"Why is the made in abyss fandom so normal about Bondrewd?"
They're not normal on the subreddit. I was told to kill myself for debating the fact within the story he's not treated like a villain. Or that I'm excusing abuse or a number of things for pointing out he's treated like an antagonist with in the text.
People get real mad when you engage with it at the level the author is trying to do.
For your consideration: the “I came to laugh at you” scene from Zeta Gundam, in case y’all wanted to see how to write two rivals reuniting for the first time in seven years
That mood when one of your favorite character ever has the most panels she's had in over five years in the new chapter and it's cheering on a ship you despise....
Aoex isn't that subtle with its themes and writing metaphors, it's blatantly obvious with its text. So it never ceases to amaze me how many people will read it so literally and try to make everything black and white.
Like Rin said, Yuri is a lot like Shiemi (another character that is heavily disliked by the fandom). She’s optimistic, naive, unabashed, pacifistic, and somewhat out of touch with socialization. She also probably views herself as sacrificial in the grand scheme of things at some point.
Being sent to Asylum, which is a horrible place, and being happy about it seems foolish. Especially soon after your adopted family died. The schedule is strict, you are essential trapped there, and Jenny said most kids cry on their first night there. But Yuri stays positive, latches onto her enjoyment of studying demons and getting education (which her adopted family hoped for her). Like Rin said, he didn’t know what thoughts or fears his mother had as she was sent to there.
Also, I think it’s her near-unwavering positivity when it comes to the coexistence of demons and humans that people perceive as dislike-able. We don’t know the nuances of her mindset when it comes to labeling demons good and bad, other than she personally prefers not to fight any of them. That type of absolute-pacifism can be seen as unreasonable and frustrating, especially when directed towards beings who prey on weakness to possess bodies as vessels.
Yuri having this mindset while the audience is exposed to the horrors of Section 13 done by and for the Demon Kings so they can have human vessels can make you feel skeptical of her vision. There are people who would definitely feel hateful for Yuri’s opinions, thinking them callous. Her being “unfazed” and “happy” about working at Section 13 is something I think readers can interpret very shallowly.
It’s the same when Rinka realizes his Ego, and Yuri immediately attempts to rationalize his murderous actions. The thing is her rationalization could be valid, since she’s an adept, learned tamer. But Satan is an unprecedented, unpredictable specimen. Also, she admits to being biased since she’s known him since childhood.
As we see her interact with Satan, we see that her hopes of teaching him things like compassion and socialization (with others beyond her) are futile. Which is frustrating, as she still tries to affect change in him and the audience, who knows how the story is going to go, wants her to quit while she’s ahead.
Her continued “niceness” towards Satan is probably another thing viewers look at quite shallowly, though you should remain calm with an unidentified, volatile demon; Yuri had moments where she was vehemently against Satan, and that resulted in very big outbursts (escaping Section 13, trying to kill her in his “Castle”, and trying to kill her with blue flames while in Shiro’s body). Even the DEMON KINGS are extremely appeasing to Satan, and that’s because he’s powerful and temperamental.
To invest hope in the Big Bad that is Satan. To still love Rin, trying to defend him after he came out of the womb killing exorcists, and then to still cradle him so lovingly. After all that, she still had enough… attachment to name Rin after Rinka (early, flame wisp version I think).
I don’t think people realize that Yuri hates killing, and that she is probably putting on a calm facade (like a certain younger twin), while she has to keep so many people from dying. She hates fighting demons, and she hates fighting humans.
We also don’t know a lot of Yuri’s inner thoughts and turmoils during this, as Mephisto said. Mephisto saying that “Yuri Egin failed” indicates that she either had a plan or that she was Mephisto’s plan. He’s also right in that saying that people will just label her a “witch”, regardless of Shiro saying that she “tried more than any of us”. Guess that must apply somewhat to the readers as well.
Most of what I read here is that people aren't paying attention to the overall story, and hate her for that. Same with Sheimi. I'm perfectly fine with people disliking a character, lord knows I've got plenty under my wing. But I feel like when it comes to Yuri, it's more people just not engaging with the story on the level Kato wants them to and they ignore it and make up some bs in their heads.
Five... five hindered kudos on my one aoex fic. Wow, I am honestly very honored. I've never had that many people kudo a thing I've written before. I am just in pure shock. Thank you guys.
Info on Mephisto from the new guidebook! Each character has a profile followed by relevant questions from fans, and then there's an interview section later where Kazue Katoh gives commentary on each major character and each manga arc. I have more guidebook than time, so I'm skipping the parts that are just like...summarizing who he is and stuff. So this will mostly be fan questions and Katoh's commentary
Biographical info
Gender: Male
Age: (°w°)
Rank/Titles: Director of True Cross Academy and head of the exorcism cram school, Honorary Knight for the Knights of the True Cross, King of Time
Anniversary [T/N Katoh gives demons these in lieu of a birthday]: August 28
Blood type: ( ʹ - ʼ )
Height: 195 cm (184 cm without the "horn")
Weight: 74 kg
Skills and interests: movies, manga, anime, games, music, toys, miscellaneous subcultures
Fan Q&A
How do members of the Knights of the True Cross usually find out that Mephisto is a demon king?
I think some people might find out from books, the internet, etc even before they become exorcists. They do publish demon field guides that you can find at regular libraries, and Mephisto seems like the type to mention it in online interviews. Rin was the only one who didn't know.
How long has he had his current body?
About 200 years.
Which media from Assiah has had the greatest impact on him?
I imagine he would have been shocked the first time he saw a cinematograph.
Mephisto really likes all sorts of entertainment; has he ever tried making something himself?
Demons in general (not just Mephisto) tend to be bad at creative pursuits, though there are exceptions. Mephisto has a certain respect for human creativity.
Why is he so fond of Beelzebub?
Beelzebub just kind of struck a chord with him. Meanwhile, Beelzebub also likes being spoiled by Mephisto.
Which other demon kings get along with Mephisto the best?
In order: 1. Beelzebub 2. Amaimon 3. Egyn 4. Astaroth 5. Iblis 6. Lucifer [T/N it took me like an entire minute to work out that Azazel is the one missing from this list. Presumably because he's a rock]
Has Mephisto ever altered the past?
He sure does say a lot of things that imply that! [T/N: Katoh. Katoh. Katoh.]
How rich is Mephisto exactly?
He's actually one of the world's top businessmen and investors. His total assets are probably over one trillion yen [T/N: Jesus f*ck][T/N: that's about US$6.7 billion]
Author interview
Mephisto is a character who can solve just about anything; does that make him hard to write?
Honestly, he's super easy to deploy. Mephisto has the plot in the palm of his hand and can fix stuff behind the scenes; he's the one pulling the strings. For adaptations and spinoffs, I just say "if you need to fill in a plot hole, make it Mephisto's fault" (laughs). But I do think it's dangerous to overdo it.
He even took on a sort of narrator role in chapter 44, didn't he?
Around Volume 10, I was trying to treat each chapter like its own self-contained oneshot. Mephisto didn't even feel out of place as an omniscient narrator for one chapter, and for me that really drove home what a convenient character he is. Though I'm always wondering when and how to show Mephisto's own serious motives and inner thoughts, since he does fall into that eternal comic narrator role.
He can suddenly turn terrifying just when you were thinking he was comical. Hidden depths.
Fundamentally he's on the humans' side, and he's often in charge of comic relief, but I do want to show his demonic side too. Same with the familiars; I want to portray the demons as something humans are afraid of.
Do you think at this point it's going to be inevitably confirmed that Arthur is a Lucifer clone?
Is it not confirmed already? I was under the assumption it was given things, but I haven't really re-read these arcs in a while lol. I think it's pretty much clear that is who Angel is given things. It would be weird for him to not be related to Lucifer in some way with that.
Shiemi's grandmother and mother seemed a lot more dubious to me after it's revealed that her grandmother was complicit in Section 13, and that her mother was the current Shemihaza (💀), who was in favor of Rin's execution.
Shiemi herself also recently showed some more dubious morality in the previous chapter, by wanting to maintain control over Amaimon so she could remain "useful" to her friends, which I thought was interesting. I think it was suppose to be perceived as the most toxic moment in her being useful mindset-behavior patterns.
I overall enjoy characters who do things for the "Good of everyone" since they're really interesting to me. I wouldn't adore Bondrewd from Made in Abyss, or Lelouch vi Britannia fro Code Geass if I didn't. Shiemi's family lands right in that. But there's something off about Shiemi's grandmother and her mother overall that I can't put my finger on. I'm waiting to see how Kato does things since she's always good for that, but right now it kinda bugs me how she has Shiemi's grandmother set up. I just need more after getting a taste of this side of her family lol.
Her mother on the other hand seems to just be doing her best for her kid. Shiemi as well is struggling with who she is and what she wants to do for sure. It adds a lot to her character over all honestly to see her this way.
Getting a bit more on Shiemi's backstory was my favorite part of the story, it answered some questions I've had for a long time. I'm really curious how this is going to play out, especially with how her father died and how it was previously hinted that Jeremiah was involved in some way.
Shiemi's grandmother continues to be a interesting character. I'm not sure how Kato's trying to write her totally, but I'm sure we'll get more. At this point her wanting to go off and retire like nothing has happened, is frustrating in different ways. People soften with age, especially when it comes to their grandchildren, but the way she treated Yuri has always stood out to me.
Pushing along the birthing process absolutely is why Yuri died in the first place. She wasn't doing so hot even then, but making pass her placenta like Shiemi's grandmother did was totally what did the twin's mother in. Given how cold she seems to be, it's clear this was her way of resolving things where it concerned Yuri. If she's dead, they don't have to worry about Satan trying to come back to her.
Meanwhile she's happy to run off to Japan and retire with her own daughter and grand daughter. Not to say her losing her son in law or others isn't as bad, but I dunno. I can't wait for more on this lady to be honest, and her whole family. Especially Shiemi.
Amongst the more “mysterious” Blue Exorcist characters, who do you want to know more about? Like Azazel, Homare, Neuhaus, and Takara (Amaimon, too, I guess)?
Tbh all of them considering what Kato has set up. We got a little on Neuhaus so I think he's fine personally, I enjoy his more chill personality he's got now he's not trying to kill Rin lol. Puppet boy and Homare are probably the two I'm most interested in and I figure we'll get something on them, though sometimes I forget Puppet boy even exists some days lol.
Your thoughts on Cheng-Long Liu being introduced into the manga?
Not much tbh. I think he's a interesting character, and it's neat that Kato brought him in. Especially since it expands the Exorcist world past Japan a lot more. I don't really have a opinion on the guy since I've unfortunately never seen the movie actually.
By the time I was able to afford buying it myself it was out of print, and aniplex is allergic to re-releasing anything or putting it up to stream unless it makes a lot of money. I'm also to lazy to really pirate it, so I've been trying to save up and get a decent copy off of ebay one day lol. Outside of the manga I have no real experience with his character.
Your thoughts on some of the secondary characters? Like Amaimon, Angel, Shura, Renzou's brothers, etc?
I like a lot of the secondary character's Kato's created! They're fun and interesting in their own way, even if I'm not super into them like others are.
Amaimon I wasn't into until much later into the series. He's a interesting character, I like seeing more emotion from him as the series goes on, it's kind of interesting to see how he's evolving after meeting Rin and the others in his own way.
Angel: I think he's fine lol. He's not particularly interesting to me but I think he's got some neat parts. It has been kind of funny seeing the fandom do a 180 with him. I remember when the series first started everyone hated him for cutting Rin's foot off, but it's come around to the total opposite. Funny how time changes things.
Shura: she's arguably my favorite secondary character. Her arc is my 2nd favorite arc next to Izumo's actually. Her story and over all character is one I relate heavily too as a woman. Seeing her grow and move forward is one of my favorite things. I do get annoyed when people place a "mother" or "sister" role on her with the twins, or even a "daughter" role with Shiro. People keep doing this with older female characters and it's really annoying. With Shiro especially it's clear they had a mentorship relationship, and I feel it's similar for Rin while it's closer to a close friend coworker situation with Yukio. I dunno, I think people don't understand "Found family" doesn't mean everyone has a nuclear family role, and to put that on a woman who's story focuses on heavy commentary about how society views women is just real annoying to me.
Shima family: I like them a lot! Funnily enough, Kinzo specifically. I like how much of a idiot he is and how loud he can be. Juzo is fun too with how his relationship with Mamushi goes. I like the other family members and hope we get to see them more. I'm real curious about Mrs. Shima the most since we've never seen her face, and that is obviously on purpose given how Kato hides it all the time lol. I like how Kato is working with having a elder son's expectations put on the youngest with Renzo especially, and how that shifts his relationship with them all and how they handle it themselves. It's clear the death of their older brother has affected the family a lot, and I hope we get to see more of it.
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