Who cares?
Since the story is set in a fantasy world, does it really matter what kind of elements she decides to combine...?
I think it's both.
I feel like she probably a fan of the west Asian romantic partner trope, and just looked up picked out what ever made the character look cool.
Ayyyyyy northeast indian twin
Literally anyone whose cultural is being used for profit so rude and so loud
We do. You can fuck off racist asshole
It does. The outfit of Asura is copied literally to the minute detail. Plus people already don't know anything about the Northeastern people who are a minority and already suffer through a lot of stereotyping and are victims of hate crimes in mainland India. You can't brush off things as fantasy when she is taking and coping things from a marginalised ethnic group and making him play a sitar which none of the communities in Northeast India plays. We have our own I instruments
Hiiiii
Calling someone a "racist asshole" because it has the ability to see that an author just mixed and matched cultural aesthetics in a fantasy manga is peak internet brain rot.
As an artist, let me break it down for you: that’s literally how creative inspiration works. Creators pull bits and pieces from all over the world to build an original fantasy world. It’s world-building, not a national geographic documentary.
Expecting a fantasy story to strictly follow real world borders and rules just to satisfy your arbitrary standards shows you have zero idea how creative work actually happens, inspirations to build fantasy worlds. Crying "stolen" or "copied" just because a character wears a culturally inspired outfit shows you have zero clue how visual references work. it's literally how character design has worked since the dawn of time.
Also ragging real-world hate crimes just to demonize a fantasy comic is the most manipulative reach ever.
Weaponizing actual tragedies just to police a comic and play the victim is gross.
The Earth King's atire is based of communities of Northeast India, especially from Nagaland!! Even mentions the practice of head-hunting! But the author then mixes mainland Indian parts such as the musical instruments or the names such as Asura. I can't tell if they did good research or just saw what looked the most exotic and put it out there