Hmm. In a way I see what you mean but I wouldn’t say he lacks ‘character’ or ‘personality’ so much as he lacks any ‘background’ or insight to his pov. You also have to remember he is portrayed as a kuudere. He is stoic and has a poker face on the surface but this doesn’t mean he is unfeeling, he has always been stoic since the beginning so it’s not really anything new. There are many characters like this such as li huan, doumeki, levi from attack on titan, haru from free etc. but just because they are stoic on the outside does not mean they are unfeeling or uninterested in anything. And he has in fact on many occasions actually initiated many things.
Out of the two (Zhan Zheng Xi and Jian Yi), Zhan Zheng Xi has actually initiated all of their handholds himself and he also was the one to make several attempts of getting Jian Yi (who was actually the one who wanted to avoid talking about anything) to talk about his feelings and eventually get him to up and confess by not wanting to avoid it anymore. He has also initiated other bits of affection such as hugs or a kiss to the forehead to Jian Yi. Kuuderes are also usually more of people of actions than words, not that Zhan Zheng Xi hasn’t spoken of his feelings either. He has firmly told Jian Yi he wants to protect him and has even told another female student only a few days prior to this chapter that he does like Jian Yi. Even many chapters that are shown currently, he actually expresses his feelings a lot more around Jian Yi now than he did before.. hugging him after wanting to get into the same school as him, drawing himself and jian yi under the love umbrella, kissing jian yi’s forehead etc. so he definitely has reactions and unites things himself. but he is never given as many chapters dedicated to what’s going on in his head. I think the author does a really good job of portraying his feelings through his actions and even some of the things he says sometimes (because it’s not like he never speaks on his feelings) but it’s just that he doesn’t have his thoughts expressed as much as the other three do — it’s not equal footing in that aspect.
What the author fails to provide for readers is insight to his thoughts, the author gives more insight to the thoughts of other three characters and not as much for Zhan Zheng Xi. It would also help to see his background more because we haven’t really seen his background or childhood life either, at least not from his own eyes.. only through Jian Yi. It would be nice to receive some actual flashbacks of his own childhood, why he and his sister lived separately (he mentioned she lived with their grandma when younger), his opinion of jian yi when they were kids and he first met him etc.
I also happen to love Zhan Zheng Xi so I hope the author explores more of his background or thoughts as well. A part of me wonders if maybe the author is just saving up all of that to explore more for when he has to deal with the anguish of Jian Yi disappearing for 3 years though.
Why I say that he lacks character and personality is because: compare now to how Zhan Xi was portrayed near the beginning and middle of the manhua. He wasn't half as expressionless or stoic as he is now. He was quiet and withholding, which mixed well with his no-bullshit attitude and tendency to rough-house. Insight into his POV (how he often thought of Jian Yi as a pervert/too fond of skinship) and his relationship with his sister unraveled nicely. His thoughts were told through his actions, yes, you're right, but they were also told through his expressions, reactions, and the progression of the plot. But once the first arc ended, Jian Yi confessed, was kidnapped, the climax came, and it was revealed how much the two cared for one another---the author dropped Zhan Xi's development. That lack of development turned into overselling how cool and withdrawn he is, which makes for the flat character we have now.
So I agree with you partially, but I also think it goes beyond background or pov. The author just doesn't know what to do with Zhan Xi anymore.
Also, I want to note I'm not complaining about how Jian Yi and Zhan Xi's relationship is portrayed. I like the affectionate moments between them. What I'm complaining about is Zhan Xi, as a singular character. Meaning I want to be interested in Zhan Xi for more reasons than him being Jian's love interest. Jian Yi is an interesting character because of his bright personality, the dynamic of all of his relationships, his affection for Zhan, his rivalry/friendship with He Tian, his antipathy for Mo, the mystery of his mother and father, his perverted moments. Jian Yi is interesting, as a character, without Zhan Xi. But that's not true the other way around. That's one way to differentiate a great character from a mediocre one.
I have compared Zheng Xi to how he was before and he’s actually had great character development. Probably one with some of the best to be honest. Also don’t worry I didn’t think you were saying anything about Zhan Zheng Xi and Jian Yi as a couple and knew you were only talking about Xi. Again as I said earlier he is much more in touch with his emotions now than ever before and we are constantly shown that through his actions / expressions:
- he has blushed around jian yi on multiple occasions (as jian yi has with him)
- smiled when he told that female student he likes jian yi which was again only a few chapters ago (keep in mind not a lot of chapters focus on them now though)
- his expression will usually turned panicked with sweat glands around his face during his “panicked gay” moments
- in the beginning of the story he didn’t want to even sleep in the same bed with jian yi, yet after jian yi confessed he took him to bed and they slept together (i’m not talking about the sexual way i’m talking about actually sleeping lol)
- they also went on a date which xi blushed about
- he stares a lot more longingly at jian yi
- his expression turned soft when he told jian yi he wanted the both of them to go to the same high school and he hugged him
- in the beginning of the story he was also much more concerned with how other people viewed them and how gay he and jian yi acted and in this chapter you can see it wasn’t even something that crosses his mind anymore
- in general he has shown more affection to jian yi
- also when jian yi shows him affection in return, he doesn’t seem put off by it anymore now that he knows jian yi’s feelings are genuine and not just a part of his overly puppylike joking personality. he grew out of his no bullshit attitude which you seemed to have prefer before. he is even more gentle now. the change you see in him is actually the development itself.
- talks about not wanting to take care of ppl in the beginning of the story because it’s bothersome to constantly taking care of /helping everyone around regardless of him saying that
maybe they’re just tending to be things you miss or gloss over as you read especially since there has been a lack of focus of Zhan and Jian Yi as the author began focusing on He Tian and Mo for nearly two years straight now with their back to back arcs after Jian Yi’s confession and we only really catch real glimpses of Zhan and Jian Yi every once in a while. Since the focus hasn’t been on them lately at all, they’ve mostly been in the background of things and with a character like Jian Yi who is loud and outgoing it’s not hard to miss him with such a loud personality while with Xi maybe it’s difficult for you because he is the opposite as he is quiet and stoic.
again it all mostly just leads back to the author’s lack of focus on him (especially in explaining equal insight and background to his character) and not so much his traits as a character. to me he is far from flat. He is very interesting in that he has a gentle, and caring not only shown towards jian yi but towards mo guan shan and he tian too, he wanted to help mo when he was in trouble with she li, was the first character to give mo a chance, he gets along well with he tian and speaks with him more.. even confided to him in how much he missed jian yi once before, xi’s affection and protection for jian yi, his solid relationship with his sister, he also is the only one who has a normal-ish life which makes him stand out from the other three, his selfless nature of always putting others needs before his own. again there is no mystery with his father or mother (that we know of so far) because he seems to be the only one with a normal life so there is no way of connecting him to the mafia world with the other boys (it’s important not to confuse ‘normalcy’ for boring). Personally I think he is a great character with lots of personality. Again it just leads down to needing more background and focus/insight on him that is at equal footing with the rest. Right now there is no focus or drama happening in their lives again yet so the author hasn’t brought it up in a long while.
maybe kuudere characters are just not your thing (characters who are quiet, usually introverted, etc.), so when the author doesn’t give focus on him he seems to fade more naturally in the background rather than jian yi’s outgoing personality does; you say jian yi has a bright personality for being one of the reasons why he is more interesting to you but xi has never had a bright personality in the beginning, he is always been the quiet one that you can tell has a lot going on his his mind. and it also seems like you preferred him more when he acted more tsundere in the beginning when you say he had a no bullshit attitude and etc.; you seem to prefer the more ‘showy’ type of personality, for example mo is very loud, always yelling at he tian all the time so it draws attention, jian yi is also very outgoing and so is he tian.. not to mention the other three have been given a proper background and more focus/insight to their thoughts. so again it’s not so much of a “lack of character” so much as it is that you’re just probably not into that type of ‘character’ that much. but that’s your opinion and to each their own. I respect it. we can agree to disagree. it’s fine. :) thanks for chatting.
At this point, Zhan Xi reminds me of how Kiyomine developed in Komatta Toki Ni Wa Hoshi Ni Kike:
He was really interesting during the beginning, but now the author is so preoccupied with portraying him as disaffected and 'cool' that he just lacks any character at all.
I love Zhan Xi, so it's really hard to read chapter after chapter where he has no reactions, no real dialogue, and doesn't initiate any point of interest himself. Everyone else has 10x more personality, and that's pretty damn unfair because Zhan has dealt with and overcame the most difficult emotional conflicts.