Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.
Day 2/30 of analyzing my fav things abt sangyang until season 3 comes out
Today I'm analyzing chapter 1 SPOILERS AHEAD
To begin the story establishes some truths.
1) This is the best opening chapter written in all of fiction.
2) This story is MOODY AF. The black wolf, the ominous ass dialogue, lau's whole wannabe emo ass character design. Even the fact that the manhwa's background is black instead of white. Everything about this screams noir movie, and I was immediately hooked.
3)HOLYYYY FUCK THERES SO MUCH FORESHADOWING. For a diehard sangyang fan like me, rereading the first chapter is the equivalent of getting sucked off eaten out and fucked in the ass all at the same time, its that juicy. This is literary porn, im being so deadass.
I feel the need to stress this to people because I geek out about this so hard:
The opening lines "A wolf?" "yes, a wolf", etc are from the conversation xin has with his brother tan in chapter 60 something.
Child xin is describing Lau insisting that his spirit animal is a wolf. His brother asks him "If that's the case, what are you going to do about it?" and that's where the 1st chapter leaves off the conversation. In chapter 64, xin says his answer, lau is a wolf he can tame, beginning the first fracture of many within their relationship. In a way, you can look at this whole story as xin's answer to that question, and its consequences. This relationship between master and servant, and lau's desperation to fight it, is a major theme that haunts Lau and Xin, and subsequently the story as a whole. It’s already setting up its first theme, already the story knows what it wants to do. I bring this up to say that when you reread Sangyang, you will notice so many details from the beginning that hint at EVERYTHING that happens and it’s so clear that author thought everything through. They knew what kind of story they wanted to tell.
Speaking of more foreshadowing. Lau's meeting Lian and Wei is such a great way to introduce them. 1) Their character designs are awesome and hint what kind of characters they are. Lian's all encompasing starry eyes are full of childlike wonder yet simultaneously unsettling, just like her personality as we find out later. Wei is your typical straight laced robot sidekick. 2) Lau meets them when crossing through the forest trails, and runs into the main road by chance. I like this because it hints at Lau's past with the place and his untamed nature, and it establishes how strict the security around xin is, where even lian and wei had to take the detour to the head family before meeting xin.
AND THEN WE MEET XIN. Already the first two panels tell us everything about this character. The first shot of him is him standing watering the oleander (the symbol for the zhou family), his facial features invisible save for a slight smile. Then the camera reveals his face, and this mfer looks suspicious as hell. This is quite possibly the cringiest thing ive ever said, but that shot kinda reminds me of the mona lisa? Where u can't tell whether xin's smile is genuine or not, or even if he's laughing at u or not.
Then there's the birthday party. Story establishes that xin is an alcoholic, who's intake is restricted by the head family. at this point we don't exactly know who they are or why xin has to obey them, but we're already establishing the lore. Furthemore, the dynamic between lian and wei is also established. Even though xin or even lian could've gotten up to get glasses themselves, lian will ask wei to do it because he is her guardian, and she can get away with ordering him around as her pseudo-servant.
Then there's lian saying "today is *your* day remember?" and the camera pans to xin finally looking up at lau with a serious look on his face, and the mood completely shifts. I sound so schizo BUT THIS IS MORE FORESHADOWING I SWEAR. The way the camera is framing the scene is wayyy too deliberate for this to just be a one off line. Why else would xin's whole mood shift? Lian is subtly telling Xin that he must remember that this party is an excuse to get Lau to go on the hunt for the tattoo's culprit. And also her saying "i'll take care of everything, so you just sit back and relax" also sounds like its subtly telling the audience that she is the one orchestrating the entire tattoo plot with xin and that he just needs to sit back and let the tattoo form. Xin can only offer a slightly frozen smile in response. And then the story immediately shifts the mood back to light hearted with lian and xin talking about sweets.
Also side note, lian mentions a bakery, which is coincidentally where wei has his meeting point with mali later in the story. Coicidence? I think not. It probably doesn't mean anything but I thought it was a fun nod. Also when wei the party with lian, the camera keeps mysteriously panning to xin's knowing smiling face and its kinda unnerving tbh and I feel like its also foreshadowing that wei and xin also have an understanding regarding the plan.
As for xin sending of lau on his actual quest, the story is foreshadowing once again that this entire tattoo plot is bullshit. Lau says it himself "After 5 years of no contact he calls me back just to tell me this bullshit?". Knowing what we know in the future about the head family, why wouldn't xin just tell lau that whoever is coming they must have an alliance with the head family (or else they wouldn't even be able to get near xin), unless of course xin is knowingly working with them and deliberately keeping lau in the dark? Oh wait.
Then of course there's the dream sequence. ABSOLUTE CINEMA. The thick tension in the air, the thought that the intruder must be harming xin again, only for lau to face the realization that lau was xin's undoing all along. this relates to what we learn about lau and xin's past. keep in mind, the last time lau saw xin 5 years ago, xin ran away after lau got physically violent with him. this dream is a haunting reminder of lau's past mistakes, and his fear of lashing out at xin due to his love-hate relationship with him. in a way, the dream can be seen as lau's love for xin only being able to watch helplessly as his anger hurts xin.
in conclusion the first chapter already tells you almost everything you need to know about the vibe, the themes, the intrapersonal relationships btwn characters, and foreshadows almost the entire plot going forward while leaving things vague enough so only rereaders can understand their implications. and that's what makes it one of the best opening chapters ever written. thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Day 1/30 of analyzing my fav things abt sangyang until season 3 comes out
Today I’m analyzing the premise of Sangyang.
For starters, the actual premise google translated from the raws (which are better than the english one imo):
"Lau, someone is carving something into my back while I'm asleep."
.
.
.
The sole direct heir of the Zhou family, 'Xin,' who boasts unrivaled power, and his guardian 'Lau,' bound by a contract between him and the Zhou family.
One night in October, four friends gather to meet for the first time in five years for a birthday party for Xin.
After the party ends, Xin takes off his clothes and shows Lau his back...
"Lau, it's time to get to work now."
"Why do you talk like I have a choice? It's not 'just a matter of choice.' It's an order given by someone."
Someone with a mysterious tattoo tattooed on Xin's back, and the only person who can track that person—Lau.
The more the 'tattoo' incident is uncovered, the secrets of the Zhou family and those around him, as well as the past of Lau and Xin, are gradually revealed.
Will Lau be able to uncover the truth of the incident and save Xin?
A noir mystery presented by a talented up-and-coming cultivator writer, 'Sangyang'
And the English version:
"Someone's tattooing me in my sleep."
On the night of his birthday, Xin, the sole heir of the powerful Zhou family, reunites with Lau, his clan guardian, and confides in him about the mysterious tattoo forming on his back. Lau begrudgingly sets off to investigate this strange phenomenon, but what secrets will he uncover along the way?
I kinda like both versions, but the korean version sets up the audience with the expectation that we're going to uncover the characters' pasts A LOT. the english version is more succint, but also the korean version describes the story as "Read this story: When
you want to see a brutal mutual unrequited love hell" which I think is hilarious, so I prefer the Korean version more.
Analysis:
Compared to many other manhwas, Sangyang is unique in terms of its place in culture alone. It’s a black and white manhwa (already rare) about Chinese characters in modern day China yet it’s written by a Korean author (extremely rare). I even found some rly xenophobic reviews of it from Korean readers just because the story is Chinese.
Furthermore, the story also presents itself in a way that is incredibly rare within its genre. It’s a bl, yet the mc doesn’t even realize he or the ml like each other, and the story only focuses on a few hints of romance. its honestly more similar to a shounen, than a romance. Yet, because of those few moments the story can only be labeled a BL on its original official site (R*di), whereas in its English translation it is labeled as a drama rather than a romance (which I personally find far more accurate, if either Lau or Xin were women would the story still have to be labeled as a romance in Korea?).
The actual premise of the story itself is unique as well. Honestly I struggle to recommend this manhwa to people because the premise is so difficult to explain. You could explain that its just about clan politics, but that leaves out the fact that we barely know much of the politics, and the story focuses almost entirely on the characters and their relationships with one another. A modern noir mystery, yet it blurs the lines between mystical and cold hard reality, leaving the reader entirely at a loss for which could be closer to the truth. The story barely even explains the premise at first, you're immediately thrown into this moody world, and i absolutely love it. The premise of this story is so difficult to describe but i genuinely think its one of the most well written stories ive ever read.
Other things of note:
- the author is gyujik, they have a youtube channel which has the guitar song lau plays in ch 60 and a funny short w xin and lau posted. Other than that we don't know anything abt the author except that they're korean.
- sangyang: the wanderer is actually just called sangyang in the raws. ngl i kinda hate the localization of the title, which i will get more into when i discuss the meaning of the name (day 29 btw), but the english title is essentially redundant, so i just prefer to call it 'sangyang'.
- lau is tagged as the top and xin is tagged as the bottom despite there barely being any romance in the story much less even sex lmao. other tags (source: user @PuppyCorporation's comment):
#ModernDrama #ChildhoodFriends #Reunion #Contract/MasterRelationship #Friendship #FirstLove #BattleRomance #KoreanBL #AffectionateTop #TsundereTop #BigTop #RegretfulTop #Rude/MeanTop #PureTop(sometimes considered virgin in BL) #CommitedTop #LovingTop #Top'sUnrequiredLove #BeautifulBottom #KindheartedBottom #RegretfulBottom #SoftOutsideStrongInsideBottom #PureGenuineBottom #UnrequitedBottomsLove #Wounded/Hurt_Bottom
Anyways I just rly love this story and I want to yap abt it until it returns in 1 month.
