Red String by Gina Biggs is a webcomic that takes place in Japan. The main character is Miharu Ogawa, a strong-willed Japanese schoolgirl whose parents have arranged for her to get married to Kazuo Fujiwara, the son of a wealthy businessman. Other characters include Miharu and Kazuo’s friends and family members. The comic is full of interpersonal dramas and relationships. Unlike many webcomics, this webcomic definitely aims for realism, so if you’re looking for magical girls and sexy cat women, you’ll be disappointed. Biggs is not Japanese herself, so I can’t help but wonder how well she truly captures Japanese culture. Nonetheless, Red String is a good source of entertainment.

The artwork takes some elements from anime, but instead of trying to pass the webcomic off as a Japanese-style comic book (called manga), Biggs develops her own style and keeps the quality fairly consistent. The art improves from the beginning of the comic, but it was by no means poor in the first place. The title pages are fairly good as well. They show a marked improvement from the beginning of the series, with colors becoming brighter and more vivid and featured characters becoming more dynamic.

The website is fairly easy to navigate with character biographies (under “extras”), extra artwork, and even a web radio station. The artist herself is fairly easy to get in contact with, either through e-mail or through her own messageboard, which is accessible from the Red String main page.

The webcomic updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, although extra pages are added at the end of every month if Biggs gets enough PayPal donations. The story is mostly aimed at teenage girls. Readers should be warned of mild sexual content, mild violence and homosexuality.

Rating: B+