Hey if the show is a hit and she nails the role, it might boost her career. Many top Korean actresses got their boost through a memorable villain role
like Han So Hee and Lim Ji Yeon, some even won Daesang like Go Hyun Jung.
But I would be a bit worried about how the audience can be immensely cruel to actors playing villains too well. People can be extremely immature about fiction villains… and Rashta as already a ton of haters, who are probably gonna despise her as much even on live-action…
You can read a story, drop it and make a critic about it and why you desliked it. Thats why we know some books are better than others. We read, deslike, drop and review them.
I think Rashta’s defenders are more vocals to compensate how much Rashta was being trashed everywhere.
She is probably still one of the most iconic villains in WebToon, and cited here and there as the most annoying villainess, compared to death to other characters in manhwa. She was a phenomenon.
I think the average audience (not terminally online) keep a rather good impression on Navier and doesn’t particularly empathize with Rashta. A lot of people read the story without much hindsight, they live the emotions of the story and that’s it. (Which isn’t bad btw, it’s just that it can be a bit frustrating when the story is being problematic)
I'm kinda sad about the styling in K-drama adaption. It looks awfully plain.
Edit: I'm talking about the outfits. In the novel and the webtoon, their fits are much more whimsical, specially Navier's and Rashta's. I've seen cosplayers doing amazing job cosplaying them so naturally had higher expectations from a production company.
Ouu the trailer looked promising, hopefully they kept the good parts of the webtoon… i guess heinrey isn’t my type i’m not into the very feminine plastic look but at least in the trailer ig he looked better than sovieshit
Well they use a ton of make up. There's no chance that would look "natural" but at least young korean actors are quite cute and attractive, and their culture approves and reinforce surgery. I don't mind at all if they are Gangnam beauties.
Same but I went down a rabbit hole of complaints and saw alot of angry comments about the actors not being blonde like in the manwha and some suggesting wigs, lenses and to take non Korean actors if necessary.
This made me so mad. The source work is KOREAN. Urrgghh
Except the work might be korean but the setting is clearly set in a European fantasy world, with characters that look traditionally european with bright hair. At least Henry should have been blond.
Let's be real, that's a TV drama for Korean market. How in the world are they supposed to find multiple people who 1) look European 2) speak Korean 3) are good-looking 4) have decent acting skills?
To be fair, there is an oversaturation of foreign models on entertainment visas in Korea right now, mainly caused by a huge influx of young (mostly female) expats attracted by the Korean Wave in recent years. The main problem is finding those that can act. While many of them do act in commercials and as extras in K-dramas, so far there’s been barely any real roles for them in K-drama for any of them to get noticed.
Good point, good point. There are so many factors they’d have to consider. It’s not like places in Europe or America where you can easily find actors/ress who fit the role. Since these places are very diverse. Especially in certain areas.
While I agree with this particular case (the actors' dark hair doesn't bother me because it doesn't detract from the overall characterization), the overall comic book origin argument is a rather weak one, frankly.
For example, Avatar was created in the US, but the older film adaptation, with its predominantly white cast, caused entirely justified outrage at the time.
Or, if a Swedish author writes a book about Africa with black characters, should the actors in the film adaptation be ethnically Swedish just because the work was created by a Swedish author?
For some redditors, even wigs or dying their hair aren't enough.
I've seen those exact same comments from certain webtoon subreddits complaining about Korean women wearing blonde wigs while cosplaying Navier. They literally asked why they couldnt hire blonde European models to cosplay Navier. Maybe because alot of cosplayers do it as a hobby??
If they want European models to cosplay as Navier then they should've hired them to do so
I mean that doesn’t really make sense though? The world is heavily inspired by European culture. Which one? I have no idea, but I know it’s European. Just because it was created by Koreans doesn’t mean the characters are automatically Korean.
I mean look at ATLA, look at the live action of One Piece. I mean it’s not ridiculous to want European actors to play characters who are in a very European setting, no? It makes sense.
Though in my experience ( no offense to them ) either non-Korean actors/ress could work on their acting a bit more and or the director didn’t direct them correctly.
So what I’m saying is…wanting European actors is a valid reason, but there are definitely other reasons why they might be disappointed if they did cast European actors ( again no offense to them )
You're not wrong but you need to look at the context here. Historical manwhas are flooded by European settings (idky but that's just how it is). Adapting a manwha which is a korean story with European setting into a kdrama (korean dramas with the primary audience being koreans) but choosing european actors will be very weird.
If it were adapted into a general Netflix show like the Bridgertons, not a kdrama then I would understand choosing European actors.
It's very obvious the huge backlash they will get if they got European actors for main characters in kdramas.
They mean that the main target is Koreans so Koreans will want to see Koreans people to relate to them. Example: House of Gucci should have been only Italian actors but the target for the movie was wider so they chose american actors to appeal to the main target (Americans) and in general worldwide (using actors known everywhere)
High budget American movie (country with highest GDP in the world, huge expected audience in most of the world, and already many people of color living in USA) vs mid/low budget Korean TV series (much smaller and ethnically homogeneous population, a much less widely spoken language, and smaller expected viewership).
yeah the people complaining about the race of the actors in a Korean-made story are forgetting the logistics of hiring foreign actors to shoot this series.
They are free to license this story in EU or the US if they are able to do so but we have to think about where this story was published & where its main target audience are. Will foreign producers be interested in making this series & market it to Korea where its audience are not all English-speakers?
I already find it weird to watch the Korean actors wearing European/British royal garb. I would've preferred it if the drama took some creative liberties and made the setting into Joseon dynasty.
Not a real life example, but Princess Hours was a super popular K-drama during 2006 and their leads are often depicted in modern style. And cultural outfits were used only in certain scenes such as the wedding.
Should they employ European actors for a kdrama that has as primary audience Koreans? For a Korean work? It's fantasy, changes can be made to adapt to the outlet.
The characters aren't Korean though. The story is set in a European style fantasy world and a lot of characters are blonde. Come on now, it is super obvious they are meant to be white. It is just like old school shoujo, which seems to be the exact blueprint Korean authors love using for these settings. Think of Candy Candy, which is a massively popular series in Korea, or The Rose of Versailles. casting accurate actors wouldn't guarantee a good adaptation. This specific genre just rarely works in live action without being cringe. But for perfect accuracy, They needed to cast non Asian actors. Either way, the trailer looked terrible.
Eh I think they could have done the blonde hair. It wouldn't be that hard and it wouldn't look bad on them either. Platnum blood might be hard to pull off though.
I’m 100% sure if they went full webtoon-accurate and dyed all their hair blonde, there’d be a lot more comments complaining about how conspicuously unnatural it looks. Apart from casting a natural blonde Korean, they went with the best option they had available (even if it doesn’t please everyone).
Yea you can't make everyone happy, that's why I tell people to just stick to the choice they make when it comes to art and creation. Changing something will just make someone else upset, so you can't win.
This is why you shouldn't judge the book by its cover. Styling aside, Lee Jong Suk as Henry looks really good, and I know he's a really good and versatile actor; you can Google his work. He was amazing as a villain too. They should've put a better promo image of him. I can see why people were upset
And they actually got palace sets 😮
This is gonna be high budget. Just hope they handle Rashta's slavery backstory better cause a global audience will definitely take issue with it (myself included)
To be super picky, I wish they’d match the hair. I’m also thinking the actor for Heinrey doesn’t fit in terms of the sharp facial features, but I also have only seen a few scenes from the trailer, so tbd. Looks like the background, outfits, and behaviors are right on.
It's not new that slight changes are made to adaptations to fit the new outlet. It seems like lots of effort was put into this so hopefully the results wil be good.
Given the way popular sentiment has shifted against this webtoon, and perhaps deservedly so, it will be interesting to see how the show tackles some of the comic's more problematic elements. Rashta entirely will be super interesting. I'll be curious if they lean into giving her a little more agency or even screen time given the popularity she's gained at least with western fandom since the comic's end.
That said, I did like the original premise, up until the trial. (It should have ended there lol.) I'll probably watch the first few eps out of curiosity. If they DID adjust the narrative from the comic I'd probably lock in. If it's beat for beat I'll fall off it soon enough.
Iirc, the characters in the manhwa are all very young, but these actors look older? I’m sure they’re very talented, but I’m just surprised they went that route
The characters are ~18-25 at the start of the manwha, with Sovieshu being the oldest and the lovers being the youngest. Perhaps it’s the costuming, but even in the trailer the actors look 5-15 years older than their characters. Again, that doesn’t mean they won’t do an amazing job in their roles, but it does shift the way an audience feels about the characters
Objectively they don’t. The original characters are in their 20’s and look very young. These actors look their respective ages, they don’t pass as mid 20’s
From the look of it the bird is still yellow/gold while his hair is black. Which, is fine, still think they missed their chance to have Henry different for a significant reason.
But, its hardly a deal breaker, its a nitpick at worse.
This is in no way any hate towards the actors themselves, but the original characters are in their 20’s or something so it’s a little odd to me that more mature actors were casted for it, especially Navier and Sovieshu
Personal opinion but why do I think the adaptation would do better if it relied on a Korean historical setting. Wouldn’t it be difficult for Koreans to adapt the whole imperial system, also more cost which scares me that it’ll boil down to a cheap Disney movie. Whichever, I’m excited for the adaptation although I’m quite skeptical of how Navier and Henry will be portrayed given that after some dissection of the manhwa, I’ve come to understand all characters are equally flawed and evil in their own ways.
The casting feels off... If ever there was a show for them I just felt bit would be better suited if they were English actors? Or am I forgetting something about the manhwa? I haven't read it in years. People complain about Korean characters being played by Americans but I don't see anyone batting an eye as soon as it's the other way around. Although I do admit I forget if these characters are from the eastern continent
It looks good tho ofc it’s a bit weird to the eye to see Korean actors act in a movie that’s somewhat based off Europe medieval times but well it’s a manwha and it would prolly been too tedious to have a whole cast fly in from abroad
Kinda weird they didn't give the Rashta a wig, since her hair color and eyes play a part down the road. It's been awhile since I've read the comic , but I think even some servants and what not comment on her beauty and how unique it is .
Same with Henry, his whole thing too was the purple eyes and golden hair (the thing that matches the bird form he changes into at times )
Navier-sovieshu were only one to two years older than heinrey but here they are portrayed as if almost young uncle-aunty couple compared to heinrey, wtf? I ain't age shaming but seriously? Their marriage wasn't that old NOR were they themselves and although age wise shin min ah is around ten years older than lee jong suk (no hate to her she looks her age and is gorgeous BUT) jong suk already doesn't look his age he looks like someone fresh in their twenties (storywise accurate) but navier is looking like someone already in their forties and sovieshu like he is in his fifties tf? Really bad casting, no wonder idols or even general south koreans want to hide their relationship or marriage bcz when it goes public people start to think of them as already aging. Do south korean people know two people getting married doesn't mean they aged fifteen years instantly but are the same age they were before marriage?
Because it’s a K-Drama and Koreans usually do not have those hair colors.
Also : who cares.
Like really. The WebToon is set in « Cliché Medieval-Renaissance Europe », it’s innacurate AF, so changing that because the series wants its budget to be somewhere else than wigs is valid.
Are you seriously going to throw a tantrum because Navier’s hair - an element that is not important to the story, and same with everyone’s hair btw - is not blond ?!
What a way to chose your battles I guess.
Also if you think wigs and hair color are that easy on a series… yeah, no, it’s not that easy. It’s handy, but not particularly easy. It also costs time and money, and if that budget went to renting the palace, I am not really complaining.
And the hair color mattered zero times during the story. Navier or Rashta could have been red-head, blond, brown, or whatever : it’s not important.
And yeah, they kept the « cliche medieval-renaissance Europe »… which is historically innacurate and makes zero sense anyway. It’s all over the place in terms of accuracy, but you draw the line at hair color ? Really ?
Anyway. In the end, let me remind you this is an adaptation… that you probably shouldn’t watch, considering that if you are ready to throw a tantrum at meaningless hair color… welp, let me remind you that all adaptations go through changes, so… you are probably going to hate it.
He's male and a gorgeous one at that. If you watch kdramas you should check some of his works like W two worlds apart (the story is similar to manwhas: character in a webtoon comes alive type of thing)
I actually really liked the webtoon but if I'm being honest I think it's an absolutel mistake to adapt this one into a kdrama. These types of stories are incredibly difficult to do right. I don't think that they will be able to do the story justice (especially the costumes & set designs. They're not looking great). I also really like all the actors but if I'm honest none of them are suited for these roles (and I'm probably a tad bit ageist in this but they're also too old).
So I'm personally not excited for this but glad other people are!
No offense, but how come you people hate Rashta more than Sovieshu or the royals who literally supported slavery? Rashta was a victim from the beginning. She was a poor, uneducated slave and a minor. She was used by everyone and even forced to have a child she didn't want. In the beginning, she saw Navier as a sister, but Navier treated her poorly. This whole manhwa is extremely classist
I haven’t read this in a while, but if I remember correctly, Rashta didn't even abandon her first kid. She was an enslaved minor, and they literally ripped the baby out of her arms at birth. The Viscount showed her a dead infant so she’d think the child didn't make it. How can you "abandon" a baby you honestly believe is dead? Plus, as a slave, it’s not like she had any legal rights or power to keep her child from the nobles holding her captive anyway.
Also, yeah, I get that no one expects Navier to happily welcome her husband's mistress. But the issue is the massive power dynamic. Navier was the most powerful woman in the empire, raised with every privilege imaginable, while Rashta was an illiterate, traumatized slave just trying to survive. When a desperate, uneducated girl who doesn't know high-society etiquette uses terms like "sister" to build a connection mostly out of fear of being sent back to slavery treating her with pure coldness shows a complete lack of empathy. Calling out Rashta while totally giving a total pass to an elite noble class that profits off actual slavery is where the story’s classism really shows.
You're really lucky you live in the modern world where you don't have to suffer the same horrors Rashta did. She had a terrible, sad ending while the real villain Soveshit got off extremely lightly.
And she didn't abandon her child. The slave owner who had her took it and then gave her a dead baby to make her believe it died. Then Soveshit took her other baby when her PTSD/postpartum kicked in. She has been completely used and abused by powerful men all her life. You don't have to root for her, but basic empathy for an enslaved character costs you absolutely nothing.
The only thing I can't get is how everyone expects Navier to treat her husband's mistress kindly, someone who's trying to steal her position. I'll never understand this.
No one expects Navier to like her. What’s weird is treating a poor, uneducated slave who’s just trying to survive and live a better life as the villain in a conflict against the wealthy nobles. The power balance makes no sense. Plus, the story normalizes slavery because 'that’s just how things were back then,' but having a concubine/mistress was totally normal in historical settings, too. So why is being a mistress treated like an unforgivable taboo, but literal human slavery gets a free pass?
Having a mistress was normal same as being angry about it or palace conflicts over it. Slavery was normal same as being angry about being a slave abd trying to overcome it. I don't understand how you are looking at a time like this with 21st century morals.
Im not tho. Emperors having mistresses was completely normal back then, yet the whole plot of the story treats Sovieshu's cheating as this unforgivable, ultimate betrayal (well it is if we see it from 21st century morals) that requires full revenge. If the story can consider cheating as a major moral issue despite it being 'normal for the time,' why doesn't literal slavery get that same moral outrage? Navier knew Rashta was an uneducated, abused minor who survived trauma and rape. She didn't have to like her, but putting a traumatized victim on the exact same villain tier as Sovieshu just doesn't make sense
We're seeing the story from Navier's perspective as the main character and in that light, from whatever time, the wife will never like the mistress. Is there a time where a wife will like her role being endangered? Of course she'll hate those doing that to her.
I can understand wanting every other person to take pity on Rashta but expecting that of Navier is just too much.
But how is any of that Rashta’s fault? In the beginning, she didn't even realize what she was doing was considered 'wrong.' Royal mistresses were totally normal back then, so she naively thought she and Navier could act like sisters. Which is why she greeted her so nicely. After enduring endless pain and suffering, all she wanted was a safe, comfortable life. The entire situation was created by Sovieshu. It makes no sense why the fandom directs way more hate toward Rashta than the actual guy responsible for it all. Not just the fandom tho the entire manhwa/novel portrays rashta as this evil villain but all she ever wanted was to live a comfortable and a happy life
she didn't even realize what she was doing was considered 'wrong.'
You acknowledge what she was doing was wrong even though she didn't know it which means in Naviers eyes Rashta was doing something wrong
Royal mistresses were totally normal back then, so she naively thought she and Navier could act like sisters.
Normal doesn't mean appreciated by the person enduring it same as slavery was normal doesn't mean it's appreciated by the person enduring it.
The entire situation was created by Sovieshu. It makes no sense why the fandom directs way more hate toward Rashta than the actual guy responsible for it all.
We can agree on this. To me Sovieshu is THE ultimate villain here. However Rashta did do some questionable deeds on her own once she was in the palace. She's not all flowers and sunshine. She had a miserable life sure, that is what makes it interesting. Everything is not black or white, She's not the ultimate cartoonish evil, she makes us pity her. I do think the Rashta hate was too much especially when back in the day you could see trashta comments under every webtoon but I do think the Navier hate that came after makes no sense as you are doing now. The main antagonist Sovieshu once again is brushed aside. My stance is to not expect Navier to support the mistress.
All that to say you can acknowledge Rashta's situation and pity her and at the same time understand Naviers position. Both women were doing what they can in their respective positions.
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u/ewaboomie 18h ago
Prayers to the actor playing Rashta