Being a Ren hater in this fandom feels like being the black sheep bc I feel like he gets away with a lot of the things he says and does, and this episode made that even more obvious.
Episode 8 Season 2 spoilers ahead.
I get why he doesn't believe MC's curse is real. He's not one of the Mortkranken ghouls who checks on her every week. He's also not someone who's comfortable living around anomalies and dangerous situations. He just wants a peaceful life and to graduate without getting dragged into all this madness.
But... so does MC. She wants her normal life back too.
You can slack off whenever you want, but if you've been chosen for something that could potentially help cure someone's curse, acting like it's all a nuisance just rubs me the wrong way.
The only thing I can really excuse is his fear of water. Since he has that weakness, I can understand why crossing the lake would be terrifying for him. That's completely fair.
What I can't excuse is the way he treats MC sometimes.
He was ready to leave, but after meeting Shion and finding out Mio made the props for Dionysia, he suddenly came back. Maybe it's because he respects Mio's hard work and dedication? That's my guess.
But if that's the case... then what about Haru?
Does he respect Haru too? Or is it only because Mio made something he personally likes and was impressed by? That's the part of his character I just can't wrap my head around.
I don't dislike Ren because he's pessimistic, slack off or wants nothing to do with all the dangerous supernatural drama. Bc I'm like that irl too, so I actually find him pretty relatable.
What bothers me is his attitude toward other people, especially MC.
I know he cares. That's obvious. But it feels like he doesn't care enough to stop acting so dismissive, or at least tone it down when people genuinely need him.
It's almost like other ghouls who don't really care about MC just... stay quiet or subtle about it. Ren, on the other hand, somehow manages to be both caring and uncaring at the same time and he's very loud about it. Frustrates me.
And before anyone comes at me with "Well, this and that character did worse..."
Yeah, I know.
I like Taiga, and I still don't excuse him pointing a gun at MC. That's dangerous. I don't care if his memories were messed up or if he couldn't recognize her, it can't justify his action. Everyone already knows that.
Does that change the fact that he pointed a gun at her? No.
Does it erase the danger or the harm his actions could've caused? Also no.
I'm never going to excuse a character's behavior just because they're my favorite, just like I'm not going to ignore another character's good qualities just because I don't like them.
I judge every character by what they actually say and do. At the end of the day, if their actions negatively affect the cursed girl then yeah I'm probably going to find that behavior unpleasant.
It honestly makes me wonder how Ren would react if he saw with his own eyes that MC's curse is real. What if she turned into a Kyklos right in front of him like she did in front of Kaito? I genuinely wonder if that would change the way he sees her.
🧬'
THISSS, look in love Ren is he my favorite? No is he still pretty high up yes! I really like his character because I can relate to him in some ways, like I wouldn't want to be near anomaly's either, I can't swim so yeah if be afraid of water, I like video games and I wouldn't want anyone dragging me into this game I don't want to do, BUT he did piss me off so much (he did have funny moments) like sure ok if you don't believe that the curse is real or if you're just coping it's understandable but to deliberately keeep info, he kept making comments or he just kept on leaving that could of affected the MC so MUUUCH and I know he cares and I'll be honest I understand why he can't show it well, because I'm like that I care about people but idk how to show it, but if you tell me hey this person you care about is cursed and this might help him/her I'd still try to help even if I don't believe in it because yeah I wouldn't want to believe in something that could potentially traumatize me I don't want that important person to leave, but I'd still try because I know that person cares, I love Ren but I don't excuse what he did this episode and honestly he did piss me off a lot, and look I'll bring Jin into this too, I love him so much again not in my top three but he is up there, do I understand why he does or says the things he does yes absolutely, does it make it ok or excusable no absolutely not, I understand but not forgive, those are two completely different things, my guy is traumatized, people stabbing him behind his back, his mother dying, potential neglect because of his father or sister, weather you like it or not that sucks a lot and it can mess someone up, hes obviously going to be a cold and walled up person who can't afford to show his feelings because he might get hurt again, and I'll say this again I can relate so much to that part, I don't like showing a lot of feelings because I don't want to get hurt again, but that doesn't excuse his actions, like when he threw stuff in season 1 he wasn't angry at the MC he was angry at himself an does understand he's going to lose someone he cares about and let's be honest probably loves, but his reaction wasn't good, she's about to die she's depressed that's going to worry her more, now she understands Jin too, she knows he isn't some nepo baby cold guy, she knows he cares and has done everything and anything to help cure her curse, we can see that in the way she thought about Jin at that moment, I can't say a lot about Ren, but I also think the MC understands him, I mean she's so sweet and understanding she sees people from the inside, now with this said that doesn't excuse the things these two sometimes say, thats all I wanted to day honestly
