YMMV / The Spirit Thief

• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Benehime and Eli are uncomfortably reminiscent of an abusive relationship, where the victim is desperate to get away but the abuser has so much power that literally no one can stop them from doing whatever they like.
  • Much of the same for Nico and the Demon of the Dead Mountain - though he is, at least theoretically, inescapably imprisoned.
• Fridge Brilliance: Josef's ability to hold himself together with nothing but Heroic Willpower seems like an exaggeration, until one considers Tesset's and Den's abilities. By mastering their own spiris, both men can perform feats of strength and toughness that are biologically and physically impossible, and the way to learn it is basically "it's possible, try and figure it out". It's not too-far-fetched that a Master Swordsman like Josef could unwittingly make use of a primitive version of the same techniques.
• Iron Woobie:
  • Nico. Dear god, Nico. If you don't want to punch the demonseed inside her, you haven't read the series properly, yet she keeps it together anyway.
  • What little we see of the Hunter may qualify him as a ridiculously badass version of The Woobie. He's had to fight hundreds upon hundreds of demons, all alone, for over five thousand years, only getting an hours rest every century. He fights for a world he doesn't even get to live in, for spirits and humans he never sees, slowly realizing his enemies will never die and his Creator is not coming back to save them. And then his beloved sister, the one who comforts him during his brief rest and one of only two beings who fully understands what he goes through, betrays him and literally stabs him In the Back. Jesus.
  • Every once in a while, Eli can verge into this when Benehime's 'attention' really gets to him.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • If you didn't dislike Benehime previously, her actions in Spirit's End would change anyone's mind, especially her murder of her brother. As Eli notes, this isn't an action of someone desperate - this is pre-planned and premeditated.
  • Sara crosses it once we find out truly how amoral she is.
  "Powers, Banage, it's only water.

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