day 4/30 of analyzing sangyang until season 3 comes out
today i'm analyzing chapter 14-16 (my personal fav arc of the whole series).
i love these chapters because 1) its a good ass arc and the execution is genuinely some of the best in the entire story, 2) its serves as a perfect summary of the complex relationship between lau and xin and 3) it serves as a story progression standpoint because this is really the first instance where we, the audience, realize that xin is nowhere near as normal as he seems in present day.
for starters, the transition into this flashback is genuinely rly good. sometimes the series lwk gets kinda hamfisted w the transitions (looking at u season 2 yajin backstory), but in this instance its genuinely rly good?? lau's tweaking tf out so when he hears his decrepit old radio glitching out he just assigns his own meaning to it until its taken a life of its own and reminds him of his past regrets. CINEMA.
chapter 14 also introduces us a bit more to the gang in hs. we also find out theyre a bunch of rich kids who like to party and drink underage lmao. also lian saying "he deserves better than you lau. i'm taking him from you" ... girl dont play w me. also lau and xin touching hands the tension hello??? furthermore lian, xin and wei are all established as smart while lau is... not.
anyways now we get to the actual meat of the story. xin gets blown off by lian to go to the movies together so he wants lau to go together. lau says no bc hes too emotionally constipated and hes lwk hating asf. his reasoning being 1) he doesn't want to hang out w xin since he has plans w friends and it'll be boring and 2) he'll be blamed if anything happens to xin while hes out alone.
also side note, yajin mentioned in ch 2 that he had seen xin before, but only from a distance. this is the chapter where he sees him! neat detail.
also can i mention the art direction for these chapters?? it perfectly matches the mood in every scene. the alleyway scene where xins about to get mugged for instance was one of the first times it hit me that this was a true noir mystery. lau's face when he stops xin was also scary asf.
also the way xin, yajin and mali were all fine with hanging out together but its only lau's hating ass that's getting in the way. i think he followed xin cuz he wants to be able to prove xin wrong and rescue him as a proper guardian, and also cuz he likes xin (duh) and whether or not he admits it out loud, he doesn't want xin to be able to live without him. he wants to be important to xin. he wants to not be a screwup as a guardian. that's why even when he says he's going home, he stays behind to rescue xin anyways.
when he confronts xin hes very obviously angry and worried about xin, but there is an underlying current that lau wants to be needed, to be right ("imagine what would've happened if i wasn't here.")
xin revealing he knew lau was with him all along was one of the best twists in the whole series. the way the lighting over xin's face subtly changes until he looks like an entirely different person. the moment lau realizes something is off, the light behind him getting stronger and louder while the shadows behind xin getting darker and darker, creating heightened tension and divide. the look on lau's face when he finally realizes. and then the closeup on xin's quietly gleeful smile. its all so good.
and then the aggressor completely shifts, now its lau. sorry but while this scene was genuinely beautiful it also reminded me of the screaming lion vs smiling chimp meme... anyways you can immediately see the look of regret on xin's face its genuinely so sad. lau's face genuinely scared the shit out of me. i think this is one of the things this chapter did really well. both lau and xin get to have their moments of being the 'monster' within the relationship and its genuinely such a good diorama of their cycle. lau rejects xin in some way -> lau does his own thing but misses xin -> xin manipulates lau into doing what he wants unknowingly -> lau finds out xin was controlling him and lashes out -> lau feels like a dog, xin feels lonelier -> repeat.
and at the center of it all, its always about the fact that lau is his guardian. his quote in this chapter summarizes it best i feel "receiving these perks i never asked for, and in return being leashed like some dog, pathetically following you around... its all your fault, zhou ai xin". lau is unsure that him following around xin is actually because he likes him or because he's being manipulated into being xin's dog.
and then xin's mentality on all of this is so heartbreaking. he's been hurt to the point where he thinks his manipulation is normal and even after hes been yelled at by lau, the only thing he takes away from it is that he got to spend time with lau today, and that makes it a good day. this episode is a super important turning point within the series because its really the first time where we realize just how obsessed xin is.
also the author throwing in that panel where they look like theyre abt to kiss was foul and it genuinely got my hopes up.
i think part of the reason why i love these 3 chapters so much is that they feel like a self contained episode kind of? they definitely impact the rest of the story but its narrative through line for these 3 eps is genuinely so cohesive it feels like it could be one single rly good episode of a tv show. we also have a part at the end where it shows things in the present that relate back to the themes of the flashback (the box of xin's momentos from highschool as symbols of both the depths of his trauma and obsessive nature).
also lau getting a boner from xin just touching him LMFAOOO. ik someone who didn't realize this story was gay until this chapter. lol him having a boner to saying "take ur shirt off" lmao. does bro not see the irony.
i'm honestly not doing justice in analyzing this chapter because its genuinely cinema but i feel like the zoom in on lau's mouth could genuinely be on an alternate cover of sangyang, its that good. these 3 chapters on my first read were the moment that this story genuinely got serious for me (read: it began a two year long obsession of mine).
day 4/30 of analyzing sangyang until season 3 comes out
today i'm analyzing chapter 14-16 (my personal fav arc of the whole series).
i love these chapters because 1) its a good ass arc and the execution is genuinely some of the best in the entire story, 2) its serves as a perfect summary of the complex relationship between lau and xin and 3) it serves as a story progression standpoint because this is really the first instance where we, the audience, realize that xin is nowhere near as normal as he seems in present day.
for starters, the transition into this flashback is genuinely rly good. sometimes the series lwk gets kinda hamfisted w the transitions (looking at u season 2 yajin backstory), but in this instance its genuinely rly good?? lau's tweaking tf out so when he hears his decrepit old radio glitching out he just assigns his own meaning to it until its taken a life of its own and reminds him of his past regrets. CINEMA.
chapter 14 also introduces us a bit more to the gang in hs. we also find out theyre a bunch of rich kids who like to party and drink underage lmao. also lian saying "he deserves better than you lau. i'm taking him from you" ... girl dont play w me. also lau and xin touching hands the tension hello??? furthermore lian, xin and wei are all established as smart while lau is... not.
anyways now we get to the actual meat of the story. xin gets blown off by lian to go to the movies together so he wants lau to go together. lau says no bc hes too emotionally constipated and hes lwk hating asf. his reasoning being 1) he doesn't want to hang out w xin since he has plans w friends and it'll be boring and 2) he'll be blamed if anything happens to xin while hes out alone.
also side note, yajin mentioned in ch 2 that he had seen xin before, but only from a distance. this is the chapter where he sees him! neat detail.
also can i mention the art direction for these chapters?? it perfectly matches the mood in every scene. the alleyway scene where xins about to get mugged for instance was one of the first times it hit me that this was a true noir mystery. lau's face when he stops xin was also scary asf.
also the way xin, yajin and mali were all fine with hanging out together but its only lau's hating ass that's getting in the way. i think he followed xin cuz he wants to be able to prove xin wrong and rescue him as a proper guardian, and also cuz he likes xin (duh) and whether or not he admits it out loud, he doesn't want xin to be able to live without him. he wants to be important to xin. he wants to not be a screwup as a guardian. that's why even when he says he's going home, he stays behind to rescue xin anyways.
when he confronts xin hes very obviously angry and worried about xin, but there is an underlying current that lau wants to be needed, to be right ("imagine what would've happened if i wasn't here.")
xin revealing he knew lau was with him all along was one of the best twists in the whole series. the way the lighting over xin's face subtly changes until he looks like an entirely different person. the moment lau realizes something is off, the light behind him getting stronger and louder while the shadows behind xin getting darker and darker, creating heightened tension and divide. the look on lau's face when he finally realizes. and then the closeup on xin's quietly gleeful smile. its all so good.
and then the aggressor completely shifts, now its lau. sorry but while this scene was genuinely beautiful it also reminded me of the screaming lion vs smiling chimp meme... anyways you can immediately see the look of regret on xin's face its genuinely so sad. lau's face genuinely scared the shit out of me. i think this is one of the things this chapter did really well. both lau and xin get to have their moments of being the 'monster' within the relationship and its genuinely such a good diorama of their cycle. lau rejects xin in some way -> lau does his own thing but misses xin -> xin manipulates lau into doing what he wants unknowingly -> lau finds out xin was controlling him and lashes out -> lau feels like a dog, xin feels lonelier -> repeat.
and at the center of it all, its always about the fact that lau is his guardian. his quote in this chapter summarizes it best i feel "receiving these perks i never asked for, and in return being leashed like some dog, pathetically following you around... its all your fault, zhou ai xin". lau is unsure that him following around xin is actually because he likes him or because he's being manipulated into being xin's dog.
and then xin's mentality on all of this is so heartbreaking. he's been hurt to the point where he thinks his manipulation is normal and even after hes been yelled at by lau, the only thing he takes away from it is that he got to spend time with lau today, and that makes it a good day. this episode is a super important turning point within the series because its really the first time where we realize just how obsessed xin is.
also the author throwing in that panel where they look like theyre abt to kiss was foul and it genuinely got my hopes up.
i think part of the reason why i love these 3 chapters so much is that they feel like a self contained episode kind of? they definitely impact the rest of the story but its narrative through line for these 3 eps is genuinely so cohesive it feels like it could be one single rly good episode of a tv show. we also have a part at the end where it shows things in the present that relate back to the themes of the flashback (the box of xin's momentos from highschool as symbols of both the depths of his trauma and obsessive nature).
also lau getting a boner from xin just touching him LMFAOOO. ik someone who didn't realize this story was gay until this chapter. lol him having a boner to saying "take ur shirt off" lmao. does bro not see the irony.
i'm honestly not doing justice in analyzing this chapter because its genuinely cinema but i feel like the zoom in on lau's mouth could genuinely be on an alternate cover of sangyang, its that good. these 3 chapters on my first read were the moment that this story genuinely got serious for me (read: it began a two year long obsession of mine).