You're so right big cleanup arc is SO GOOD they just can't appreciate Ritsu's 13-year-old swag 😔 (literally the most realistic depiction of middle schoolers I've ever seen I was like that in middle school)
RIGHT.... I see people making fun of that arc and Ritsu so much, and I know it's probably supposed to be all in good fun, but the results of that poll and general lack of understanding I see of that arc don't help my feelings on this..... like. I know people are allowed to not share my opinions and not like things but 😭
Like. Yes, Ritsu is dramatic in that arc. Yes, he breaks down over relatively small things. Yes, he beats people up seemingly out of nowhere. And yes, taken out of context.... I see how that's funny to talk about. But... it just saddens me. That that's most of the discussion I see of that arc. Just about how feral Ritsu was, how violent, how nonsensical, how funny it all is..... where's all the actual metas about it huh??? I wanna talk about it.
I wanna talk about how fucking stressed Ritsu was, even up until that point. About how it wasn't just framing those kids that broke him. He's been bottling all his feelings up for years. He's been maintaining that perfect image for years. He didn't even have anyone to talk to about it, like mob had Reigen - he had noone. He was simply the good kid, the smart kid, the helpful, kind brother, the one who never caused any trouble. Do you know how much fucking pressure that is? Do you know how lonely he must have felt? Not to even mention the added deathly fear of Mob, who he had to prepare for exploding every single day. Who he never knew when he could hurt him again. His big brother, who he loved so dearly. Who almost killed him. Who he had to develop placating tactics to try not to aggravate further. This kid is legit traumatized. He has issues. He had noone to help him with it. He was fucking alone. I don't actually think it's that extreme or nonsensical that he snapped.... I really don't.
As for the beating people up while monolouging thing.... I've mentioned it before, but I've never really went in depth with it I think - but I really fucking love how Ritsu kind of.... leans into this role of the villain once he realizes he's escaped the image of the good kid. He's never really had the chance to develop morality and ethics on a more realistic scale - cause he never really had true relationships to develop those senses. He simply... doesn't do well at people stuff. At being a normal kid. He can only emulate what he thinks people expect him to be - what will lead him to being the safest he can be. For a long time, that was the good, smart brother status. It kept his parents happy. It kept his brother happy. It kept his teachers happy. But what happens when he's suddenly not that? What happens when he has a chance to be something else? He can't just become himself. He doesn't know who he is. All he knows is that he's suddenly doing bad things, for seemingly no reason. He doesn't fully understand those reasons himself. "Even I..." he says. He says as he contemplates how even as someone as smart as him can be so petty, how even someone as weak as him can suddenly become powerful, how even someone so messed up as him can be forgiven.
That mask of a villain is what he puts on because he thinks it will finally give him what he has sought after all this time - power. Power to protect himself. Power to not be so afraid anymore. But also.... that shedding those concepts of social norms, of bonds, of caring about others, will give him the freedom that he so sorely lacks. That's what he's felt the most of all - this.... stifling sense of responsibility. This responsibility that he has put on to please others, to not be hurt. So what if he just.... doesn't care about it anymore? Did he ever even care? What if he never cared about others at all, what if he never cared about his brother at all? What if it was all just... fear? Fear that he can shed now, now that he can protect himself? He wants to be free. He so badly wants to not be scared anymore.
And he thinks he achieved that. He finally achieved 'loss'. He can do what he pleases now. Noone can tell him what to do anymore.
....hey. Don't you think that kind of sounds like someone? Someone... made of shadows, white eyes, someone who's felt that same suppression for the same amount of years? :)
I really, really think Ritsu and Mob aren't that different. It's just that their power levels are different, and... Ritsu kind of came to that breaking point a lot sooner than Mob, on virtue of having noone to rely on. Of course, they are still vastly different people, but.... it's not a coincidence, that Ritsu was the first to understand who ???% is.
So I just think it's kinda weird, how many people just. Seem to not understand Ritsu? Or take Mob seriously, while only ever making fun of Ritsu? Of course not all people do that, and I know a lot of people poke fun at him out of love (me also, sometimes), but I've heard so many people admit that they don't understand the big clean up arc, or Ritsu's character, or simply don't care to look too deep into it. When I look up mp100 essays on youtube, that arc and Ritsu's character, is the one most often grossly misinterpreted. And I just find that sad. And it's part of the reason for my strong feelings for this, I guess.
In the end, Ritsu is just a young, confused kid, one who's lived in fear for so long he forgot what life looks outside of it, one who stifled himself for years, one who felt the need to put himself into boxes because everything was just suddenly so bad and so complicated and he couldn't make sense of it on his own. What 13 year old could? What traumatized 13 year old honors student wouldn't act irrationally when presented with otherwordly powers? Is there even a healthy way one could be expected to react to all of this?
I could go on... I could talk about how he develops past that, about his words to Shimazaki during the world domination arc on what he wants is a 'fun life', about his relationship to Shou, about how I think Ritsu will struggle to choose his future, about how he and Mob grow beyond the series... but this was supposed to be about the big clean up arc, so I'll end it at that. I don't think I explained my thoughts the best I could, Ritsu is just a little bug in my brain that buzzes and buzzes and never quite leaves and idk how to put it all into coherence, but... yes. That's my answer to this ask, I guess lmao. I have to go load the dishwasher now o7
P.s. I hope noone gets any hard feelings over my dramatics btw. I am simply a creature that gets way too passionate about some fictional characters.... and Ritsu happens to be one of them u_u and I hope this big old ramble of mine made some sense jdhhdhd
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