L13

I don’t have anything more to add because I’ve said everything that needs to be said. You had a breakdown at the suggestion the cdrama industry learned common CGI techniques from Western studios and deranged fans are now claiming they’re copyrighted by Ashes of Love. That’s enough entertainment for me.

And thy don’t make sense.

If you reread my comment, you might realise I said xianxia dramas have computer-animated scenes that are visibly inspired by Marvel movies, not that Marvel invented xianxia.

Also thank you for the new links, which are even more ridiculous. “Airy pavilions” and “waterways” are now Chinese intellectual property? What? Of course ancient China had more multi-storey buildings than ancient Korea, which was less rich and populous. But this is a fantasy story that takes place in a made-up setting that is clearly richer than the actual Korean kingdoms. So it takes traditional Korean architecture (which is heavily influenced by traditional Chinese architecture) to new heights, as befits a fantasy setting. This isn’t plagiarism or stealing; it’s called being neighbours for 2000 years. Chinese snd Korean historical fantasy will obviously depict similar imaginary settings.

Thank you, that was very helpful.

There are no claims of actual plagiarism in the first video except a few shots of CGI. Since Ashes of Love also used CGI to depict magic, the claim is those shot compositions were stolen from Ashes of Love. I find the similarities very unconvincing, given that you can find the same CGI in other xianxia dramas and they were all influenced by Marvel movies anyway.

The rest of it is… elaborate haircuts? Chinese clothing? Blindfolds? None of that is in any way copyrighted, or a serious and reasonable thing to get upset about.

After reading all the butthurt comments on this page, I’m still not sure what exactly this drama is supposed to have “plagiarised.”

Everyone knows that Korea used Chinese characters until (and long after) the invention of Hangul, that many religious and philosophical movements, like Confucianism, spread to Korea via China, that Korea adopted various aspects of Chinese social and cultural life, such as the civil service examination and the scholar-official system, etc. etc. etc.

In return for the rich culture it exported to Korea, China forced Korea to pay tribute as a tributary state, interfered in Korean domestic politics and treated Korea as a colonial outpost throughout its history.

This is a common dynamic between regional empires and peripheral states. The Byzantine and Roman empires had similar relationships with foreign states and other empires like the Mughal, Abbasid and Ottoman ones also functioned as vectors of cultural influence in more complex ways.

It doesn't mean that literary genres that spread outside of the empires that created them are "stolen"; on the contrary, Korea has paid for China's cultural influence in rice and blood. Xianxia dramas, neo-Oriental fantasy settings (this is the popular term, not my invention) and other pan-Asian fiction based on Chinese literary models are the shared cultural heritage of all countries that fell within China's cultural sphere at some point... If China is mad about that--but why would anyone be mad about more fun fantasy dramas being produced?--it shouldn't have pursued an imperialist policy for centuries.

In any case, South Korea is currently the premier producer of murim (wulin)/gangho (jianghu) webtoons in Asia and the manhwa industry has made major innovations in the wuxia comic genre. Popular webtoons like Legend of the Northern Blade, Wandering Warrior of Wudang, Yeon Lok Heun, Poison Dragon, Cold Moon Chronicles, etc. etc. etc. all take place in fantasy Chinese settings, but they're unmistakably Korean in execution.

Basically, you're not even wrong; you're just missing the point spectacularly and saying stupid things. I don't even know what to say to someone so ignorant of the complex cultural exchanges that enriched the literary arts across East Asia.

Lost all patience with this drama when the FL stayed in a relationship with a man she had ZERO interest in for EIGHT episodes while KNOWING the man she liked liked her back. Insanely stupid.

Also the choice to have her finally break up with her so-called boyfriend (whom she couldn't even bring herself to kiss) only when he HIT her (and her boss still had to step in and tell her to dump him) was so cheap. She had absolutely no reason to be in that relationship in the first place and the implication that, if only Su Weiran hadn't become physically abusive, she would have stayed with him indefinitely despite having a much better and more meaningful rapport with the ML, just because SWR and her best friend pressured her into going out with SWR a couple of days before the ML confessed to her, is, like, anti-romance. Romance only works for me when I can tell the people involved want to be together! Why should I root for a FL who places no importance on her own feelings and actively sabotages her happiness for no reason?

I agree; great chemistry and adult intrigue between the leads to start with, but terrible decision-making from the FL and typical jdrama nonsense toward the end making you root against the main couple. All I want is one jdrama with sexy angst where the leads (especially the FL) visibly want to be with each other, actively choose to be with each other and do not hurt each other for the sake of pointless self-denial. I don't understand what jdramas have against female leads who know what they want.

I love the blackbellied ML type, but what I love even more is the idea of a blackbellied ML AND FL. This sounds really entertaining; I hope they do justice to the premise and give us witty banter and elaborate intrigues from both protagonists.

It sounds like the husband will be the actual obstacle (which will be fun!), so it stands to reason the MIL should be an ally to the FL; without her support, she probably wouldn't get many opportunities to win over the ML and prove herself.

This stuff should become clear later on, but as per the webtoon, these women can see other people's future by touching them. That is how they can influence the life of anyone they meet. However, they, uh, imprint on the first man they ever touch and can bring that man great luck/do more for him than for other people.

So the chairman bound Seulbi's mother to himself when they were young and used their special connection and the luck she brought him to become mega successful. He intended to bind Seulbi to his son when she came into her powers as an adult so she could serve his son the same way her mother served him. That's why he only hired female caretakers for Seulbi and her mother; he didn't want to risk another man touching Seulbi before his son.

However, the first man she ever touched turned out to be Sookwang, which is why the chairman got really mad. Then he tried to kill Sookwang, thinking if SK was dead, his son, Minjoon, could still bond with Seulbi and take SK's place as her special person.

Also, these women reproduce on their own apparently and only have daughters, so Seulbi is not related to the chairman or Minjoon. (I thought this implausible detail was a weakness of the webtoon's premise, but I guess the author really didn't want us to think the chairman is into incest... As if he's not awful enough anyway.) And Sookwang is not Misoo's child.

In the webtoon, he is kind of indecisive and regretful but still goes along with his father's decisions until the end of the story, when he ends up helping the main characters and working against his father. But he'll be useless for the majority of the drama if it sticks close to the original.

The superficial comments about his looks are because his face is busted from plastic surgery (as is Lee Joon-gi's, incidentally; if HIY went to his doctors and told them to make him look like LJG, it would explain a lot).

I think it's much more pertinent to criticise the delusional and harmful fantasies this drama encourages by romanticising a teacher-student relationship. Korean drama keeps perpetuating the notion that single women past the age of 30 need a younger manic pixie dream boy to save them from suicidal depression and loneliness and make them see their own self-worth by helping them recapture their youth. Normally I just think that whole attitude reeks of age-related insecurity rather than empowerment, but I don't comment; however, when the other party is the FL's student, it's fucking gross. I teach undergrads and the idea of having a refreshing "healing" romance with one of them to boost my self-esteem is nuts to me. That's not how it happens, ever, and these two characters have nothing in common and shouldn't be together.

Teacher-student relationships are inherently unbalanced and romanticising them as "fuzzy and cozy"/centering the teacher's emotional needs rather than the impact on the student is really creepy.

The original opera is about Zhao Pan’er saving Yinzhang’s character from a bad marriage. The romance here is an original addition, so we have nothing to go off. But I’d be shocked if we got a sad ending given the tone of the drama so far.

Pan’er noted he’s “under 30” once. I also pegged him at around 28.

The mouth, chin and eye shape, plus ZLS also has a strong nose, though it’s a different shape.

They do look kinda similar; I’ve also been thinking this. It’s not a commentary on who’s more beautiful, talented or charismatic.

Wow, now THAT sounds plausible to me! (At least in dramaland, where crazy coincidences are normal, I mean.) He said he never met his intended. What if their engagement was dissolved when ZPE's father was stripped of his position while she was still a child, and that's why they never got to meet?

The trailer and teasers look fun and give off that old-school wacky romance vibe that some classic kdramas had. (I'm talking about fantasy romances like My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Queen In-Hyun's Man, Legend of the Blue Sea, etc.) I've read the webtoon and it's okay but nothing special IMO; however, the retro kdrama vibe of the trailer gives me hope the TV adaptation will be more exciting than the source material.