The description of Villain Protagonist makes me think the trope is relevant: "Sometimes (but not always), this villainous main character will even get the Sympathetic P.O.V." "They simply need to be a villain whose morally reprehensible actions (however well-intentioned) are in no way glossed over or justified within the context of the story." I do not think Osamu and Nobuyo's actions are justified in the movie (the society is not depicted as terrible which would justify not to respect the social rules). There does not need to be a Hero Antagonist to have a Villain Protagonist : these are 2 distinct tropes.
Whether or not there's a hero antagonist, Osamu and Nobuyo aren't villain protagonists if you ask me. Their crimes and lies are serious, but they are also victims of circumstance, who in their own misguided way were trying to do the right thing for the children when society was letting them down. I think that the picture is too gray for the use of terms like villain.
I have added it again, since the protagonists are described (correctly in my opinion) as Anti-Villain. So, for the sake of consistency, Villain Protagonist should be included.
I read it too quickly. Anti-Villain is about the social services. I withdraw it.
I'm not sure if Villain Protagonist counts. There is no hero in the story- the family's main opponent is the childcare system/the state/arguably society, which is/are criticized throughout the movie and don't fit The Hero. While the family commit crimes, they're also portrayed pretty sympathetically. While how much is YMMV I guess, I don't think they do anything bad enough to be a villain- they're more Antiheroes than anything else.
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