[kanatits]

Holy shit. I join this fandom at the wrong time. Cause why the fuck is someone trying to state that Laitos' child sexual trauma as non-existent as a FACT?! Even when I was in middle school I fucking got it right away.

"Oh but it wasn't explicit" Yes, it was. You're just denser than a bloody coffee table.

AUEGEHHEUHEUAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

[diagirldaf]

The whole debate over Ayato/ Laito/ Cordelia is sickening. Ayato did not desire Cordelia in that way. He was just a child hoping to be loved by his mother, like any victim of abuse and neglect would wish for.

And Laito... well. I don't think I can explain myself in a few words, but between Laito (a kid) and Cordelia (an adult) she was no victim.

Qué le pasa a esta gente (•_•) el fandom ocupa un nuevo juego urgente que los distraiga tantito.

[yuikomorii]

I agree there are darker games than DL but Yui compared to those heroines is nothing if we’re going to look at it from not a subjective point of view.

I’ve played a bunch of otome games too and although I like Diabolik Lovers and your blog, I really can’t view Yui as a good heroine. People compliment her mental strength but little do they know all heroines share that trait, it’s a must in an otome games. The fact that she survived was not because she is “mentally strong” but because of plot armour. I’m pretty sure there were a few times when she wanted to k*ll herself but didn’t because the vampire she chose saved her.

Besides, this is a very popular opinion as far as I’ve seen in this fandom, but she’s respectfully an idiot. I was expecting her to be smarter than in the anime but she’s even more stupid in the game. I’ll give her credit in the manga though, they really did her justice here. There is a thin line between naivety and lacking brain cells, but Yui crossed that line already. She seems someone thoughtful in her monologues but then she opens that mouth and says or does such bullshit that makes me be scream. If the brothers were as villainous as they are said to be, I bet they would have wrecked her long before.

I remember that time when Rejet confirmed none of the Diaboys r*ped her in HDB because they pulled the dub-con card and made Little Miss Church girl like having sex in her monologues instead of hating it because wtf they were literally assaulting her but she was happy!? I don’t get why they’d make her act this way but r*pe is presented in most otome games and there are truly heroines who are disgusted by it, who I find way more relatable than her.

Feel free to delete or ignore this ask if you want, I just wanted to tell you my opinion. It’s probs not important at all but I just felt like taking this off my chest.

// But I've never claimed that Yui is the best heroine or anything like that. She's middle-tier because such a heroine won't appeal to everyone, which is understandable given that DL isn't your typical otome game. I agree that they are all mentally strong, particularly Haruka from Moshikami, who is literally the queen of this.

It’s true that if the Diaboys really existed, they would have slayed her the moment she said or did something wrong because vampires are monsters; they have no mercy for humans, who are merely prey in their eyes. Yet, it's just an otome game, they can't just kill her off because the story can't continue without a heroine.

Alright, let me tell you why Yui is stupid sometimes. Basically everyone is aware of that, Rejet intentionally writes her lacking brain cells from time to time, but let me explain why:

According to Japanese otome game polls, players don’t like when the heroine is better than them. While they do like a heroine with her own design and background, they don’t want her to be smarter, more skilled, cooler or more interesting than them.

I remember these Japanese fans on Twitter discussing about heroines, and one of them said, "Yui-chan is a little foolish, but she's so cute!" and someone else responded, "True, she's so kind too!" As you can see, Japanese players don't mind if Yui is dumber than them; they acknowledge it, but they focus on her positive traits more. Japan has never had a problem with “stupidity” in media, characters who are occasionally dummies but also sympathetic or emotional supports are frequently fan favorites.

Yui, in my opinion, is not that stupid; in fact, none of the DL characters can be called that. I'd rather call her dense and slow-minded because she acts before thinking and doesn't always consider the consequences. Still, because we all come from different countries and have met different types of people, we can’t perceive stupidity identically.

I know Rejet confirmed that they didn’t rap€ her in HDB in one of the cg books, but as you stated, that’s because of dub-con.

Fyi, dub-con(dubious consent) is part of Japanese pop culture and is considered something very attractive there. It basically means a fictional situation in which the consent is not clear, the character can cry and scream but they admit liking it in their thoughts. The situation may not be real-world levels of consenting, but the victim is not perceiving themselves as a victim because they desire the sex act, which is indeed true in Yui’s case.

You can notice that in Kanato’s HDB lake sex scene, Yui says in her monologue that what he’s doing to her is not undesirable. Another scene is in Ayato's HDB route, where Yui clearly states that Ayato's genuine smile and his "You're mine" declaration go straight to her heart, essentially giving her a hint that he likes her back.

Yui's dream was to become a nun, but the moment she has sex, she abruptly changes her mind and genuinely enjoys it, so I can't get her carnal desire. I know some faithful heroines too but yeah, they disliked the thought of losing their virginity, and the love interests were really manipulative there too. If she hadn't been a church girl, I wouldn't have had anything against it, but I must confess that they made her far too horny for someone with a religious background and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Sure, hormones are typical at that age, and it can be amusing seeing her act like that, but literally getting sexually-frustrated because your vampire lover doesn’t screw you or suck your blood anymore is already way over the top. But whatever, she’s just like that in the bad endings. I mean, she still gets horny but at least not that bad. xD

I guess these are some of the reasons why DL shouldn’t be localized; it presents themes Westerns will find unsettling, while the Japanese audience will consider those hot. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[anormalrukifan]

a very unpopular diabolik lovers opinion (If you don't like anybody having a opinion, I highly recommend you not read it)

I hate it when people downgrade abusive character abuse because they have a sad background, and the biggest victim of it is the poster boy himself Ayato sakamaki out of every character in diabolik lovers his fans downgrade his abuse so much it crazy (this can go for any of the diabolik lovers boys but I'm using Ayato because he is the character that his fan act like he is a helpless child)

you can like a character and still acknowledge that that character is abusive. Every time I see people talk about Ayato and how he treated yui it literally reminds me of that me that goes"you know I dislike sexual assault as much as the next guy don't like it, Rape?, boo don't like it but"

as a ruki fan he is a asshole, a dick he treat yui like absolutely shit but I would never sit up and make a post trying to defend his behavior tours yui and some fans need to learn how to do that because real fan of a character talk bad about the character.

I feel like some diabolik lovers fan feel uncomfortable liking their characters .I find that strain because you like the character because you like who they are. The characters in diabolik lovers are not nice like it's a reason the series is called diabolik lovers

This is how some of yall diabolik lovers fan sound like talking about the diabolik lovers boys. (Especially ayato fan)

[anormalrukifan]

Cordelia fan have to be the ultimate ragebaitier

They will literally post on here (confidently may I added) acting like Cordelia didn't have a inappropriate relationship with Laito and they think "well she didn't sleep with him" so it not that bad like WHAT?! Laito is the way he is because of Cordelia! Cordelia mess Laito up period! They literally try so hard to downplay everything she does to any of the triplet!

[reijisteacup]

I have been seeing this a lot and its honestly disgusting to see and hear about in this community. All the Diaboys have been abused some way shape or form and if you can play the games or even watch the anime and think that "they didnt get abused." means that you need actual help and I am scared for how you think with real people who go through the same.

[yuikomorii]

// “Ayato desires Cordelia as a woman”

The only thing he desired was her love, which is something all children desire from their parents. He was shown SCOLDING Karlheinz for not being able to reciprocate Cordelia’s feelings. Ayato was still hoping Cordelia could find happiness with Karlheinz. This isn’t even a matter of interpretation because he’s straight-up saying it.

Credit to: dialovers-translations

[yuikomorii]

// I can’t believe I just read posts claiming Ayato wasn’t an abuse victim. First, people said that about Laito, and now his brother too?

Alright then… let’s look at the actual canon material!

“Cordelia harbored feelings of hatred toward Beatrix, the mother of Shu and Reiji, because she had borne children before her. Believing that if she too gave birth to a child worthy of becoming the next head of the Sakamaki family, she would be loved by the current head, Karlheinz, she grew increasingly strict in her demands toward Ayato for the sake of HER OWN SELF (自分の野望のために)” Ayato has always been used as a tool, and never seen as an actual person with feelings.

“Ayato had a lively personality since childhood, but on the other hand, he was not the type to enjoy studying. However, Cordelia would never tolerate this. Each time he received poor grades, she imposed EXCESSIVELY HARSH PUNISHMENTS (過剰なほどのきびしい罰), such as pushing him into the cold pond in the garden.” The lake scene is just ONE of the many exaggerated punishments she made him go through. Those punishments were always portrayed as too much, and not mere “discipline”.

By saying “if you can’t do that, then you’re not my child. If you’re not the best, then I have no need of you. I’m done using you”, she crosses a line that goes far beyond ordinary cruelty. She dismisses Ayato’s worth entirely, tying his value solely to his usefulness TO HER. This is pure emotional abuse. To make matters even worse, she says these words while making out with Richter in front of her child, who is crying and struggling.

Slapping a child just because he wanted to play with his brothers is clearly a sign of abuse. At around eight years old, Ayato should have been free to enjoy the simple joys of childhood without fear. On top of that, she actively tries to distance him from his siblings by saying “You’re different from the other children”. That made him feel isolated, like someone who would never truly be understood. It’s easy to see how experiences like this shaped Ayato into the type of person who refuses to open up to others, pretends everything is fine and keeps everything to himself until he breaks, due to fear of being mocked or rejected.

Also, WHIPPING a child is something absolutely no parent should do. He was clearly in pain.

credit to: dialovers-translations

If Cordelia weren’t abusive, Ayato would have had no reason to prefer the ghoul’s dungeon over home. He knew that both places would strip him of freedom and subject him to pain.

All Ayato ever wanted was to be acknowledged and loved by his mother, yet he realized that this could never happen. Cordelia’s only concept of love was EROS, a romantic love directed solely toward Karlheinz. She never loved her children, as her obsession with Karlheinz left her incapable of allowing other forms of love, such as the familial one, into her heart.

No child deserves to be treated like that. Even if Cordelia was mentally unstable, that doesn’t make it her children’s fault. This is a franchise where practically everyone is unhinged, and nobody should be judged for who they stan, but it’s dangerous to dismiss certain things. After all, there are people in real life who grew up in situations similar to the triplets, and minimizing that kind of trauma is very harmful.

[koralinewrites]

Guys…

I’m making a post about this because oh my gods, I thought we left the Laito discourse back in April but APPARENTLY NOT.

For those Cordelia enjoyers trying to defend her, here’s the main issue most of Laito’s fans have with that: We don’t care if she didn’t have sex with him. She might not’ve!! Is there some evidence? Yes, but it’s mostly still assumptions. BUT. What we DO care about, and even something that you bring up in your own points, is that Cordelia took blood from Laito (and/or vice versa) on multiple occasions. Blood drinking is something that, in lots of vampire media (think Sinners) AS WELL AS the DL universe, can be inherently sexual.

Notice how I said ‘can’. This is because I believe that the WAY said blood is procured also plays a part in it. I bring this up because (I don’t know if I’ve seen anyone talk about this but I would like to cover all my bases in case someone uses this) Ayato drinking Cordelia’s blood when killing her was NOT SEXUAL. He had mortally wounded her FIRST, and was drinking the blood that had gotten on him. He did not bite her.

BITING (or bloodsucking), however, IS shown to be inherently a sexual act between vampires and each other and/or people. Drama CDs have shown that bloodsucking can (and has, many times) lead to sex. ROUTES show this as well, just go look at any of them. Bloodsucking can either be foreplay or the main act, depending on the circumstances.

For those who still don’t think that whatever Laito and Cordelia had was sexual in nature (and therefore sexual assault to Laito), let me ask you a few questions: Why else would Karlheinz send Laito to the ‘dungeon’ as punishment if it was ‘just bloodsucking’, something ‘completely normal’ by your standards? Why, when Laito was IN said dungeon cell, would Richter ask Cordelia something along the lines of “Should we be doing this in front of your son?” if it was ‘just bloodsucking’? Why would Ayato feel GUILTY for not stopping what was between Laito and Cordelia if it was ‘just bloodsucking’?

And if the idea that “Laito came onto her, so Karlheinz was punishing him!” gets brought up, here’s my answer: It doesn’t matter. If Laito came onto her, or if he didn’t, it’s still Cordelia’s fault. Why? Because she was an ADULT, he was a CHILD. That should’ve been shut down REAL QUICK. The only reason Karlheinz locked up Laito in the first place is because he was JEALOUS, which was the WHOLE REASON CORDELIA DID THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE. For KARLHEINZ’S attention back. Which has been stated. Many times. In many routes.

At the end of the day, you can’t make up your own canon (looking at a specific ‘tummy problem’ idea I saw, to which I threw my phone) based off a one-off drama CD when we have SO MUCH PROOF in the GAMES and in MANGA saying otherwise. EVEN IF she ‘didn’t have sex with him’, bloodsucking is something that IS. SEXUAL. Therefore, making it SEXUAL ASSAULT.

I don’t care about the semantics of it all. THAT is the main issue at hand, not if what Cordelia and Laito were doing was sex or not.

Thank you.

[weirdvn]

Guys...

Let's start with the fact that to bite means to eat. Let's start with the fact that Laito himself said in LE Laito Maniac 01 that for vampires, blood is primarily just food. And you can sexualize, I repeat again, absolutely anything. Just like the process of eating food.

// Honestly, I find it unironically hilarious to watch you all invent this image of a woman as a rapist-pedophile, and every time it's proven that she wasn't one, you start with the theatrical gasps, sighs, and hysterics. Worse than a kindergarten nursery group.

You're welcome!

[koralinewrites]

Thank you for your input!!! I will digress that I am not a native Japanese speaker, and I am able to agree that translations do not do the canon writing justice.

I would like to say, however, that I personally do no see Cordelia as a rapist or pedophile. In fact, I do feel bad for her - she was a product of her environment, just as Laito was. I do not believe she truly was ‘in love with her son’ like that, I believe she simply wanted to get Karlheinz’s attention and at that point, it was by any means necessary.

But, I do not think it matter what Cordelia’s intent was, do you see? Cordelia’s ACTIONS are what transpired, and they are what affected Laito his whole life. The bloodsucking was sexual in nature to HIM. He would recognize how she acted around the other men she was with and would make connections with how she acted with him. I can concede that Cordelia was not ACTUALLY in love with her son, but her actions are what affected him. Which is why Laito responds like a sexual assault victim.

Even if you do not agree with most of what I have said, can you at least see why many people (like myself) see Laito as being assaulted at least because of how he RESPONDS to it, which they may or may not be able to relate to themselves? And that trauma can make said people very defensive of their iterations of the character they relate to?

[rosaryui]

Nice to meet you. I would like to read the Laito analysis you posted, but I cannot read it because my translator cannot recognize it due to the font. If you don't mind, could you please post it in a common font? Sorry for being selfish.

{LINK TO ORIGINAL POST DOWN BELOW } Hello,nice to meet u too! I apologize for the font issue,here is the analysis written in a clearer way under the cut:

———

- General Overview:

Let's lay down the foundations for this analysis by stating the basic facts; Laito Sakamaki is one of the six Sakamaki brothers, serving as the third triplet born to the vampire Karlheinz and his first wife, Cordelia. Outwardly, his archetype is that of the "Lustful Sadist"-Laito presents himself as flirtatious, carefree, and shamelessly hedonistic, often playing the role of a perverse tease who blurs the lines between affection and cruelty at the drop of a hat (heh, get it?)

At first, he appears as a playful man far too lost in his own amusement to be anything more than that-however, this notion couldn't be further from the truth-as Laito is considered to be incredibly dangerous by his own brothers, and that's not putting it lightly. This "true" self of his is something we the player and Yui both discover rather quickly and unpleasantly..

- Design philosophy:

According to the official fanbook, Laito was the most difficult character to create. The illustrator focused on three keywords: perverse, trendy and attractive-here we will analyse how these traits translate in his appearance.

Laito wears the same school uniform as everyone else, with some unique changes-first off his pants are noticeably shorter, reaching just barely over his knee.

His jacket is unbuttoned and modified with a fashionable fur pattern, but the most iconic things are undoubtedly his tilted fedora and his mole-placed right under his lip, indicating a natural sensuality. His hair is a dark red purposefully "messy" as we can see from the stray strand he lets fall over his forehead.

His eyes are slanted and green like his mother's-a color typically used to indicate deception and envy. His body language characterized by his ever-present smirk visually communicates his easygoing attitude -yet also indicates a feeling of secrecy. Finally,his elegant yet also "loose" posture and loose clothing choices reinforce the concept of a deceptive calm that contrasts his chaotic behaviour. Laito's voice design further reinforces this dichotomy: his tone is smooth, playful, and singsong, yet layered with menace and manipulation, allowing him to shift from seducer to sadist without warning. Altogether, his design embodies contradiction-scouction and calculation.

Backstory and trauma:

It is a widely agreed upon fact that his backstory alone enhances the game's disturbing factor by a hundred. Here is a breakdown of it; his early life is defined by extreme emotional and sexual trauma, inflicted by his mother, Cordelia. Instead of estabilishing traditional familial bond, Cordelia cruelly used Laito as a substitute for her absent lover, blurring boundaries between affection and exploitation— yet at the same time,she consistently degraded him,reminding him that he would never be like Karlheinz and would therefore never be as important on her eyes. This incestuous abuse warped Laito’s understanding of intimacy from a young age, teaching him that love is inseparable from control, pain, and seduction— and that love itself may not be anything but a word. When Karlheinz,his own father,discovered their relationship, he failed to protect Laito— instead, he punished him by imprisoning him alone in the attic, compounding the trauma with abandonment and shame. Rather than being rescued, Laito was blamed, reinforcing a self-image of worthlessness and corruption. Over time, he inevitably developed a mask of charm and promiscuity to hide his broken sense of self, adopting a hypersexual, teasing persona to stay emotionally invulnerable. Cordelia’s violent death at the hands of her sons and her lingering presence inside Yui (mostly seen in Haunted Dark Bridal) further complicate his emotional world, triggering unresolved attachment and revulsion. His behavior in the present—marked by sadism, manipulation, and sexual dominance—can be traced back to this early history of abuse, neglect, and unresolved psychological damage.

- Backstory and Trauma:

It is a widely agreed upon fact that his backstory alone enhances the game's disturbing factor by a hundred. Here is a breakdown of it; his early life is defined by extreme emotional and sexual trauma, inflicted by his mother, Cordelia. Instead of estabilishing traditional familial bond, Cordelia cruelly used Laito as a substitute for her absent lover, blurring boundaries between affection and exploitation-yet at the same time, she consistently degraded him, reminding him that he would never be like Karlheinz and would therefore never be as important on her eyes. This incestuous abuse warped Laito's understanding of intimacy from a young age, teaching him that love is inseparable from control, pain, and seduction-and that love itself may not be anything but a word. When Karlheinz, his own father, discovered their relationship, he failed to protect Laito-instead, he punished him by imprisoning him alone in the attic, compounding the trauma with abandonment and shame. Rather than being rescued, Laito was blamed, reinforcing a self-image of worthlessness and corruption. Over time, he inevitably developed a mask of charm and promiscuity to hide his broken sense of self, adopting a hypersexual, teasing persona to stay emotionally invulnerable. Cordelia's violent death at the hands of her sons and her lingering presence inside Yui (mostly seen in Haunted Dark Bridal) further complicate his emotional world, triggering unresolved attachment and revulsion. His behavior in the present-marked by sadism, manipulation, and sexual dominance can be traced back to this early history of abuse, neglect, and unresolved psychological damage.

- Psychological Aspect:

As stated earlier, Laito's prolonged exposure to sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and misdirected punishment resulted in a profoundly fragmented psyche. He developed a defense mechanism of masking vulnerability with hypersexuality, using flirtation, sadism, and manipulation to regain a sense of control over interpersonal dynamics. The incestuous relationship with Cordelia conditioned him to equate pain with love and domination with affection, leaving him unable to form healthy emotional bonds. As a result, Laito struggles with dissociation-not from reality, but from genuine intimacy often reducing others to "toys" or "games" to avoid confronting his own feelings of worthlessness and confusion. His compulsive need to test, tease, and hurt others, particularly Yui, stems from a subconscious belief that true connection is dangerous, and that anyone who claims to care for him must be lying or naive. Essentially, Laito is caught in a psychological loop where he re-enacts his own victimization from the role of the abuser, both fearing love and craving it in equal measure, in an attempt to "reclaim" his own trauma.

- Relationship with his siblings:

(I will be focusing on his relationship with the other 2 triplets because they're the ones closest to him and with more material to analyze.)

Laito's relationship with his triplet brothers, Ayato and Kanato, is a volatile mix of shared trauma, rivalry, and fragile loyalty. As children of Cordelia, all three endured emotional neglect and abuse -each responding in psychologically distinct but equally damaging ways. While they share a traumatic origin and a familial bond, they are often shown bickering, mocking, and undermining one another, cach desperate to assert dominance in a family where love was always a competition.

Laito treats Ayato with sarcastic amusement, often teasing him for his arrogance and need for validation, yet there's a buried resentment in how Ayato was favored differently while Ayato feels a sense of guilt towards his feigned indifference towards Laito despite him knowing that he was Cordelia's primary "target" and that without him both he and Kanato would've had it far far worse. With Kanato, the relationship is colder and more volatile. Laito views Kanato as emotionally unstable and difficult to reason with-often treating him with exasperation or amusement, but never with trust. Kanato, in turn, seems to resent Laito's flippant attitude and overt sexuality, especially given that both were heavily damaged by Cordelia. Kanato'sdeep emotional wounds manifest in obsessive, childlike outbursts and necrophilic tendencies, which Laito both ridicules and distances himself from-perhaps because Kanato reflects a rawness that Laito is terrified to face within himself. Still, there is an undeniable mirroring between them: both were deeply entangled with Cordelia in different but scarring ways, and both use others (dolls, lovers, "toys") to reenact or control what they couldn't as children. Their relationship is more about tension than communication, with any moment of mutual understanding quickly dissolving into sarcasm or hostility. Rather than comfort one another, they perform cruelty and superiority, mimicking the household that raised them. The Sakamaki triplets aren't brothers in the nurturing sense they're more like co-survivors of a childhood that taught them to compete, repress, and dominate in order to feel safe.

Underneath all the dysfunction, Laito's true thoughts toward both Ayato and Kanato are laced with a complex mix of contempt, pity, and longing. There's a silent recognition that no one else could ever fully understand what they went through and yet, none of them are emotionally equipped to help each other heal. They keep each other at arm's length with cruelty, because that's what they were taught family was: competition, dominance, and conditional worth. The tragedy is not just that they are broken, but that they were never given the tools to be brothers in any loving or stable sense. In rare moments, there are brief glimpses of grief, or even buried affection such as in Dark Fate but it's always buried beneath layers of performance and survival instinct.

- Relationship with Cordelia

Laito's relationship with Cordelia is the foundation of his psychological damage-a grotesque distortion of maternal love that left him emotionally and sexually scarred. She treated him not as a son, but as a lover and object of possession, grooming him into believing that being desired was the same as being loved. This twisted bond instilled in Laito a warped view of intimacy, where pain, pleasure, dominance, and affection became inseparable. Yet despite the abuse, Laito's feelings toward Cordelia remain disturbingly conflicted-wildly ranging from hatred, to childlike affection, and most horrendously to "attraction". He expresses hatred for her cruelty and manipulation, but also a sick form of attachment even describing her as someone who "loved" him in a way no one else has. In some moments, he mocks or despises her, in others, he seems to mourn her loss or replicate her behavior through his own treatment of others. This inner contradiction traps Laito in a cycle of re-enacting Cordelia's abuse: seeking power over others while simultaneously yearning for someone to love him in a way she never did. Her influence persists long after her death, not just as trauma but as a template for all his relationships-especially with Yui. Laito's inability to fully condemn or detach from Cordelia reflects how deeply trauma can entangle love and violence, even when the victim knows they were wronged.

- Relationship with Yui:

Laito's relationship with Yui Komori is defined by a volatile mix of sadism, obsession, emotional dependency, and deeply corrupted ideas of love..along with many parallels. In the early stages of their interaction-particularly in Haunted Dark Bridal and More Blood-Laito's relationship with Yui is deeply abusive, especially in the early game routes, marked by coercion, manipulation, and repeated violations of her bodily autonomy. He forces himself on her, mocks her resistance, and frequently gaslights her into questioning her own boundaries-all while insisting that she "enjoys" the pain, echoing the exact language Cordelia once used on him. Laito projects his own trauma onto Yui, testing whether she will love him the way his mother claimed to unconditionally, no matter how much he hurts her. He sees his younger self as her an "untouched" creature who he can fully dismantle and pour all his frustrations into like his mother did to him. -Laito tests boundaries and masks his fears with manipulation and cruelty and following the "hurt them before they hurt you" concept to a T. Their dynamic becomes a constant psychological confrontation— Yui forces Laito to confront what real,non-transactional connection might feel like, while Laito forces Yui to navigate the complex gray areas between compassion and self-preservation. Yui is someone who refuses to become what hurt her, and Laito is someone still imprisoned by what shaped him. Despite this, Yui becomes the first person to challenge him emotionally, offering not just fear or submission, but something he's never had empathy and moral clarity. As the games progress, particularly in Dark Fate, cracks begin to show in his carefully constructed facade and he actually begins to make a step forward to grow from his trauma, while both of them become increasingly emotionally reliant on eachother he is drawn to her compassion and stability things he never received in childhood. Laito begins to fear losing her, not just as a possession, but as the very first person to make him feel love and feel loved. Of course, since this is Diabolik Lovers were talking about and the characters are still undeniable abusers (all the relationship are quite literally predatorx prey so that's pretty much a given..), even in routes where he truly does develop and begins to show genuine affection and consideration of Yui, his affection remains entangled with possessiveness and manipulation, making their relationship a painful reflection of trauma bonding rather than a truly healing romance. While Yui's empathy sometimes inspires moments of vulnerability in Laito, neither he nor the other characters ever fully atone for the harm they cause her, and Yui is repeatedly placed in the role of emotional caretaker, enduring psychological and physical abuse in order to reach the fragments of his buried humanity. Their relationship is not a redemptive romance, atleast not entirely it is a trauma bond, where both connection and cruelty coexist, and where healing remains ambiguous, conditional, and fraught with power imbalanse despite the happiness displayed on the surface from both sides a happiness that regardless of it's precarious state is still undoubtedly genuine at it's core.

- Development;

Buckle up, here comes the good part. The whole reason I made this analysis.)

Reminding ourselves that Haunted Dark Bridal was retconned and is non-canon,we'll focus on his development starting from More Blood where at the end of a long and complex route which explores his trauma in depth, his walls begin to crack in a way that reveals genuine emotional vulnerability thanks to Yui's efforts. Throughout his route, he begins to confront the possibility that Yui's affection is not a trap or performance, nor is it simply her sexual attraction to him speaking, but something freely offered from her heart. This terrifies him as he is unable to distinguish love and lust pleasure and pain. His route reaches it's climax when he does begin to understand that the two can exist together as he accepts his feelings for Yui and her feelings for him as true despite the rampant sexuality that keeps those feelings "tainted". He begins to see Yui in a much more positive light, and by the end the two are in a relatively "happy" relationship...however, Laito's most compelling development unfolds in Dark Fate. Removed from the rigid cruelty of the Sakamaki household and thrust into the conflict between vampires and wolves, Laito is forced into new emotional territory one where manipulation alone no longer guarantees control. In this, Laito becomes painfully self-aware of his own emotional dysfunction; he expresses regret, doubt, and an aching need to understand what love actually is while also tackling the fear of abandonment that plagues him, and eventually even the concept of suicide. He openly recognizes the fact that he, too, was a victim-something he previously masked with sadistic detachment. His possessiveness remains, but it's tinged with fear of loss rather than pure domination. He questions his feelings, asks Yui to help him understand himself and her and shows signs of rejecting the cycle Cordelia imposed on him while coming to terms with her death. While his progress is not linear -he continues to act in problematic and controlling ways Dark Fate presents the first meaningful shift in Laito's internal world: not a redemption, but the beginning of a confrontation with his trauma, shame, and capacity for real connection. It's a rare moment in the franchise where Laito is not only dissected, but softened still broken, still dangerous, but beginning to seck a full healing.

- Themes and Symbolism:

Laito's character embodies several core themes in Diabolik Lovers: most of all the cyclical nature of abuse, corruption, objectification and even religious trauma. His signature motif -the hat, often tipped low over his eyes-functions as a literal and symbolic mask (worn mostly during the carlier parts of his routes when the "conflict" is still on going, and typically ending up without it at the end), concealing the pain and shame he refuses to confront. The religious symbolism tied to Yui (often portrayed with crosses, holy imagery and..yes, that church scene.) becomes even more loaded in Laito's routes, as he repeatedly tests and desecrates her perceived innocence in an attempt to disprove the possibility of "pure" love.

His sadomasochistic behaviors also carry symbolic weight-not just as shock value, but as a way to ritualize his pain, to control what once controlled him by making himself enjoy anything that may hurt him. He symbolizes the cyclical nature of abuse-how victims, when left untreated and emotionally abandoned, can unconsciously or consciouly become perpetrators, repeating the very harm done to them. His hypersexual, teasing persona is not simply a personality trait but a symbolic mask: a performance of power used to cover profound emotional fear, abandonment, and self-loathing. His constant references to others as "tous" reflect his own objectification at the hands of Cordelia; he can only relate to others through roles of possession and use, because he was never treated as someone with intrinsic value. Finally, the last core theme Laito tackles is shared across all the boys in the series: what can be defined as love? Is it still love even though it's abusive? Can an abusive relationship show signs of recovery? Can healing and "atoning"-seeking redemption and attempting to change your ways be considered a way of taking accountability without explicitly stating it?

- Other- how the anime fails:

The Diabolik Lovers anime (just mentioning it fills me with unbridled rage) flattens Laito Sakamaki and all his brothers into shallow fanservice caricatures, stripping away the complex psychological layers that make him both disturbing and compelling in the games. In the anime, he is reduced to a one-note flirt who smirks, gropes, and spouts innuendos with little nuance or context and just acts mysterious for the sake of being mysterious. His trauma,particularly the incestuous abuse by Cordelia and the emotional damage it caused is either ignored or vaguely alluded to without gravity, making his sadism seem purely gratuitous rather than the product of deep psychological trauma. The anime presents his assaults on Yui without any real emotional framing, treating them as routine fanservice instead of critically disturbing moments meant to challenge the player's perception of morality particularly the church scene, which ends up having absolutely no consequences to Yui's mental health, as they both continue to remain square one characters who do not EVER change across both seasons. It also fails to explore his quieter, more introspective moments-essentially making him a villain just for the sake of being a villain. His teasing, in the source material, often masks pain and tests emotional boundaries; in the anime, it's played for shallow eroticism and cheap shock. In removing the tension between Laito's performance and his inner torment, the anime demonizes him even more-not-by making him monstrous as the games do, but by making him hollow. What should be unsettling in a PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR OTOME SERIES becomes just another trope: the perverted vampire with no depth, no arc, and no meaning.

———

Post by @rosaryui · 23 images

💬 3  🔁 7  ❤️ 79 · LAITO SAKAMAKI CHARACTER ANALYSIS · • by rosaryui!! ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌ ﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Here u go!

[rosaryui]

LAITO SAKAMAKI CHARACTER ANALYSIS

• by rosaryui!!

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

(clearer font here )

Post by @rosaryui · 1 link

💬 0  🔁 0  ❤️ 0 · Post by @rosaryui · 23 images · Nice to meet you. I would like to read the Laito analysis you posted, but I cannot read it

[dl-drama-cd-deactivated20251212]

DO NOT REPOST THESE SCANS

This user @6mediocre9 stole my scans! Of fanbooks and setteis that I bought myself! On my own money!!! Please DO NOT REBLOGTHESE POSTS! I didn't give a permission to post it! Please if you've already rebloged it DELETE IT!

[i-love-my-sons]

Do Vampires celebrate Christmas?

Followup if you do you should get your children therapy for Christmas. They are deeply traumatized and in need of mental health help.

"For the Christmas part we're not inclined to, but I often urge my children because it fosters family bonding and such."

"For that last part, I truly have no idea what you mean."

[equinox-86]

(late) Mother's Day

We got chibi moms before GTA 6 holy–

2 CGs in one post was the death of me, but nothing tops the one I made with Carla, Noctis, Azusa & Co. for DF 💀💀💀 THAT WAS A NIGHTMARE

Which wife would you marry?

[ask-cordelia-sakamaki]

Keeps up her smile up

Nfu, better to be a temple than an abandoned shack like you are. Would you not agree, Beatrix~?

[sakamaki-beatrix]

Sits down

Well, at least an abandoned shack does not need worship to feel important.

Even an abandoned shack can be rebuilt, but once a temple loses its purpose, it is nothing more than a mere building.

[vampires-bitrs]

I'm a firm believer that most of Rejets games take place in the same universe it can be different points In time, but it's the same universe.

Especially when it comes to these next 4 games, I can go on a whole rant about it! (but most fans do agree upon this anyway.)

Diabolik Lovers

Dance with Devils

CARNELIAN BLOOD

Black Wolves Saga

[animalpetcel]

Carnelian Blood Thoughts

I have spent the past day or so just binge reading Carnelian Blood, the spin-off series to Diabolik Lovers (my guilty pleasure) and one of the many series of Rejet.

Honestly I had a lot of fun lol. I feel like the mystery of Carnelian plan's, the missing 6th Erosion member and the origin of both the guys and our main girl I feel like helps make the content feel meatier and not just rely on romantic moments with the boys (or them just goofing off). And the fact that the cds get plot moments at all is pretty interesting! I also like how it is kinda more evident that they all have different relationships with their dad (from Byakuya's freak outs at the near mention of him, Toxin's more gung-ho attempt at fulfilling Carnelian's orders, Creha and Yoru being more doubtful and Neight/Ura being the ones who are actually in touch with him).

I think the only kinda frustrating thing is that Erosion are chimeras, demon world races with something imbued in them (the tl said they had demon parts but I'm not actually sure what it meant by that?). You'd think that this means that we would be able to see more of the behaviors of the adler, vibora and werewolf races that sets them apart from DLs vampires right (even with a bit of other stuff mixed in)? Well no bc they also drink blood (but of not-humans this time...which feels like splitting hairs) bc of their chimera condition and have so far demonstrated only supernatural abilities related to their chimera condition....so Toxin & Yoru don't do werewolf stuff, Creha doesn't do anything related to vibora and Neight/Ura & Byakuya don't seem much like adler...it's disappointing that they feel like just...weaker vampires atm but I'm willing to give them time to cook.

(Also outside of Neight/Ura and I think Toxin, the boys haven't actually made the largest use of their chimeric traits. But again I'm willing to wait and see).

Now here's my thoughts on each individual member, from youngest to oldest.

Creha: Ngl I thought either him or Neight/Ura would have ended up being my favorite but instead it was someone else (Yoru). I think his video game obsession and how he uses that to kinda avoid difficult things, or it also demonstrating how he gets tunnel vision when he's focusing was really neat. I only kinda think that it would be nice if Creha demonstrated a specific preference for certain video games rather than the writing making it sound like he loves every single video game genre equally (he does seem to have a preference for challenging games...but that's also pretty vague. Not that he can't be a video game nerd, but nerds also have specific stuff they like). Also I thought that the two little scars he had under his mask felt but a little goofy, like I've seen similar characters who avoid showing their mouths for similar reasons but bc of the genre Creha can't actually look non-traditionally attractive so they just kinda look like really light scars.

Byakuya: Ngl he's probably my least favorite if only bc it is really hard to decipher what's he's saying at any given moment. I find the way how he gets affected by his "blood cravings" the worst out of all of his brothers, and the fear he has for Carnelian interesting but there isn't a lot of bite on otherwise? Even his obsession with disinfectant feels like it's missing context so until we get more info on him I can't really say much.

Toxin: What if "Sold to 1Direction" went terribly wrong? Or right if you're into that thing. Despite him not being my favorite, I want to spin him around and study him like a bug. I guess off all the boys I consider him to be the most unsettling, simply bc I do think pop stars similar to him like...exist lol. The way he craves perfection and flies off the handle into destructive rage is both unnerving and I feel like creates a nice mesh between his "princely" persona (also contrasting with his twin brother, who is spicy on the outside but mostly sweet on the inside, while Toxin is the reverse). My only question is that how did take the moment of him basically dragging the mc on stage and assaulting her for like...his fans to become aware? Not that they wouldn't defend him (ppl like that exist), but that there aren't even rumors that his guy has anger issues lol. I also find it interesting how he's the main guy pushing Carnelians' goal forward while Yoru is on the more hesitant side. I do wish we saw these two play off of each other more tho bc I feel like there could be some good content in showing how they became so different. So I will be watching him closely as more content comes out.

Yoru: Best boy! Baby! He cooks, he (begrudging) plays piano, he seems to be the mostly sane member of the group and swears like a sailor! What more could you ask for? I find it funny how, despite him being the "bad boy" of the group, he's actually the kindest to the point where he's the only one who doesn't kill/torture you in his bad ending cd (partially bc the mc kills him but ssssshhhh). Even tho he still sucks our blood and namecalls the mc, he feels almost out of place bc of how less violent he is compared to the rest of the DL universe. He also seems to be the only one curious as to why Carnelian wants the MC, and his distrust of Carnelian, and the fact that he might have been taught by Elias I feel like gives him a lot of plot threads for juicy drama if they like...ever give Carnelian Blood a game (pleasepleasepleaseplease-)

Neight/Ura: I think he's (they're?) like my second favorite. Honestly I really buy into the theory that Ura might be the sixth boy on that island, and the way he described having to see his own dead body makes me sympathize with him. I'm honestly fairly happy that Neight gets to be the "leader" of the group, even if he doesn't get to that show that (or his smarts) often. Honestly the dynamic between Neight and Ura left me with a lot of questions. For starts, does like...their school know that he has a split personality? Ura never seems interested in like, even remotely pretending to be Neight, and Neight falls asleep often (honestly the CDs struggle to balance these two. Even in their solo cd it did not feel like these two got to have as much back and forth as I would have liked, and the group cds did "Neight falls asleep fairly early in and then we spend the rest of the cd with Ura" way too often that it never feels like we spend enough time with Neight) in random places yet it doesn't even cause that much of an issue? Like maybe seeing Neight have to struggle to clean up Ura's messes and Ura feeling limited by Neight's responsibilities I feel like could have added to their attempts to kill one another. Also Ura at one point says that he doesn't want to perform, nor help the rest of Erosion but that also like...doesn't go anywhere? Like I just feel like they could do more with two being forced to coexist.

I'd like to ramble about Carnelian and his plans as well as comparing him to Karlheinz but I think I'm gonna wait for a bit more of his plan to come to light. I do wanna say that I wish his daughters lived if only bc it would be nice to have more non-evil/dead female side characters.

Anyway those are my thoughts and everyone is feel to add to them or ask questions! I really hope they get a game bc I feel like they really have a content that'll benefit from the change in medium. I heard that there are more cds coming out too so I'm excited for that!

[46snowfox]

poco a poco volví a retomar el lore de diabolik lovers y me di cuenta que tiene conexión con otro juego de rejet. podrías explicarme eso, por favor

Lo expliqué por aquí

Y no es otro juego (por ahora), es otra franquicia de carácter más músical. Carnelian Blood es básicamente un spin off, una historia que se desarrolla en el mismo universo, pero que contiene personajes distintos y en la que no necesitas realmente saber nada de Diabolik Lovers para entenderla. En esta historia sigues a los cinco miembros de la banda de EROSION, Toxin, Yoru, Neight, Byakuya y Creha, a quienes su "padre" Carnelian Brecht les ha encomendado ir a buscar "algo" a la ciudad de Kaminashi (la misma ciudad de DL).

Spoiler, no, no están buscando a Yui, eso mataría la parte de spin off.

[gagad]

Hey Kino fan!😆 Hear me out! We know that Kino is Karl's clone *somehow* Our Kino is good at devising plan, a trickster, Roaster and addicted to his phone...As he is Karl's clone ,his mannerism should be similar to Karl. So we can assume that Karl in his youth was very similar to Kino except his illegitimacy🤔

hey dude, as we all know, Cordelia once mentioned that reije looks a bit like Carl but didn't mention if she was talking about looks or personality, in my opinion,I think she's talking about the face, red eyes and dark hair etc. If you look closely at reije and kino, they both have red eyes and black hair you'll see that they have white hair on the bottom too , and look at Uncle Richter His eyes are red. I really don't know where Richter got the green hair. It could be his father. I don't know, but the Sakamaki brothers mentioned that Carl can change his shape, so this is not his real shape i guess. I think he looks just like kino. I mean, exactly like kino!!! because kino is the result of Carl's DNA alone, In my opinion, as the game says, Carl is a manipulative person who only cares about the success of Adam and Eve's plan and doesn't care if he hurts someone along the way. He made the Mukami brothers orphans in order to get them together, and yes, we can say that Kino. In one way or another, they have the same personality/I mean Carl cares a lot about Socrates, just like Kino does with Yuri, (the friendship) , and they both like to figure things out things even if they hurt people, the making others obey them,so yeah, he was evil just like kino when he was young or maybe worst . ////

[laitoscupoftea]

I don't know if you follow Carnelian Blood ,but it is a sort of spin off from Diabolik Lovers. In their manga. The main character gets involved with KarlHeinz and you can see what he looked like back then.