Netizens Angrily Wish For BLACKPINK Jisoo’s New Movie To Flop After Her Character Reveal

BLACKPINK member Jisoo‘s upcoming movie, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, has been embroiled in a controversy regarding its removal of many historical contexts from which the original web novel was adapted. After the recent character poster and teaser release, the pushback has only gotten stronger.

Jisoo | @sooyaaa__/Instagram

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint is a fantasy action film where the world of a long-running novel suddenly becomes real on the day the story ends. The story follows Kim Dokja, the novel’s only reader, as she teams up with protagonist Yoo Joong Hyuk and other companions to survive in a world that has fallen. In the movie, each character fights using the special powers bestowed upon them by “Constellations,” which refer to godlike entities, similar to guardian angels. The Constellation character of Lee Ji Hye (played by Jisoo) is Admiral Yi Sun Sin.

However, in the newly released character posters, Jisoo is seen wielding a gun instead of a sword, which is symbolically associated with Admiral Yi. This alteration has sparked fears that the historical significance of Admiral Yi had also been meddled with in the storyline. This concern comes after multiple precedents of the original web novel having historically sensitive content edited out for global releases.

For example, in the webtoon version of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, which was distributed in Japan, a line referring to “national independence activist (Yoo Gwan Soon)” was changed into “a yin-yang sorcerer of contradiction.” A yin-yang master refers to ancient Japanese officials who used the principles of yin-yang and the five elements for fortune-telling and geomancy.

Additionally, the Constellation was tied to Korean freedom fighter Ahn Jung Geun, who was also reportedly removed, leading to more dissatisfaction among Korean fans who accused the team behind the webtoon of pandering to Japanese sentiments.

After the movie’s teaser came out, many netizens pointed out that it didn’t make sense historically to have Admiral Yi Sun Sin wield a gun instead of a sword and bow, given that he fought against Japanese muskets during the Imjin War (1592-1597). Allegations of insufficient research behind world-building started pouring in from domestic fans.

In response, Reallize Pictures CEO Won Dong Yeon made a social media post in February stating that the changes were necessary to adapt a novel into a movie. He also reassured fans that the original author, Joo Ho Min, was aware of the alterations and approved of them.

While there was a similar controversy surrounding the character of Yoo Joonghyuk and his weapon, Won shared a poster of him wielding a sword as well. He clarified that Yoo used both a sword and a gun in the movie. However, no such explanation was extended for Jisoo’s character, Lee Ji Hye.

Netizens are extremely unhappy with these constant omissions of the historical significance of the characters in the movie, even going as far as wishing for the project to fail financially.

| theqoo

• “I feel pathetic for having bought and read the entire book.”
• “I hope it flops.”
• “An Jung Geun, Yu Gwan Sun, and Yi Sun Sin are all erased.”
• “Since all of it is gone, they just won’t be able to act.”
• “Hah…”

Meanwhile, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint is slated for release in July.

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