I have questions.
Was that a spur of the moment thing? Or was he planning/hoping for it all this time?
People had been warning about the r*** scene, but it was awful anyway. At least it had no sound (for the most part) and was short.
I hadn’t read spoilers so I had no idea it was coming. Honestly kind of sours the rest of the show for me, I was really enjoyed the layers of mystery being pulled back until then.
I guess I need to see the result of this plot point before making any permanent judgments, but…I can’t think of a single instance where an anime or manga used rape as a plot point and it actually made the story better. Almost 100% of the time it’s just shock value, adding edginess, or a writing crutch to make the viewer think “wow, this a really bad guy, huh?”
Sorry for the cynicism but…bit of a downer after this show being such a stand-out this season.
I’m on the fence because as you say, rape scenes are a crutch. I’ll still process what I’ll ultimately think about it. What I can add is that Haruki!Kiruko had the highest trust in Robin and for him to be betrayed like this (and Robin also committing sort of philosophical necrophilia on the real Kiruko) felt so realistic, in the sense that a lot of real-life people do get their trust in a parent/guardian figure destroyed in the same manner.
