Creator Corner:
Doma and Olive
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Getting to Know You
Tell us a bit about yourself: who are you and what should readers know about you?
Olive (O): Hello! I’m Olive. I’m an artist with a background in the animation industry (both Western and Japanese), though I’d say manga is probably a bigger focus of mine currently.
Hiraeth is a big passion project for both of us. We’ve been developing the story for a few years now, and we put a lot of dedication and effort into it!
Doma (D): I’m Doma. I am a writer who has worked in animation development, has always wanted to tell stories, and is lucky enough to have found an artist who helps me achieve that goal.
What do you do when you’re not working or creating art?
O: I try to look for things to inspire and motivate me to keep creating. I read or watch videos on subjects I find interesting (mostly history, music, or historic fashion-related), watch anime, and read manga. Other than that, I enjoy hiking and playing piano. From time to time, I will also return to my Monster Hunter phase (obvious inspiration).
D: Same for me when it comes to looking for inspiration. I read a lot of books, everything from manga and comics to non-fiction, as long as I find the subject interesting. I love watching movies and shows, usually while I work on Hiraeth, and enjoy showing them to Olive. Right now I’m showing her Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. RPGs, JRPGs, RTS, and action games are my favorite game genres. I love cooking and baking, but mostly for others. I also practice my drawing skills and exercise daily so I can be more helpful on the art side of making Hiraeth and make sure I live long enough to make Hiraeth.
Is creating comics your full-time job?
D: Not yet, but hopefully one day. We are creatives, so we work when and where it’s offered.
O: We have a goal to make that a reality; with support from Patreon, we may get there! (wink wink)
Where did you two meet, and what made you want to create comics together?
O: We met online. I had the rough initial concepts for Hiraeth in the back of my mind since I was a teenager, but it was in a very convoluted and unfinished state with many loose pieces of art and ideas. Doma showed interest in the characters and project; he helped me develop and organize everything so it could finally be put on paper. Currently, Hiraeth is a joint effort project from us both. I don’t think I would ever have started Hiraeth if it weren’t for him, and I’m very grateful to be able to work with someone with a very similar vision and as invested in it as I am!
D: We met randomly online during the pandemic. I think I wanted to work with Olive when I realized we had very similar tastes in media. Everything fell into place when she said she wanted to make a comic, but she needed someone to help write the scripts. I went to school for screenwriting, so I leapt at the opportunity.
How do you create your comics together? Does one of you write while the other draws, or do you both do a bit of everything?
D: Olive’s art is phenomenal, so I leave most of the drawing to her, but I do help with backgrounds and do the screentones. I write the scripts, then we go over them together to make sure we agree on the story’s direction and that Olive has no issues with any characterization or dialogue.
O: As Doma mentioned above, mostly it’s me drawing and him writing, but we consult each other through the process all the time. And thankfully he has been able to help with some backgrounds lately as well. Drawing comics is an insane amount of work!
Quick Fire
Favorite genres: O: Horror, medieval fantasy, and dark fantasy! Though I am very picky about the last one. D: Fantasy, horror, political thrillers, and comedies. Historical settings are a plus.
Favorite tropes: O: I love classic heroes and “good vampire” tropes! I grew up playing a lot of Castlevania, so I think Alucard in Symphony of The Night probably had a huge influence on me. D: I love classic fantasy races: elf, dwarf, orc, etc and the hero struggling against his own nature. Seeing whether they overcome it, like Rin in Blue Exorcist, or fail, Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, always creates great tension.
Favorite snack: O: Coffee and Brazilian cheese bread! D: Does hot chocolate count?
Night owl or early bird: Night owls. Easily. Most of our Hiraeth work is done late at night/early morning.
One or two webtoons or manga everyone should read: O: Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi is, to me, a timeless classic that anyone can enjoy. It has Romance, action, and tragedy in the right measure, and is still one of my favorite works to this day. D: A Beast Cries in the Wilderness, or Kouya ni Kemono Doukokusu, written by Baku Yumemakura and illustrated by Itoh Sei. The sci-fi horror and action comedy elements weave together to tell a unique story, and the art combines the best of gritty 90s anime/manga and gritty 90s comics.
About Hiraeth
Why did you name your story “Hiraeth”?
“Hiraeth” is a Welsh word that describes a wistful longing one feels for their home. This is a major theme for the story and, in one way or another, a motivating factor for many members of the cast.
Hiraeth is a dark medieval fantasy. Why did you choose this setting?
We are both fans of fantasy and history, so we thought that a dark fantasy setting would be best to combine those two interests. It lets us provide the sense of wonder from the otherworldly creatures and locations in fantasy while allowing for the more grounded, and occasionally horrifying, events and motivations found in history.
Was it a conscious choice to keep the SFX in Japanese so that Hiraeth feels more like a manga? Or was there another reason behind it?
There were two reasons: we think it does help it feel more authentically like a manga, and Japanese SFX seem to blend better into the art and panels. They’re also fun to stylize, so their appearance complements the action. To sum it up, they become part of the art like an ornamentation and look less jarring to us. (It’s also funny how overspecific some of them can be)
Hiraeth features an interesting mix of characters with different ethnicities and dialects. How did that come about?
That came from a desire to make the world feel alive and grand. Most fantasy and isekai have vaguely medieval DND-inspired settings, which can be great, but we wanted something more specific. So we looked at historical periods and regions we wanted to see represented in a fantasy setting and where they would fit in the story. Right now (Chapter 8), they’re in a High-Late Middle Ages English-inspired kingdom, but we establish a more Celtic group in the first chapters, and a large Germanic empire once they reach the city of Bearmham. Jael’s Slavic inspirations and Lauren’s use of French words were also attempts to represent cultures that we wanted to see in fantasy.
We also hope the cultural shock between the places they visit helps the world feel bigger while adding a sense of progression and adventure as they travel.
I couldn’t find this anywhere: would you like to make a Hiraeth encyclopedia with the words you made up or adapted from other languages (like Varkolak)?
We think that could be very useful to help the audience keep track of everything. Some words like “varkolak” come from “vourdalak” and its many, many variations. A glossary is something that you can count on at some point: that and a map. And a collection of all the heraldry we’ve designed. We have a lot of work to do…
Hiraeth seems to be full of little hints that become more important later in the story. Which chapter or episode has the most foreshadowing?
It’s hard to measure since we have so many set-ups waiting to be paid off. Right now, I think Chapter 7 or Chapter 8 has the most set-ups hinting at backstories and other cultures that will become more relevant in future story arcs.
Will there be romance in Hiraeth?
We definitely plan to have several major romantic plotlines, but they will develop slowly over several arcs. Hopefully this approach will make the relationships feel natural, surprising, and, most importantly, satisfying to the audience when they finally happen.
Jael seems to be very popular. Are you thinking of going a harem route, with the women falling for him left and right?
O: No, Hiraeth isn’t going to be that type of story. Even though Jael draws a lot of attention, he doesn’t easily reciprocate and usually reacts negatively to most kinds of approaches. But will he ever open up to someone??? Wow. I’d keep reading to find out…
D: Some may be sad to hear a harem is not in the cards for Jael, as he is very uncomfortable with that kind of attention. One can see how uncomfortable he is being the object of people’s desire as soon as he reaches Bearmham, with him being propositioned in public, teased by Muirenn, and kissed by Karyna in Chapter 7. Jael is supposed to be unnaturally beautiful, so this happens to him often. He tries to counter it by making himself look more frightening, but, unfortunately for Jael, that isn’t working on the women of Bearmham. They must be made of stern stuff.
Do you have a favorite character?
D: All the main characters are my favorite, but Lauren has a special place in my heart. Her antics are charming, and Olive makes her look adorable. She’s also tougher than most realize. I don’t think she gets enough credit for stepping in when the varkolak attacked Jael, Vera, and Karyna. Sure, she damaged the building, but she got it off Jael when it may have done some serious damage. Yes, Muirenn was coming, and, yes, he can regenerate, but it’s the thought that counts!
O: I like Jael a lot. Despite being through so many horrific things and having a resting grumpy face, he still manages to be kind (in his own way) and very perceptive of other people’s suffering, even if anti-social and of few friends. He’s a very self-sacrificing and dutiful type of person and feels responsible for other people’s safety, doing his best to be a hero in an unforgiving world. He wasn’t always like that, though…
What do you want your readers to feel when reading Hiraeth?
D: It sounds simple, but I want them to feel whatever the scene requires. If they’re invested in the story and characters, they will feel happy, sad, and everything in between.
O: I guess it’s the same from an artist’s perspective; I hope the emotional aspect of the scenes is visually well communicated to move the reader the way we need them to be moved! That being said, I also hope everyone thinks Jael is handsome, Lauren is cute, and that the readers are put off yet intrigued by the nightmare sequences (they’re my favorite things to plan out)
D: Oh, I also want them to go, “Wow, those are nice backgrounds!” (I draw most of the backgrounds).
Does Hiraeth have a fixed schedule, and how long does it take to finish one episode?
We try to release a chapter a month, and we usually succeed. As for the time it takes to finish a page… it depends. Some pages are very detailed and can take several days, while some are simpler and we can do multiple in a day.
Do you write the story as you go, or did you already have the ending planned out when you started?
It’s a mix. We have many plot points planned, including the ending, but we change or add things if we think the story needs it. We had written the first 8 chapters before we published chapter 2, and we only used the script for chapter 3. Sometimes we get ideas for scenes that won’t happen for 100 chapters and write them to see how they go.
Your Art Journey and More
How did you learn to draw movement so well? The fight scenes in Hiraeth look incredibly clean.
D: You studied a lot of action manga, didn’t you?
O: I did! I’m happy to hear people enjoy it, though I feel that’s one of the manga skills I still have the most to learn about. Hopefully you’ll see even more improvement in future chapters as I keep studying! It’s goofy, but sometimes I try to act out some of the poses myself to see if they work. Which I strongly recommend to any artist (especially if you want to learn animation).
What is your favorite platform to publish on as independent artists?
D: I like Webtoons because the audience there is very active. It also has an easy interface for uploading and editing chapters. I would prefer a page format since that is how Hiraeth is designed to be read, but scrolling works. My only other complaint is that we do have to think more about censorship on Webtoon than on any other platform, but having access to such an involved group is worth it.
O: I generally agree with what Doma said about Webtoons, and it’s my favorite for the same reasons. But the website with my favorite interface is probably Globalcomix, though we barely have an audience there….
What’s your absolute best-case scenario for Hiraeth?
O: We manage to keep working on it with stability for a long time, and people enjoy the story!
(as well as being able to keep putting the story out for free while having support)
D: It becomes so successful that we can put out more than one chapter a month and the story finishes within our lifetime.
Anything else you want to tell the readers?
D: Hiraeth is a labor of love for Olive and me, so we are indescribably grateful to you for giving it a shot. Thank you for every view, every like, and every friend you recommended Hiraeth to. Jael and Lauren will come across many new faces and locations, and we hope you will read and keep them company on their journey for a long time to come.
O: True!! (I’m tied up in a basement being forced to draw and haven’t eaten for days…HELP!)
But in all seriousness, we’re super grateful to everyone who gives Hiraeth a chance, especially those who we frequently see in the comment sections, or talking and making theories about the story, or making fan-translations to other languages. It feels surreal and fills us with motivation, despite comics being such an insane amount of work (more than people realize, I think).
