eyes and expression to skin color, hair styles, and even outfit. Personality comes out in even the way each character dresses. In truth, some of the look (and story) feels borrowed from certain popular games of recent times, and also can resemble a manga style. But the creator of World Break has done a very good job of bringing a unique twist to each aspect.
There are times though, when positioning of characters does not feel natural. The way a sword might be held, or especially archers. On page 102 there is a knight in armor trying to strike out at a phantasm, but the way the right leg is bent and lifted all the way up the pose looks more appropriate for a dance. But for where positioning fails, the true scope of this art is seen in details. Vests (such as the one worn by Daiyamund early on) have an incredible amount of detail, gloves have creases straps, ties, at times it's almost tempting to try and count individual hairs.
World Break is still early in the story. It's just broken the one hundred page mark, and the creator has managed to tell a lot of story without sacrificing pace. Much has happened, and yet very little has happened. The pacing is just right. The story itself is easy to fall into, especially for anyone who enjoys video games or anime. Perhaps that's part of what is enjoyable about it. It feels very familiar. And yet new. Very few aspects of this story have never been seen before. But sometimes reading an old story in a new way is very refreshing. We've already been introduced to elements not usually found in this sort of story, and I've a feeling that with more pages to come we'll be given a plethora of events, ideas, and people who are new to the genre. The characters are believable enough, and the art is very good. Since the webcomic doesn't update on a particular day right now, this is one I suggest an RSS feed for.