Tag: danmei

Hello again, everyone! So interestingly enough, there’s a number of different topics I can suddenly blog about, mostly because of the Chinese New Year, new releases, and the Beijing 2022 winter Olympics (hey yeah, that’s a whole thing that’s happening right now too!). While I do have a few things I plan to write about in the next few weeks, for right now, I want to focus on the new cover for the English translation of Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System (Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong) volume 2 that just released a couple days ago!

(Shoot, I should probably explain the title of this blog entry haha: okay, so Shen Qingqiu’s name is 沈清秋 and Luo Binghe’s is 洛冰河—the former has the character for autumn in his name, and the latter has the character for ice—I thus thought it’d be a cute title for this entry, especially since my analysis looks at how darkness approaches this couple in this part of the story. That makes it kind of like autumn becoming winter, you know?)

I’ve already mentioned in a couple of my previous entries that it seemed a perfect time to start this blog because of the English translations of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (popularly referred to as MXTX)’s books releasing right around 2022, and while I mentioned that her series Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi) is what got me into donghua and most Chinese media in general, my current favourite is actually Scum Villain!

I’ve…ranted previously a lot about what I adore about Scum Villain and its main couple so much, and I should perhaps address that in more detail in an actual blog entry—like perhaps next week, but for now, let’s freak out a little over this gorgeous cover!! I mean, just look at all the details!!!

Okay so for those of you who don’t know, I did an honours specialization in film studies in university, and it’s definitely affected how I consume media, and I thought it would be fun to apply that to analyzing this cover. So this entry is actually an edited version of a Twitter thread I made, which you can check out here! It…did surprisingly well? After writing it I planned on making it this weekend’s blog entry, but when I logged back onto Twitter later, I was shaken to see that it had 800+ likes ahaha.

But here we go!:

I went absolutely feral over the cover earlier on Twitter, mostly because of the colours and the fact we got to see Moshang (in colour!!) and Gongyi Xiao (looking like a little sunflower!) on the back, with the pretty sunset colours on the front, and Bingqiu’s really romantic pose—but I do find it very interesting that any sense of Shen Qingqiu’s legs just pretty much vanish here under the almost wisp-like robes. It almost makes me think of a ghost, and…well…considering what he’s going to end up doing (spoiler alert: self-destructing)…yeah.

*cries gently for Shizun*

I have mentioned before that it’s really cool to see a new design for Xin Mo (love that little bloodthirsty blade!), but also the other features of Luo Binghe’s demonic heritage (the claws!! The blackish-purple wisps of demonic energy ahhhhh)—and of course the demon mark on the spine is extremely intriguing.

It’s already pretty cool that this book has a sunset colour scheme (which is just aesthetically pretty), but it also calls forth the idea of an encroaching dark night and all the dangers that come with the darkness…which is just further enhanced by the way the actually black demonic energy literally frames Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe. Not only does it draw your eye toward the main pair aesthetically and artistically, it works well to further suggest encroaching pain and suffering.

That pairs well with the way the demonic energy snakes around Xin Mo, which is so sharp and long it jabs straight across the bottom corner of the cover, interrupting Shen Qingqiu’s serene green robes and symbolizing further danger.

And I find the posing within itself really interesting!

Again, spoiler alert, but Luo Binghe is the one who is going to choke Shen Qingqiu and feed him his demonic blood, yet here it’s Shen Qingqiu who has his hand on one of the frailest parts of any person’s body—the throat.

While the pose does suggest danger, Luo Binghe’s hand is also right by Shen Qingqiu’s neck too (kind of creating a parallel between the two of them). It also works as a good way to symbolize the effect Shen Qingqiu (unknowingly) has over Luo Binghe: how that fragile glass heart of Luo Binghe’s already belongs to him, and how, in his ignorance, he’s already hurt him.

So as tender as that hand position seems, it is rather foreboding, considering the later events of the actual story.

As for facial expressions, Luo Binghe’s is easy to deign because he does indeed look extremely angry, which makes sense for this part of the story, where he’s frustrated by how often his shizun misunderstands him again and again. 

Shen Qingqiu’s expression, in contrast, is a lot more interesting because it’s far harder to read, and I have a few observations I would like to make. The first thing I noticed about Shen Qingqiu’s expression is that it’s so…softly melancholy? And so contemplative? It’s almost far more elegant than I’d expect from this portion of the novel, where he’s mostly screaming, but Velinxi (the artist who drew the cover)’s Shen Qingqiu always looks so beautifully regal.

And of course Shen Qingqiu himself does look regal and composed on the surface so it is fitting, but this version of him on the cover just looks so contemplative and sad gazing at the disciple he’s hurt unwittingly. It’s striking me as an interesting choice to portray him this way.

It’s an almost nurturing, mournful look on his face, soft and demure—when for this part of the novel I’m used to his voice really becoming panicked screams and equally panicked schemes, so it feels like we’re seeing him the way Luo Binghe sees him: refined, gentle, but aloof.

Like there’s this mild distance to his eyes that perhaps makes Luo Binghe feel like he is being seen through and yet not seen at all, if that makes sense.

His shizun is regarding him, but not entirely in the way he wants, because he wants to show him he is good—and yet he fears Shen Qingqiu can only see his demonic heritage and bad intentions instead.

This is enhanced by the way their faces are both in shadow and Shen Qingqiu is literally looking down at Luo Binghe.

Because as powerful as Luo Binghe is, he doesn’t feel domineering here—not when he’s placed at the bottom; not when Shen Qingqiu has his hand over Luo Binghe’s neck. And while Shen Qingqiu himself would of course never actually hurt Luo Binghe, this calls back to why I think we’re seeing Shen Qingqiu through Luo Binghe’s eyes: because while he would not purposefully go out of his way to hurt Luo Binghe, he is capable of it, and his hand is right there on that pressure point—that weakness—and Luo Binghe can feel it.

A lot of people also believe this cover depicts a specific scene in the novel, where Shen Qingqiu (spoiler alert:) self-destructs, but as I mentioned previously, there is actually a wraith-like quality to his appearance here, as the bottom of his robes make me think of this as a less literal depiction. I’ve seen some people interpret this as one of Luo Binghe’s dream constructs (yes, he can make those) who didn’t show the same affection for Luo Binghe that the real one does, and that’s another entirely plausible explanation. Although…I don’t really see Luo Binghe attacking such a construct.

That being said, it’s true the image overall has a dream-like feature because of Shen Qingqiu’s melancholy expression and floating robes, so I don’t see it so much as a literal interpretation as a scene and more so an artistic one of their current relationship throughout this part of the plot. 

So yeah. This is a perfectly designed cover infused with lots of elements for potential tragedy in a story that turns surprisingly tragic. 

Fun fact, having written most of all that last night, I actually felt kind of embarrassed because it felt like I’m stretching it—but I’m touched that so many people actually enjoyed the analysis! Plus, I suppose that’s part of what analysis in general is, and if there’s anything film studies has taught me, it’s that any theme can be gleaned from something if you try hard enough.

So I hope someone out there enjoyed the way too much emotional thought I put into this, and here’s to the release of Scum Villain volume 2!