[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

This's my problem. People keep saying nonsense like "He's not even TRYING to stop this thing", completely ignoring the size of what they want him to stop, the amount of time and effort it'd take to even make an attempt, and the fact that he has MUCH bigger concerns.

I think a point is that the author could have addressed literally this -- that Naofumi would like to solve the issue since he finds it problematic, but he realizes he has limited time and other major priorities so he can only do what he can. Even just simply acknowledging that in the story is a way of at least partly addressing the elephant in the room, and then they could just leave the whole issue of slavery behind (as, like, a sort of necessary evil Naofumi had to resort to when getting started due to his oppression, but not a good thing and he's moving forward). But instead, the author keeps leaning back into it as a plot device, even though it's really unnecessary to do so. The author wants to keep using it as a plot device, for whatever reason.

I would tend to agree with magnuskn's assertion that it's the author's fetish, tied back to the notion of not being able to trust women with the potential to betray. If you're thinking about Naofumi's character arc, I think it would have been more powerful for him to make an effort to overcome and reject it, rather than continue to lean into it. So anyway, yeah, I just think it's a bit of missed potential, if nothing else. It's one area where I feel the hand of the author comes through too strongly. There's enough else going on in the story that I tend to think it's an unnecessary distraction.

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

Look, if you want to insist that the author has some sort of slavery fetish then go ahead; don't get why you'd watch it if you think it's that bad (and don't say you don't when you just went on about it being badly written) but go ahead.

I think you're getting a little bit too personal in all this defense of the story. Someone can find one aspect of the story flawed, but still find enough to like in the other parts that they still find it overall worth their time. I don't think he's saying that the story is a piece of crap or irredeemable, just that this particular aspect isn't well-written in his opinion. Clearly it doesn't bother you as much, and that's fine too. We don't need to have a super-impassioned argument about it; it's just a discussion.


Also, just to be clear about this...

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

I've been following this from the start, and I will say I have not seen one single point where slavery is "fetishized" to even the slightest degree.

Raphtalia's slave crest is literally on her breasts. Rewatch the scene where the slave crest is being reapplied there -- it's absolutely fetishized. I honestly don't really see how you can deny it. But it's not like just because this is a fetish the author leans into means that the whole story is completely irredeemable.

And also:

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

On the contrary, the very presence of any level of a subservient attitude is treated as a serious and downright annoying flaw that needs to be corrected.

Yes, that attitude should be "corrected" via the shock collar effect of the slave crest, perhaps? Are you very sure that you don't understand the fetish, actually? (Honestly, I think you really don't, but...)


A lot of anime is actually at a weird intersection between some sort of fetish and a moving story. I remember we had this argument a lot of times in the past on this forum for various shows where people found the fetish aspects so overpowering to them that they don't understand why they didn't just make a "hentai" instead. This story isn't nearly that bad, I don't think, but there's still a blend here. If the slavery/bondage fetish is a bit too much to discuss rationally, you could also consider some of the "lighter" anime fetishes this show has too, like beastpeople, harem, younger love interests, etc. The elements are there and they are being pandered to, but it's not so overpowering that you can only like the show if those particular fetishes appeal to you. I'm quite sure that some people enjoy this show completely unaware of all this, while other people will find it overwhelming or uncomfortable. Honestly I think a lot of anime is like that at some level.