You know, I find this comment section quite interesting. It is proof that the point of vie...

You know, I find this comment section quite interesting. It is proof that the point of view which the story is told, really does matter. I recall reading a novel, it has now tuned into a manwha. I forgot the name of it, but the main character was a villainess. She fell into debauchery, and would kill innocent people whenever she was angry. She was then killed by one of her knights, because he knew that if she were to reign any longer, the empire would definitely collapse. Yet, the readers, sided with the villainess. They blamed her surroundings for the way she turned out, and called out her followers for not being so “loyal” since they were not putting in an effort to find out why she became like that. (This is what the readers felt.) They felt that she was wronged, and her surroundings were to blame, but not herself. Her surroundings. Disregarding the innocents she killed. Not mentioning it. Not batting an eye. When she began to change after reincarnation, the readers were getting even angrier that her followers were still suspecting her. Saying such things like “It is obvious that she has changed, so why are they like that.” Nobody would say such things as “Well, she’s still a bitch for what she did in her past life. She does not deserve a second chance.”, “She is irredeemable trash.”

However in this, manwha, it is in the point of view of one of the victims to the emporor’s cruelty. This victim was innocent, and she had no knowledge of why her family was killed, so she grew to hate the emperor. The readers here, at least a good amount of readers here, also despise the emperor. Despite their ignorance, they think he is a horrible person, who does not really deserve much of a second chance, even though he is not going to grow to be the same monster he was previously, even though he is showing obvious signs that he will not turn out the same, they still despise him. “Well he killed her family, so he is irredeemable trash.” Not batting an eye to think of the reasons why he did what he did. They are blaming him, rather than his surroundings, for his actions. Even though they are completely unaware of why he did it, they jump to the conclusion that it truly was for no reason even though I doubt that’s the truth. The emperor killed most of the imperial family that had wronged him, killed many nobles, killed his wife on the night of their wedding, and killed the female lead’s “innocent” family. How can we say that her family did absolutely no wrong, when we don’t know his side of the story? Perspective. It really changes things.

When the story of the ex-villainess who was no longer a ruthless monster, was told from her point of view: She was pitied and her surroundings were blamed for her behavior by the readers.

When the story of a victim of the emperor’s cruelty is told from their point of view, rather than the emperor: She is pitied. Rather than the emperor’s surroundings being blamed, he himself is blamed despite not having knowledge of everything. Even though he was no longer going to become a monster, he is still blamed.

It amazes me how point of view can change everything.