Maria. my gifs/edits One of the "other girls" who appreciate shipping, romance and content "for housewives". That "prep" Ebony Dementia Whatever warned you about (even though My Immortal was more likely than not written by a man). Tracking #bellaaldamas. I ramble here. // My Twitter/X PS: Atreus yelled first
Is it true that evil beings can’t go into a church without being… *hisses* / Evil beings. You mean, like, what — vampires? / Ha. Vampires. No. I was thinking more along the lines of… witches.
2026 is not a 2014 and sometimes it's a good thing. A rage bait post with Ariel slander went viral not because people were agreeing with it but because we as a society came together to defend Ariel against said slander.
A humble reply/comment by truly yours on a separate defense post (not even the original rage bait) is humbly "thriving" and the defense post in question has thousands of likes and reposts. Society is healing:
I relate to Flynn in the Campfire Scene on a meta level as this is the exact reaction I invariably get whenever I watch magical girl anime. And particularly when the magical girl herself starts explaining, in the same half-robotic, half-brainwashed and inevitably miserable way as Rapunzel, how her forced magic that she never asked for is actually a "gift" (for others, not herself, obviously). One that needs to be cherished and "protected" at the expense of her needs, freedom, desires and well being.
This is the "holy hell, that's messed up, I need to liberate her or die trying" expression with which I watch those kinds of animes every time without fail:
The original, and still official, voice of Ariel speaks about her love for the character after voicing her since her initial casting in 1986. She won the role of Ariel over at least 500 other actresses, and Jodi admits that when she watches the film, she can see herself in Ariel. “She’s independent, spirited, and strong-willed. I don’t think I could have accomplished my dreams if there wasn’t a little of her in me.”
Rootbound Part One - Chapter Three Summary and Cliffnotes
Continued from Chapter Two..
Chapter 3: Rapunzel POV
Events: Rapunzel is in the library with Pascal at sunset trying to find information on Astera in order to prove she's ready to go. As she combs book after book, she doesn't find much of use, only the facts she already knew like it was Isolationist, or that it was an archipelago. Despite finding nothing at first, Rapunzel declines the librarians help for reasons she doesn't know, just that asking for help feels wrong to her. Finally after still finding nothing of use, Rapunzel lets herself ask the librarian who gives her the book "Systems of Government of the Modern Age," which has differences from what Eugene told her.
The book explains that merchants are allowed on the mainland, but must leave to Merchant's Crescent upon sunset or become a permanent resident of Astera. But like Eugene had told her, it also explains residents are forbidden to leave Astera, and few attempt to do so which makes confirming information on their society difficult. It then explains what they do know is that Astera is led by a monarch and their consort with a council of five advisors that take over temporarily should the ruling monarch be unable to and their heir not of age. It explains the council as following the cardinal directions, Councilor of the West and Master of Seas and Councilor of the East and Master of Prosperities, though the books author notes it does not know South and North.
Unable to find anymore, Rapunzel decides to instead study up on diplomacy throughout the night. The Queen joins her after a few hours, and notices the books Rapunzel's studying. She points out that Rapunzel really wants to go. When Rapunzel tells her she's taking it serious, the Queen recognizes Rapunzel's insecurity and points out again that they aren't blaming her for what happened and that they'll manage it. (Rapunzel again compares this internally to something Gothel said). She argues she knows she can help and tells her it's part of being a princess and an opportunity for an alliance. She then nearly says it doesn't feel right for her to stay in the --- only to correct it to palace. Finally the Queen relents but tells her to promise she'll come back.
The next morning, Rapunzel and Eugene overhear Cressien trying to tell the Queen it's a bad idea to send the brand new princess and her suitor to an isolationist Kingdom and that the King won't allow it. The Queen tells him the King is on painkillers so hard he thought he judged a pastry contest in his bathtub, she agrees that it's a risk though. Cressien points out Rapunzel's inexperience with Rapunzel mouthing to Eugene she said they could use that. The Queen agrees and says that's why it calls for one who's shrewd and then tells Cressien that's why he's going with.
Timeskip to the first night on the ship to Astera, and Rapunzel is having a nightmare. It starts out with Gothel calling for her to let her hair down, only when Gothel gets up to the tower, she tells her look what I got you, only for the hair to turn into a golden noose that swings from her fingers and asking where's the man that took her away. She tells Rapunzel the criminal is to be hanged, and Rapunzel yells no and wakes up. She has to catch her bearings, and realize it was a nightmare and Eugene was fine and didn't hang.
She thinks how Eugene sometimes shows off his stomach scar to the guards boasting he has eight lives left, and that they just don't talk about the gallows. Unable to go back to sleep, she grabs her sketchbook and goes up to the deck to sketch the ships, the one they're on and the one they're following belonging to Teophine. She's eventually joined by Eugene a few minutes later, and she apologizes for waking him but he says if she'd been loud he'd have slept through it, then asks if everything's okay.
Rapunzel mentions she had a bad dream.. then makes up her mind and asks if she can ask him something. She then asks if it ever bothers him that if he hadn't been rescued in time that he would have been…. Eugene tells her yes, but also no, because you don't do things like rob the palace without knowing the risks. And that a month ago, his life was all he had to gamble and that now the gallows just reminds him of how much he has to lose.
Rapunzel tells him it doesn't feel right, that he didn't even get a trial and was almost killed for stealing an expensive hat. She says everyone loves her parents, but it scares her that she's going to have that kind of power to hurt people and fears making a mistake especially since she can't fix it anymore.
Eugene stops her from grabbing her hair and reminds her they're going to fix something right now and points out that the King and Queen aren't perfect but people like them, because they care, and funded schools, libraries, clinics, and even his orphanage (So he is from Corona in this) and that she's only been a Princess for a month and can figure out what kind of princess she wants to be.
Rapunzel asks him if this is still his new dream, and notes for a moment he looks like he's holding something back, but then second guesses her own intuition and mocks herself in her head with Gothel's voice. Eugene says all of it and more and they kiss to end the chapter.
Character Introspections:
Both Rapunzel and Eugene: continue to show their insecurities. Rapunzel in being afraid to ask for help, forcing herself to read up and learn things so she can go, and insisting she's ready, while berating herself in Gothel's voice in her head. She also dreams of the gallows, and is bothered by the fact her parents nearly killed Eugene without a trial, and doesn't want that kind of power, doubting herself as a princess. Then, while Eugene doesn't say it, we know from his insecurities from last chapter, that he feels a lack of self worth in being there, which Rapunzel picks up on but pushes away.
Cressien: We only get the glimpse of him trying to talk the Queen in to not letting Rapunzel go, but it seems to be both out of concern for her and what Astera might want, fearing that they have ulterior motives. When he mentions letting Rapunzel's suitor go, he mentions it with saying 'with a pardon so recent the ink hasn't dried,' which Eugene takes as an insult in grimace.
It's especially important how in this chapter Rapunzel doubts both of her mothers, the fake one (even if she, according to these summaries of Rootbound, does not refer to Gothel as a "mother" in this) and the biological one, as she projects Gothel's manipulative behavior onto the Queen even if the latter is being genuine.
Rapunzel doesn't glorify her biological parents just because they are her blood. Not only is she still affected by her own "tower traumas" but she is also remaining aware of how the King and Queen and their flawed (to put it mildly) justice system tried to hang the man she loved without a trial and that it was her bio parents' fault rather than Gothel's. This is more than just acknowledging Flynn's traumas regarding the near execution though the book doesn't neglect to do that either. Showing how uncomfortable and at minimum uneasy he feels, always passing by the royal courtyard with the gallows still warm from his near hanging.
But this story takes it further: it equates, via Rapunzel's dream and her references to Flynn's scar from the stabbing, Gothel's actual murder of him and the King and Queen being about to kill him with no trial or mercy even before Gothel laid a finger on him. Moreover, Rapunzel places more weight on the King and Queen trying to kill him in cold blood - and straight up calls it "killing" for an expensive "hat" belonging to the royals - than she does on Gothel stabbing him fatally.
Rapunzel's dream has Gothel be the initial threat and then follows it up with the King and Queen being the BIGGER threat and the ones who almost did the unthinkable AND the irreversible (the hanging). Gothel is the obvious "evil" in this whereas the King and Queen are supposed to be the "good ones" and yet they tried to do something this cruel and are still beloved by their people. This is something Rapunzel openly questions and mentions how she does not want her own royal power to make her this kind of person. She wants to be her own person. This is the true development and independence she needed post movie.
This is exactly what the series should have done with the "Rapunzel is fresh out of tower, is traumatized and still not ready to step into the royal role" scenario. Except the Series did none of that: instead it framed Flynn, the one person who gave her freedom at the expense of his life, as her new "prison". It had Rapunzel remain submissive to her toxic and oppressive royal father, not once questioning his warped justice system and eventually perpetuating his tyrannical and oppressive leadership. Including in regards to Flynn and his "thief legacy" which Series Rapunzel so eagerly lectured him on to please the "think of the children" conservative crowd and the left wing haters of Flynn who claimed it was "PrObLeMaTiC!!!111!!!" Rapunzel "married the first man she met" and a criminal to boot. Never mind she met a bunch of actual violent criminals - the thugs - half an hour later and initially got along with them better than with Flynn because they were honest with her, unlike him at that stage.
In the movie Flynn had been the reserved and the guarded one (subverting the "resistant and unobtainable beauty" cliche, a "difficult" woman that a "freespirited and uninhibited" man/bad boy has to win over by breaking through her Walls TM and claiming her as a desired object while being the pursuing subject). And it backfired on the movie Flynn time and again until the narrative made it clear he can only get any further in life if he discards his fake bravado and sheds the artificial masculine facade choosing vulnerability and honesty instead. THAT was what saved both him and Rapunzel literally and figuratively starting the flooding cave and what made Rapunzel say she preferred his true vulnerable and nerdy self better than his fake persona.
The Series warped it all by framing Flynn's fake facade as his true persona and patronizing Rapunzel for falling for his "bad boy" charms because see, in the Real Life TM he is nothing but a useless comedic relief in present and a sleezy womanizer in between armed robberies who traumatized the poor royal women (including the Queen, Rapunzel's bio mother) in the past. So the near execution was totally justified! Long Live Sonnenburg, cried the leftist haters of Flynn and the right wing adepts of "thieving bad death penalty good" right wingers.
Progressives praised the Series framing of Flynn as a useless ex thieving lowlife because they hate the idea of a girl being in charge of her romantic agency and getting her freedom, her power AND the hot guy without being lectured or shamed for her romantic choices and having to redeem herself through girlboss sacrifice (Frozen Anna style). Because see, a woman being a self sacrificing girlboss is so leftist and feminist even though it's a literal conservative religious propaganda. Whereas the right wingers praised the series because they support the death penalty and everyone "important" remained white and who cares it pandered to the worst of the worst of leftist talking points about the OG movie.
Then again, no wonder: I do remember with a perfect clarity how Tangled 2010 was ripped to shreds by the "progressive Disney critical" bloggers on here and how they reblogged the hateful posts from conservative religious tradwife bloggers as long as they spouted vitriol against that "ditzy and obnoxious girl" and that "filthy orphaned thief who cut her hair WiTHoUt hErR cOnSeNT!!!111!!!".
It is commendable how the author of Rootbound not only shows the middle finger to both crowds but has Rapunzel mention her and Flynn's "new dream" love confession from the movie and how she directly ASKS if Flynn still feels the same way. Despite being in the place where he has to always see the gallows (again, the issue actually explicitly discussed and spelled out). Despite her parents trying to kill him without a trial for a theft of a luxury item and she feels responsibility and guilt for placing him in the situation and the environment where he has to always relive it. She cares about his well being and his perspective and she knows relationship is partnership, not just the giving and receiving scenario.
Rootbound Rapunzel knows that a scenario where one party only gives and the other one only receives is toxic and unhealthy because she had lived it with Gothel. The Series took that scenario and projected it into Rapunzel, Flynn and Cassandra except with Rapunzel in the Gothel role in her relationship with Flynn and Cassandra in the Gothel role in her relationship with Rapunzel. And the Series framed it as "healthy" as long as the parties are all young and hot (only old hags can be bad and evil, you see, so mich for feminism for leftists and the "family values" for right wingers).
But I'm sure progressives will hate this book for vindicating the romance and treating Flynn as the romantic hero he was meant to be in the movie rather than a bumbling clown in present and a genuinely disgusting man in the past who needed "fixing" through the noose and years of humiliation and purification through royal blood and prince "Horace" title to be worthy of the princess. Whereas the conservatives will hate extremely minimal, "why not" references to queerness of some secondary/supporting characters despite it not in any way affecting the main leads and their story.
Keep up with these detailed summaries, they are appreciated.
Rootbound Part One - Chapter One Summary and Cliffnotes
PART 1 follows Chapters 1-8, starts in Rapunzel's Kingdom (that is never given a name), and very early moves to the Kingdom of Astera mentioned in the book summary already out. Astera is where the main adventure takes place. It follows Eugene, Rapunzel, and another character you will meet when you read the book.
Part 1 wastes no time. It immediately delves into the reality of the characters after the movie, and what they went through. And it doesn't hold any punches to those realities unlike the series. As a book dealing with the aftermath of the movie, and its traumas, this was especially refreshing, as it developed our main characters without relying on flanderized stereotypes that the series was constrained to.
The author also shows that she put research into the world she was writing, and the characters (even the animals) to provide a realistic flair.
Now for the actual meat of the Act, and real spoilers starting with Chapter 1...
Part One, Chapter One: Rapunzel POV
Events: Chapter One begins one month after the movie and immediately throws you into a royal ball held for Rapunzel's belated birthday. Rapunzel joins the ball on the Queen's arm, with her reassuring Rapunzel she's doing wonderfully, while Rapunzel tries not to let her racing thoughts and many worries get to her. During this time, Eugene waits in the crowd as Rapunzel meets his eyes frequently for reassurance.
Because it's her first ball, the King gets the first dance, and Rapunzel is all nervousness as she worries about dancing wrong or kicking her father. After a successful dance with only one foot crush, Rapunzel is given to other dignitaries to dance with; A Duke, a mayor, councilor, brigadier general, and at last a man known as Cressien the Minister of Diplomatic Affairs and one of the Kingdoms most trusted advisors.
During the dance with the Duke before Cressien, Pascal, to Rapunzel's horror had appeared on her dress and mistaken as a brooch by the Duke. When she switches to dancing with Cressien, Pascal moves from her own clothes to his as she desperately tries to get him to leave subtly.
Thankfully, Eugene swoops in, and takes Rapunzel for a dance, while swiping Pascal away from Cressien and saving Rapunzel from having him found, as well as offering to smuggle him out. This is when you find out Rapunzel hasn't told her parents about Pascal.
During her dance with Eugene, Rapunzel asks how he does it, and doesn't it all make him nervous. This is the first look into Eugene's own insecurities as he tries to play it off by saying she has the hard job since she has to work with them, while the nobles are never going to like him. He also refers to himself as a her rude suitor that's there to bail her out. Rapunzel knows it's supposed to be a joke, but something about it bothers her. (HINT HINT)
After several more Pascal related saves from Eugene, the Queen takes over the dance then and asks her if she's having fun, which causes Rapunzel's thoughts to go to how Gothel would follow such a question up with a backhanded comment. Rapunzel answers that everything is wonderful as she worries about letting everyone down.
Finally the ball goes to the gift giving, and after several humorous gifts (whole barrels of wine, a horse, a carriage, etc) comes the start of our plot.
A stranger who introduces herself as an emissary of Astera by the name of Counselor Teophine, presents Rapunzel an invitation to the coronation of the Crown Princess Verette who is coming of age. While Rapunzel only recognizes Astera as where the white shells she painted with came from, everyone in the crowd is shocked as whispers go throughout the room.
Rapunzel accepts, but before she can, both Cressien and the King interrupt and change her words to 'consider it,' while running over to intercept the invitation. The King slips on the dais and sprains his leg which causes Rapunzel to reach up for her hair thinking she can finally fix a problem, only to come up empty handed and remember that it's gone.
Rapunzel feeling unneeded, turns around to look for Teophine, but the emissary has vanished.
So ends Chapter One.
Character Introspections:
Rapunzel: As this chapter is in Rapunzel's point of view, you are given Rapunzel's thoughts, and they are a lot. It is very clear from the first chapter that Rapunzel carries trauma from the tower and trauma from Gothel.
She starts the ball already stuck in the full throes of imposter syndrome feeling like a feral princess and a joke amongst her parents and their royal court. She fears letting everyone down, most of all her parents who she struggles with calling Mother and Father in her mind while not calling Gothel mother. As well as the Minister Cressien who Rapunzel sees as prim, proper, and not at all impressed with her.
Rapunzel also suffers thoughts of Gothel whenever anyone speaks a compliment to her, and compares those around her to something Gothel said, or did frequently throughout the text. Such as noting how her fathers brows furrow when he's holding something back and comparing it to how Gothel would speed up her steps on the stairs when she was displeased. Little things like that add to the abundance of insecurities and traumas that lead to her doing things such as putting on a mask of smiling and pretending everything's fine to the public, or hiding Pascal from everyone but Eugene.
And then there's her hair. Already, the book shows Rapunzel struggles feeling lost without it, and the inability to fix the only things she knows how to help. Even going so far as to reach for it when her father falls.
Eugene: While you don't get his thoughts until Chapter 2, when it's his chapter. You can already tell something is not right with him. During Rapunzel's entrance when they meet eyes the first time, Rapunzel wonders how Eugene is so put together amongst the crowds and thinks to ask him.
When she finally gets the chance to ask during their dance, his joke that they'll never like him bothers Rapunzel, but the reader isn't told why yet. And when he questions Rapunzel on her having not told her parents about Pascal yet, Rapunzel just shakes her head while mentally pointing out he wouldn't pry.
This shows the both of them having insecurities while pretending to be fine to each other.
Despite this, Eugene is there in the crowd to reassure her every time she looks for him. He's there to rescue her when she feared Pascal being found out. And he's there to answer her inquiries on how to deal with the royal court. He's never pushed aside, or demeaned at the ball, but right there every step to support her.
King and Queen: Though they are not given names, both The King and Queen are shown to be completely supportive of Rapunzel in chapter one. The Queen reassures her she's doing wonderfully. The King tells her she's perfect, and tells her not to worry about the dancing, comparing her in jest to the Queen who took years to learn to dance, and telling her the night is for them to make up 18 years of missed birthdays, not her.
Cressien: The new guy. Minister of Diplomatic Affairs, a top advisor and according to Rapunzel he is prim, proper, and all etiquette and business. The text describes him as a cool brown complexion with grey hair. So I assume he's POC, but I'm not sure of his age, even with the gray hair.
While we don't know much about him yet, during the dance with Rapunzel he comments on her getting used to shoes and encouraging the progress and other speech about etiquette and formality that cause Rapunzel to feel smaller. And when Rapunzel calls Eugene 'm'lady,' he corrects him to Your Highness.
Other things to note: Eugene is apparently her suitor as he mentions 'suitor privileges,' when taking over the dance from Cressien.
Onto Chapter Two...
(Other chapters shouldn't be this long in summary, this one just was because it's the setup chapter. Maybe one or two others will be for more setup, but the rest should be shorter.)
This is how the PTSD and the aftermath of lifelong traumas should be handled and how the Series, if it was bound to happen, should have dealt with those matters. Instead of almost immediately returning and reframing Rapunzel's symbol of oppression and lifelong exploitation - her magic hair - as the symbol of girlpower the book shows psychological aftereffects of her no longer possessing said symbol, the one thing the person closest to her (Gothel) had been abusing her into believing was of value about her. And the one thing Rapunzel had been led to think made her capable and worthy. This is one of the reasons this Rapunzel instinctively looks for a catch in other people's acceptance of her and their compliments to her and compares that to Gothel's treatment of her. Which she had considered a "norm" for 18 years, a norm where Gothel's acceptance and compliments were directly conditioned upon Rapunzel's usefulness.
Unlike the Series, this narrative does not pander to media illiterate crowd that watched too much anime, it does not punish Flynn with public humiliation and rejection for "taking away" the symbol of Rapunzel's supposed "girlpower" (which it never was in the movie) to give her freedom at the expense of his very life and to reassure her she is more than her forced "asset" and that her true value is her individuality, compassion, art and courage. Nor does Rootbound "reward" Rapunzel for rejecting that orphaned ex-thieving lowlife and leaving him to pour out his heart to a "frog"/Pascal while she runs off with her privileged lady in waiting to receive her Magical Girl "gift" back. Which she is then made to be "grateful for" and embrace her forced magical destiny like a good Magical Girl (read: good submissive patriarchal woman since all the Magical Girl narratives are inherently about submission and accepting forced roles under the guise of "female empowerment").
Here Rapunzel struggles with accepting the reality that the one thing her only guardian for 18 years had made her believe made her useful is now gone and she feels incapable and useless without it. But she still overcomes herself, overcomes the tower trauma and no longer wallows in it despite still being affected by it. Hence wearing the shoes and it being emphasized in a positive way by another character (a "neutral" party at that), signifying she is no longer "underdressed" and unequipped to face the world despite Gothel's best efforts. The book certainly does not take the result of trauma which was Rapunzel walking barefoot in the movie (because Gothel would not bring her shoes or let her wear any as it would go against the "keeping her underdressed and unequipped" plan) and reframe it as a "cute quirk". And does not add insult to injury by making it into an inherited, "adorable" family trait (which is offensive to abuse victims).
Flynn is there to reassure her while his own traumas are not ignored or made into a mockery even in the chapter where they are not the focus (they come into focus in the very next one) but are out there in the open despite his best efforts to hide them (paralleling Rapunzel doing the same thing). His insecurities and traumatic backstory are not turned into a punchline to please the detractors who claimed him being of a marginalized background and having a criminal record made him "unworthy" of the perfect princess (detractors both on the left and on the right, showing vividly how the two crowds are one and the same).
This narrative, unlike the Series, does not pander to the haters and twist and treat their movie relationship as a happenstance where the damsel fell for the first man she met because he was her rescuer (having an entire AU episode claiming she would have fallen for any other rescuer who would have gotten to her first) without "getting to know him first". That despite the actual movie canon showing Rapunzel and Flynn opening up to each other about their deepest traumas and the secrets they had not told anyone in years or ever and then continuing to do so throughout their other interactions post the shared near death experience.
The Series took a story about partnership, bonding and the importance of agency and choice and turned it into a story about forced decisions, damsels in distress falling for the "wrong" rescuers and accidental hookups. Where the tradeoff was Flynn "taking away Rapunzel's Magical Gift TM". Which was never actually a gift in the movie but Sonnenburg cannot hear you against the sound of the credit song of whatever anime about sexualized young waifus and forced magical destinies that he is currently watching.
On the contrary, this narrative does not treat Rapunzel and Flynn's movie relationship as a mistake that needed "fixing" by returning Rapunzel's bondage/deterrent 6 months into the post movie timeline, having her actually see her magic hair as a gift (who cares she never wanted it either time? Who even asks what those dumb women want anyway? Magical girl anime certainly never does and neither did Sonnenburg who evidently watched too much of it), having her spend THREE years with it and then cut it on her own (fulfilling the wet dream of the movie haters). Thus nullifying all the points of the movie and both Rapunzel and Flynn's developments individually and together.
Flynn's arc in the book is not about "putting that lowlife in his place" for "taking the Magical Girl gift away". The magical hair is correctly treated the way it was treated in the movie: like the symbol of oppression that left Rapunzel with scars and insecurities. There is no "humbling of the pretty bad boy" scenario constructed by Sonnenburg the right wing man-child hater of Flynn who was praised for implementing said scenario by the equally bigoted, equally dimwitted leftists. Even though movie Flynn was never the bad boy cliche and the movie made it explicitly clear his Flynn Rider persona was a defensive facade/bravado, as were Rapunzel's "quirky" frying pan wielding antics (but the Series chose to pander to the shallow "she was just annoying and adorkable" interpretation of the movie Rapunzel, frame Rapunzel's defensive facade as her true persona like it did Flynn's and have them be abused and berated for that by Monty and Cassandra respectively).
Rootbound treats Flynn's defensive facade as exactly what it was in the movie while letting his true vulnerabilities seep through that and having those vulnerabilities be the focus of the coming chapters and continue to be the focus of the story. Along with Rapunzel validating his experiences as much as he does hers - which is what an equal relationship should be - and repeatedly calling out and expressing disgust over the near execution for a crown, which this Rapunzel calls an "expensive hat belonging to the wrong family". Again, a far cry from the scoffing lecture Series Rapunzel gave to Flynn where she expressed disgust not over the near execution without a trial (the Series did not even mention that) but over his "thief legacy". And both the Flynn hating progressives from the left and the right wingers who "hate thieves" clapped while Disney did its most shameless pandering in years. But the progressives called it an "improvement and realism" whereas the conservatives chose to willfully ignore the pandering because as long as the main leads remained white it "can't be woke".
Progressives in 2026 are literally forced to admit Usagi's treatment in the 90-s anime was horrendous (bullying, fat-shaming of a petite small girl, berating her for daring to have age appropriate interests and goals outside of her forced Higher Mission TM, her older boyfriend AND her future daughter ganging up against her, etc).
And they only admit it to hit the leftist talking points. NOT because it was actually heinous.
They acknowledge it because "fat-shaming bad" or "she was just a teenage girl, be kind, just wait, wait, she WILL grow into a self-sacrificing magical girlboss, just give her ~~~~time!".
When the actual criticism should be this: neither Usagi nor any teenage girl nor any woman at all should be a self sacrificing martyr for anyone ever because female sacrifice is never rewarded. Anime culture is dangerous for telling women and girls otherwise.
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