the-fox-populi-says:
Yup. I must say it bothers me when people blame Shiro for Yukio’s depression- I’ve seen a lot of people hating him for not doing a better job, but honestly, I don’t think he could have done any better given the situation?
I’m sure he pushed the kid too hard at times, but
a) he was most likely under direct orders if not a death contract from Mephisto,
and b) Rin IS, no matter how you turn it, a very dangerous demon. He’s friendly, but as Shiro has witnessed before, even a friendly demon in a bad mood can cause a huge amount of destruction. And Yukio was scared and weak. Can you blame the man for trying to toughen him up, keep him safe?
Especially given his own background- he managed to regain, or rather, reclaim his humanity and tried to be the best “Yuri” he could be- In order to give her kids what she gave him.
Had Shiro lived longer, I think I might have been able to steer Yukio in another direction (or at least give the boy a slap and a hug like he ought to)… But then again, that is exactly why he had to die.
You probably don’t mean me with this post, since I don’t hate Shiro at all. But I think partially blaming him for what has occurred is an understandable conclusion. I expect that Shiro will be eventually vindicated, but for now we don’t have that information.
I’ve seen the word “depression” used to describe Yukio’s situation for a while now, but I don’t think it’s the right word. Depression describes a mental health condition that is defined by the lack of dependence on circumstance. Yukio’s mental state was degraded by external factors. Shiro’s death, Rin’s awakening and enrollment in cram school, and Yukio’s promotion to teacher are all events that have significantly affected Yukio since chapter 2. His mental fragility systematically increased after his fights with Toudou, discovering the Satan blue eyes, and his conversations with Shima and Lucifer. While Yukio’s conceal-don’t-feel attitude has been called out since chapter 15 as making him vulnerable, it took a lot to drive him to the edge.
Shiro had his own issues, but he had fifty years to work on them. He had good reason not to screw up on raising the twins, since failing basically meant the death of everyone on Earth. And at the end of the day, he was the adult, and Rin and Yukio were children.
I honestly believe Shiro did recognize the problems with Yukio. I mean, Shura picked up on Yukio’s issues within just two weeks of hanging around him, and Shiro is not an idiot. We’ve also seen that Shiro took corrective action routinely with Rin, so surely there had to have been attempts to deal with Yukio. Unfortunately the only person who can remember those attempts is Yukio, who currently has tunnel vision. But this is only theory right now. Kato has tried to show that Rin and Yukio were treated differently and said in the interviews that Shiro is harsh in Yukio’s flashbacks.
The authority Mephisto had in the direct actions of raising the twins is still unknown. His orders could’ve been anything from nebulous (”keep these kids from annihilating the planet without killing them”) to detailed (”raise until turn 18 years of age blah blah”). We’ll probably have an answer in a few chapters or so. But I don’t think that the Morinas was explicit beyond don’t talk about Section 13 and all that implies. IMO the blame Shiro holds isn’t for not telling Yukio the truth, but for not intervening on Yukio’s building self-hate and envy of Rin.
I think Shiro made mistakes and could’ve done things better. IMO that makes him an interesting character. He wasn’t daddy Jesus like how the first anime portrayed him. He came from an insanely terrible place and had a tough job. That mitigates the blame, but it’s still there. Well, for now. I really believe Shiro will be vindicated in how he raised both Rin and Yukio, but only near the end of the manga for dramatic reasons.
It’s true we still don’t know what Mephisto’s involvement was when Shiro took in the twins, but the fact that Shiro seemed well aware that not only was he going to die, but it’s strongly hinted that he knows in what way, or at least that Satan is going to come for Rin, AND the fact that Shiro had the Kamikakushi Key all this time, suggests that he may have taken a similar trip to Rin’s, or at least that Mephisto told him certain things…
midnight-in-town 