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Review: DJun (D君) - Here U Are
I sped through this Manhua very quickly over a few days haha. It wasn't meant to be super dramatic. There was light melodrama with misunderstandings and such, but in general, it was a mellow, slice-of-life story about love.
I found it enjoyable, both because of the characters and because of the world that DJun built. I liked seeing the day-to-day lives of the university students.
I'd recommend this Manhua as a light-hearted love story with a happy ending.
Spoilers.
Story
It's hard to say what the story is about in concrete terms. It's about love, but also the relationship after getting together. Our three main couples are Li Huan/Yu Yang, Chu Huanwen/Ji Yuan, and Pan Shu/Zhong Qiujie.
Before Li Huan and Yu Yang officially got together (when they bumped into each other in Beijing), I didn't really want to spend so much time reading about the side pairings. I don't think this happens too often, but I actually found myself wanting to rush through the side pairing plots to see Li Huan and Yu Yang make up. So I think DJun succeeded in developing an interesting main couple. I think I would've preferred to only have Ji Yuan and Zhong Qiujie introduced before Li Huan and Yu Yang got together, and we could delve into their relationships after they got together. But the way that DJun wasn't really that bad.
I felt that Pan Shu and Zhong Qiujie's relationship was a bit out of place because the story had such a big focus on university life. This was especially the case earlier on in their relationship when Zhong Qiujie was barely going to classes. As well, it might be because I'm older now, but I just don't have as much interest in relationships with big age differences in general.
As for Chu Huanwen and Ji Yuan, I did think their relationship was very sweet. I wish we'd seen more of them than Pan Shu/Zhong Qiujie, also because it would be more fitting to the university atmosphere, though Chu Huanwen did take on that internship later in the series. I'd also wish that we'd seen Ji Yuan and Chu Huanwen finally getting together, but it was only implied in the final chapters.
I'm always glad when a story doesn't drag too long, so I like that the story was under 150 chapters. I prefer a shorter story with outtakes, which DJun did do with the holiday specials and such.
After Li Huan and Yu Yang got together, we saw them less, which makes sense as the other couples hadn't gotten together. Instead, we saw them help the other couples by shedding light on their own relationship. In addition, we also got to see them reconcile with their families over their sexuality. It seemed to go a bit too smoothly, but like, I'm not complaining that they didn't kick up a fuss. In addition, Yu Yang had already had countless fights with his parents before, and they were past that. It was time for them to come to terms with their love for their son.
I'd read this manhua after finishing Painter of the Night, and it was definitely the fluffy breath of fresh air I needed. I'd also read this comic in original Chinese to practise my reading, and found that it wasn't too difficult because it was set in a fairly non-complex modern day society. So I'm definitely open to reading more Chinese danmei/BL manhua, not only in modern setting but other settings too.
I also loved the meta side chapters and side stories that the author would write. Sometimes the characters would talk to the author directly, asking about their schedule (lol). And before Li Huan and Yu Yang officially got together, DJun gave us some side chapters of the future when they were already together. Those gave us a glimpse of what was to come and kept us reading and waiting for more.
Art
In general, I liked the character designs. They were very anime-inspired, as is a lot of art by Asian artists. The characters were very fashionable, which I liked. Though because a lot of them had similar hairstyles, it was a bit difficult to differentiate them at first, but it got easier as the artist familiarized us with the side characters through plot and conversation.
I will say that some of the backgrounds were sometimes a bit odd. Sometimes DJun would give them too much space when it realistically wouldn't exist. I'm talking about car seats with a lot of space between them, or huge beds, or extremely wide corridors. This is just me being nitpicky, but it was noticeably at times.
Characters
Yu Yang
I'd consider him the main protagonist. He was confident and outgoing. But beneath the surface he was hiding insecurities, results of homophobia directed towards him. This included him being bullied by his peers, his broken relationship with his parents, and his fear that every man he'd fall in love with would decide they were straight.
I liked that Yu Yang as a character wasn't without his flaws and contradictions. He was confident, but sometimes it was all an act. After he'd rejected Li Huan, he'd even admitted to himself that he always thought that he was right, and hadn't realized that he was ignoring other people's feelings.
Yu Yang was always a vivacious kid, but homophobia in high school forced him to be an outcast. It wasn't until he got to university where he was able to start on a clean slate. He was kind of testing the waters since he was out already, and it was a pleasant surprise that his roommates had no issue with his sexuality, and that encouraged him to become himself.
Though Yu Yang originally got close to Li Huan because of his duties as a class assistant, I think that perhaps he was drawn to Li Huan because he was so honest. Like he said, Li Huan didn't speak much, but every word he said was sincere, and perhaps that was a breath of fresh air. After all, people would say shit about him behind his back because of his sexuality, but pretend to be polite to his face, etc. You could throw his parents in that category.
By the end of the series, Yu Yang was much the same kind of guy, enthusiastic and happy, and I liked that. Even with their new share of problems (regarding domestic life, coming out, etc.) Yu Yang didn't change who he was. Li Huan and his parents' newfound acceptance only gave him the bravery to face his problems.
Li Huan
Li Huan was always a quiet and reclusive kid. He was a loner, and Yu Yang was the first to approach him. I do think that initially, Li Huan was just touched by Yu Yang reaching out, but over time, it seemed that Yu Yang would walk the extra mile to become intimate with Li Huan. I'm not talking physically, I'm talking about them having deep conversations, doing fun things that Li Huan had never done.
Xiao Yi and Wangwang were friends with Li Huan, but they didn't really hang out much until later in the series. Yu Yang was the one to invite him out to outings.
Perhaps part of Li Huan's love was him being receptive to Yu Yang's subconscious love, but I do also think he came to appreciate Yu Yang for himself. Yu Yang was a lot of things that Li Huan was not, and Li Huan just liked being around him.
Though Li Huan's mother passed away early, Li Huan had the fortune of coming from a very loving and supportive family. I think that was why he was always so confident and sturdy in his own beliefs. He knew that whatever he did, he'd have his father's support, and that quiet confidence was what helped Yu Yang through his hard times too.
Li Huan understood that Yu Yang had went through some bad relationships. What I appreciated about Li Huan was that he realized that he could not bug Yu Yang until he believed Li Huan's love for him. Instead, he needed to wait for Yu Yang to come to his own conclusions. Li Huan needed Yu Yang to understand that after time, Li Huan's feelings for him would not change, and to have solid proof of that, they needed to wait it out. It also took fighting with Zhong Qiujie for Yu Yang to realize he'd been ignoring Li Huan's feelings, but again, Li Huan knew that he'd done what he could to express his love, and for now, all he could do was give Yu Yang space.
In the end of the series, we saw that Li Huan and Yu Yang's relationship wasn't as lovey-dovey as it was before, and they had their fair share of spats. I can see how the novelty of Li Huan's stoicism might fade over time, but in the end, I think that Yu Yang recognizes that there's a part of Li Huan that loves him, and no matter what he thinks, he does still love that part of Li Huan as well.
Chu Huanwen
Huanwen was such an interesting character. Near the beginning, as Li Huan and Yu Yang were working through their relationship, I'd thought that maybe Huanwen had a secret crush on Yu Yang. But I think it's implied that they only have such a close relationship because they understand each other on an intimate level. Like Yu Yang, Huanwen was afraid of engaging in relationships, though we don't know much about his past.
In Huanwen's case, he didn't want to upset his grandfather, so his solution was to just never engage in a relationship.
I really found myself loving Huanwen more and more. He was calm and mature, but emotionally sensitive. He was reliable, but we could see that he had his vulnerable side. We knew that he was a man with "fencun," his priorities were in order, but maybe a bit too in order, and it took Ji Yuan's talk with grandpa for grandpa to tell Huanwen to live a little.
I'd wish we'd seen more of Huanwen and Ji Yuan's relationship developing because I really did think they had a sweet relationship. I really would've liked to see the process of Huanwen slowly opening up his heart to love.
Ji Yuan
Ji Yuan took me by surprise. His character was a bit of a ditz, but not in the tropey, annoying way? He was trying his best without being a woobie I guess I'd say.
I think he was attracted to Huanwen's gentle nature. Huanwen was always supportive of him. At first, Ji Yuan took that as friendship, but over time, they came to enjoy each other's company deeply. Ji Yuan probably came to visit Huanwen more than Yu Yang did because he lived so close. Ji Yuan saw the slight changes in Huanwen's attitudes, when he was happy or sad, and Ji Yuan was always trying to be supportive. Even when he found out that Huanwen was gay, he tried to ease Huanwen into opening up by asking him what kind of guys he liked.
Ji Yuan was really so pure hearted, and again, I wish we could've seen more of him falling in love with Huanwen.
Pan Shu
Normally, I don't mind characters like Pan Shu, but I kind of wish he didn't have a romantic subplot in this story. Again, I felt that his character was a bit misplaced in this story that focused a lot on school life. I liked him fine as a side character, a mentor to Yu Yang and Huanwen.
Later when we saw his romantic interactions, we saw that he was less put together than we might've thought, which I guess may have ruined my impression of him as a mentor figure? But also, as I mentioned, I'm just not big into age difference relationships unless they're done really well, and I don't think that this relationship was as well developed as I've seen in other BL comics.
Pan Shu was the kind of guy who was casual with relationships. From the side stories, we saw that he was like that from a young age. He was very flippant with breakups, and didn't take them to heart.
At first, he'd treated Zhong Qiujie as kind of a pet. Zhong Qiujie wanted to hang around, so he let him as long as he wasn't making a mess. He didn't really take Zhong Qiujie's request for a relationship seriously at first, but that was because his view of relationships wasn't quite the same as what Zhong Qiujie was thinking of. To him, he was used to relationshisp just being sex. He'd have his own life, running his bar, and would only meet his lover for sex. That was the case with his ex.
Pan Shu hadn't made the effort to explain this to Zhong Qiujie, expecting him to already realize that (considering their age gap), and that led to Zhong Qiujie's feelings beeing hurt.
He did some self reflection and decided that he could give the relationship a shot because he was fond of Zhong Qiujie. But Zhong Qiujie had also done some thinking and he wanted to better himself before he entered into a relationship, so that was why the left off, but on a positive note.
The more I think about it, the more that I realize that Pan Shu isn't a bad character, it was just that his vibe was too out of place in this story.
Zhong Qiujie
I admit that I didn't like Zhong Qiujie at first. He had a reputation for being a playboy and had only pursued Pan Shu more as a challenge, which was why it was only fair that Pan Shu didn't take him seriously at first.
But over time, it was becoming clear that Zhong Qiujie was not simply a scumbag. He acknowledged that he'd flaunted his money to keep people by his side. He'd entered into relationships not really caring too much about the other part and thus not feeling much sadness when they left because he wasn't receptive to their love.
Zhong Qiujie acknowledged that Pan Shu was the first person who paid attention to him in a somewhat different way. He didn't care much for his money, and he didn't think that Zhong Qiujie was a scumbag for how he used his money. Even Zhong Qiujie's close friend seemed to be in a subservient role to Zhong Qiujie. In truth, Zhong Qiujie just wanted some attention. My guess is that after they started having sex, Zhong Qiujie started to develop romantic feelings for Pan Shu.
I enjoyed Zhong Qiujie and Yu Yang's rivalry. After seeing Yu Yang and Li Huan being so in love, Zhong Qiujie begrudgingly sought him out for love advice. He got some truth bombs thrown at him, but Zhong Qiujie accepted them because he understood the logic behind them. He decided that Pan Shu was going to continue looking at him like a kid if he acted like a kid, so he decided to get his act together, both for Pan Shu and for himself.
In the end, we saw that Pan Shu probably still saw Zhong Qiujie as a kid, but there was a new steadiness to Zhong Qiujie. He was more confident in himself, not his money or career, but who he was as a person and what he wanted.
Xiao Yi
Xiao Yi was Li Huan's friend. He was more of an observer to all that was happening, only occasionally chiming in. But I thought he was cute. Eventually, he ended up in a relationship with Wangwang.
Xia Wangwang
Wangwang was no stranger to BL comics (like all of us readers, let's be real here). She was trying to get Li Huan and Yu Yang together, but Xiao Yi made her realize that it wasn't so simple as just love between two people. There were more societal barriers than she'd realized, and it was a struggle to get through them.
Wangwang understood this, but she remained a loyal friend to Li Huan and Yu Yang :3
Yu Yang's dad
Yu Yang had poor relations with his dad. In the side stories, we saw that Yu Yang's dad had wanted to raise a tough and masculine son, and Yu Yang's homosexuality clashed with that. It didn't help that his brother and sister were always talking about how Yu Yang needed to stop playing around.
As I mentioned, we'd already seen Yu Yang argue with his parents, so there was no point in rehashing the arguments that were already said. Yu Yang had already said all that he needed to to defend himself.
However, I think it was only until that time that Yu Yang returned during the timeline of the story that his parents realized that they hadn't given their son the support he needed. He was the person that needed them the most, and they hadn't been there for them. So behind the scenes, Yu Yang's parents were doing some of their own reflection.
Li Huan's father gave Yu Yang the courage to be himself in front of his parents. That kind of set the ball in motion, for Yu Yang to bring Li Huan to his house and to have a conversation. That also gave Yu Yang's parents an in to tell him that they've made their decision to support him.
I liked that Yu Yang's dad was the stern kind of parent because all of us know parents that are like that. It's easy to show an accepting parent, but it's harder to show a parent who needed to do some self-wrangling to understand their child's sexuality.
Yu Yang's mom
Yu Yang's mom was kind of a pacifist, but because of the overwhelming homophobia in the family, she tended to not protect Yu Yang in those situations.
She tried to care for Yu Yang, cooking for him and looking after his health, but the real support that Yu Yang needed was his parents' approval.
I think Yu Yang's mom was following her husband's lead for the most part. So if he suggested cutting off his family, I don't think she'd hesitate, because she would finally be able to give Yu Yang the support he needed, and to cut off the toxic side of the family.
Li Huan's dad
According to the awards ceremony, Li Huan's dad was the most popular side character. I can see why that is. He's very warm, kind, and his relationship with his son is super precious. There were basically no bumps when it came to Li Huan coming out.
I also thought it was cute that Li Huan's dad started hanging out with Yu Yang's parents, as shown by that time they went on that ski trip.
Da Bai, Lao Jiang, and Xiao Ji
They were Yu Yang's roommates. I liked that Yu Yang was able to bro it up with them. I kind of wish we'd seen them more, because Yu Yang mentioned that they were his best friends. But I guess they didn't have much screen time because they weren't too involved with Yu Yang's love life.
Themes
I think societal homophobia was a big theme in this manhua. A lot of bullying and homophobia is often overlooked in BL comics, either not shown, or it's presumed that everything will be fine.
In particular, I liked how important it was for the characters in Here U Are to get closure with their parents. So many comics straight up ignore relationships with parents, with characters cutting off whoever is "toxic." But these characters Chinese and I am Chinese too. I might be right when I say that filial piety may be the most important virtue in Chinese culture. Having a good relationship with the person who raised you is so important in Chinese society. In addition, some Chinese households still have to deal with that expectation of kids marrying and having kids of their own.
I really liked seeing these issues addressed by having Yu Yang, Li Huan, and Chu Huanwen reconcile with their families.
Overall
Overall, this was cute. If you're looking for fluff and slice of life, this is for you. I have no complaints about this work with regards to the genre of fluff, as I felt it ticked off a lot of boxes. I'd definitely recommend it for those looking for fluffy BL.
I found it enjoyable, both because of the characters and because of the world that DJun built. I liked seeing the day-to-day lives of the university students.
I'd recommend this Manhua as a light-hearted love story with a happy ending.
Spoilers.
Story
It's hard to say what the story is about in concrete terms. It's about love, but also the relationship after getting together. Our three main couples are Li Huan/Yu Yang, Chu Huanwen/Ji Yuan, and Pan Shu/Zhong Qiujie.
Before Li Huan and Yu Yang officially got together (when they bumped into each other in Beijing), I didn't really want to spend so much time reading about the side pairings. I don't think this happens too often, but I actually found myself wanting to rush through the side pairing plots to see Li Huan and Yu Yang make up. So I think DJun succeeded in developing an interesting main couple. I think I would've preferred to only have Ji Yuan and Zhong Qiujie introduced before Li Huan and Yu Yang got together, and we could delve into their relationships after they got together. But the way that DJun wasn't really that bad.
I felt that Pan Shu and Zhong Qiujie's relationship was a bit out of place because the story had such a big focus on university life. This was especially the case earlier on in their relationship when Zhong Qiujie was barely going to classes. As well, it might be because I'm older now, but I just don't have as much interest in relationships with big age differences in general.
As for Chu Huanwen and Ji Yuan, I did think their relationship was very sweet. I wish we'd seen more of them than Pan Shu/Zhong Qiujie, also because it would be more fitting to the university atmosphere, though Chu Huanwen did take on that internship later in the series. I'd also wish that we'd seen Ji Yuan and Chu Huanwen finally getting together, but it was only implied in the final chapters.
I'm always glad when a story doesn't drag too long, so I like that the story was under 150 chapters. I prefer a shorter story with outtakes, which DJun did do with the holiday specials and such.
After Li Huan and Yu Yang got together, we saw them less, which makes sense as the other couples hadn't gotten together. Instead, we saw them help the other couples by shedding light on their own relationship. In addition, we also got to see them reconcile with their families over their sexuality. It seemed to go a bit too smoothly, but like, I'm not complaining that they didn't kick up a fuss. In addition, Yu Yang had already had countless fights with his parents before, and they were past that. It was time for them to come to terms with their love for their son.
I'd read this manhua after finishing Painter of the Night, and it was definitely the fluffy breath of fresh air I needed. I'd also read this comic in original Chinese to practise my reading, and found that it wasn't too difficult because it was set in a fairly non-complex modern day society. So I'm definitely open to reading more Chinese danmei/BL manhua, not only in modern setting but other settings too.
I also loved the meta side chapters and side stories that the author would write. Sometimes the characters would talk to the author directly, asking about their schedule (lol). And before Li Huan and Yu Yang officially got together, DJun gave us some side chapters of the future when they were already together. Those gave us a glimpse of what was to come and kept us reading and waiting for more.
Art
In general, I liked the character designs. They were very anime-inspired, as is a lot of art by Asian artists. The characters were very fashionable, which I liked. Though because a lot of them had similar hairstyles, it was a bit difficult to differentiate them at first, but it got easier as the artist familiarized us with the side characters through plot and conversation.
I will say that some of the backgrounds were sometimes a bit odd. Sometimes DJun would give them too much space when it realistically wouldn't exist. I'm talking about car seats with a lot of space between them, or huge beds, or extremely wide corridors. This is just me being nitpicky, but it was noticeably at times.
Characters
Yu Yang
I'd consider him the main protagonist. He was confident and outgoing. But beneath the surface he was hiding insecurities, results of homophobia directed towards him. This included him being bullied by his peers, his broken relationship with his parents, and his fear that every man he'd fall in love with would decide they were straight.
I liked that Yu Yang as a character wasn't without his flaws and contradictions. He was confident, but sometimes it was all an act. After he'd rejected Li Huan, he'd even admitted to himself that he always thought that he was right, and hadn't realized that he was ignoring other people's feelings.
Yu Yang was always a vivacious kid, but homophobia in high school forced him to be an outcast. It wasn't until he got to university where he was able to start on a clean slate. He was kind of testing the waters since he was out already, and it was a pleasant surprise that his roommates had no issue with his sexuality, and that encouraged him to become himself.
Though Yu Yang originally got close to Li Huan because of his duties as a class assistant, I think that perhaps he was drawn to Li Huan because he was so honest. Like he said, Li Huan didn't speak much, but every word he said was sincere, and perhaps that was a breath of fresh air. After all, people would say shit about him behind his back because of his sexuality, but pretend to be polite to his face, etc. You could throw his parents in that category.
By the end of the series, Yu Yang was much the same kind of guy, enthusiastic and happy, and I liked that. Even with their new share of problems (regarding domestic life, coming out, etc.) Yu Yang didn't change who he was. Li Huan and his parents' newfound acceptance only gave him the bravery to face his problems.
Li Huan
Li Huan was always a quiet and reclusive kid. He was a loner, and Yu Yang was the first to approach him. I do think that initially, Li Huan was just touched by Yu Yang reaching out, but over time, it seemed that Yu Yang would walk the extra mile to become intimate with Li Huan. I'm not talking physically, I'm talking about them having deep conversations, doing fun things that Li Huan had never done.
Xiao Yi and Wangwang were friends with Li Huan, but they didn't really hang out much until later in the series. Yu Yang was the one to invite him out to outings.
Perhaps part of Li Huan's love was him being receptive to Yu Yang's subconscious love, but I do also think he came to appreciate Yu Yang for himself. Yu Yang was a lot of things that Li Huan was not, and Li Huan just liked being around him.
Though Li Huan's mother passed away early, Li Huan had the fortune of coming from a very loving and supportive family. I think that was why he was always so confident and sturdy in his own beliefs. He knew that whatever he did, he'd have his father's support, and that quiet confidence was what helped Yu Yang through his hard times too.
Li Huan understood that Yu Yang had went through some bad relationships. What I appreciated about Li Huan was that he realized that he could not bug Yu Yang until he believed Li Huan's love for him. Instead, he needed to wait for Yu Yang to come to his own conclusions. Li Huan needed Yu Yang to understand that after time, Li Huan's feelings for him would not change, and to have solid proof of that, they needed to wait it out. It also took fighting with Zhong Qiujie for Yu Yang to realize he'd been ignoring Li Huan's feelings, but again, Li Huan knew that he'd done what he could to express his love, and for now, all he could do was give Yu Yang space.
In the end of the series, we saw that Li Huan and Yu Yang's relationship wasn't as lovey-dovey as it was before, and they had their fair share of spats. I can see how the novelty of Li Huan's stoicism might fade over time, but in the end, I think that Yu Yang recognizes that there's a part of Li Huan that loves him, and no matter what he thinks, he does still love that part of Li Huan as well.
Chu Huanwen
Huanwen was such an interesting character. Near the beginning, as Li Huan and Yu Yang were working through their relationship, I'd thought that maybe Huanwen had a secret crush on Yu Yang. But I think it's implied that they only have such a close relationship because they understand each other on an intimate level. Like Yu Yang, Huanwen was afraid of engaging in relationships, though we don't know much about his past.
In Huanwen's case, he didn't want to upset his grandfather, so his solution was to just never engage in a relationship.
I really found myself loving Huanwen more and more. He was calm and mature, but emotionally sensitive. He was reliable, but we could see that he had his vulnerable side. We knew that he was a man with "fencun," his priorities were in order, but maybe a bit too in order, and it took Ji Yuan's talk with grandpa for grandpa to tell Huanwen to live a little.
I'd wish we'd seen more of Huanwen and Ji Yuan's relationship developing because I really did think they had a sweet relationship. I really would've liked to see the process of Huanwen slowly opening up his heart to love.
Ji Yuan
Ji Yuan took me by surprise. His character was a bit of a ditz, but not in the tropey, annoying way? He was trying his best without being a woobie I guess I'd say.
I think he was attracted to Huanwen's gentle nature. Huanwen was always supportive of him. At first, Ji Yuan took that as friendship, but over time, they came to enjoy each other's company deeply. Ji Yuan probably came to visit Huanwen more than Yu Yang did because he lived so close. Ji Yuan saw the slight changes in Huanwen's attitudes, when he was happy or sad, and Ji Yuan was always trying to be supportive. Even when he found out that Huanwen was gay, he tried to ease Huanwen into opening up by asking him what kind of guys he liked.
Ji Yuan was really so pure hearted, and again, I wish we could've seen more of him falling in love with Huanwen.
Pan Shu
Normally, I don't mind characters like Pan Shu, but I kind of wish he didn't have a romantic subplot in this story. Again, I felt that his character was a bit misplaced in this story that focused a lot on school life. I liked him fine as a side character, a mentor to Yu Yang and Huanwen.
Later when we saw his romantic interactions, we saw that he was less put together than we might've thought, which I guess may have ruined my impression of him as a mentor figure? But also, as I mentioned, I'm just not big into age difference relationships unless they're done really well, and I don't think that this relationship was as well developed as I've seen in other BL comics.
Pan Shu was the kind of guy who was casual with relationships. From the side stories, we saw that he was like that from a young age. He was very flippant with breakups, and didn't take them to heart.
At first, he'd treated Zhong Qiujie as kind of a pet. Zhong Qiujie wanted to hang around, so he let him as long as he wasn't making a mess. He didn't really take Zhong Qiujie's request for a relationship seriously at first, but that was because his view of relationships wasn't quite the same as what Zhong Qiujie was thinking of. To him, he was used to relationshisp just being sex. He'd have his own life, running his bar, and would only meet his lover for sex. That was the case with his ex.
Pan Shu hadn't made the effort to explain this to Zhong Qiujie, expecting him to already realize that (considering their age gap), and that led to Zhong Qiujie's feelings beeing hurt.
He did some self reflection and decided that he could give the relationship a shot because he was fond of Zhong Qiujie. But Zhong Qiujie had also done some thinking and he wanted to better himself before he entered into a relationship, so that was why the left off, but on a positive note.
The more I think about it, the more that I realize that Pan Shu isn't a bad character, it was just that his vibe was too out of place in this story.
Zhong Qiujie
I admit that I didn't like Zhong Qiujie at first. He had a reputation for being a playboy and had only pursued Pan Shu more as a challenge, which was why it was only fair that Pan Shu didn't take him seriously at first.
But over time, it was becoming clear that Zhong Qiujie was not simply a scumbag. He acknowledged that he'd flaunted his money to keep people by his side. He'd entered into relationships not really caring too much about the other part and thus not feeling much sadness when they left because he wasn't receptive to their love.
Zhong Qiujie acknowledged that Pan Shu was the first person who paid attention to him in a somewhat different way. He didn't care much for his money, and he didn't think that Zhong Qiujie was a scumbag for how he used his money. Even Zhong Qiujie's close friend seemed to be in a subservient role to Zhong Qiujie. In truth, Zhong Qiujie just wanted some attention. My guess is that after they started having sex, Zhong Qiujie started to develop romantic feelings for Pan Shu.
I enjoyed Zhong Qiujie and Yu Yang's rivalry. After seeing Yu Yang and Li Huan being so in love, Zhong Qiujie begrudgingly sought him out for love advice. He got some truth bombs thrown at him, but Zhong Qiujie accepted them because he understood the logic behind them. He decided that Pan Shu was going to continue looking at him like a kid if he acted like a kid, so he decided to get his act together, both for Pan Shu and for himself.
In the end, we saw that Pan Shu probably still saw Zhong Qiujie as a kid, but there was a new steadiness to Zhong Qiujie. He was more confident in himself, not his money or career, but who he was as a person and what he wanted.
Xiao Yi
Xiao Yi was Li Huan's friend. He was more of an observer to all that was happening, only occasionally chiming in. But I thought he was cute. Eventually, he ended up in a relationship with Wangwang.
Xia Wangwang
Wangwang was no stranger to BL comics (like all of us readers, let's be real here). She was trying to get Li Huan and Yu Yang together, but Xiao Yi made her realize that it wasn't so simple as just love between two people. There were more societal barriers than she'd realized, and it was a struggle to get through them.
Wangwang understood this, but she remained a loyal friend to Li Huan and Yu Yang :3
Yu Yang's dad
Yu Yang had poor relations with his dad. In the side stories, we saw that Yu Yang's dad had wanted to raise a tough and masculine son, and Yu Yang's homosexuality clashed with that. It didn't help that his brother and sister were always talking about how Yu Yang needed to stop playing around.
As I mentioned, we'd already seen Yu Yang argue with his parents, so there was no point in rehashing the arguments that were already said. Yu Yang had already said all that he needed to to defend himself.
However, I think it was only until that time that Yu Yang returned during the timeline of the story that his parents realized that they hadn't given their son the support he needed. He was the person that needed them the most, and they hadn't been there for them. So behind the scenes, Yu Yang's parents were doing some of their own reflection.
Li Huan's father gave Yu Yang the courage to be himself in front of his parents. That kind of set the ball in motion, for Yu Yang to bring Li Huan to his house and to have a conversation. That also gave Yu Yang's parents an in to tell him that they've made their decision to support him.
I liked that Yu Yang's dad was the stern kind of parent because all of us know parents that are like that. It's easy to show an accepting parent, but it's harder to show a parent who needed to do some self-wrangling to understand their child's sexuality.
Yu Yang's mom
Yu Yang's mom was kind of a pacifist, but because of the overwhelming homophobia in the family, she tended to not protect Yu Yang in those situations.
She tried to care for Yu Yang, cooking for him and looking after his health, but the real support that Yu Yang needed was his parents' approval.
I think Yu Yang's mom was following her husband's lead for the most part. So if he suggested cutting off his family, I don't think she'd hesitate, because she would finally be able to give Yu Yang the support he needed, and to cut off the toxic side of the family.
Li Huan's dad
According to the awards ceremony, Li Huan's dad was the most popular side character. I can see why that is. He's very warm, kind, and his relationship with his son is super precious. There were basically no bumps when it came to Li Huan coming out.
I also thought it was cute that Li Huan's dad started hanging out with Yu Yang's parents, as shown by that time they went on that ski trip.
Da Bai, Lao Jiang, and Xiao Ji
They were Yu Yang's roommates. I liked that Yu Yang was able to bro it up with them. I kind of wish we'd seen them more, because Yu Yang mentioned that they were his best friends. But I guess they didn't have much screen time because they weren't too involved with Yu Yang's love life.
Themes
I think societal homophobia was a big theme in this manhua. A lot of bullying and homophobia is often overlooked in BL comics, either not shown, or it's presumed that everything will be fine.
In particular, I liked how important it was for the characters in Here U Are to get closure with their parents. So many comics straight up ignore relationships with parents, with characters cutting off whoever is "toxic." But these characters Chinese and I am Chinese too. I might be right when I say that filial piety may be the most important virtue in Chinese culture. Having a good relationship with the person who raised you is so important in Chinese society. In addition, some Chinese households still have to deal with that expectation of kids marrying and having kids of their own.
I really liked seeing these issues addressed by having Yu Yang, Li Huan, and Chu Huanwen reconcile with their families.
Overall
Overall, this was cute. If you're looking for fluff and slice of life, this is for you. I have no complaints about this work with regards to the genre of fluff, as I felt it ticked off a lot of boxes. I'd definitely recommend it for those looking for fluffy BL.