YMMV / Ratman

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Is Shiki gay, or is he treating Shuto as if he was a puppy?
• Ho Yay: The way Shiki acts around Shuuto could be seen as either flirting (which seems to be how Mirea takes it) or like how he treats small animals.
  • The Evil Counterpart dynamic they have going and the fact that Shiki put Shuto in a Bridal Carry when they first met does NOT help.
  • As of chapters 31 and 32, this evolves into what is probably genuine Homoerotic Subtext.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: The Jacky Combatants, full stop. Whilst Shuuto and JACKAL provide most of the drama and plot progression, the Jackies are collectively Funny Background Event, Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass, and Spotlight-Stealing Squad all in one.
  • So much that many fans will comment on them being the true heroes of the story, especially how they were instrumental in breaking Ratman out of his strongest berserker state in the finale.
• Magnificent Bastard: Shin Akeboshi is the son of Shiningman—the first superhero—and was experimented on by Shiningman's enemies after his death to replicate the S Gene, turning Shin into "Sin". Having developed a hatred for heroes as a concept, Shin works with those same criminals to destroy the Hero Agency, starting a career as the hero IS-KA to sell phones that contain a power amplifier that would drive many heroes to a violent rage, with his plan only failing only thanks to the geniuses at JACKAL and other heroes. Shin discovers that Ratman has the S Gene too, and tries to convince Ratman while Shin's allies launch a terrorist attack on the Hero Agency Headquarters. When his offer is rejected, Sin takes advantage of the nature of the S Gene and attempts to murder Ratman's girlfriend to enrage Ratman and turn him into a monster that threatens to kill all heroes, while Sin kills his former allies. Escaping after his defeat at the hands of a recovered Ratman, Shin is able to see a confirmation of Shiningman's ideals of heroism, which makes Shin retire from villainy to honor his father's memory.
• Nightmare Fuel: Ratman's various more powerful forms (even just opening his mouth and revealing way too many sharp teeth) are not for the faint of heart. Rio has trouble sleeping after running into one of the tamer versions.
  • Unchain killing and eating a hideous chimera...complete with way more blood and gore (and a loose eyeball!) than the manga had ever shown. Just...Unchain's eating habits.
  • Ratman's final form looks similar to Venom crossed over with Alex Mercer's monster form from [PROTOTYPE] if he put on even MORE muscle and it's NOT a pleasant sight.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Shiki’s story about spending the majority of his life locked up because of his superpowers at first comes across as sad especially since he uses it to invoke Humans Are the Real Monsters. However when we find out what really happened he becomes this. While it is true that his parent's did become afraid and distance after they found out about them they were also doing what ever they could to help him control them such as sending him to a psychologist to help him with control. The reason that he ended up locked up was that the first time someone said something he didn't like he ended up killing them. This makes it seems like he just isn't willing to accept responsibility especially since he's developed a prideful personality. It's symbolic that he connects with animals that were sent to shelters after they'd attacked someone.

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