Amin Abbas

DUBAI: Anfal Alabdullah, known as Pluvias, is a talented Iraqi artist, YouTuber, and the author of the webtoon comic series ‘Entwined’. 

The webtoon comic series is a character-driven fantasy drama about five young kids with elemental powers and the complexities of having those powers imposed on their personal lives and childhoods.

Pluvias grew up in the Middle East and shared that she came up with the idea of her webtoon in 2005 when she was consuming various anime series on Spacetoon. 

“I fell in love with anime’s unique art style and storytelling (while watching Spacetoon) to the point that this exposure fueled my passion for creating my own original characters, giving them stories, and building worlds for them in my head,” she reflected, adding that some of her favorite manga series include ‘Digimon,’ ‘Gakuen Alice,’ and ‘Pandora Hearts’. 

From 2009 to 2012, she started sharing many illustrations on the online art community DeviantArt and started making drawing videos on YouTube.

Eventually, she had to drop it to focus on her engineering studies at university. After almost quitting in 2020, she realized that she wanted to pursue her dreams of becoming an artist instead of pushing them away. 

“I had tried working in several fields but none of them left me feeling fulfilled,” the artist reflected. “The only exception was when I worked on drawing things I’m very passionate about. Realizing that hit deeply, I decided to quit the engineering path, and hop on this long journey of drawing my passion story.” 

In 2020, Pluvias moved to Japan and discovered the South Korean platform ‘Webtoon‘, which offers digital comics that are meant to be read on smart phones.

“I fell in love with the medium (on Webtoon) since it’s mainly colored comics and I love drawing colorful artworks,” she told Arab News Japan. “Since making an anime is not a job that can be done by one person, I decided to draw it as a webtoon, but in anime style.”

Pluvias started publishing her story on Webtoon in 2021 and was able to self-publish it through crowdfunding campaigns. “It felt surreal to hold in my hands the book of the story that’s so dear to me and, at the same time, see it in the hands of the many readers across the globe.”

The creator was ranked the most popular manga creator of 2023 on the comic distribution platform GlobalComix for ‘Entwined’. She shared that the comic stands out from other works because it delves deep into human emotions.

“(It) shows a realistic reaction to encountering villains and dangerous situations, which are usually done in a bright way in mainstream media,” the artist said.

“I believe taking this realistic approach is what makes Entwined a thrilling read. The intertwinement of the characters’ relationships, the inclusion of their families, and the unpredictable plot twists also contribute to making an unpredictable narrative, leaving readers’ minds stimulated and intrigued, leading them to come up with multiple theories in hopes of guessing what will happen next. Rather than following the usual hero’s journey rules, I’m following my own intuition,” she added. 

In 2023, the comic was published in Arabic by Manga Tales, a part of Dar Hakaya, and is now available in Jarir bookstores across the GCC region.

Additionally, the comic was also translated into Japanese and received a lot of interest from Japanese readers. 

‘Entwined’ is available to read for free in English on Webtoon worldwide. Those who live in Japan can access it on Line.