#also irt to the marriage i know some ppl think it's ooc and think what you want I'm just talking about what the game presents

[xuanelle]

fandom misogyny is so rampant because you would expect the character who destroys an orphanage infront of said orphans (despite being an orphan themself and understanding how awful that upbringing can be) and said to them they'd rather see them all put down then leach of kiryu's generosity for daring to raise orphans i guess, and also literally slaps haruka, to be more universally disliked than the character who does tell haruka they'd stop funding the orphanage if she failed and does kinda gaslight kiryu into believing his kids are better off without him but does so genuinely believing that kiryu leaving would be better for the kids future and does it because they do want to see haruka's dream flourish.

like they're both characters who involve in some way threatening the orphanage (again. one is far worse like it's not even a comparison but again people like mine more) and both have a similar strike of being mean, like mirei with her gaslighting in her first scene and mine with his everything (which is far more of his screentime then mirei ftr like it's one SCENE FOR HER.) and one is the villain of the game and one is absolutely not the villain of the game.

but one is a woman so she's obviously worse even though the narrative both gives mine and mirei sympathy (but apparently that's an only an issue for mirei)

like kiryu reaches through to mine and gets him to realize what he become was wrong and that he can change. and also through learning mine was like this because he grew up unloved by the world around him and believing he had to make something of himself or else the world would never accept him and he does embrace the ideals of the world around him. he believes that orphans have to make something by themselves because that was how he has to grow up; if that wasn't the way the world worked, then how come mine never had anyone looking out for him after his father figure died until he met daigo? (still very wrong for what he did. like not an excuse making this clear)

and his story hinges on him realizing he was also wrong for believing the world was just cruel and for becoming cruel in return. the reason why he was so alone was because of who he was, how he treated people, how he treated the oprhanage for example. like the narrative calls him out for this while also having him learn he was wrong. that's where the sympathy comes from.

and for mirei it's through the fact that she does understand firsthand that your idol career cannot function if there is a yakuza member in your life because hers was destroyed the moment her marriage got out (not even getting into the fact that majima hurt her and he should've never been with her) so of course she believes kiryu cannot exist as haruka's father for her dream to function, and basically convinces him to leave by saying his kids are better off without him and that if he leaves, she'd fund the orphanage so no kid has to abandon their dreams of their future to help keep the orphanage affloat. because you know kiryu can't keep it affloat himself with his yakuza background.

this is wrong of course, like kiryu is their father and being forced out of his kids lives through blackmail is wrong, but her reasons are far more understandable than mine's are, see her own history with the idol industry and the fact she does care about the kids and specifically haruka as the narrative later evolves. and again she barely does anything compared to every villain in the series like her grand act of being so awful and the worst is getting kiryu to leave her kids by promising she'd fund the orphanage if he left. which. comparatively is nothing compared to mine (you can not like that choice sure, but objectively it's not nearly as bad like not in the slightest)

but no, mine is the universally beloved character for the most part and mirei is demonized to no end. when he's the villain of y3 and what he does is both far worse and his reasons for aren't excusable at all and he has to learn he's wrong, mirei doesn't.

like I've seen people say like she's the true villain of the game and how dare the game make you sympathise with her because you know a woman can't be mean or be flawed. even though what she does isn't nearly as bad, like objectively compared to the actual villains who've killed people, and mine specifically as the other character most wrapped up in the orphanage. like mirei barely does anything compared to literally every yakuza antang but she gets all the hate for being a woman who dares to be mean in her first appearance.