@suman_gautam
I'd love to watch some video essays on Link Click from you
@jorgecamacho1517
I agree with this honestly, the rest of the show was amazing and that moment just felt unnecessarily dark.
@hypernic6920
So to start off, I absolutely love Heavenly Delusion, I genuinely mean it when I say it has been one of the most impactful forms of media I’ve ever observed. In so many ways I have seen myself in these flawed characters and even been unfortunate enough to experience some of what they have. Beyond this will be spoilers for the series from the manga. Primarily, it was revenge. We learned recently in the manga that Robin was the one behind the disappearances that we saw in the beginning of Kiruko’s flashback. He was secretly abducting women (and possibly men) to both experiment on them and to SA them. Kiriko found out what he was doing right before the flashback starts and plans with their orphanage leader to leave town with all the kids. Of course everything in the flashback occurs and Haruki’s brain is put into Kiriko’s body. so Haruki knows nothing about it. Many scenes in the series hint at this, but we only realize this 6 years after the manga started. I genuinely find it so hard to talk about this scene, because with more of the context we have now, it is in character for him to do that. He’s had a powertrip his entire life, literally since childhood. Considering this, part of me wants to say that it is “valid” in the show, but at the same time I have to wonder if there is something else they could have done to still get across how horrible he is. I have watched the anime 5 times and read the manga 2 times, I genuinely love his writing, world building and art, and maybe in the end the story that is told will justify that scene existing in the series. We have to keep in mind this series has literally brought back ideas or concepts introduced in the first chapters of the series, so he without a doubt has put an incredible amount of thought into the work. I hope that im not just wishfully thinking that that scene happened for a reason.
@zoemakespans
This is the second video I have seen on this show to make this point. SO many people recommend it without that asterisk. I think the show itself should have provided a warning at the beginning of the episode, but the fact that so many people recommend it blindly without an asterisk shows that many people don't understand or respect the fear of assault that pervades life as a woman. Your video has restored some of my faith in humanity. I think the scene is unnecessary, but MAYBE not unforgivable. I am so happy to see someone, especially a man, who makes this point.
@noodles8675
Spoiler warning for people who don’t know the twist and apologies for the very long post: I agree that the trope of violence against women for the sake of violence or to act like some kind of revenge plot for another character is tired and needs to end, but that wasn't what I got from watching that scene in Heavenly Delusion. It actually struck a chord for me because it managed to depict something that I'd experienced in a way I'd never seen done before. The reason it hit so hard for me was because it felt very similar to an experience I had with an ex-boyfriend and how it impacted both me and my younger brother. My relationship with the ex wasn’t great to begin with and I spent a lot of the time buckling to what he wanted especially when he pushed for sex. Obviously, my brother was none the wiser because why the fuck would I tell him any of that. (We were all very young at the time) One night, me and said ex were sleeping on a mattress on the floor in the living room and my younger brother was asleep on the couch. Ex starts pushing to do stuff and I tried to say no because my brother was right fucking there and that’s gross. But he kept pushing and I eventually gave in. It was super uncomfortable but I just went along with it because I didn’t know what else to do. Next day my brother told me he’d been awake and didn’t know what to do either so he just lay there and pretended to be asleep. He was obviously super traumatized by it. So was I, because I did that to my brother and because I didn’t know how to just put my foot down and say no, ever. But when I told my ex about it he was proud and kinda got off on the idea that he could tell my brother “Hey, I fucked your sister.” The whole situation was fucked and I was too young at the time to really articulate how I felt about it. Now I understand how disgusting it really was. It wasn’t just the sex he wanted, it was the powertrip of doing that shit to me and taunting my brother with it too. I wasn’t a person in that moment, I was an object, and my brother was an unconsenting witness, both of us existing to fuel my ex’s ego. That scene in Heavenly Delusion felt like it played out just like that. Kiriko’s body became a vehicle for Robin to taunt Haruki, to fuel his own power fantasy. Both Kirkio and Haruki are subjected to assault in that scene—Kiriko is reduced to just a body to be used and Haruki watches it happen in the mirror’s reflection. But it’s also affecting him, because his brain is in Kirkiro’s body. Much in the same way that both me and my brother were harmed that night. Maru’s reaction to what happened also didn’t feel like the stock standard hero’s revenge. For a while he doesn’t even attack Robin, he just watches him talk himself in circles and get more and more distressed when he’s put on the spot. When things finally ended between me and my ex that’s kinda how it went down. He was defensive and flinging insults until he realized he was cornered and no one was going to take his shit anymore—then he got violent. My brother and I are fine now. He’s forgiven me and we both understand each other’s perspectives. We’re closer than ever and that ex is a distant bad memory. I’ve had to make peace with everything that happened and move on. I think that’s also reflected pretty well in the show. The rest of the world is still out there and just as dangerous as before, and Kiruko has to keep going. He asks Maru not to kill Robin and Maru relents without a word and I think that's poignant too. Because it’s not about Maru and it’s not even about Robin, in that moment it’s about Haruki/Kiriko. The very next scene cuts to Kiruko crying and coming to terms with what happened and grappling with his own identity because Haruki has been violated alongside his sister, Kiriko, and now Kiruko can’t find the split between them anymore. The whole thing plays out pretty morbidly but I think pretty realistically. It hammers home that Kiruko and Maru are both just kids trying their best to get by in a world very capable of hurting them, even the people they think they can trust. Both of them were stripped of their innocence by what happened. Before that, Kiruko idolized Robin and Maru was jealous of Robin because of it. Both of those perspectives are understandable but ultimately childish. Afterward, they both have to face the harsh reality of the world they live in. And the best they can do is defend each other. It also kickstarts a more nuanced conversation about who Kiruko really is—neither Haruki nor Kiriko. Kiruko is his own person and he’s been shaped by his own new lived experiences. In a way, Maru’s confession at the end, that he didn’t think he would have fallen for Haruki or Kiriko had they met before, helps Kiruko come to terms with the fact that the assault did not happen to ‘someone else’, it happened to him. It essentially pulls him back from his existential spiraling and solidifies Kiruko as his own person. Idk, I don’t have the words to go super deep with this topic lol. I don’t think it’s a perfect show but I do genuinely love it a lot and I think there is so much to be said and read from the characters in it. This whole ramble isn’t to say that everybody should like the show or that scene but I thought I’d offer my own perspective. Love your channel btw :)
@OhmIsFutile
Thank you for pointing out you had made a video about this. I wholeheartedly agree with your take. I also went on to read the manga almost out of morbid curiosity after that scene. I think it's safe to say it was unnecessary, even as some kind of tool to change Maru. Neither character is affected enough to warrant what happened. In fact, I'd say that the lack of change is a critical part of why the scene is so bad to the point of being rightfully called offensive, or at least justifying a major asterisk to what is otherwise great writing.
@BeyondTilted
2:00 i completely agree with that statement about black mirror, there was one particular episode i watched that pissed me off to no end and made me never want to watch the series, its an episode called crocodile, long story short its just a short film where a woman murders an entire family including a blind child then gets caught. all it did was make me angry that i just essentially watched a murder film where no one won.
@aurelia4183
Completely agree, it was a great show, no doubt, but that scene and how they handled the aftermath especially just left a sour taste in my mouth for the finale. I do have some interesting theories about it, but as an anime only we'll just have to wait and find out I guess.
@elianna4754
Oh man, made in abyss suffers from a very similar problem, where like certain parts of it are amazing, and others are completely unnecessarily sexual. Great video, it’s a problem that comes up more than I’d like in anime ;(
@Passionlipp
I havent watched the show, but i just wanna let you know, you're definitely not insane for feeling this way. I have a very similar relationship with media that depicts SA, especially if its as dark as youre making it sound. I havent experienced SA, no one in my family has, no one i know has. I have no connection to it. But even just the mention of it via your video made me feel hot and my chest tight. I just cannot handle it, regardless of how respectfully its executed or how much it matters to the story, so i can completely understand having such a viceral reaction
@electricisnthereatthemomen6535
i haven't watched the video yet but i'm guessing it's about the very uh oh not good thing the author did with (REDACTED) (SPOILERS IN THE READ MORE) edit: y e p on top of the topic of "necessity", I feel like a lot of the "perverted" stuff that they did with Kiroku.... wasn't necessary. Did Haruki NEED to ACTUALLY FALL IN LOVE with his own sister? Did Kiroku's boobs NEED to be groped by that one homeless/storyteller guy? i could be wrong, but honestly I just feel like none of these things really added to the story in any way other then being... gross. You could replace Haruki and Kiroku's relationship with literally just a normal loving sibling relationship, and nothing much would change. but again, I could be wrong, maybe there IS something I'm not seeing? who knows
@agroshadowgoddess
I just want to say thank you for being bothered… And saying something. I’m a 45 year old woman who has seen a lot of men brush this kind of thing off as plot development and ‘atmosphere’ or what have you… and sometimes those things are true, when done correctly. But more often than not, if someone has an issue with it (usually female) they get pushed aside as being too sensitive or reactionary… So thank you… ❤
@ultravioletentertainment7332
i want to say i really enjoy your videos, especially the last couple. I had saw you had a video on this and i rushed to finish the show since i was half way through the first season. Though in this instance i cant say i agree, even though i can 100% see how you got here The bit i dont agree with to a less extent is that this was for trope. I dont know if they were trying to give Maru a hero scene, because i dont know how they're going to tackle it since it was a season ender. I do think this was really poor planning and this show should have been green lit for at least 18 instead of 13 episodes just fix this problem. I dont like judging things in parts and instead look at it as a whole. I can understand your distaste but until i see the whole story and see how this effects Kiruko i cant share in it just yet I also dont feel like the attack at the end of the season was any darker then what we had seen before. Our main characters met a man whos back story was literally "i was a sex slave and the only women who kinda cared about me was killed helping me." that story line alone let me know the writer was not afraid to go really dark, this moment just feels worse cause we were shown it and it happened to one of our two main characters
@AllNostalgicAnimeClips
The anime made stuff actually pretty tame, the manga is way crazier, there is even a small little detail on the fmc, the author showed her sitting on the toilet doing her business BUT the author showed her "bush", just wanted to point that out if you say that that one scene was all that you said.
@Mokona6383
This scene was indeed hard to watch, though I have seen people say that it was a moment that forced Kiruko to see her new identity (or traumatize her with it). I hope they dive deeper into her identity crisis. It also confirms that Robin is a freak because we can see some of it show when he saves Haruki from the bully. He also says something along the lines of "I'm glad you brought Haruki and Kiriko to me", so I don't think he was SA'ing and experimenting on only women
@Kyekyre
The scene also made me uncomfortable. Though the one thing I give it is that it have no doubts that the guy she had been looking for was truly a villain
@Kashmyrr
Show is great. Read ahead, there's a purpose and a reason for everything that was done. To not include it would be an unfaithful adaptation. The adaptation I think handled the subject with not enough seriousness, but I understand the decision why it was portrayed as it was. Go watch it. It's fantastic. Actual purposeful storytelling and removal of many of the classic anime tropes.
@TheTodesrolle
i think that wasnt a faulty thing in the story.
@Harold-w3d
I really want you to watch dorohedoro. Its got one of the best worldbuilding i have seen in anime
@krisjaniskavaleristovs5029