I am so glad you asked!

I, along with probably many others, have complicated feelings about Orca and his writing. I will be putting my upset about Lykos' character arc and development being shoved under to rug in favour of Orca's aside for this/ won't dwell too long on it, since I have both talked about it with you before and also because that is honestly a whole other post because I have so much to say.

About Orca individually, well...

I was surprised about the way his character was developed by the manga post-Amonlogia Arc the very first time I read the manga. By the time the Amonlogia Arc ends, it is still unclear to the reader what he actually wants, what to make of his cruel actions, yet also of these movements of softens that mostly scenes with Itia seem to bring out in him. Now, the first answer would be that of course he's supposed to still be human while also being an antagonist, as antagonists with facets and especially those with a redemption arc planned have. However, Orca never really had a redemption arc and that is one of my main gripes with his writing, as well as something that I regard a good choice.

Let me explain.

Writing a redemption arc for someone who literally led a mass massacre, has killed multiple people on screen and just committed multiple war crimes is difficult, so I feel like Abi Umeda didn't try and I actually think she shouldn't have done so either (especially since Chakuro is already far too forgiving). My issue with Orca's writing is not that he suddenly seems to "switch up" on the Mud Whale after having talked to Chakuro, Suou and the rest, especially since he reveals that he actually didn't to Itia like two chapters later, but the fact that he wasn't left at being a flawed man with many unspeakable crimes, one who obviously suffers from delusions which makes him more sympathetic, but making it clear that it doesn't excuse anything he did, only explains it. Instead, he was given the Kitrino backstory (which I don't have a problem with) and also reveal that he has DID (which is where my gripe comes in). I am not an expert, of course, and neither do I have DID, but even with my limited knowledge I know that Orca's DID isn't written in a very good way or thoughtfully. Rather, I feel like giving Orca an alter was a way of literally splitting up Orca in "good Orca" and "bad Orca" as a way to make him more digestible to the audience, and that, in my opinion, is just lazy writing. And adding the DID argument wasn't particularly necessary either, since it doesn't get mentioned again after that.

In conclusion, I think Orca's writing is confusing and clumsy at many turns, but he is a character one can analyse a lot and he still offers interesting points about the series, I just wish it got executed better post Amonlogia Arc.

The rain is a grenade here

Make Your Brutal Way Towards Me