Holy crap I hate Part 2

Ledatsiuha said:
too many words womp womp

WhiteShield said:
bro is a professional yapper for a good reason (no hate)

BruhFunny69 said:
It hurts to see what this manga is like now. Part 1 was so good and Part 2 had such a strong start for the first 20 chapters, but now the manga, like Denji, is a pathetic shell of its former self.

I've been told several times that Part 2 is "slow-paced" so it can "flesh out the characters," and whenever someone tells me this I question if we're even reading the same manga because holy shit the character writing in Part 2 sucks ass.

I understand the intent with Denji's arc. He's a (virgin) sex addict who can't break free from the cycle he's trapped in which ends up hurting him and those he cares about. The idea is fine and it's been executed well in all kinds of different media like Bojack Horseman. But while Bojack Horseman is written by actual good writers who understand how to depict alcoholism in a nuanced and realistic fashion, Fujimoto instead beats the audience in the face with how sad and miserable Denji is while failing to explore his character in any new way that isn't an inferior retread of Part 1. For the past 60 chapters, this story has been nothing other than: Denji suffers -> Denji cries and feels bad for himself -> Denji gets horny -> repeat.

The story wants Denji to be a flawed character who fundamentally doesn't change because he's trapped by his own vices, yet it forces him to be a perpetual victim who serves as the universe's punching bag. No, it's not realistic for the entire world to conspire together to make one guy as miserable as possible without reprieve (I say this because I have heard the "it's realistic!" defense so many times in regard to Denji's writing recently). Bojack Horseman worked because Bojack's flaws actually lead to consequences that fucked him over. But nothing Denji goes through is a product of his own faults (despite him having many of them); it's a result of the entire universe banding together to make him as miserable as possible. It's simply not engaging writing to me. He's too selfish and self-destructive to be likable yet he lacks the agency to be compelling. Following Part 2 Denji is like watching the homeless guy across the street scream every night that he'll quit drinking for real this time and get his life back together, and then he drinks again first thing in the morning.


But for all the shit I just gave Denji, Asa is somehow even worse. At least Denji is treated like an actual character who reacts to his circumstances in a semi-realistic manner. Asa has been demoted to a glorified object for Denji's and Yoru's development. After the Falling Devil arc, Asa lost any personality or agency she had outside of her crush on Denji. In the past 60 chapters, I can name every instance where Asa had any significant dialogue that wasn't directly related to Denji:

1. When she smiled at the TV in chapter 138
   
2. When she and Yoru talked before the Yoshida fight in 145
   
3. When she briefly talked to Haruka in chapter 163
   
4. The whole "Yoru is a devil" sequence
   

For our secondary MC, that's all she has gotten in over SIXTY chapters. What makes her so frustrating is that the story has so so many opportunities to give her some kind of development, but it fumbles each and every one. Remember when she literally became famous? Remember when she joined a cult? Remember when she became a wanted criminal? Remember when she became an unwilling accessory to mass murder? If you said "no" I wouldn't even blame you because Fujimoto handles all of it with so little weight. Her thoughts and reactions aren't shown beyond what she thinks about Denji even as her life is literally falling apart. For all intents and purposes, she's treated like an object for Denji and Yoru. The narrative doesn't even treat her like a human being.

Case in point, last chapter Denji told Yoru that he wanted to have sex with her while knowing that Asa was literally trapped in her own body and straight-up couldn't consent (meaning that they almost raped her)... and the scene is only used to show how miserable Denji is. Yes I get that Denji is mindbroken right now so I can understand why he probably can't fully understand the situation with Asa/Yoru, but that doesn't change the fact that Asa almost being raped is used to evoke sympathy from Denji rather than her. Because Asa is treated like an object and not an actual character.

Yoru is... decent I guess. On one hand, I like the bit where she's introduced as cute and incompetent, which tricks the reader into thinking that she shouldn't be taken seriously, only for her to pull the rug out from under you by nuking a city and laughing her ass off about it. The problem is that she's steeped in Fujimoto's femdom fetish, and not in a tasteful subtle way like Makima. I fully believe that Fujimoto was drawing this last chapter with one hand because he is clearly clearly into this kind of shit.

No other characters are worth discussing tbh. Nayuta was killed off for Denji's development the second she actually became an interesting character. Fami's entire character is food jokes. Barem is cool I guess. Yoshida and Fumiko exist.

Even trying to discuss the plot at length is an exercise in frustration. There is zero direction. Everything just flounders about and it'll string you along with some promise that it'll do something interesting eventually, and then it never does.

Fujimoto said in an interview that he wanted Part 2 to be like The Big Lebowski, but I think Fujimoto misunderstands why that movie worked so well. The protagonist in that movie was actually happy with his life of getting stoned and going bowling. Meanwhile, Part 2 revels in making Denji as miserable as possible and literally nothing outside of that is explored.

nishant0 said:
whole hedonism philosophy in this series sucks ass anyway, author is kind of retarded imo.

Yeltsin17 said:
Maybe your hate for it should be kept to yourself so others can see the good.