this manhwa was really worse than i expected first of all, what does an EAST ASIAN know about black people and the history of african americans??? i am asian myself and i can say with certainty that east asians are known for their utmost ignorance when it comes to black people, from appropriating hiphop culture, racist depictions in media, and obviously, as this shows, a lack of knowledge or understanding of nuance on topics of slavery.
second of all, the author genuinely decided to depict times of the CIVIL WAR. what the fuckkk i genuinely dont know how this author thought "oh i think im completely educated and unbiased in topics of SLAVERY IN AMERICA and i should make a manhwa of a slave and his master having sex duhhh
third it is so obvious that this author fantasizes about white saviors on the daily. wtf do u mean he gave a stack of cash to slaves and told them to go???? Where to bitch??????? into the wild of the south where they will literally be hung and killed if seen escaped? one of the ONLY WAYS that slaves could escape successfully is when a person in power helps them; if you wanna free slaves you cant just give them money like a nonchalant chaebol, you HAVE TO SMUGGLE THEM OUT AND PUT IN THE TIME AND EFFORT TO SAVE HUMAN LIVES. WTF.
addtionally, it is so apparent that the author does not find black people attractive. every black person in this story has no hair texture, straight nose, thin lips, and many are marginally light. i do understand that during this time period anyone who even slightly looked black was considered black, but clearly she doesnt know that and just doesnt know how to draw black people. the ML comes in on a horse, says "im your slave, master" while having silk pressed straight hair, a slight tan, straight nose, thin lips, and no actual ethnic features. IF YOU DONT LIKE BLACK PEOPLE AND ARENT ATTRACTED TO BLACK PEOPLE AND CANT DRAW BLACK PEOPLE WHY THE FUCK MAKE THIS MANHWA GODDDDD
this isn't to disagree or oppose what you said (it's right! though I'd say it's not necessary for the creator to consider Black people attractive to put effort into representing our features), but just in the interest of not misrepresenting things and making sure we all have our facts straight, the ml in this is supposed to be mixed-heritage Native/indigenous, not Black. nevermind that he looks very ethnically and culturally vague... lol. it doesn't detract from the oddity and likely racism of the creator choosing to focus on this kind of interracial couple in this setting and time period and having the ml call himself a slave like that, even sarcastically, since European settlers did initially try enslaving the indigenous populations of the Americas in earlier times.
that makes so much more sense that the ml is native american my point about the creator not finding black people attractive is me pointing out that even though the author clearly wants to seem virtuous and progressive through their white savior plot, they still fail to be uninfluenced by their deeply rooted eurocentric beauty standards and it shows in their character's designs
i do agree with you on the fact that depicting black features should be done on the level of basic human decency rather than granting it based on how attractive the author thinks these features are, i just wanted to point out how hypocritical and internally racist the author is
you made great and sound points, I just wanted to make that bit clear, just in case, since so many fall for the opposite expression and fail to see the racism in exoticized, sexualized depictions of nonwhite people as they typically are in bl/romance. (people "confusing attraction for allyship" per the one tiktok - see the people bringing up brothers without a tomorrow positively in discussions about this series). the notion that racism has a not-overtly-violent dimension and that people can perpetuate it in subtle and unintentional ways is really kicking people's butts around here...
bl manga focused primarily on smut scenes, but im pretty sure both the characters knew eachother from police training (?) and were separated for years. mc had red or orange hair, the other guy had black. black haired guys sister was involved for a chapter and i remember the two guys having sex while the sister was listening to music next door
tbh i feel like ujie is gonna get humbled from this. i love yasaka both as a character and wouldnt mind her as a person irl really (though i probably wouldnt be friends with her).
ujie (although he doesnt have bad intentions) is projecting his own ideals onto her and hoping to change her with enough effort despite the multiple warnings that she is not the girl he dreams she is. kinda annoys me that hes doing that.
he doesnt say "i like her, even the part where shes selfish". he says "i like the idea of her in my head, so with enough effort, i can change her selfish ways". its just not very genuine and rubs me the wrong way its like, so you dont really like her for how she is, huh?
yasaka on the other hand is pretty selfish and doesnt mind hurting people as long as it fullfills her. her goals are simple enough, and she doesnt exactly think of herself as a good person. ujie on the other hand does act like he is doing her a favor by trying to change her which does honestly make me dislike him more than her
RIGHT.Ignoring advice from somebody who has known you for much longer than Yasaka....Ignoring warnings and rumours...