man another thing I really like about tshd is that it doesn't try to defang the monster. I love monster stuff, but I also feel like a lot of sympathetic monster stories, especially ones with an allegorical slant, go really far in the direction of "humans were the REAL monsters all along!" to the extent that it makes the monstrousness of the monster completely superficial. but Hikaru is still a monster. he kills people because he can. he just maimed and nearly killed a little kid, and he doesn't have a particular sense of that being wrong besides in not wanting to upset Yoshiki. he's dangerous, and he's not human on any level, and he still deserves safety and a place to belong and people who love and accept him
i have kotoha on the mind again. when she first took over pothos umemiya insisted on walking her home after her shifts and she was sooo annoyed about it. Girl who is fiercely independent, not in a girlboss empowerment way but in a feral animal way. and then she grewed up a bit & was like Yeeeesh was i really 14 and insisting on walking back alone? BEFORE bofurin was super widespread?








