Angybirdoe/Arajou

(ep.48 and ep.49 - episodes or ep# refer to the webcomic. chapters or ch# refer to the webnovel.)

Ending Spoiler #1: Locusts

Ch.102 - When using the ending spoiler, Lloyd is forced into the body of his future self as the ending scene unfolds. It limits his ability to gather information a bit. The webcomic allows him to be a phantom who can look around.

Ch.104 - Julian wants to go back to the barony too, but Lloyd makes him stay put due to the impending danger. Feeling like a useless burden, Julian swears he will become useful when he one day returns home.

Ch.105 - BK Moon really loves his POV changes, because who else would give us half a chapter of narration from Locust #86,215? We find out from the locust that because the orc tribes had recently solved a major food shortage problem—thanks to none other than Lloyd’s ice house!—the Asfahan Sultanate started the monster domino much earlier than expected to control the orc population. Pretty good foreshadowing on the enforced fate phenomenon.

Ep.49 - In the webcomic, the romance between Emily the Baroness' maid and Cougar the Orc begins here, when Cougar protects her from the locusts. This romance does not exist in the book.

Ch.106 - The gong resembles the sound the locusts make during mating season i.e. thousands of bugs are chasing Javier/Lloyd because they want to fuck.

(ep.50 with fun Lloyd fact from ch.107)

Ch.107 - So as per tradition, when Lloyd is plowing through a cloud of horny bugs the size of dogs flying at his face, he briefly considers noping out of there and begging for the Queen's job offer back. But as always, he powers through.

Ep.50 - Only Webtoon Lloyd storms through Viscount Lacona's house with the swarm of locusts. Novel Lloyd just circles the town like a normal, slightly less-funny person.

Ch.107 - When Lloyd and Javier jump off their exhausted horses, Javier tells Lloyd to run ahead while he holds off the locust swarm. Lloyd disagrees and asks Javier, "Do you have some fantasy to become a hero in your head? Why do you keep trying to die so often?" because certainly, he wouldn't be happy if Javier sacrificed himself. Then he makes Javier give him a piggyback sprint all the way to the wetlands as payback for the ant battle. OTOH, Webtoon Lloyd just jumps from his horse onto Javier and yells HEEEYA!

(ep.12 and ep.50 - If I had a nickle for every time Llojavi had to carry the other on their backs due to monstrously giant bugs threatening their estate, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice.)

—

The White Cavalry and the Mastadons

Ch.111 - Rather than challenging Sir Blanc of the White Cavalry to a duel, Novel Lloyd bets the commander that he can prove the superior worth of shoveling. Then to win, he unloads a mana blast into the sky, and it's like, dude, you did not learn that skill just from shoveling bffr you cheater 😭

Ep.51 - The webcomic shows Commander Blanc’s original role in The Knight of Blood and Iron: slaughtering people under the order of the Tyrant Queen. I’m kinda surprised that’s not in the book, but maybe it comes up way later? It’s good backstory (or alt story?)

Ch.111 - To give credence to his monster domino predictions, Novel Lloyd reads up on old library books so he can cite his sources when asked. Webtoon Lloyd just does the titanium face and calls it good. It’s funny how different they are about quelling suspicion because Novel Lloyd really does try to prepare good excuses whenever he anticipates questions, but then he speaks in non-stop anachronisms that constantly confuse Javier. Pick a lane, man 😭

—

King Storma and the Orc Migration

(ep.53 and ep.54)

Ch.112 - Lloyd tries his Supercharge skill on Javier but he can't steal his mana because Javier also has the Asrahan Core Technique. (I swear something like this happens in the webcomic but I can't find it so we're marking it as a difference for now.)

Ch.113 - Novel Lloyd learns from research that King Storma is a “beaver-like” creature. This is how he comes up with the damn-breaking idea, by recalling how zoos will repeatedly break their beavers’ damns to keep the little guys active in captivity. All of these clues are omitted in the webcomic, and I loved how it made the surprise is really surprising.

Ch.114 - When Lloyd is using his design skill, he gets so focused that he doesn't even react to Javier pinching his cheeks huhuhu. To be fair, Javier only does because Lloyd is clearly seeing something whenever he's waving his hands around like a crazy person, and it drives Novel Javier nuts that he can't see it too. Webtoon Javier has basically accepted his lord's weirdness by now.

Ch.114 - The White Cavalry pep talk is the same. The shovel cult is…new.

(ep.54 with text from ch.110 - If the book did have a shovel cult, Novel Lloyd's speech would be their manifesto.)

Ch.114 - When Javier goes to deliver the final damn break, Lloyd warns him not to get crushed and die...but if he does get crushed and die, Lloyd will totally "mourn [his] death anniversary. Not a year missed." "I... am still alive, Master Lloyd," Javier griped. Sometimes we can still hear his voice 😢

Ch.116 - Novel Javier's BIBEONG!! yelling is just gibberish, and it makes Bibeong so concerned for Javier's sanity that he asks about it after the fight. Lloyd assures him that that's normal for Javier; poor guy fell headfirst out of a persimmon tree when he was seven 😢 The adaptation changes it so Webtoon Javier is inadvertently hurling insults in Bibeong's language.

Ch.117 - Bibeong says no one summoned him; he just sort of appeared 500 years ago. The webcomic Spinoff #3 reveals Bibeong was involved with the characters in What a Bountiful Harvest, Demon Lord!, but I just started reading that webcomic so we'll see~

Ch.118 - This is a blink and you miss it plotpoint in the webcomic, but Novel Lloyd has to convince the Orc tribe to move from their ancestral home into the eastern lands bordering his estate. The logic he uses is that there are more animals to hunt in the east > more protein = more muscles > ergo the ancestors would approve. This works somehow.

—

Paying off the Debt

Ch.119 - The night before he is to pay off the debt, Lloyd has a hyperrealistic dream of his 12th birthday when he visited the Royal Tomb in Gyeongju with his dad. This was the only time his super busy dad was able to take him out on a father-son outing, making it a cherished memory. Partway through, the memory changes, and Suho's dad starts to cry and tells him that he's proud of him.

"Son, you did good. You worked so hard." "What...?" This line wasn't in Lloyd's memory. This conversation didn't take place when he was 12 years old. Feeling a bit dazed, Lloyd saw his father's nose grow red. "I'm sorry. It's been really hard, right? It's not your fault. You just happened to have a poor and incompetent father." "...” "But that's why I'm proud of you all the more." "That's..." Lloyd couldn't finish words. "I'm proud of you, my son."

Since the messenger box aren't Suho's parents in the book, I really want to read this as his actual dad visiting him in his dream to convey this message.

In the webcomic, instead of a dream, we get a flashback to Suho's dad apologizing to Suho over the debt. But they do add a conversation between Webtoon Lloyd and the Baron, with Lloyd assuring the Baron he's a good father just for loving his son—something he clearly wished he'd told his dad back in his old life.

Both these scenes offer heavy emotional closure in their own ways, and I love having them both.

(ch.119 and ep.57)

Ch.119 - Perturbed by his dream, Lloyd spends the next day feeling empty inside even after paying off the debt and being celebrated by the whole barony. He ends up asking Javier about his dad. Javier doesn't remember much, except that his father was a rough man who worked until midnight every day, so he only recalls the feeling of his father's soil-stained hands patting him while he slept.

Ch.119 - At the end of the day, Lloyd cries for the first time since arriving in this world. Loved this scene and the book’s buildup to it is very impactful.

Ch.120 - We aren't told that Javier hears Lloyd cry from outside the door like in the webcomic, but Novel Javier does ask him about his puffy eyes the next day (our guy must've cried all night... TT)

Ch.120 - After crying himself out, Novel Lloyd decides to throw a three-day celebration festival for the whole barony! I didn't think it was important to mention before, but the book barony LOVES to throw parties, like they threw a completion party for each construction project plus a going away party for Lloyd when he went to the capital; these people are hella joyful. (Mind you, at this identical point in the webcomic, Webtoon Lloyd is cussing out the villagers for complimenting him and getting frustrated when they love him for it even more 🤣)

Ch.120 - The Baron offers to plan a family vacation to celebrate Lloyd paying off the debts, but they have to put this off when the refugees arrive. Lloyd/Suho hasn't had a vacation in maybe two decades, just saying.

—

Refugee Crisis and the Honeypot Apartments

Ch.121 - The barony starts with about 5,000 people. The number of refugees is over triple that.

Ch.121 - Lloyd doesn't see a problem with eating the locusts because Koreans eat silkworm pupae for bar snacks (see: beondegi). Not the first time he's brought up his Korean palette, as he was able to tolerate the spiciness of Lupellan's sleeping gas antidote because Koreans have "dipped chili peppers into spicy paste" (ch.37).

(ep.58 - I have no commentary; I just love the Baroness here)

Ch.122 - Suho's childhood apartment was auctioned off as part of his parents' debt payment.

Ch.122 - Suho's mom had tacky taste in wallpaper.

Ch.122 - In the webcomic, everyone but the Frontera barony rejects the refugees. In the novel, all the refugees choose the Frontera barony because they've heard it's so strong and awesome.

Ch.122 - Novel Baron and Lloyd both briefly have thoughts of sending some of the refugees further inland, but then Queen Alicia sends an order to all eastern lands that they must accept any refugees they receive from the monster domino.

Ch.123 - In both versions, Lloyd writes a letter to the Queen begging for more money, but the contents are very different. Somehow, the webcomic is the more normal one. In the book version, Lloyd tells her he started a Queen Alicia cult fandom called XOXO Queen Magentano, and the Queen sends him extra funds just to ensure she never has to stain her eyes with such a letter again. Webtoon Lloyd doesn't start a Queen cult until the barony is promoted to a County, at which point dude was just trolling her. Despite the different approaches to the letter however, the adaptation captures the spirit of Lloyd's pathetic, manipulative, mind-reading whining very well imo, and it's extra funny that Webtoon Javier has to read the letter out loud to her.

(ep.61 and ch.132 - Very funny that the adaptation references this Alicia/Lloyd illustration in the exact opposite context of the original, where she's graciously bestowing the Country title to his estate.)

Ch.123 - The interrogation of Sir Kyle revealed that he was brainwashed into an empty shell of his actual self, leaving only a mechanical determination to kill the Queen.

Ch.124-125 - Novel Lloyd has no problem designing a whole apartment complex from scratch, a task that drove Webtoon Lloyd to collapse, once again proving that Novel Lloyd is better at this *gestures to everything*

Ch.125 - Novel Javier throws his first fit about being used as heavy machinery when it comes to the apartment construction. He lasted longer than Webtoon Javier who first tried to quit when building the Cremo mermaid platform (ep.27). Either way, the Lloyds guilt him back into work.

Ch.125 - "Aha. My little Javier, you wanted to throw a tantrum in front of your hyung, didn't you?" Is this our first confirmation that Lloyd is the older one???

Ch.126 - Novel Lloyd is surprised when his cheap insulation material doesn't work past the fourth floor. His simulation wasn't perfectly accurate! I guess Webtoon Lloyd and his hyperreal meteor strike simulations win this one...

(ep.62 - Webtoon Lloyd, your inner gamer is showing...)

Ch.127 - Javier helps a little refugee boy bring camp food back to his blind mother. As Javier feeds her, he is reminded of his past...though we aren't yet told what that past is. The webcomic replaces this scene with Lloyd watching a refugee mother and son from a distance and strengthening his own resolve to help them.

Ch.127 - Both Javiers fantasize about punching their Lloyds: Novel Lloyd for goading Javier to go with him to the Everglow Woods (not a scene in the webcomic); and Webtoon Lloyd for saying he uses Javier as an emotional trashcan (not a scene in the book).

—

The Elves and the Elensia Tree Insulation Sap

Ch.127 - Up to age six, Javier thought he could befriend an elf.

Ch.127 - In The Knight of Blood and Iron, Javier had a romantic "fling" in literally every single place he went, including catching mutual feeling for an elf. He ultimately rejected all the love interests though.

Ch.128 - JAVIER IS ALLERGIC TO POLLEN 🙌 #RelatableHeroes

The webcomic really starts honing in on the “Lloyd is ugly” jokes this arc (which, sorry, is one of the few running gags I wasn’t into in the adaptation, and is thankfully not a thing in the novel. Somehow it’s just much funnier went the focus stays on Javier being unbelievably attractive and knowing it.)

Ch.128 - Though Novel Javier and Lloyd somehow don’t attract any attention with their loud yapping through the forest, the webcomic lampshades this by having a giant army of elves ready to shoot their Webtoon counterparts when they arrive.

(ep.63)

Ep.63 - Melicca the swole lady elf is new 😀 Webtoon Javier takes a bit of extra bruising, mostly thanks to Melicca, and his fight never stops until he reaches Lloyd. In the book, the elves disperse at a whistle signal right before the final faceoff, so Novel Javier gets away unscathed.

Ep.65 - It’s pretty well known that Beef AKA Giyeong AKA Suho’s only friend was an adaptation exclusive, right? Well this is where he’s introduced, and it seems he was first added because the webcomic wanted to create extra obstacles to Lloyd’s negotiations with the elves. In the book, the elves simply agree to Lloyd’s offer, sign a contract on leather armor, and the story moves on (ch.130). In the webcomic, Chief Moira initially refuses the offer because her mother taught her to only trust a human who can become a true friend. Webtoon Lloyd solves this the same way Beef made a friend of him: with beef. I thought that was a rushed resolution when first reading the comic, but now I see it was because the conflict was superfluous. I do enjoy Beef’s character and what he became to Webtoon Suho, but I must admit I’ll be even more scrutinizing of how his parallel novel scenes play out versus how he was utilized for the adaptation.

That said, this panel is peak and I think about it often:

(ep.66 - They're so stupid 😭)

Ch.131 - Whenever the elves mess up during their construction safety training, Lloyd punishes them by wrapping their beloved meat in lettuce. It’s very effective.

Ch.132 - The elves actually love jumping around the high-rise buildings as it reminds them of their home forest.

Ch.132 - Orcs are scared of heights.

Ch.132 - I can’t tell if this is a joke, but Lloyd says his younger self was devastated to learn that products with ‘real fruit juice’ written on them are barely using any real fruit juice, and that radicalized him to adopt the mentality of a cheapskate. I feel like that cannot possibly be his true reason, but it’s written so confidently, I have to accept it for now.

Ch.132 - Javier suggests Lloyd let the sick and disabled refugees move into the finished apartments first, and Lloyd agrees. In the webcomic, since there is no scene with Javier and the blind mother, Webtoon Lloyd rudely cuts Javier off and suggests the idea himself. It’s almost like the adapter is acknowledging the domino effect of changing a scene lol

—

Reclamation of the Terraced Farming Land

Ch.134 - After he’s tasked with making the Frontera County into a new commercial hub for the country, Novel Lloyd calls in Viscount Lacona to fleece him for a 3x increase in the water bill and enlist their soldiers for his engineering corps. The webcomic's alterations actually felt a bit mean here (4x increase and two separate torture sessions) but at least they got Webtoon Diego back to school lol

Ch.134 - Lloyd keeps his metaphorical foot on the Viscount’s neck because he once had a similar neighbor back in Seoul. That neighbor would blast music all night long, and when Suho tried to talk to him about it, the guy punched him in the face. Suho could have sued him for assault but refrained after the guy begged him for mercy. Then a month later, the guy went right back to blasting his music. The lesson? No mercy to bad neighbors.

Ch.136 - The fantastical creatures convince Lloyd to play the random summon game by telling him there’s a way to get a creature of your preferred skill. His summons never lie so he goes for it, except they neglected to tell him it’s a pity system, so first he has to lose a bunch! After Lloyd hits three dud summons in a row, he legit cries at how much RP he spent for nothing. That makes the two things Novel Lloyd has cried about: (1) the weight of never being able to share his success with his dead parents, and (2) a gacha game. Luckily for Webtoon Lloyd, he was not given time to regret his lost RP.

(ep.68)

Ch.137 - The book wastes no time beating some work ethic into Ggoming. The webcomic tries some motivational speeches first but Novel Ggoming is such a couch potato he won’t even fly or eat the red sunflower seed until all three of the other fantastical beasts stomp his ass.

(ep.69 - Due to different translation choices, I was made to learn the difference between the Crow-tit (English webcomic tn) and the Parrotbill (English novel tn). I’m sure you’ll all be delighted to know that the “parrotbill” is the proper species term, and that “crow-tit” is a South Korean colloquialism used to refer to both the brown vinous-throated parrotbill and the white long-tailed tit. They have similar round cute shapes; however, Ggoming is a long-tailed tit in both versions. (Source))

Ch.139 - Novel Lloyd set up a system where the refugees could volunteer on the terraced farmlands construction. All volunteers had to log their hours, and those with the most hours would get the best pick of land once the parcels were ready. Once the construction is done, Lloyd dumps this mountain of verified paperwork on the Count’s desk and tells him he needs it all signed by tomorrow morning. I guess Lloyd's already-thin morals for work-life balance only extend to construction work. We see this referenced as part of the webcomic's textless construction montage:

(ep.69)

Ch.139 - Novel Lloyd gets super suspicious when things are going well, which drives him to the use the next ending spoiler. Webtoon Lloyd is relaxed until he remembers his dad telling him never to let his guard down. Normally, changes like these I consider minor, but for Novel Lloyd, it’s very much evidence of how his time in poverty set his brain to survival mode by default.

No. The situation isn't all bright and positive right now. Right now, if I approach this situation objectively, I know that danger is present all around me.... [This hunch is] something that we all develop after years and years of living and trying to survive. It's sort of like a big data file of life. I think this gut feeling is quite credible.

(ch.139 - Your hunch may be credible, my lord, but may I suggest therapy after this is all over?)

—

End of Comparison Part 4: Monster Domino and Honeypot Apartment

One of my favorite book series had a TV show adaptation announced this year, and it’s really made me think, ah, what makes an adaptation faithful? Just like translating between languages, storytelling mediums can never be literal one-to-one copies of each other. So what does it take to change a story but retain the spirit of the original?

I don’t have an answer, of course, but my TGED comparison project has been giving me plenty of perspective. Though I know there’s bigger changes upcoming, seeing how the first 1/3 of the TGED adaptation reworked most of the scenes yet stayed in alignment with the original’s apparent intent is quite heartening. When an adaptation clearly cares about the weight of every detail in the source, really amazing changes can happen to show the story’s world in a new form. It feels like having two cakes!

So thanks first portion of the TGED webcomic; you’ve made my standards for the Disney+ Animorphs unbearably high 🙂🔫

Up next: The Sewer System

—

Best part of the novel that I wish was in the webcomic: Lloyd’s letter to Queen Alicia — Technically the webcomic has their own version but this one is so much longer and more shameless :D

(ch.123)

Best addition to the webcomic that wasn’t in the novel: Mellica

(ep.64 and ep.65)

Favorite novel scene to see illustrated: Sir Bayern and the baby mastodons — definitely not on my bingo card for ‘scene most accurate to the source material’ but there we go