Anonymous: Yo, thank you for being one of the very few who know what was up with those two scenes, that's how I always perceived that scene and I thought it was pretty fucked up too that he'd ignore an injured person just because he was lying and it's annoying, it's one of those things that showcases that Saihara really isn't that good of a person but people like to brush it under the rug as bad writing
Yeah, it is mildly annoying to see it constantly perpetuated as bad writing when it’s really not. It’s actually consistent. People just want to take any scene they don’t like and call it bad writing. Ouma stans, in particular, want to use it to condemn Saihara for not treating him super perfectly all the time. “Saihara’s so badly written god Ouma deserves so much better” and it’s like. No. That’s not bad writing.
I also don’t think this is fair to use when calling Saihara a “bad person.” No, like I’ve said, I don’t think his choice was the right choice, but I also think given his position it’s an understandable one. I think everyone makes awful choices when they’re angry, and the lie, in particular, he is reacting to is notably cruel given the circumstances.
No, leaving Ouma to bleed out is still wrong, but we also can’t use this one scene as proof that Saihara ‘doesn’t care about anyone ever’ because…he does? He does care? He takes care of Ouma in the other scene? He spends ages worrying about Momota’s illness? Yumeno’s depressing attitude concerns him enough he feels the need to say something? I could go on, but you get the point. This is not a leap we can logically make.
Saihara leaves Ouma to bleed out when he’s pissed off for being lied to. Yes, that’s cruel. I agree. But we’ve all made cruel choices like that when we were pissed, haven’t we? Why are we only holding Saihara to task for this? Why is it because Saihara has done something cruel to Ouma out of anger and emotional compromise (similar to the “you’re alone” scene) we have to rule him as completely uncaring and apathetic?
Ouma stans get so caught up in how badly Ouma is mistreated by his classmates, and yes I agree he is, but they don’t hold Ouma to the same standards as everyone else. They get caught up in exonerating him of all his crimes; it’s like they forget he’s mistreated them all too, and not because of a moment of weakness. His grand plan involves manipulating all of them. No, I don’t think Ouma is a bad person either. I think he makes bad choices for his bad situation, but I think if you’re going to hold characters to task for their transgressions, then you better do it across the board and not play favorites.
I think we can talk about Saihara’s mistakes, just like I think we can talk about anyone’s mistakes while keeping their context in mind. We can say Saihara saying “you’re alone and you always will be” and leaving Ouma to bleed out are cruel, while still keeping in mind they’re a result of an emotional outburst and not claiming it comes from his “fundamental apathy.” We cannot entirely ignore the context of situations just to justify our own biases against something.
