Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Or in this case, a fan scorned.
Blowing in the Wind 强风吹拂 stars Xing Zhaolin and Eleanor Lee as the main leads in a coming of age drama that follows the friendship of the members of a mountaineering club as they encounter romance, adventures and rebuild broken dreams. Sounds interesting, right?
However, fans of the Japanese novel Run with the Wind and its many adaptations started complaining because of the similarity in title between the two. Although it is not apparent to English readers, the Chinese title for both (强风吹拂) are exactly the same.
More recently, Run with the Wind was adapted into an anime in October 2018 while Blowing in the Wind was filmed and wrapped earlier in the same year. Blowing in the Wind drew ire for using the same title to get immediate recognition. In response to the uproar, Blowing in the Wind has released an official statement. They clarified that although both have the same title and fall under the same genre, sports, the story is different.
On the other hand, the anime, which is based on a novel written by Shion Miura in 2006, is about an entirely different sport which is running. It tells the story of a former elite runner in high school that is chased for stealing food and was helped by another student. He is then recruited by the same student to be a member of a marathon club.
Blowing in the Wind is about the mountaineering club. Nonetheless, makers of the drama acknowledge that the anime is promoting the importance of teamwork and fighting spirit, and theirs is about showcasing the youth and the energy they possess.
They respect the good production quality of the anime but stress that during the entire promotion of the drama, they have never compared their work to the anime and have never used it to gain attention.
Hmm. How about giving them the benefit of the doubt? Maybe they didn’t think that having the same title may trigger a nerve, after all, this isn’t the first instance of title sharing.
Source: 1
Anonymous
Really? There are so many dramas in every country with the same name. Even books and novels can have the exact same name. I never heard of the Japanese comic, I am wondering if this is a PR ploy to get the Japanese Comic more attention in the Chinese Market. I don't see how this is an issue.
Anonymous
Is this a good drama? The male lead doesn't have the lead aura.. Sorry.. No offense. It's probably only me thinking this way. Well, as long as the story is good, i will give it a try. Any review?
Tia
The Japanese MANGA is already popular and its own right and already wins many awards. It's also very very good and since jt doesn't clichely (and boringly) focuses on romance, it already does itself a service by not falling into that trap.
This Cdrama on the other hand, might not be as engaging as the anime since one of the focuses is the boring romance. But viewers like you may like it.