In a Dysfunction Junction Morality Kitchen Sink story filled with extremely complicated and layered characters, the cast was bound to get a few.
- Are the Irregulars (and/or which among them, if any) good if flawed people, naive puppets, or self-righteous Jerkasses? Or all of that at once? In terms of the overall story, are they a very involved third party in the conflict between Shinichi (protagonist) vs Black Org (villains), or a complicated set of genuine secondary heroes, or Obliviously Evil enemies themselves, considering how much they routinely threaten and violate human rights, particularly Shinichi's? It all varies from reader to reader. To make matters more complicated, they vary between being framed as antagonists or protagonists in their own right depending on whose perspective is being followed. While they all fall under this, a few stand out:
- Hakuba:
- Does Hakuba really have a better, more reliable insight into the situations around him that allows him to more accurately judge what is right and wrong, or is Hakuba just deceiving himself on the possibility of both Yuusaku's and his own lack of moral justification for their actions because Hakuba's been raised to faithfully follow and trust Yuusaku and the things Yuusaku tells him? Is Hakuba a well-informed realist struggling in a no-win scenario, or is he a well-meaning delusionist making decisions on the basis of an inaccurate picture of reality that has gone largely unchallenged for fear of what that would mean about Hakuba himself and his role in the events around him?
- In chapter 10, was Hakuba truly just upset over Yuusaku's abusive behavior, or was he upset at the rest of the Irregulars witnessing it, thus removing Plausible Deniability and forcing him to confront the abuse he's otherwise normalized through their reactions of horror and disgust?
- Aoko's emotional issues and dogmatic Black-and-White Insanity over the righteousness of the Irregulars and the Overseers can cause her conflict with Kaito to be interpreted as Both Sides Have a Point or completely delusional on Aoko's part.
- Though opinions on the necessity of Ran's and Shinichi's break-up are generally unanimous, the fact that Ran's moral ambiguity is mostly communicated through her sincere but deeply toxic feelings for Shinichi has caused her motivations to be brought into question. Did Ran genuinely have good intentions, or was she just being selfish? Or both? After Yuusaku's secrecy policy is pretty undeniably revealed to be an abusive control tactic in front of the entirety of the Irregulars, Ran still displays a startling amount of ignorance regarding the implications behind her insistence on keeping Shinichi "safe," making most positive interpretations of her intentions and choices into Hanlon's Razor at best.
- Hakuba:
- As of Chapter 11, Yuusaku has become this, regarding the common chapter Epileptic Trees. If any are true, is he a Well-Intentioned Extremist or still a completely terrible person? Can the reader truly trust that he loves his son? One commenter even questioned the reliability of his exposition due to doubts regarding his mental health. And of course, so little is definitively known right now regarding Yuusaku that any of these interpretations could be dashed against the rocks with just a little more information; there's even a meta-element of this within the story, as it's clear different characters have similarly conflicting interpretations. As Yuusaku's motivations clearly lie at the heart of whatever darker secret he's hidden from Shinichi, these contradictory interpretations of Well-Intentioned Extremist vs outright narcissistic villain will likely continue until the truth is known. By the end of Part 1 it became clear that his "parenting" style has emotionally and psychologically beaten Shinichi to the point of obvious, pervasive damage that has deeply negatively impacted Shinichi's self-worth and ability to function in society and deprived him of pretty much any healthy interpersonal relationships, and considering how poorly Shinichi has been emotionally prepared for future hardships (owing to the years of support deprivation from all sides), and how thoroughly Yuusaku has proven himself completely willing to Mind Rape, abuse, degrade, and otherwise hurt Shinichi to keep him in line, many see Hakuba's claim that Yuusaku's actions are for Shinichi's wellbeing as seriously compromised even if he is the cause of the Pandora Effect. It's worth noting that all of Yuusaku's contradictory words have one common thread: they prioritize justifying Yuusaku's choices before anything else.
- Word of God heavily implies in a brief Q&A on their tumblr
that Yuusaku doesn't care about Shinichi finding out their secret identities nearly as much as he projects to others, and that he merely wants others to think he cares about this. But then, if his face-value motivation is false, is there a secret, more sympathetic reason, or is he really the Monster that the readerbase has speculated about, with the pain he's causing his son being his actual goal? Also, they confirm in comment responses that he and Yuukiko were running away from their problems for most of Shinichi's life and only came back to Tokyo when they had to or when they felt guilty. They further imply confirmation that Shinichi's family as a whole saw him as a pet they were "resigned to having to put down." - Alternatively, is Yuusaku just so traumatized himself that he can't actually manage the demands of his job? Hakuba wonders at one point if Yuusaku sees the events of Kuroba Toichi's death every time he sees his son. Notably, even without the dramatically disturbing and violent elements of his career, Yuusaku's chosen lifestyle and personality would also leave him particularly vulnerable to burnout and compassion fatigue, which are common afflictions for emergency response workers and could explain his self-destructively callous behavior and constant exhaustion. Therapy and emotional openness are the usual ways to avert or reduce these common side-effects, neither of which seem likely for a man as untrusting and manipulative as Yuusaku.
- Word of God heavily implies in a brief Q&A on their tumblr
- How moral are Kaito's opinions and actions? The comment section so far can't make up its mind. Is he justified in his extremes due to his claims regarding the dystopian nature of his enemies, or is he as misguided as the Irregulars if not more? Is he a vigilante Hero with Bad Publicity fighting for justice in a blatantly corrupt system, or is he, despite his sympathetic qualities, legitimately deserving of being called a villain, especially due to his recent forays into terrorism? Sabotaging Shinichi's attempt to save Santa seems to have definitely pushed reader opinion over to "bad guy" for now, but where he stands morally in comparison to Yuusaku or the various Irregulars still appears to be up in the air.
- Was Kazuha just lashing out under stress in her scene in chapter 11, or did she accidentally reveal a far more terrible part of herself and toxic beliefs that she actually holds but doesn't usually express? Word of God implies they intended the former but readers are divided, considering she's basically encouraging Ran not to face her flaws and instead blames the destruction of Ran's and Shinichi's relationship on Shinichi.
