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the-nysh · 2 years

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Did you see shiro ripping reddit a new one btw? Probably the only person in the fanbase brave enough to vocalise that Saitama’s be-all and end-all savior chara concept is problematic and other cast members have to suffer to maintain that image. Garou being the latest and most egregious example.

Oh yeah. :') Somebody over there has to do it. Ever since the redraw I've shared their same concerns (as in: willing to see the manga commit to its own thing, provided Garou’s core characterization & agency remain intact that is), and I'm pretty sure I've received several of their messages in concerned outraged solidarity too (so hi there), because I recognize the same strong language, and many of my own words from posts I've written, in support of their reddit arguments. They’re one of the rare few users over there who's always read Garou 100% in good faith over the years, so I know their care, trust, and dedication to his character and the understanding of his nuanced, beneficial narrative themes run deep. That's respect from me. However, holding back any shred of patience or pretend courtesy anymore vs reddit's continued bad faith idiocy (or blissful illiteracy) towards Garou's character, when now there's morally no excuse to try and defend the cruelty he's been made to suffer, is a completely different battle (that I don’t have the patience to engage), so godspeed there! :'D

In their unfiltered words:

Garou is the best character this series has by far and large. The only properly fleshed out character period. Robbing him of his agency by using a cosmic device to wank Saitama’s OP-and-so-heroic self shows that OPM at its core is just another isekaishit for self-inserters, with a rapidly forming MC stalker harem even. And that is not a Garou problem, that’s a fucking pattern already and a Saitama problem. He can only exist as a protagonist if the efforts and desires of other characters are constantly undermined. In the manga everyone is a victim of an absurd and explicitly evil cosmic parasite and only fucking Saitama is allowed to solve that shit with his magical punches. Garou is robbed of his agency and turned a damsel to wank Saitama, and S classes are just overdramatic punching bags also primed to start wanking their savior Saitama.

Which...I understand. Because on one hand of looking at it, it's true. In terms of the story's expanded real estate and narrative focus, imo Garou is best boy, no disagreement there.

In my words, his manga self is someone too fundamentally good and inherently heroic, that he literally had to be mindraped into corruption against his will for any of this to happen. (For him to 'go evil' as reddit dudes ~wanted~ simply for the surface 'edgy,' or for the sake of a flashier 'good fight' vs Saitama, at Garou's entire 100+chs of established core character's expense.) Because it was otherwise impossible for Garou to ever willingly lose his key humanity or put on a believable 'evil' performance to test the heroes anymore, unless some other Literally True Evil being ('god') forcibly did it FOR him. Trapped into a corner even after he refused, but still mindraped into a corrupted faceless void of his former real self, involuntarily turned into a victim to god's cruel agenda against humanity - its eradication, and now everyone has to unfairly suffer from that violation. Congratulations. (Where it's essentially become Saitama vs god’s agenda now, while throwing everything else of value and even the nuance to question what’s beyond ‘good vs evil’ anymore out the window~) And I can't believe some fans still have the gall to say that this was ever something 'good' for Garou to deserve. That this is ‘cool.’ To completely lose the best parts of what make him Him without his consent, and corrupted into enacting overkill nuclear wrath on the world (where it's no joke or pretense anymore) which had never aligned with what he ever actually wanted to achieve in the first place (fixing the biased injustice of the world, towards saving it). So please fuck right off with that abhorrently vile victim blaming bullshit towards him, or believing any of this 'god' stuff is a true reflection of Garou's inner will/desires, or you've proven you never cared for or had faith in Garou's actual character at all.

...But things are destroyed only IF the manga is actually going for that type of arc ending with Saitama solving everything for him though, which would yes, be terrible for all other characters involved (or well, unless Saitama has magic defenses vs radiation damage I'm unaware of, he's fine so there’s no need to worry about him) since then everyone else (but especially Garou) would essentially be sacrificed only to make Saitama ‘look good.’ (Which in my opinion of his performance as a good effective hero this time, he’s.....alarmingly come up short to properly earn the heroic title of ‘one punch man’ yet. Just as King’s lectured he’s not anywhere close to the ideal of ‘greatest hero.’ Pre-redraw he was much better and considerate, but not this route.)

Because remember how many posts I made expressing wariness and warning the danger of Saitama's (problematic) approach to essentially 'bully' and push Garou further? How I knew (from personal experience with a mentally unwell -bipolar- family member who was driven to....) how none of this would be helpful. It would only make things worse. Now we see why. Because if Saitama had taken Tareo's promise seriously without messing around, under oath/obligation -on the job even- as a reliable hero to actually help & save Garou, then all of this could have been prevented. But now? After indirectly pushing it to this point of no return, the same detached Saitama swooping in to simply 'punch' god's corruption out of Garou FOR him, would just feel foully unearned. Hell no. And again, doing all the work for him still wouldn't actually help Garou's psychological problems with his identity at all. So...thanks for nothing, I guess?

No actual Garou fan wants to see that happen, or made to feel like all their time and emotional investment in his story thus far has either been wasted by the author or suddenly thrown away in the trash, where nothing else but Saitama matters, as I said here. Because doing that, by elevating one character just to put down another - at the entire other’s expense even, only fosters resentment and spiteful dislike towards the former. So it’s surely made us Garou fans hate ‘god’!!! 8′D But under no circumstances do I want to start disliking Saitama out of spite either, as that would only unpleasantly lead towards the manga’s dropability. So is ONE sure he wants to do that to the Garou fanbase? By losing a huge portion of his most dedicated (eastern) readers? Esp if that’s all there is to look forward to at the climax of his arc? Really? There has to be more to it.

Where there’s some meaning or reason why, that ultimately works in service of Garou’s hero journey - where he can finally discover/realize/accept his real self’s potential, after discerning and rejecting the indiscriminate mass destruction he never intended, to assert what he’s always truly wanted instead (but could never fully believe in) deep down, towards his decision to become the type of hero he’s always denied himself. Not determined by the rules or expectations set by anyone, beyond even those controlled by ‘god.’ In which the ‘magic’ solution to this whole crisis also lies within himself, to somehow mentally overcome, overrule, or reverse. If there is any faith still left in Garou’s strength of character at all, to help him save himself. (Tareo, I’m counting on you~) Because Saitama can certainly punch things, but he narratively can’t solve something this integral to his character for him (esp if there’s any weird callback to Child Emperor’s mental ‘win’ over Phoenix Man’s corruption attempt, with Saitama’s ‘assistance.’) ...Otherwise where’s the catharsis? Then there’s really No Point for this ‘god’ development to happen to Garou at all. Beyond pointless physical fight escalation in which we already know the winner anyway.

So what else is there? It’s why I’ve made speculative posts like this. Where in all my highest hopium, if Saitama’s punch can’t directly solve Garou’s problems for him or save everyone from the effects of radiation damage, or even if Blast & friends have no magic solutions to it either (esp if they’re too busy trying to fix god’s dimensional seal)....then who else has the impossible magic power right now to change things? Garou. :) Especially if he succeeds in taking back his agency and turns that power around, from destruction into...? His own. To defy god and save the world. (Oh it’d be a miracle.) But by his own assertive choice of will this time. When saving lives (and the day) is a choice fully on purpose (just like he’s already done for Tareo & Bang), not by accident. He’d be just that good at it.

#opm #garou #manga spoilers #anonymous #replies #long text post #i can certainly RIP into it too #but perhaps in a different way #as SOMEONE still has to believe in garou around here

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