ALSO also, thinking about my pure disdain for Kuniharu and my lack of such for the parents Fenton has me wondering why, because with Kuniharu it's fkn ON SIGHT and it has been for years now. Not the case (at the moment, whether this will change with a rewatch remains to be seen) with the Fentons.
But, countries/cultures of origin aside, there's enough similarities insofar as slapstick and potential 'dangers in the home' for my brain to wonder at the difference in my kneejerk reactions there, yknow?
And I think that might be because, in my memory, Jack and Maddie are ALWAYS working to build Danny up. It's the same reason why I can't hate Kurumi. She's not the greatest mom and she tries to shitkick her hubby in front of her kid at least once (in said kid's defence but still) but she tries. The Fentons also try.
They enforce boundaries with clear rules and consequences if broken, they try to bond with him and Jazz on numerous occassions, they're physically and verbally affectionate with their kids and each other, and they make it clear to Danny that they love and support him no matter what when he's outed in Reality Trip. Their greatest issue, canonically in my memory, is that they're hyperfixated bigots, which can lead to unintentional and accidental harm. And even then, they've been shown to have the capacity to change those bigoted views if it gets personal instead of otherized. Which isn't.... great that it needs to be personal for it to click, it shouldn't need to be, but it's definitely something. And yeah, giving their kids free reign in the lab, having Danny clean said lab with all the chemical spills that entails which can actually go boom and reanimate their food is ALSO not great. At all. He's half-dead for a reason. There is absolutely a level of negligence happening here. Like eesh. But would a hypothetical visit from CPS to tell them they're fucking up doing this, this, and this change that? Probably. Again, they're shown to be protective and capable of change. They just need a reason.
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig difference to Kuniharu, for whom it is never an accident, who is never shown to rethink his actions and CHANGE and instead only doubles down, and who always takes every opening he can to attempt harm, physically and/or verbally, on Kusuo - aside from like one time with the surprise party where he gives actually fatherly advice instead of making fun of and degrading him. Likewise, he's rarely affectionate with Kusuo, ALL of that is reserved for Kurumi and sometimes Kusuke outside promotional material or bribing him so Kusuo will do him a favour. Whenenever he talks about wanting to do physical harm to Kusuo, he's not talking about Kusuo's alter-ego, but explicitly about Kusuo himself. And when he's got the in-story excuse to reassure his son he loves him in equal measure to his wife, what does he do?
He shoots it down in a nervous sweat and runs away. As if he's not sure he actually does. He doesn't even try. Remember, the tsundere comes from Kurumi's side of the family! Kuniharu doesn't have this problem with his wife or Kusuke! He is never shown to hide his feelings for anybody else. Just. Kusuo.
AND I HATE HIM. REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I might be able to get behind an argument for cultural differences insofar as openly telling people stuff like 'I love you' and demonstrating it physically were it not for his behaviour with his wife and FIRST son. I'm positive I remember that the first thing Kuniharu does upon seeing Kusuke in England is try to hug him, and it makes me sad that I can't remember him trying to hug Kusuo. When Kusuo's not a cat and his dad therefore doesn't realize it's him, anyway. Kusuo seems receptive to physical affection from his mom, so I do doubt a bit that Kuniharu would be turned away. Like, he might, because Kusuo may not consider him a safe person to recieve affection from, but Kusuo is also very eye for an eye. The energy he gets is the energy he gives back. So. Would he actually scorn Kuniharu's affection? I think he's more likely to accept it - albeit probably in shock. But that's not likely to happen, because changing your ways and modes of thinking takes effort, and Kuniharu is lazy. So.
Anyways, yeah. I think that's probably it. But again, I might change my mind, who knows~
Sure isn't gonna stop me from VERY MUCH ENJOYING fics where poor Danny gets vivisected by his mom and/or dad though LMAO at least Kusuo doesn't need to worry about that :D
