Our First Ever In-Character Interview with WEBTOON’s Osora
The wildly popular digital comic is an addicting tale of queer/trans romance drama and intricate fantasy lore.
Welcome to mixed feelings’ Hyperspecific, a profile series of increasingly intimate questions in which we ask our favorite artists, characters (!), musicians, and the like to unveil their innermost selves — their weird existential musings.
When someone asks me what I’m reading, I lie. I tell my friends that I finally started A Court of Thorns and Roses, but truthfully I’m only 3 pages in.
What I’m really doing is endlessly scrolling through WEBTOONs. Memorizing the drawings, rereading any line of dialogue that makes my stomach drop, and quite literally squealing and kicking my feet. It gives me a satisfaction that I can only equate to how I felt the first time reading Twilight when I was 14. I reread those pages until the spine was so heavily creased that the black coating slowly peeled away.
And it’s not easy to capture that feeling again. For a long time I feared the unbridled passion for a character or ship somehow gets lost as you get older. But I’ve found it again.
I first saw Osora on the front page of WEBTOON. As I read, I realized the story was a crazy web of queer/trans romance, drama, and intricate fantasy lore, I was sold. And clearly I’m not the only one: The digital comic has been viewed over 111 million times by fans all over the world and follows the story of a young prince who was supposed to be assigned female at birth, but was presented to the kingdom as a man in order to keep his family’s lineage intact.
As an artist myself (stop rolling your eyes!), I can tell the kind of care and practice it takes to cultivate an art-style as steady and intoxicating as ToniRenea’s. It’s the type of hand you only get from drawing and redrawing and redrawing again.
Mi-Anne, Amalie, and I often describe things and people who vibe with our ethos as “mf-ian” or “sooo mf”. And we all agreed right away — Osora was just that. After a few short calls with our friends at WEBTOON, ToniRenea agreed to not only have their titular character do our Hyperspecific interview, but also to create an AU (alternate universe) drawing of Osora and Arias to go with our Medievalist package. You can see the art above, or you can buy our print issue here so you can own a physical copy of the Osora AU art and an abridged version of this interview.
I’m not 14 anymore, but what can I say? I live to be a fan, a simp, an otaku. With that in mind, I present to you our first ever in-character Hyperspecific with answers from Osora’s present-day POV as written by ToniRenea. — Logan, art director @
LEVEL I
Something you’re always hoping people bring up in conversation when you first meet.
Anything that isn’t focused on myself. I hate being the center of attention.A positive trait people always tell you you have.
That I act like a cat. (I can’t tell if this is positive or not.)One destructive trait you know you possess and wish you didn’t.
I get angry easily. If other people weren’t so annoying and/or stupid this wouldn’t be a problem.If a restaurant were to name a dish after you, what would it be? (Be specific.)
Royal Tostones.Describe your ideal first date in detail.
We would hang out somewhere alone where others wouldn’t talk to us or look at us. And we’d do something competitive like video games or a sport of some sort.Something you think is wildly underrated.
Mangoes. Why are they not the most popular fruit?
LEVEL II
1. An activity you watch when you want to self-soothe.
An activity you watch when you want to self-sooth.
I like to people-watch, but from a distance so no one starts conversations with me.A situation you found yourself in that perfectly encapsulates your energy.
My best friend confessed his love for me and I became infuriated and tried to fight him. (I liked him back.)
What’s the first fandom you lost yourself in…
Plants. Does that count?One sure-fire way someone can tell you’re flirting…
If I’m yelling at them and/or referring to them as “moron.”
What fictional world would you want to live in and why?
I would want to live in a Studio Ghibli world because it seems really peaceful.
What is the most random thing you have in your bedroom that always requires explanation?
Stupid (cute) stuffed animals that Arias gives me for Valentine’s Day. I usually say they’re his and he just left them here.
LEVEL III
What’s an anecdote you usually tell to describe how you were as a kid? When I met my now-best friend, I hated him and thought he was annoying. He pissed me off, so we got into a fight, and shortly after, I realized this kid was way cooler than all the other boring ones.
What is your low-key hell and actual heaven?
Low-Key Hell would be being a famous celebrity who is watched/scrutinized at all times.
Actual heaven would be living on a farm with the few people I want to spend time with in the middle of nature with no neighbors.
What is your most unhinged coping mechanism?
I don’t cope, I just ignore my feelings altogether.
Random thing you hate so much for no apparent reason.
Long-sleeve shirts.
How you exit a party.
Early and silently without saying bye to anyone or anyone noticing me leave.
How you wanna go (either un-seriously or seriously).
I’d like to die in my sleep, preferably coincidentally at the same time as Arias.
Osora's responses are spot on—especially the part about wanting to live in a Studio Ghibli world! It's interesting how their personality fits with some webtoons like Newtoki: https://newtokii.com/ and Blacktoon, where the characters also navigate complex emotions and intense dynamics. The mix of romance and drama in those Webtoons resonates with Osora’s own journey, making them a perfect fit for a Hyperspecific interview like this!