Webcomic: Fisheye Placebo
This week, I’m taking a look at a stunning new web-comic by the incredible artist, Yuumei. Yuumei is a long-term deviantART member, and chances are, if you use the website, you know her work. With a strange, neon style that’s an interesting combination of digital painting and an almost technological feel, it’s guaranteed to leave you in awe.
The story is told from two different points of view. One side follows a pair of siblings. Vance, the older brother is a computer whizz who’s starting college this year. An Otaku and general nerd, his main motivation is to find a girlfriend in college. His younger sister, Alex, is a teenager with an affinity for smutty, yaoi fanf-iction. Ordinary siblings, certainly, but are being dragged into something that’s definitely out of their usual lives.
The second point of view is of another pair, Frey and Robin. The nature of their relationship hasn’t been confirmed, but it seems they are friends, but also partners in something we haven’t seen yet.
We see Vance attempting to hack the college system, hoping to achieve a girlfriend by placing him in the same dorm as a cute girl. The girl he chooses just so happens to be Robin, our mysterious red-head. All seems light-hearted until we see the worry on Robin’s side. We get the impression she and Frey are part of something top secret, and going to college is to be Robin’s cover story to mask what she’s really up to.
I’m not going to give any more of the story away, but all I can say is that this is really worth reading. Although we see a lot of light-hearted panels and a few jokes scattered throughout the first few parts, it seems Fisheye Placebo is building up to something bigger. In ‘Part 0’ of the comic, we see protesting citizens fighting against riot police. We see police brutality against an unarmed kneeling citizen. From the artwork, we can see that the citizen is Vance, so I believe he’s going to be more involved with Frey and Robin later on.
Yuumei talks about her inspirations for this comic being very political, focusing on how many protesters are silenced, about how people try so hard to speak up but are immediately shot down by those in charge. Not only is the story engaging, but the art style is so unique and vibrant, an absolutely incredible feast for your eyes! Also, you don’t need to worry about playing catch-up as there’s only been 5 parts of the comic released so far!
