it all depends on the interpretation of the word "mental", I think. If you see it as an insult, like "idiot", it will be abusive. But if you see it as the name you call someone with a psychological disorder, it's just a name.
And also it could be said that anorexia is actually a mental disorder, so it's not really wrong...
(just following your conversation and budding in)
then , you say "he has a mental disorder". Look at at the Cambridge dictionary "uk slang: crazy", or the oxford " informal predicative Mad; insane.
People with anorexia are not mad, they just have a mental disorder, as you said. Calling them "mental" or any other derogatory names just makes their problem even worse. As it is portrayed in this manga, when the kid knew they were judging him, he had an anxiety attack and ate a lot to end up purging himself. People should be more careful because words are not just words and they can have really bad effects in others, specially when they just need a little bit of support and understanding.
That is completely true, and this manga is an illustration of this: after all, it's the awful girlfriend who made him so miserable about himself by calling him fat and worthless boyfriend material, who caused him to get this problem in the first place, since before he didn't feel bad about himself at all, was happy and healthy and enjoyed eating good food.
I'm not sure if the "cure", having the chef make him dishes and letting him eat it from his body would be effective in real life though; that would be too easy. But it sure is a good find. It even is a pity the artist didn't expand the eating-on-the-body-of the-chef more; it would have made for good erotic drawings.... ;-)
But about your thing with the word 'mental': this really is just semantics. On a word that has two meanings, one that is offensive and one that isn't, you never know if the person who uses it means it either as one of both. It therefore can be totally possible that Blubeagle really meant it in a non-offensive way. After all, every word that we today use as insult for crazy or stupid people like "idiot", "moron", "retard", "lunatic" etcetera, were once all medical terms to distinguish the different stages or grades of mental illness or intellectual impairness. They can all still be used as such, eventhough most of them aren't anymore.
So you might give Blubaegle the benefit of the doubt...
Regarding the first part of your comment, completely on point, I totally think the same regarding the origin of the trauma of the character. And also, I know it is not going to be realistic, but ey, I am also here for the erotic stuff as you said XD
And yeah, i totally get that Blubaegle might not have had bad intentions, but I really think that anyway they should be more careful. This kind of not bad intended comments can lead to a lot of suffering in real life. That is why I think it is so important to just stop using controversial terms because after all the intention is not what matters but the damage caused to the person who is suffering.
It is true that people have to be as empathic as they possibly can be. On social media, lots of folks keep using far more offensive and abusive terms than this ever was. So I am convinced that Bluebeagle wasn't meaning any harm.
We also must take care not to become oversensitive; just think of this issue many people have about "political correctness" and "racism" and other things... It's become increasingly difficult not to offend anyone, lately. You draw a white person, and everyone says you're racist because you've not drawn a black person too. You draw a man, and everyone is in your neck for not also drawing a woman. You draw a child, and everyone calls you a paedophile! You end up just not knowing what to draw at all anymore... You get what I mean?
Still, I'm glad I made you two make up together ;-)
Is this kid mental?