Adultification of the Justice Arcana
So I was just thinking of these 3 and realized something. They all have a few things in common (dead mom, brown hair, important to the story), but one thing I didn't realize before is how their characters all interact with the idea of maturity/childishness.
Like, Nanako and Ken both basically turn themselves into adults despite being 10 yos. Before Narukami comes into her life, Nanako is doing all the laundry, cooking and cleaning, like her mom used to do. She's also used to spending almost all her time alone in an empty house. Dojima expects her to be ok with him working late and coming home late, and he even expects her to be ok with him coming home drunk. It kinda reads like (as creepy as it is to point out) Nanako is the woman of the house, despite the fact that she is his 9 yo daughter. She's becomes her own mom, probably as a way to deal with losing her.
Ken hasn't become his mom, but he's, like, a salary man? He pretty much has a 9 to 5 job working as a member of SEES, he drinks black coffee even though he hates it, he bottles up his unpleasant emotions and puts on a polite smile so his coworkers don't think anything's wrong with him, and he hides any childish interests he has. Speaking of, Ken isn't nearly as comfortable being childish as Nanako, maybe because he doesn't have a Narukami in his life.
Akechi is really interesting to consider in this conversation, because he's the only one you would EXPECT to act like an adult (cause he's the only one that can drive). Sure, you wouldn't expect him to work as a detective, a celebrity, and an assassin, that's a bit much for a highschooler, but it's not as weird as Nanako or Ken.
But I'd actually wager that Akechi is MORE childish than Ken or Nanako, at least in the engine room. Right before his fight, Morgana says that he's nothing more than a child throwing a temper tantrum. After he's beaten the 1st time, he crumbles to the floor and starts hitting it with his fists, and his vocabulary gets noticeably more childish. He screams that he's "gonna" kill them, that they're "gonna" die, not going to but GONNA, and when he's comparing himself to Joker, he asks how Joker could be more "special" than him, he says SPECIAL, this guy literally kills people for a living and he's complaining about not being SPECIAL enough. Then after his fight, when the gang doesn't just kill him and actually gives him a chance, the look on his face is just...so child-like.
His eyes are so wide and round. And the way he's frowning. It's like a little kid hearing something new for the first time in their life. I can see Nanako making that face, you know?
It's a really pathetic aspect of Akechi's character (especially compared to Ken and Nanako), but I love it because of the reason behind it. Akechi only shows this really childish side of his personality when he's at his most furious and sad, when he's complaining about his place in the world and what he doesn't have. His pain is childish, and you know why? Because he first got that pain as a child! He grew up in poverty, he was neglected as a kid and his mom died when he was really young. He first felt that pain as a kid, and he never let go of that feeling and never grew past it, so it's just as childish as it was when it first hurt him. He just never moved on. It's the reason why he does everything in the story, why he hurts so many people, and it's just...it's sad, you know? Futaba and Haru lost a parent, dozens of people have died and Joker was almost murdered because one lonely, awful kid just couldn't move on and grow up.
Also, Nanako is the most well adjusted out of these three and it's definitely because she has Narukami. They all need therapy though.
