CamusEvergarden said:towelgirl21 said:
I think "edgy" is subjective: this might be college dissertation worthy to someone.
I think with HSL, almost everyone snapped quickly: not enough buildup. I mean, if a couple of characters snapped, that'd be one thing,
but several random people in the show were just rapists.
More flashbacks might have helped: for example, I was watching the Promised Neverland, and at the very end of the show, you learn why the antagonist did everything that she did. It was maybe 10 minutes of the whole show, but it showed how events in the course of someone's life could make them into a (perceived) monster.
Sorry for a longer response, but I need to address the points being offered:
1. "Edgy"
is subjective, but this is a show that doesn't explore realism at all, or rather, is contingent on overlooking minor "real life" details to hit the idea it is trying to convey to the viewer.
As I said before this is show about:
Mentally dysfunctional/broken people who are desperately trying to hold themselves together in a very dangerous way and what they'll do to get it/protect it.
2. The only person,
I remember, who raped anyone was the manager which lead Taiyou into his desperate attempt to find
his "Happy Sugar Life". This isn't a hentai of rapists having their way with other characters. In fact, aside from that single scene with the manager and Taiyou,
I believe there aren't any other sexual scenes aside from a few kisses (one of which was done after taking vows) and teasing.
3. I think you're grasping for understanding/good qualities in the characters when you shouldn't. The reason I say this is because you admitted you were looking for an explanation to why "everyone snapped quickly" or 'wanted more backstory like Mother's in Promised Neverland" or "Shio's family backstory was good. I gained some sympathy for Shio".
Let me be clear once again:
This is a show about characters who are broken mentally. To them they are existing in a world of shit. Whether they were born like this
doesn't matter . What
matters from the character POV is how do I live/function when my existential world is absolute garbage and "tastes bitter".
The characters find it in the worst possible place: In another person.
Worse, a person who is undeveloped mentally and just got done being abandoned (for Shio's own sake) by their own family. These are
extremely complex and desperate characters who will do despicable things to get a high of the "HSL" to escape their "bitter reality". Because of that some viewers (particularly younger) cannot understand
why the characters are doing what they are doing.