eternal blue

mafuyu's mom was presented in mafu6 to be genuinely making an effort to make home life better for mafuyu, now that she has realized just how damaging her actions were. even if this ended in no real progress being made, with mafuyu being forced to live with kanade once more, it is evident that her mom has sincerely put care and thought into making up for her actions (e.g. having many talks with mafuyu's dad, seeking counseling, catching herself when she realizes she's making the same mistakes again - even if too late).

i very much enjoy how this aspect of mafuyu's story was written, as it sheds light on the complexities that can realistically lie within this specific kind of household dynamic.

mafuyu's mom genuinely did not realize she was doing something considered abusive until mafuyu's breaking point, and with her own unresolved issues, had to find a way to cope with this sudden self-awareness and simultaneously act on it. i do not believe her tears were that of a 'crocodile's', she herself is implied to have her own 'issues', and many of us can definitely understand the feeling of being unable to stop ourselves from crying or vocalizing negative self-opinion. Yet, her own pain undoubtedly also pains mafuyu. it's a vicious cycle of sorts.

fixing this is made all the more difficult when 1, the victim has no choice but to live in the same environment as the abuser. and 2, no matter how much either side understand about each other now, there is no reversing harm or undoing effects of either of their struggles/behaviors. the root issue lies within mafuyu's mom herself, not her relationship with mafuyu. they're trying to mend something that cannot be mended until mafuyu's mom resolves her personal struggles. and this would require space, as she is unfit to play the role of a parent as things stand right now.

it is also important to think about the love they have for each other. mafuyu has been incredibly understanding despite being a child + all that she has been through. she understands for a fact that her mom has been trying and that she genuinely cares, and that it hurts her mom to fail again even if she's already made so much progress by just acknowledging her toxic behavior. the real villain here is both sides' fruitless struggle to achieve real progress (intent and feeling aside) - that one mistake might cost both of them. thus begins the vicious cycle.

it never sat right with me that a huge majority of the prsk fandom were so hell-bent on villainizing mafuyu's mom (even before mafu6). Please do not take this as me saying i defend mafumom's actions; the effects that her actions have had on mafuyu are detrimental, and she is undeniably not a good parent. however, i do appreciate that she is written as a complex and realistic character.

all things said and done, what i hope to get across with this is my appreciation for prsk writing again, as well as my thoughts about the overall message that essentially everybody is human and humans do make fatal mistakes, which do involve hurting and even scarring others - most often without our own self-awareness. it happens more commonly than we think, and what's scary is that we may be blind to it, no matter how obviously bad it is.

so in a case Like This, it's also important to not be dehumanizing towards the abuser while taking into account the suffering their actions have caused.