Well, I don’t read or speak Chinese, so I can’t go very in depth with what his name means, but it does literally mean “moon.” And of course, Yut-Lung is associated with the moon, a shadow of Ash in many respects, the yin to his yang, amethyst to his jade (in the anime). So I can talk about his character in relation to Ash, if that helps, since I’ve been wanting to explore their foiling a bit more, and also Yut-Lung’s foiling with Eiji, and with Blanca.

Of course, the moon only shines because the sun’s light reflects on it. To an extent you could say this is symbolic of how Yut-Lung is kind of desperately scrambling for a new purpose in life post-revenge. 

This is kind of true but also kind of a lie as we know. He wants to destroy the Lee conglomerate and himself with it because, like Ash, he’s suicidal.

So after he succeeds at this, and to succeed at this as well, he decides to make Ash his enemy because he’s petty and is mad Ash has someone to love and love him, while he thinks he has no one. He’s living for Ash, a reflection of Ash, but not in a healthy way because what happens if he actually won against Ash? Would he be happy? (The answer is no.) 

Because Yut-Lung wants to be loved, deep down, and he truly believes he has no one, but that’s not true. He has Sing (again I’m not arguing this is romantic textually, but their relationship does in some ways parallel Ash and Eiji’s). But he can’t see that because he’s too blinded by focusing on the sun/Ash/Eiji/trying to be both Ash and Eiji. Like, he literally in the above scene walks off in Eiji’s direction after Eiji leaves, while Sing is right there asking him why he wants to die, and Sing says that he can’t just leave him.

And like, in the most recent episode, Yut-Lung clearly feels betrayed when he realizes Blanca only took the contract to protect Ash, and Sing helped him escape. He lacks the self-awareness to realizes Sing does care about him, and honestly so does Blanca in whatever broken way Blanca cares, but he’s pushing them away because of his obsessive focus on Ash. And in the latest episode as well, in the end he just says that he’s still focusing on Ash and wanting revenge on Ash now–and cue me screaming REALLY DUDE REALLY someone sit this child down and tell him to focus on himself and not on his failings. 

Seeing himself as the moon could also be reinforcing that he sees himself as inferior to Ash, but also the same as Ash at the same time. It’s the same light, but it doesn’t emanate from him, or maybe this is overthinking but it does work so. 

Despite seeking to destroy the Lees, Yut-Lung’s also still ironically putting a lot of weight on the name given to him, instead of seeking to create his own destiny and fate. It’s tragic. Ash is fighting tooth and nail to escape the system; Yut-Lung has already given up on that. 

As another piece related to that and to Ash’s middle name… Ash does not want to be seen as an object. He hates that he’s treated like a commodity. Yut-Lung, on the other hand, true to his philosophy of taking things down from the inside, commodifies himself to an extent. Dino punches a hole through Ash’s ear unwillingly, and Ash gives up the jade as quickly as he can. Yut-Lung willingly adorns himself in amethysts or some kind of purple stone (which match his eyes, a la how Ash’s jade matches his eyes). 

Again this speaks to Yut-Lung’s extremely low sense of self-worth (which is ironic because he puts on a haughty facade), and how he sees himself inherently as inferior, not just to Ash. He hates that his brothers treat him as inferior for having a different mother, but he also seems to believe that, and like Ash, is more than willing to become what he hates to destroy everything he hates and punish himself. 

However, Ash isn’t the only one associated with the sun. So is Eiji. 

And we’re also pretty clearly supposed to be comparing Eiji and Yut-Lung given his utter hatred of Eiji and determination to kill him because… he loves Ash and Ash loves him, or because Yut-Lung is jealous of Eiji getting to live how he always wanted to live.

He pretty clearly despises Eiji for precisely that reason: Eiji is a helpless little kid, and so is Yut-Lung. Like, he’s throwing actual tantrums. He can’t defend himself worth anything. But Yut-Lung doesn’t want to be seen as a helpless little kid in some ways (and yet paradoxically I’d argue he does in other senses, given how he behaves). He wants to be seen like Ash in many ways.

So let’s talk Blanca, who is the reason Yut-Lung’s dastardly scheme worked and Ash was taken back to Dino, and Ash and Eiji were separated. Given both characters’ association with the sun, this line of Sing’s is interesting: 

Sing’s the adult in the room again, calling people out without even meaning to 😛 But going forward, Blanca is already kind of standing between Ash and Yut-Lung. He joined Yut-Lung to protect Ash, which hurts Yut-Lung, but he also does take his duty to Yut-Lung seriously and does care about him like he cares about Ash. I’d wager Yut-Lung isn’t entirely correct here: I think Blanca joined him to protect both of them.

Otherwise there was no need to take down an assassin and try to keep said assassin alive to interrogate. I think Blanca’s genuinely wanting to protect both of them, but he’s unwilling to fight the system to do it, which means he’s inherently bad at it. Like, honestly, Blanca. But again Yut-Lung can’t see it because not only is Blanca bad at it, but he focuses too much on Ash. 

Blanca is of course an Ash foil, and exactly what Ash fears becoming: someone who has completely given up fighting the system, and thinks it’s pointless to do so. Blanca is blocking the sun because his lifestyle is literally something that would kill Ash and Eiji…

But at the same time, together with Sing, he’s one of two people who actually do care about Yut-Lung and therefore has the potential to help Yut-Lung realize his own worth doesn’t come from opposing Ash or killing Eiji or anything of the sort. So he could block the sun in a good sense, too. 

In the end of this scene, symbolically, Mr. Helpless Child lands in a fetal position at Blanca’s feet. I know in the manga Blanca catches him. I honestly think it’s fitting he didn’t here, because Blanca is failing to protect Yut-Lung from himself, which is where he really needs the protection, just like Blanca failed Ash. Hence it’s fitting and also sad that Ash is the one throwing Yut-Lung at Blanca’s feet, because the narrative therefore challenges Blanca to do something, but he doesn’t act in time to prevent immediate pain. 

Anyways both these boys are walking basket cases and I need someone to give Ash and Yut-Lung a hug and therapy stat. I volunteer.