Liltsu

If anyone’s curious about this edit I made of the characters ^^:

https://www.tiktok.com/@bilily.bts/video/7510352928943688982?lang=en

I totally agree with you, I’ve not seen Return of a Ganster and that makes me curious to watch it to compare(it’s a shame if it sounds like they didn’t keep the romance explicit)

You explained it in such good detail (much clearer than I could) and neatly explained the reasons as to why I think the choice of focus on the characters is so detrimental to Seungwon and Heesu’s relationship so far (thank you for your comment and the witty way you wrote ’numero 1’ and ’numero dos’ made me laugh haha)

Whilst I am enjoying Heesu in Class 2, I personally find it disheartening that, for a drama that has 10 episodes, we're four episodes in and we've barely gotten long interactions between our main leads (Heesu and Seungwon) whilst the drama keeps focusing on other aspects such as Heesu's sisters, Chanyoung's wish to continue tennis and Chanyoung & JiYu's relationship. I'll explain in more detail why I think so:

If this was a 16 episode drama with 1h long episodes, I'd just trust the process but we're nearly half-way through and episode 4 has like 3 minutes of interaction between Heesu and Seungwon total, whilst Chanyoung and Ji Yu's scene in the basement on its own is five consecutive minutes, not even including the rest of their scenes in the same episode, and series so far, when their romance didn't exist in the manhwa (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I understand this might change in the long run, and maybe once the series is complete I might have a completely different opinion; because who knows, maybe the rest of the episodes will fully focus on Heesu and Seungwon and make up for it (whilst the first episodes will then be considered to have just set up the circumstances). But I just wanted to vent a little bit, because (and this is my own speculation) it seems to be a conscious decision from the creators of the series, based on their handling of the trailer, to minimise the queerness of the story to make it more palatable to a mainstream audience.

I think that this is not done out of intentional ill-will, because I think that the trailer for example and their current execution of the series seems to try and have avoided attention from homophobic audiences that would try and protest against the series which may have affected the release of Heesu in Class 2 and could affect the actors' careers. In other words, it could be down to understandable caution. My impression that this isn't done out of ill-will is reinforced with how Heesu in Class 2 is openly and explicitly showing that Heesu and Seungwon do have feelings as men toward other male characters, so it is acknowledging the queerness of the story and correctly adapting the characters' feelings. But it's still lame to say the least (how they're diverting the attention away from them as much as possible).

However, I still think that the series can be criticised thus far for the way it is giving far too much screentime to other elements than the queerness (when it has such as short run time), when the queerness is supposed to be the central aspect of the original story. Thus in a sense, masking the queerness as much as possible (so far) almost as though to satisfy a heteronormative audience, whilst not fully enraging the original fans of the story or a queer audience. At least it's much better than dramas adapted from queer manhwas/novels who completely erase the explicitly queer elements and I do really appreciate the ways in which Heesu in Class 2 is graciously depicting Heesu' feelings for Chanyoung explicity, showcasing his fear of being outed and his general experience with his queer identity (+Seungwon in episode 4 even admitting to his feelings for Heesu).

I also find it aggravating that the scenes between Seungwon and Heesu have been cut down in such a way where when Seungwon invites Heesu to eat chicken with him for example, then the scene gets cut (we don't see this interaction) and most of their interactions are shown in 'flashbacks' of Seungwon's perspective (and them being visually separate, both in terms of the shots - a lot of the time - but also in terms of the physical space + with rapid transitions into different short moments), whilst Chanyoung and Ji yu's relationship is always shown in the present moment, and often with them spending time physically close (and we stay with them in those moments).

Once again, maybe I'll be proven wrong (I want to be) in the coming episodes, and I understand that these episodes can still be considered to be the 'establishing' episodes, but I just wanted to express the hurt I felt for how the explicit queerness of stories are so often reduced, chopped up and sometimes even erased and how that reflects an exclusivity toward queerness. All in all, Heesu in Class 2 is otherwise really well acted, and I love the style of pacing that they use (with how dynamic the cuts are in general), the script is engaging, whilst the characters are endearing and fun to follow but it feels hollow not to focus on Seungwon and Heesu more, making the story as a whole feel lacking. I wonder if anyone feels the same way, and what I said is not at all in an attempt to disregard the effort and positive elements of this BL series; i'd be curious to know if anyone has similar or differing thoughts. And thank you for reading this far if you have

"In my blue dream, I will hold you" - Blue Side. I thought the song really describes Cir's point of view and made an edit based off of it:

https://www.tiktok.com/@bilily.bts?lang=en

Curious to see how Phu will react to Cir's return in the next episode

thank you so much for the lovely comments (both here and on my edit itself), i found it fulfilling to hear about your thoughts through them (sorry it took me a while to respond to you, i haven't been online much recently). Agreed for the conversations, i found it extremely refreshing as well when they found out about each other's identities that Sei was already anticipating that their conversations would either cease or become 'filtered' as now their veil of anonymity was breached (reflecting this idea of putting up a social mask once that has been revealed, because it is harder to continue writing in an honest manner when you know that the person 'knows' you, even if you had unfiltered exchanged before), and yet how hagiwara immediately invites him out again, showing how he intends on keeping contact with Sei like before. I think those details helped reinforced the depth of their bond so that when they eventually decide to be together at the end, even though it's still rushed, their decision doesnt feel out of place

that's fair, i also wished we could see more of sei's expressiveness with hagiwara (which could have been explored had we gotten an extra episode or two, showing their life together post-events), but also like that the characters had continuity in their characterisation within the short period of time we saw them in the series

sorry for the late reply! thank you so much ^^ and ikr, i tried to enhance the subtlety of the emotion within their physically intimate moments so i'm really glad to hear if it came across! Nine days later and i still wish there could be an extra episode but i'm glad we at least got an ending with them together after all the build up

Wanted to capture the theme of sexual frustration in this edit, if anyone's curious :

https://www.tiktok.com/@bilily.bts/video/7473651146566012162

I also wanted to portray Sei and Kazuaki's (=Hagiwara's) relationship now that the series ended. It's a shame there wasn't an extra episode that would allow us to see more of them together now that everything has been resolved, but I'm pleased the protagonists explicitly stated they like one another and plan to stay with one another. Also wanted to note that although I agree the ending was a bit rushed, I still liked how the protagonists' expressed themselves at the end because it reflects their personalities well, and is still quite powerful emotionally in my view. The intensity simply isn't in a grand, noticeable gesture or shocking statement, but there is a lot of detail in the characters' facial expressions when they lock eyes. Especially when Sei confesses, i found it to be intense, with the detail of him looking straight at Kazuaki and saying it in an unwavering manner. Since he is a character who is "short with words" and looks rather indifferent (as it is canonically how he is personality-wise even to other characters), this gesture speaks volumes. I thought the same earlier in the episode when Sei laughed heartily when his old friend commented on the meat, only because it reminded Sei of Kazuaki, whereas he barely ever smiles or laughs in the series, and the only times he really does is when he is thinking about Kazuaki or is in his presence. Likewise, whilst for Sei it's the smile that reveals his emotions, for Kazuaki it's his eyes. He looks at Sei as though he is focused on nothing else but him, and as though he cares deeply about what Sei thinks or how he reacts. His gaze also appears endeared and moved by Sei. So whilst I do wish there was more and that the story had been tied up better, I disagree that the scene in and of itself was not conveyed with an intense emotional intimacy. That to me was very present.

An edit of Fadel and Style to highlight Style's personality:
https://www.tiktok.com/@bilily.bts/video/7471810517527465238
❤️

that's really cool, thank you for the compliment and for taking the time to look❤️

thanks for asking, i'm pleased! the thing is, i only post compilations on youtube so i might post it in a while within a longer compilation and I don't post edits on Insta T.T . Does X/Twitter work for you? here is the link to the post on X if you were having trouble accessing it and would prefer it instead of tiktok:

https://x.com/liltsulil/status/1890451899452698707

made an edit of fujisawa's dual viciousness and yearning if anyone is curious to see ^^:

https://www.tiktok.com/@bilily.bts

excited for the last episode and at the same time wishing there would be a special episode T.T

Thank you so much, and for taking the time to comment too! ^^

Sei and Kazuaki edit, showing their emotional intimacy: https://www.tiktok.com/@bilily.bts/video/7468442153333853463

that's actually such an honor! and makes me giddy, thank you for taking the time and for me to get to hear your thoughts too ^^

Thank you, I'm so pleased to hear especially with the knowledge of your personal experience, it's also insightful for me and interesting, so I appreciate it a lot.

Just wanted to write down some of my thoughts on the series and take part in the debate about the act of cheating before the new episode drops.

First, I want to assert that I don’t condone cheating, and what the protagonists are about to do (be physically intimate with one another) is at least morally wrong on the part of Kazuaki, who is in an official romantic relationship with Kaori. However, as other people have pointed out, this series is a nuanced study of human psychology. Even if an act is morally dubious/wrong, it can still be comprehensible, or an act that can make viewers have empathy for the characters, as well.

I won’t go too much into the prior point because some of the comments below have already really thoughtfully explained why the protagonists are very undersandable in their actions, even if that does not justify the act of cheating. However, I do want to address another point I don’t think I’ve seen being mentioned as much, so I’d like to provide my own perspective:

Some people have mentioned that ideally, if someone is in a monogamous relationship, they should sort out the relationship before cheating. I agree with this, ideally that would be the case, where the individuals would openly communicate about the issues they are having and then either continue the relationship with a compromise/solution, or break up, and then the person can be physically intimate with someone else. Only, I think it is only fair to judge such a scenario on a case-by-case basis, where the specific circumstances are taken into account.

Kazuaki (the protagonist) and Sei are both in situations where they are extremely attached to the relationship they are in, and have been patient for a long time, hoping that their uncertainties and difficulties would eventually be met with an ’answer’ from their partner (either by the fact that their partner accepts to have sex with them or opens up emotionally about why they are rejecting them). Both Kazuaki and Sei have been very explicit about their wants but keep being neglected, to the point where Sei in particular can’t even address anything as he gets cut off or ignored by the other Kazuaki at the slightest mention of the root of the conflict between them (that Sei wants to be physically intimate/has romantic feelings and the other Kazuaki might be repressing any feelings desires, therefore rejecting Sei strongly). Likewise, Kazuaki (the protagonist) directly states he would like to have sex, gets rejected once again and even learns that it is possible that Kaori is maybe only in a relationship with him now because she wants children, and doesn’t have feelings for him anymore. If true, this revelation would probably make Kazuaki feel even more neglected and used.

I believe that the reason as to why Kazuaki and Sei choose to become physically intimate, even though they are rather earnest, is because they are at a point where they both feel connected and ’seen’ by each other, but, unless they explore it first physically or more intimately, it is too hard for them to really tell what they are feeling, and most definitely, would not be enough for them to leave their current partners beforehand (as the reason why they feel stuck in the first place is because they are too attached to their relationship, even at the cost of their own wants). Ideally, once again, both Kazuaki and Sei (upon these revelations) should either first breakup with their partners or at least state their intentions beforehand/communicate something in regards to this, but I believe that as it has come to this, the most important highlight should not be the act of cheating by itself, but how both respond immediately after the act.

I don’t know if anyone will agree with me on this, but I think of Kazuaki and Sei’s relationships with their partners as ’dead ends’, not because they are not salvageable, but because, essentially, Kazuaki and Sei are confronted with a wall (aka, Kaori and the other Kazuaki) that is unwilling to respond. Additionally,( and again these explanations are not to justify the cheating, just trying to show how it morally changes the understanding of the characters), I think that there is something very queer about the way that the cheating is taking place. I am not saying that just because they are two men, that it isn’t cheating, it definitely is, but it makes me wonder whether Kazuaki and Sei would really go through with it in the first place, if one of them was a woman. This is because heteronormativity influences how we perceive things. If Kazuaki was developping a bond with a woman, I wonder if he would have concluded much earlier, at some point, that he feesl connected to Sei (as a hypothetical woman) out of romantic feelings and therefore would have felt more certain in either breaking up with Kaori first/communicating it or keeping a distance from Sei, before anything physical happened between them?

Only, they are two men, and this is established in the beginning as something that reassures Kazuaki and Kaori in particular, that Kazuaki keeping in touch with Sei isn’t an act of ’emotional cheating’. We see this with how Kazuaki seemingly appears more comfortable with his penpal messages when Sei clarifies early on that he is a man, but also with how Kazuaki still tells Kaori so as to not worry her, and Kaori also mentions that there is nothing to worry about because Kazuaki’s penpal is a man. So it’s interesting to see how the queerness of the situation, of Kazuaki and Sei really connecting with each other on a human level, then affects how they are now going to lean on each other, not just emotionally, but through sex. It’s as if the fact that they are two men in a heteronormative society, makes it even more critical for Kazuaki and Sei to explore their growing feelings physically first before they can really feel certain of their current positions and make a potential change. Which is why them not sorting things out with their partners beforehand makes it even more understandable for me, and is why I am placing more importance on how they will then react after the act of sleeping together because they will then have acted on their suspected feelings for each other (and might come to be aware of how they truly feel for each other).

In my opinion, if they continue to have sex/a bond without intending on either addressing this with their partners, then that’s when I would say that the characters are being actively dishonest and deceitful. However, if they show a deeper understanding of why they decided to sleep together and therefore either intend on distancing themselves from each other (because I suspect that their attachment to their present relationships with the others are that strong) and then ideally honestly tell their partner OR intend on breaking off their other relationships to be together, then I can say that Kazuaki and Sei handled their situations as best as they could, and even if they should not have had sex whilst in a relatonship, their circumstances make it vastly understandable. But yes, the way they try to revolve the situation is key to how we morally assess the characters, because I personally see Kazuaki and Sei as rather dignified individuals, and that is because they are both genuinely giving, well-meaning and trying to be honest to their own feelings. The act of sleeping with each other in their context is still wrong, and a mistake for it to happen like that, but I find that those two thoughts are not mutually exclusive.

One last thing I noticed is that Kazuaki and Sei are about to become physically intimate not long after Kazuaki found out about the other Kazuaki’s identity (the fact that they have the same name). I wonder if, in the scene where Kazuaki steps out in the rain at the end of the last episode, whether he thought of the idea of even having sex with Sei because it is as though he has realised that he could offer to Sei, what the other Kazuaki is unwilling to do (have sex)? In doing so, it is as if Kazuaki (the protagonist) is taking on the vacant role of the supposed Kazuaki that Sei is wanting to be physically intimate with. It makes even more sense when you consider that Kazuaki (protagonist) feels helpless in his own situation, being unable to have sex with Kaori nor reach her, but he knows there is something he CAN do for Sei, knowing his circumstances. I also believe that it is not just that he relates with Sei and can do something for him that he wants to be physically intimate with him, but perhaps because he can be truly honest and be himself with Sei, a reflection of his growing affection or even love.

Phew, that was long but I’m curious to know what anyone else thinks and thank you for reading this far if anyone does~

If someone would like to see my interpretation of Minase and Hirukawa's relationship, i thought of making an edit using BTS Jimin's serendipity as a song since i thought the lyrics suited them so well, here it is :
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGd27s7hy/

Would be curious to know someone's thoughts ^^

thank you :)