: latias - THE toku fan

(ep.103 and ch.211 - episodes or ep# refer to the webcomic. chapters or ch# refer to the webnovel.)

The Royal Garden Commission

Ch.211 / Ep.103 - We are told in narration how the Queen slaughtered all the dark magicians. The webcomic shows the whole battle, except the book doesn’t mention her getting poisoned/cursed again (seems that her second poisoning is a new plotline to the webcomic?)

Ch.211 - Queen Alicia is pissed about Lloyd orchestrating the Julian/Scheherezarde marriage, and yes, she’s also mad in the webcomic, but her internal narration about this is about five times more seething. It's especially funny because she's all, 'Damn, is that how much he hates helping me out? What a jerk!' and it's about how she wants to borderline enslave him lol

Ch.211 - Queen Alicia has trained relentlessly every day since the attempted assassination against her. The few times Lloyd has come to see her since, she was always in the training arena, beating up her army. Her training is less prominent in the webcomic.

Ch.211 / Ep.104 - Novel Alicia only wishes to smack Lloyd upside the head. Webtoon Alicia actually does it.

(ch.212 and ep.104)

Ch.212 - In the novel, the evil insignia used in Namaran was a dragon’s head with three horns, one broken. In the webcomic, the insignia was changed to the Wandering Minstrel (an evil skeleton thing), which is unrelated to anything else past Namaran iirc. I’m not sure why they changed it because it is kinda relevant to the story. When Novel Lloyd sees the dead dragon skull with the broken horn among the Queen’s spoils, he realizes the group she took down were foreshadowed as the Big Bad of the Knight of Blood and Iron, and he is thrilled the Queen took care of that plot thread for him. Also the dragon bones connect directly to Targa’s evil plans (more on that below).

Ch.213 / Ep.104 - The garden architect, Viscount Nord, is prideful in both versions. But after Lloyd sucks up to him, Novel Nord becomes all, ‘What a humble boy! Let me walk you around and show you how I do my work!’ whereas Webtoon Nord is more like, ‘That’s right, SUCKER, now stay out of the way while I DO IT ALL hahaha!’

Ep.105 - Webtoon Lloyd gets a lot more goofing off pagetime with his summons, so we know he’s a dork who likes to play pretend. I’m still not sure how Novel Lloyd would spend his downtime, other than party and drink coconuts.

(ep.105 - Fun fact! Webtoon Lloyd first references Pokemon in ep.95 but then he's bummed no one gets his reference. This sequence implies that since then, he taught his summons how to play Pokemon with him. Dork <3)

Ch.215 - Lore drop! After the Magentano Kingdom was founded by Sir Mikael and the dragon Tyrannus, their shared promise was symbolized by a flower that remains a part of the Magentano throne. Sidenote: I cannot find any illustration of this damn flower anywhere in the book or webcomic.

An acting monarch was elected by the dragons, who in the later years was surrounded by power-hungry, greedy rebels. The whole capital was set ablaze by the war the rebels stirred. One heroic knight appeared at that moment to save the aged monarch and drive the rebels away. People cheered fervently, and he married the princess of the monarch, eventually declaring this land as the capital "Magenta" and starting a new era. (ch.215)

Ch.215 - The founding story is inscribed on the flood gates of the garden river ride, and it makes citizens who go through it feel super patriotic, in addition to showing off the kingdom’s power.

Ch.215 - Lloyd looooves fancy foods. He thought he didn’t like them because he felt neutral about all the expensive meals he bought in Asfahan, but it turns out those just weren’t fancy enough because he is gorging himself at the Queen’s banquet.

Ch.215 / Ep.105 - Novel Javier doesn’t like celebrations that are too lavish as he thinks they’re a waste of money that could otherwise help feed the people. He also had this mentality in his OG novel. However, he does get tempted by a fresh coconut here, so Lloyd’s corruption is working.

(ep.105 - The webcomic sometimes does this thing where they skip over a character’s original motivation but they still mention it dismissively in the dialogue. Fun way to plant easter eggs haha)

Ch.215 / Ep.105 - Due to all his prior near death experiences, Novel Lloyd feels suspicious of completion banquets. In the webcomic Javier brings it up to make fun of Lloyd for being unlucky.

Ch.216 - In the novel, they get a lot more time after the bone dragon’s skull falls before it fully comes to life. During that time, Lloyd has Bibeong cause a giant scene and clear out the party. The royal guards arrive to kick his ass, but the Queen hears him out. A mage goes to inspect the weird mana flow that Javier detected coming from the skeleton and declares ‘all good!’ before promptly getting squished by the bone dragon.

—

Battle with the Bone Dragon

Ch.216 - According to the Knight of Blood and Iron Javier, a bone dragon is on par with the Hell’s Knight in terms of destructive power. It’s even stronger than living dragons, just like revived human skeletons are apparently stronger than living humans.

Ch.217 / Ep.105-106 - Novel Javier thinks Lloyd is running as part of a plan to stop the dragon, so he gets all judgy on him when he realizes it's just another repeat of the Cremo Gigatitan, i.e. Lloyd has no intention of stopping that thing. Webtoon Javier tells Lloyd to run away, but then he still gets judgy anyways. That's not fair, man.

Ch.217 - Both Javiers vow to fight the bone dragon even if it kills them (in the book for nobel reasons; in the webcomic, to protect the Frontera estate's profitability), but Novel Javier leaves Lloyd with some last words:

"It was my honor to serve you all this time, Master Lloyd. I hope you safely escape from here....And please convey my message to Count Frontera that I am grateful for our time until now and to please forgive me for not being able to protect him longer."

Lloyd's reaction:

That was the problem with fictional protagonists. As if it wasn't enough to fight for justice, they gave corny speeches that made him wince in embarrassment.

Still, at least Novel Lloyd's "a bit opposed to [Javier dying]" and thus comes back to help out. The webcomic doesn’t show us why Webtoon Lloyd returns, so I will assume it’s for the same reason.

(ep.106 and ch.216 - Lloyd fleeing the scene never gets old 🤣)

Ch.217 / Ep.106 - The royal guard try to protect the Queen in the novel but get trounced. After a moment to talk with the commander, the Queen assumes responsibility for the battle and sends the guards away. The webcomic fight moves faster, and the Queen takes charge right away.

Ch.217 - Targa isn't as strong as a real dragon's soul, so this monster is weaker than a real bone dragon.

Ch.217 - Bibeong at max size weighs 3,000 pounds!

Ep.106 - Ggoming shitting on Targa is a webcomic-exclusive.

Ch.218 - Lloyd would also find it “troublesome” if the Queen died. #AlloyCrumbs

Ch.219 / Ep.107 - For his mana blasts, Lloyd borrows Javier's sword in the novel and the Queen's sword in the webcomic.

Ch.220 - Webtoon Lloyd is shocked when the Queen tells him Gaffel is a whole day away, as that means his plan to find the dragon king there is hopeless. Novel Lloyd knew Gaffel was three days away and still thought it was a good plan???

(ep.107)

—

Ch.220 - As briefly mentioned in the webcomic, Targa was behind the attempted assassination of the Queen, the mastodon zombies, and Namaran's Wall. However, the ultimate vision behind all that chaos is only revealed in the book.

Targa's Grand Plan:

Step 1 - Topple the throne and decimate the kingdom through acts of evil chaos

Step 2 - Release a plague curse that would zombify all the kingdom's people

Step 3 - Cure people using his patented de-zombification remedy made from dragon bones and secure a cult following

Step 4 - Rule over the new world as a dictator

Step 5 - Profit!

Thanks to Lloyd, Targa didn't even get to the zombie plague part of his plan! And now, as a bone dragon, he can never become the venerated human dictator he'd always dreamed of being. So yeah, the new plan is to destroy everything in sight using his new bone dragon powers, and specifically take down the jackass riding the crowtit.

—

Ch.220 - Novel Lloyd has to drop some “truth bombs” on Javier and Alicia to snap them out of their 'we're gonna die' headspaces. For Javier, Lloyd reminds him that for all his love letters, the knight remains single just like him. For the Queen, he calls her "noona," which WOW—putting aside how culturally Korean that term is for a Fantasy European world—that is the most outrageously non-offensive offensive thing he could call his country's Queen!!! The implications!!! It had me screaming!!! 😭😭😭 Webtoon Lloyd accidentally calls her Alicia, but it's just not the same.

Ep.107 - Only Webtoon Lloyd gets his face and voice turned into a torture weapon.

(ch.220 and ep.107)

Ch.221 - Novel Lloyd demands his 10-year no-work pass and all the remaining dragon bones if they survive this. The Queen agrees but only because she plans on prosecuting him for embezzlement* if he doesn't keep working for her, (*Referring to his use of granite instead of whale bone for the fake tail segment, but it's not like Lloyd kept the cost difference so I don't think it counts as embezzlement! Just normal lying.)

Ch.222 - Everyone's sword aura is drawn huge in the webcomic, but in the book, only the Queen's aura is larger than her sword at 20 inches wide and 13 feet long.

Ch.222 - The reanimated dragon's tail smacks Novel Javier while Lloyd is watching the battle on Ggoming from above. Webtoon Javier jumps in front of the falling tail to protect Lloyd who is busy using his Supercharge skill on the dragon.

Ep.108 - The webcomic created a flashback where Lloyd and Javier tell each other tell each other that they are not friends. More on that in Mini Essay #3.

Ch.222 - Lloyd realizes Javier is his friend whom he must help, as he's never had to live in this world without Javier and he's not about to start.

Ch.223 - Lloyd wonders if friends are really that important as he's staring down the bone dragon and wishing he'd run away instead. Every time, man.

—

Ep.108 - In the book, Lloyd forces himself to calm down after seeing Javier get snuffed. In the webcomic, Alicia has to smack the panic out of him and it still, uh, doesn't really work.

Ep.108 - Novel Lloyd orders Ggoming to go find Javier and…take him to a doctor. Even Ggoming is underwhelmed by this plan. Webtoon Lloyd jumps into the river after Javier to give him mana himself.

Ch.223 - Novel Lloyd, using a foldable shovel that he kept in Ggoming's saddle because of course he has one of those, then climbs into the bone dragon’s skull and causes a ruckus inside its head. The noise agitates the bone dragon who tries to smack him. The jostling breaks Lloyd's ribs and gives him a concussion.

Ch.223 / Ep.108 - Novel Lloyd's supercharge skill barely has any effect on the bone dragon's mana, like "bucketing out water in a city-sized lake." In the webcomic, he uses that skill in conjunction with Javier and Alicia’s skills, and it almost might’ve worked if not for the falling dragon tail.

Ep.108 - After Novel Lloyd is thrown off the bone dragon's skull, Alicia catches him and sprint carries him away, same as the webcomic, except Novel Lloyd also donates his last remnants of mana to her. I assume that means Novel Lloyd’s mana doesn’t have the same universe incompatibility issues as Webtoon Lloyd’s.

Ep.109 - In the webcomic, the Queen’s poison is retriggered while she's holding off the bone dragon alone, causing her to get struck and caught by Ggoming.

Ch.225 / Ep.109 - Novel Javier is able to reach grandmaster status by basically dying, which forces his manaheart to spin out to every cell in his body and make them into mini-manahearts. Webtoon Javier, who is "alarmed by [Lloyd's] otherworldy face," has a breakthrough in his understanding of the laws of causality, which allows him to make the manaheart cells.

(ch.224 and ep.109 - These two are like the polar ends of clothing unrealism because what do you mean Novel Javier's outfit still looks that pristine after a dunk in the river and Webtoon Javier's shirt was torn off from hitting the ground too hard?)

Ch.225 / Ep.109 - In the Knight of Blood and Iron, Webtoon Javier hadn’t become a grandmaster, but Novel Javier did. Novel Lloyd recognizes his grandmaster aura when he appears to block the final attack from the bone dragon.

Ch.225 - Aw, the webcomic didn't let Javier call Lloyd a 30-year-old virgin. First giving his mole cricket insult to Alicia and now this: they take away so much from him!

Ch.225 - Javier uses his mana to heal Lloyd's banged up body, and Lloyd nearly moans from how good it feels. That is somehow not the gayest scene in this arc.

Ep.110 / Ch.226 - In the webcomic, Lloyd has to go into some spirit realm and one-punch Targa’s soul himself. In the book, he just gets a message box popup that says, ‘remove soul?’ and he clicks yes. Neither Lloyd bothers with Targa’s whining.

Ep.110 / Ch.241 - The Bone Dragon gets the same name in both versions. My book translation keeps it the Korean "Yong Yong" or Dragon-Dragon to be literal, but that's basically like naming your dog Doggy, so the webcomic localizes it to Draggy. Novel Lloyd doesn't bestow the name until the Hell's Railroad arc.

Ep.110 / Ch.226 - The way the Lloyds choose to define their relationship to the “blank slate” bone dragon is so polar opposite that it makes a joke in it of itself.

(ch.227 and ep.110)

—

The Dragon Anticus' Request

(ep.111 - The webcomic actually references Novel Llojavi’s obsession with coconut juice!! I love it!)

Ch.228 / Ep.110-111 - Omfg they jump into Hell straight from the bone dragon battle, there’s no fucking way 😭 The webcomic gives them a long break after the battle where Lloyd oversees the reconstruction of the garden. That means all of those post-fight scenes (the Queen blepping Lloyd, Lloyd lazing off, and Alicia smacking that ass) are likely original to the webcomic

Ep.110 - Before Anticus shows up, Webtoon Javier asks who 'Lloyd' really is, and for once, 'Lloyd' gives him a straight answer. They haven’t had this convo in the book yet, but it has to be coming, right?

Ch.227 / Ep.110 - In the book, the dragon’s soul Anticus, shows up like the second Targa is gone. They hadn’t even left the battlefield yet. It takes Webtoon Anticus a few days to show up.

Ch.227 - Anticus was an ancient dragon. Targa obtained his bones by digging them up (loser couldn’t even kill a live dragon himself smh…) and used his bones to do a bunch of dark magic, resulting in the dragon soul being cursed and sent to Hell.

Ch.227 - The bone dragon will crumble to powder in three years if Lloyd doesn’t save Anticus’ soul. Still not worth going to Hell tho

Ch.228 / Ep.111 - When Anticus makes the soul vow, Novel Lloyd is awed by the power such a simple statement binds. Webtoon Lloyd thinks the lack of flashy effects is super lame lol

Ch.228 - In the webcomic, Anticus visits Lloyd in his chambers so only Llojavi know about it. In the book, Queen Alicia is standing like right there as Lloyd is making this deal to earn the Dragon King’s favor.

Ep.111 - Webtoon Alicia continues to struggle with the dark warlock's poison, which briefly overtakes her mind and causes her to want to go kill Lloyd the night he's chatting with Anticus.

Ch.228 / Ep.110 - The Queen and Lloyd have a pretty in-depth discussion about Lloyd's new levels of power. In the novel, Lloyd promises to keep his capabilities under wraps if she respects his lazy wishes, and from his POV, Lloyd is thrilled with the Queen's "generous and bold heart" even if he understands his new power would make her a bit "wistful." The webcomic presents this abbreviated discussion from the Queen's POV, who is more private in her sadness that Lloyd is beyond her control now, while also growing further respect for him.

Ch.228 - Lloyd leaves Bibeong with the Queen to help her clean up the garden mess. He later tears up with regret that he thoughtlessly lent her Bibeong's services for free. Never change, my man.

—

Mini Essay #3: Llojavi are Friends Forever

This battle marks a major turning point in Lloyd and Javier’s relationship, and I wanted to ramble about one opportunity I felt the webcomic missed in capturing their upgrade to friendship.

Tl;dr - The new flashback should’ve been a clips montage instead.

So the webcomic creates this flashback where Lloyd and Javier tell each other tell each other that they are not friends, I guess for a more climatic payoff when they both realize, ‘omg I have to save my friend!’ in the bone dragon battle. They’ve done this flashback method with several other fights to great results. However, here I found it a weak buildup even before reading the book because (A) I kinda already assumed they didn’t think of each other as friends so I didn’t get anything out of that reminder, and (B) the flashback conversation was about why Lloyd doesn’t call the Count and Countess his parents anymore, which is so random??

Now after reading the book, I think that flashback came about because they didn’t adapt Chapter 183 where the Count is hoping Lloyd calls him father again someday, so this allowed them to wedge that topic back into the webcomic. But then Webtoon Javier refusing to tell Lloyd about his own parents kinda sucks because Novel Javier did tell Lloyd about his father in chapter 119! Like of all the topics to make them not seem like friends, you gotta undermine the one they legit bonded over?? C’moooon…

So instead of that whole new scene, I would have liked to see them adapt the way Lloyd and Javier literally and separately imagine growing old by each other’s side in the book, like straight up a Llojavi version of the 'Friends Forever' sequence in Spongebob.

Tell me that wouldn't have been amazing to illustrate!

Okay fine, maybe that would be a bit too unserious.

But in that case, they should’ve adapted this line:

"...from the moment he opened his eyes and set foot in this world and met Javier for the first time, he was never away from Javier. What was more, the thought of being forever separated from Javier never crossed his mind. Never. Not even once." (ch.223)

It wasn’t until here that I too realized those two have never been apart narratively. Their past adventures flew through my mind in response, and I realized a quick stream of reused panels from Llojavi’s past arcs together paired with this text could have been a solid way to (A) illustrate this important novel line, and (B) allow us to see Lloyd and Javier recontextualizing their relationship in real time as their lives flash before their eyes. While I respect the webcomic for never relying on past panels to pad episode length, this use case would have matched the spirit of the source material better imo, and dammit I want my big sentimental Llojavi BFF moment!!! I don't care if it's cliche!!! I'll try my hand at it myself if I have to and apparently I do 😠

(╥﹏╥) they care for each other sooo much wahhhh.....

—

End of Comparison Part 8 - The Royal Garden

Up next: Hell's Railroad

—

Best part of the novel that I wish was in the webcomic: Lloyd and Javier realizing they'd always imagined being together forever, obviously... At least we have this book illustration!

(ch.223 text and ch.225 illustration)

—

Best addition to the webcomic that wasn’t in the novel: Post-battle, Queen Alicia directing a bunch of unwanted attention on Lloyd as revenge and then blepping him

(ep.110 - She's so funny 🥰)

—

Favorite novel scene to see illustrated: The moment they think they can win the battle after taking out the dragon's tailbone, but then Javier is nearly insta-killed by the tail. That shit went crazy.