A box-office hit, it was one of only two films to sell more than 100,000 tickets in Seoul during the year of 1982.

The government censors insisted that the characters in the title be changed from "愛馬婦人" (lit.

Both versions of the title are pronounced, "Aema Buin", a hint at the French film Emmanuelle (1974), which had been popular in Korea.

[3][4] The most sexually explicit South Korean film made up to its time, Madame Aema's success ushered in an era of similar erotic films during the 1980s, such as director Lee Doo-yong's Mulberry (1986).

The film inspired at least 10 sequels,[a] making it the longest-running series in the history of Korean cinema.