@tblst Im referring to all the previous instances as well. They all feel out-of-place rather than like they reveal the true tone of the story. Part of it is the disparity between how quickly it jumps from extremely wholesome to being over-the-top evil. But the bigger problem is that the dark themes completely disappear again outside those segments of the story, rather than shifting toward an overall darker tone each time. Like right after revealing that prison labor powered a theme park and having criminals kill a bunch of people, this entire arc (including the training bit) was 100% g-rated with themes based around hard work and friendship, and despite the forest ostensibly being extremely dangerous we don’t see a single death.
Obviously you disagree, but to me it feels like the author wants to make two totally different kinds of stories, and is trying to have their cake and eat it too.
