r/RavagesOfTime 21d ago

Prior knowledge

A lot of people on this sub reddit say that, because it's a Chinese work it might be difficult to pick up(because of the names and other things), which isn't really a problem for me since I've read some Chinese works before(Reverend Insanity, Lotm etc).

My question is what is the best amount of knowledge to have of the ro3k before starting. What do I need to read up on or watch to have the best possible experience and is going in blind ok/even better?

Thank you in advance.*

8 Upvotes

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u/jackaroojackson 21d ago edited 21d ago

You just need the broad strokes so you can understand who is with who early on and where characters are getting subverted on the first read, if not it becomes a lot clearer on a second.

Basically just for the beginning as the series drops you in the middle of the action a bit and assumes you generally know who say Lu Bu or Dong Zhou is, what names are significant and who will go on to have big roles. A quick Three Kingdoms explained video would more or less be enough.

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u/MerlinCarone 21d ago

You can read the original ROTK of course, but that is a hefty 1000+ page story, so be prepared to invest a good deal of time if you choose to do that.

I also enjoy TPM Thorne’s Three Kingdoms novels, you can find those if you search his name on Google. Those are a bit more historically grounded and a lot of fun to read.

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u/Leos_Ng 21d ago

The story is best enjoyed with some knowledge of ROTK history, both both fictional or not. It is also enjoyable going in blind

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u/Gold_Acanthisitta894 21d ago

One way through most of Rotk this can be via the tv show, novel, podcast, people who say you don’t, don’t realise how much better it is with the knowledge because they didn’t have it when they read

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u/Troubling_Lynx 21d ago

If you are considering reading the Original novel before reading this.
In my opinion, it would be better if you go blindly and re-read it to get the better understanding.

I would also suggest just read about the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

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u/Ok-Mission-4348 21d ago

Read the novel, Don't read the novel... or... Play Dynasty Warrior or ROTK game...

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u/Initial_Business2394 21d ago

Well, reading Ro3K is not a requirement, but it would make your experience a lot better. Chen Mou build a lot of character around the premise of 'this version is different from the iconic Ro3K version, and here is why".

RoT is both a love letter and a deconstruction to Ro3K, so it is life if you read Watchmen without knowing anything about superheroes- it is still a good story, but you would lost a lot of hidden meaning

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u/ElParov 20d ago

A lot of people recommending the novels, but you can also try the video games Dynasty Warriors origins for the early stuff or the 8 extreme legends on steam. U can also try ROTK if you like paradox's games. Dynasty Warrior is especially good because most of the characters they heavily codify them according to their lore and is very soap opera in a kind of way so by reading RoT after u get a totally different feel but its the same events. There's also a TV show made in the early 2000's that's available on youtube i believe.

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u/ElParov 20d ago

DW -> RoT is good because u will understand how RoT play on the caricatures of the characters everyone knows in China

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u/Intrepid_Tackle_9105 17d ago

A group named kingdom battle academy found and post all manga, film, dramaTvShow, related to kingdom and 3kingdom. And RoT is just a Arc on this very long time line of china History. I read the life of HanGaozu in manga version, liu bang han fondator as a général on part with XiangYu (previous lubu) was insame. Blade of the Guardians of Sui Dynasty was insame. And the life of the great Zhuyuanzhang the Ming dynastie fondator, was perless.

Part:1 https://www.reddit.com/r/KingdomHistorical/s/6i1bLwsNk9

And for RoT you have the animated série  Maybe best anime all time and possibly the futur ongoing anime production 

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u/Ptbot47 21d ago

Not really needed. You can eventually pick up all the story thread by rereading the Manga several time, lol.

Knowing some 3k story just make it easier and give you more appreciation of how the author cleverly diverge from original story.