Han SeungHee and Jeon JinSeok - One Thousand and One Nights, vol. 02, 04 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

This series keeps enraging me, but I read on because the art was so gorgeous. Thankfully, I have been released, since the author's note in volume 4 annoyed me so much that I refuse to pick up more! Ha, freedom

Comments

[coffeeandink]

... Wow, I am so glad my massive issues with turning Scheherazade into a boy made me give up at volume two. Despite the prettiness of the sultan and his vizier. (What? I'm weak for glasses and scruff.)

[oyceter]

I knoooow! I kept reading for more Korean folktales and scruffy, glasses-wearing vizier, and wow do I regret it now!

I was very tempted to throw v. 4 at a wall but did not as I was tachiyomi-ing in Borders...

[meganbmoore]

I'm really sad that it makes you upset (such potential!) but kind of happy that making them both the same sex (what's the point of the framing story, then?) annoyed me enough that i didn't give into the lure of an Arabian Nights retelling, given your comments.

[oyceter]

Yeeeaaaaaah. It doesn't get much better than the premise...

[oyceter]

I KNOW! I was all, "I would throw you at a wall right now except I did not buy you and I am still reading you at Borders. But in my mind, I throw you at a wall!"

[cicer]

...Huh. You know, I'm not sure why these things don't bother me about this series but...they don't! I'm a total feminist, and frequently get pissed of with sexism and misogyny in various shows, movies, and books, but somehow this one just didn't push my buttons at all, and now I'm kind of curious why. I honestly have no idea. *scratches head*

I admit that blurb from the author is extremely awkwardly phrased, but I think what she meant was that she didn't like the whole idea of the battle between the sexes/emphasizing the difference between men and women/the struggle for power between genders/etc. As I said, uncomfortably phrased, but I truly think she meant it in a pretty innocuous way. YMMV, of course.

By the by, I actually didn't interpret vol. 4 as 'let's blame his issues on his cheating mom'. Instead, I interpreted it as 'let's blame them on his crazy dad who thought it would be a good idea to murder his cheating wife in front of their ten-year-old son'. It actually made me a lot more understanding of his character, because (

[oyceter]

I think I could have even kept reading the series had it not been for the author's note. I mean, I know it's not a feminist series, but sometimes there's enough leeway for me to put my own pretend spin on things.

It was just her note had every single argument against feminism in it that I see over and over and over, from "I don't call myself a feminist" to "But what about the men?" It drives me crazy. Also, though I think any sane human being would blame the sultan's issues on his insane father, the spin the manhwa seems to be giving is on the mother-the focus is all on his mother and her influence on him, not on his father, and as such, it shifts the focus of his Issues onto his mom in terms of narrative weight.

[cicer]

Yeah, I get that. There does seem to be more narrative weight on the mom. I can't quite tell if that's because that's how the author wants it, or that's how the character perceives the situation, but I can see how it might feel very sexist to some.

And yeah, the author's note does make me vaguely uncomfy in the 'what about the men?' feelings it gives off, but I'm able to excuse it as just being poorly phrased. I don't blame you for being P.O.-ed, though. Like I said, this series somehow doesn't hit my feminist-rage buttons, but I can certainly see how it might hit someone else's. :/

Really, I'm mostly just in the thing for the pretty art. I admit it. XD

[seajules]

...I'm glad Rising Sun gives store credit for returned merchandise, and that I'd already decided to turn in the first three volumes of this series for Silver Diamond and more Minekura.

[oyceter]

Yeeeeeaaah. Those two have much better slashy UST without the horrible misogyny! (Not that Minekura is perfect, but at least her heroes aren't regularly killing women!)