the extent of neglect teru experiences helps imply a lot of why he behaves the way he does during his first appearance. it adds so much context to a rewatch of the “we’re the same” scene without condoning teru’s actions. like even the canonical narrative lets the physical manifestation of mob’s repressed emotions throw teru around even after he has actively worked on becoming a better person. mob’s own anger, over his now good friend, who tried to kill him once, still hasn’t been fully processed so they come out as a horrifying parallel to Teru’s initial character arc.
there’s so much emotional vulnerability established within the series that it just feels like all additional information of teru’s situation with his parents is extremely meaningful towards understanding him as a incredibly multifaceted character. we first see him when he’s at his highest dose of copium and when mob is at his lowest in regards to self esteem. the “we’re the same” scene is PHENOMENAL and continues to haunt me nearly 9 years after first seeing it. these two characters are meeting each other EXACTLY when they need each other most it’s just unfortunate how different their life circumstances are. we all know what happens when their ideals regarding psychic powers clash.
but it’s like, hold on. upon rewatch we know now that teru lives alone and has been targeted by a terrorist organization since he was 9. using his psychic powers to fight is all he knows. it’s no wonder why he reacts the way he does when first meeting mob. it’s just ugh
the fact he actively chooses to be a very kind and caring person and we see how difficult (and ridiculous) it is to try and be better, but the awkwardness of it all is still so worth it. we see that teru is genuinely a very good kid, he just needed kindness in his life. when we take away claw and psychic powers, teru is still a neglected child. his whole character becomes so much more tragic but also inspiring. it took him getting brutally humbled but he was emotionally mature enough to admit he was wrong. kid is 14. there are adults in this same series who struggled to do that.
it’s unfortunate teru doesn’t get time for emotional reflection by the end of the series. the ways he helps mob in the canonical story are 1.) with psychic powers 2.) about impressing others (shirt for psycho helmet first impression and flowers for tsubomi) they dont return to the raw emotional moment that caused teru to crash out. it’s like they both just want to look past it because it’s extremely uncomfortable to revisit the memory and they are friends now so it’s fine :) guys it’s not fine we just learned what happens when you repress parts of yourself. guys, the potential for a really close relationship (friendship, partnership, romantic, literally ANYTHING) has roots in the ground. guys please you already have so much in common, please get back to the emotional connection. please. GUYS.
