How it feels seeing people go after Arakawa for writing morally grey characters
Spoiler warning in this post btw!
In all seriousness though, I do understand the plight that a lot of these people have with being upset by seeing main characters murder others with seemingly zero remorse. You’re totally allowed to feel what you feel, and I believe that murder is wrong too, but I think that kind of the point of this manga. We’re supposed to be shocked and have mixed feelings about a group of not normal people stuck in this cycle of violence among each side.
What I NEVER got from YNT however was that Arakawa was trying to justify anything that these morally grey characters did, PARTICULARLY murder. A lot of characters have a kill count; Yuru, Asa, Dera, Jin, plenty of tsugai,and most notably Gabby.
Gabby for instance, because she is the one out of all of them that seems to get the most heat, even admits to herself and everyone at some point that she is among the scumbags of this world, and is aware of how far gone she is. We’re not supposed to see her as the self righteous hero like Edward Elric is. And while I don’t condone murder myself, I think it’s dumb to automatically placate any character who commits murder in this series as just a mindless evil killer who has zero morals or integrity. Gabby had her reasons, like how the village she massacred trapped Asa for years in a cage and then kidnapped and murdered her. Something ALL the adults in a village supported. Again. Not saying it justifies her murdering them at all, just that it gives us a perspective on Gabby that she does this in revenge for Asa whom she cares deeply for, and is not just a completely evil person.
However again, if you don’t like these characters for not having a perfectly clean slate that’s your prerogative. Maybe this manga and anime just isn’t for you. As for me though, even though I am more of a self righteous Elric brother kind of person, I absolutely enjoy reading about all these morally grey characters and seeing them navigate their cruel world. I only hope to see them all grow and change for the better, and that they all have happy endings. 🩵