WEBTOON REVIEW — Asura’s Bride
I first saw Asura’s Bride on Webtoon and was very curious about the story mainly because I thought the hero was an Indian Prince [well, because, *cough, cough* I am Indian myself]
{this was the first story that appeared [when I was yet a noobie to the world of the Webtoon website] to be based on a culture different from Korea}
I deduced he must be a Vedic Indian based on the title [Asura] & the way he looks in the cover page (I realized I wasn’t the only on one who had thought this way when I was looking through Lilydusk’s account on Instagram. The author has said that her inspiration for his name was Sanskrit — Kudos to you! Author! for trying a new cultural vibe to your character!)
This is the description I saw on Webtoon — On her way to an arranged marriage, a haughty princess is ambushed and held captive by bandits until she is rescued by a tired, hungry and pissed off soldier. All the accidental knight-in-shining-armour wants is to get some sleep after returning from the battlefield — but having a beautiful princess in tow is making it very difficult for him to do so, in more ways than one
At first sight, I thought it seemed like a cliche’ love story but I couldn’t have been more wrong. LILYDUSK, I BLAME YOU FOR MAKING ME FALL HEAD-OVER-HEELS-IN-LOVE WITH YOUR STORY!
Firstly, let me talk about the art is GODLY— it is PHENOMENAL & absolutely GORGEOUS. Lilydusk is a prodigiously good artist. The usage of colours, the facial expressions, the landscape and even the detail to clothing is one MEMORABLE MASTERPIECE!
Secondly, the story is a rich blend of a wide palette of Pan-Asian cultures. The hero, Ulaan hails from a culture clearly reflecting Mongolia. His title as a “Northerner” further corroborates to his Mongol origins with Mongolia being geographically north of China [from where our heroine hails] His mythical dog demons and the Yakuza-like colourful body tattoos that symbolize devotion to his clans are from Japanese culture. In addition, with his title being Asura, the author gave a nod to Sanskrit as well. The build up of the character of Ulaan, his dialogues, his actions and the way he was drawn simply makes any reader a HOPELESS ROMANTIC SIMPING FOR HIM. Ulaan will always remain one of my all time FAV Webtoon characters. I love Ulaan — he is an Alpha Man because he is confident, strong, committed, loves his people and country, gentlemanly and is capable of sympathy. Ulaan defines healthier masculinity which does not have any sort of toxicity to it. Ulaan is definitely not a wannabe cool jerk and unfortunately, that is more than I can say for some romance heroes. Btw, Ulaan’s physical appearance [when he was with loose hair] reminded me a lot of one of all time anime favourite characters — Uchiha Madara.
Thirdly, the heroine — I LOVE HER CHARACTER — Yuwa (the name reminds me of the Chinese mother goddess, Nuwa). In the recent age of creating “strong women” who are famed for being warriors, it is interesting to note a Princess who is spirited and has a kind heart. [not that there is anything wrong with creating powerful warrior women {I myself love some fictional + historical women bravehearts}, but it has become rarer to find women lauded for having traditionally feminine qualities such as empathy). Yuwa has a QUIET STRENGTH OF CHARACTER and one who has great COMPASSION and EMPATHY. Yuwa seems to herald a new heroine, one who is unafraid to celebrate traditionally feminine qualities. She was deeply moved with a single soldier’s death in her own army despite being a Princess and was able to humanize the supposed Other — “the barbarian Northerners”
Fourthly, this story — I am not sure if this was intentional on the author’s part but this enchanting Webtoon reminded me a lot of Beauty and the Beast. I am aware a lot of Webtoon readers consider Mei and Katsu of MDCBK [I love this story too] to be closer to this fairytale couple (and I agree). However, this particular couple reminded me of a better interpretation of the classical tale. I knew the minute I saw the imposingly regal bishounen Katsu that he was a good person who would never intentionally hurt Mei but I cannot say the same for Ulaan. Ulaan played into my prejudice that he could be dangerous and might hurt my cinnamon roll Yuwa & my prejudice was formed based on his wolfish appearance. Never arbitrarily judge by a person’s appearance is what Beauty & the Beast taught its audience and Ulaan reinforces this saying — Asura’s Bride taught me another important fact “never judge by hearsay” and Ulaan was constantly maligned by all & sundry with little heed paid to the ground facts on his real personality.
I conclude by saying that EVERYONE MUST READ this Webtoon and I guarantee you, it will ALWAYS remain one of those short but heart-tugging romance stories that you will want to READ OVER AND OVER & NEVER FEEL TIRED of reading it again. I myself read this story FIVE TIMES till date and would love to read it all over again.
