Hmm... Shou just wanted to keep his alchemy license and fusing Nina with Alexander was a last ditch effort not to lose face. Bondrewd continues in the purpose of bringing people back from the lower levels. Short term desperation versus long term humanity? I guess that the big question is whether Bondrewd would restore his kids if he found a way to? Alas, I sincerely doubt Nina would be given that consideration.
@@karkosgiehex Let's not forget Bondrewd actively made Nanachi HELP HIM in dissecting fellow orphans that he "adopted". And he actively tortured Mitty after turning her into a monster to test how much he could vivisect her without her dying. Either way, they are obviously both insane, therefore it's hard to compare them to tell who's worse.
My favourite part of the movie, was when the stingerhead trap was being explained, it mentions “the most dangerous creature(s) of the 5th layer” or “the ultimate predators(s) of the 5th layer” in the sub, while the camera focuses entirely on bondrewd
I freaking love Bondrewd because he shows that all white whistles are monsters. You don't survive in the most dangerous pit hole by just being 'normal'.
To become a white whistle is to sacrifice your humanity. To become as much of a monster as anything else that lives down in Uncle Lovecraft's happy fun pit.
@@conwaysquest6961 Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. - Friedrich Nietzsche
Bondrewd makes perfect sense as a personification of the reader. He: -Is completely anonymous and could be anyone. -Is heavily invested in exploring the abyss regardless of the consequences. -Knows all the characters by name and loves them, similar to how the readers become attached to characters after seeing them suffer. The variety of reactions and interpretations of his character mirror the variety of reasons people choose to read manga as well.
This is the best meta description I have ever read about this character. As a reader we are not effected by the suffering caused progress because we are not susceptible to the consequences. Bomdrewed is likewise disconnected from the reality of his horrors because he is functionally immortal so he doesn't experience any permanent consequence for his actions.
That is a very interesting take on the story. I can truly see that. Many times on MftA it's clear the story has a lot of meta and real world allegories built in to it.
I personnaly think he is more of a personification of science. - He is going down the most efficient road without caring for morality and all for humanity's greater good. He will bring a lot of knowledge and improvements, much faster than the scientists who are restrained by morals. - He seems like he will not cause unneeded suffering. He will give the kids all they need, including genuine love, until he actually needs to box them, despite the fact that it would probably be more efficient to treat them like livestock. Also the only kid being boxed we see is prushka, and she did not look like she was in pain at least but we can't really be sure, especially with Nanachi's meltdown. You could say that goes both with the "helping humanity" motive and with the efficience drive. - All of his followers are "him", they share the same interest and when he dies, one will become the new Bondrewd, like a peer picking up another scientist's work and continuing to work and expand on it after their passing. He will also remember any sacrifice's name, kind of like how we remember Marie Curie and other people who died to further our understanding of things. - Of course, the whole discovering and understanding shtick
@@jaredbowman7764unmm maybe if there's something wring with yea but I was affected with certain characters he killed. I think this is just over thinking it
I can't ever confidently say that Bondrewd is worse than Griffith, merely because Griffith is pure evil and malice while Bondrewd has none, he's just insane.
Yeah I agree there as I think Bondrewd can be seen as more vile do to the fact he is hurting loved ones and doing all of this to the ones he cares about the most but that's also what makes him not as bad as Griffith. Griffith does all of his stuff to become a god to become the most powerful. Well Bondrewd does it all for the sake of learning, discorving and even in his mind the greater good. As he research will save people in the future if he can slove what ever he is trying to do. Not only is Bondrewd goal way more noble but unlike Griffith who is only using other and the idea of making peace as a way to get to his goal, Bondrewd end goal is not necessary a bad thing at all. Like you said Bondrewd is insane and his beliefs are messes up but his end goal is not evil. You can Griffith insane and there are point in the story we're he is (right before the eclipse) but his end goals have always been the same, he is thinking clearly and knows what he wants and how to get it. He is just an evil person. Bondrewd is technically evil also, but not in the same way and I don't know if I would call him evil.
I don't really consider Griffith to be pure evil. He did care about his army or else he wouldn't been able to sacrifice them. Not to mention he made the sacrifice when both his body and mind was mangled beyond repair and the Godhand was gaslighting him into thinking it was the correct decision. I'm not saying a person couldn't resist that deal but it would be very difficult to resist considering the circumstance.
@@benjamincuevas9627I think it mainly refers to him post eclipse. Human Griffith had enough shame to contemplate being a bad person. Femto doesn’t appear to show much of any compassion. Sure his return saved a lot of lives, but he was simply going after a kingdom and Midland was where he had most of his connections and where he was hailed as a hero. So long as people are happy under his rule, he is secure and can continue working towards a perfect kingdom. But if his kingdom’s security required him becoming cruel to its people, he would do so, so long as he had his own kingdom.
@@meloneatingwolf1882 of course Femto is pure evil he's basically Griffith with his humanity removed. But it's important to remember that Guts' and Casca's child is fused with him. Where this is going in the story is unclear but he does show some care for Casca in this altered state as he went out of his way to save her. Now he's clearly still a bad guy but I can't call him pure evil if he literally has a pure child a part of him.
@@benjamincuevas9627 there is some speculation whether Griffith saved Casca of his own volition or if the Moonlight Boy saved her. Besides most of Griffiths inexcusable actions happened after the transformation. Most of his questionable actions before then could be justified.
@@Farhan_049 he is obsessed with the abyss and,from what I remember,every time he switched bodies he became more and more insane,to the point that he is now the living embodiment of ambition to learn about the abyss
@@cngotham4111 Oddly enough, the way Bondrewd talks, it would seem like he is the most "stable" person in the entire series. Never once did he scream out in pain, anger, or anything like that. Just always calm and composed. Kind of ironic for a mentally unstable person.
Ozen being the one to criticize Bondrewd is genius writing. She isn't terribly kind, but the gulf between her and Bondrewd could still comfortably fit the distance between Gandhi and Stalin. When she calls him a scoundrel, the reader thinks she's being hypocritical or cheeky, when she _very much isn't._
@@hariman7727ghandi was bad he was racist, a pdf file but he isn’t Stalin mass murdering people for suspected treason and killing their entire family nor did he starve his people via his own actions or let his son get killed in prison
There's something *otherworldly* and *haunting* about how bondrewd acts... he's incredibly positive and never gets upset, to a point he doesn't feel human. Even as he's dying as he loses massive parts of his base and even loses the body he wanted most! His reaction? He congratulates our heroes... there's not a HINT of malice, no anger, not even a passive aggressive comment... he acts more robotic than any character and it's even reflected when we see his eye before our heroes leave and it's empty, his face void of expression... bondrewd is terrifying because he doesn't act like a human being, he acts as a scientist, but moreso he acts like a *machine* as if all he can feel is joy regardless of circumstance it's like his character embodies "a human ripped of his humanity"
A great aspect of Bondrewds character that I don't see many people talk about is how his stoicism makes him mentally undefeatable. Like you mentioned at 17:55, Bondrewd is not the slightest bit upset at being beaten in battle. Rather, he is inspired by it and wishes the party the best of luck on their journey. He's always cheerful and positively minded, which is frustrating since you want to give him a taste of his own medicine, you want to see him suffer and cry in pain like his subjects did. But Bondrewd doesn't suffer. Even when he loses, he wins. Bondrewd dies with pride for Reg, Riko and Nanachi, while Nanachi lives dissapointed that she failed to teach Bondrewd his lesson. Bondrewd won, Nanachi lost. Bondrewd can be killed, but he can not be defeated, and that's what makes him such a wickedly interesting villian to me.
That's the scariest part for sure. He has functional immortality, but no desire to change. He is perfectly aware of, and satisfied with how evil he is, and how reprehensible his actions are
@@jstar3382 No, no he isnt aware how evil he is. I am pretty sure the moment he had his daughter in his hand we lost bondrew last human part had Its been statement by mc or bondrew, all his clones work for science and only science the results are what matter. His miracle took over his human self.
What i love about Bondrewd is that he genuinely love all the kids, its just that for him science and discovery are more important and he sacrifice anything for the ability to learn more. Though this includes himself which we know he has done but and would even more if that was an option. He such a amazing villain because he is genuinely not doing what he does out of bad interest, he does everything out of love or for the great good (in his mind.) He such a compelling villain because of that. He probably the best one arc villain ever.
@Astro2024 No he didn't, like he did want to find out all the secrets of the abyss and how to break it's curse. Also don't know if I said it but I mean more so greater good in his own mind. As there is an outcome thaf help a lot but of course there is that twist nature to it all. Still his goals are not really selfish as he happily and does sacrifice his own body and mind in order to solve the mystery of the abyss and for in his mind the "greater good." I'm not say the ends justify the means at all but I'm saying his goal is not super evil if evil at all it's the way he goes about things.
Unlike Guts. Pure self-interest, wouldn't have had any friends unless they were Griffith's friends first, and would give zero shits about anyone unless it's a proxy to feel better about his failures during Golden Age arc. Including murdering people for Griffith because they're NOT "his friends", which, if it wasn't for Griffith would have always remained to include every living person in the world, he'd just have been willing to murder for DIFFERENT whims. The ONLY slight hope for Guts to not be remorselessly and utterly evil is if he happens to make friends with somebody like Schierke who MAY look after herself without making that somebody else's problem, like Band of the Hawk couldn't and would rather kill for money. If it was for an "innocent" person he'd just quickly pop out to do some murdering to get food on the table for that "innocent" person.
@@Astro2024the take of his selfishness is unique too, it is completely skewed. Everything he had done is leading up to a goal, he gave basic necessities to unwanted children and then use them. He cared for Prushka then turned her into a curse repellent then effectively serve as Riko's white whistle. Riko and gang wants to delve deeper, he wants Reg, he wants Nanachi, so he tested them by setting them up for failure as what he did to Reg.
The craziest thing about him is that he doesn’t feel like a villain,he doesn’t even feel like an antagonist,and our characters wouldn’t even be able to progress without him. He is till this day one of my favorite antagonists ever,and it’s crazy that he is that high on my list considering he doesn’t even have that much screentime.
@@trutwhut6550 Yeah, but it was also to let his daughter live out her dream of going on an adventure, and turning her into a white whistle lets her do that _and_ helps Riko and the gang proceed with their goals. He really is best dad.
@@marchmelloow Yes, I don't consider Bondrewd vile and by no means more vile than Griffith. We have to take into consideration that Bondrewd split his consciousness into multiple ones because of his rebirth artifact. He has no longer an ethical attachment that makes him consider something good or evil. He even put himself to suffering and dying just for the sake of science, let's remember that everytime he dies, he loses a part of that we would call ''himself'' but I think he doesn't care anymore. The only thing that prevail is his love for science and that's because propably all his teammates are scientists. As the name of the host of Bondrewd implies ''The Rumble of Scientific Triumph''. We have to say that Bondrewd is and will be a pillar not only to the story but to the mankind itself. He sacrificed the only thing that a human cannot lose and that's his consciousness, the metafisic ''capacity'' of being his own self, he sacrificed that because of his ideals which were in the beggining the beggining the hope of humans to get a better living and his passion for science but since he is unable to control his consciousness anymore then no wonder he lose some of himself along the way, maybe that's why he noticed it and now his only sacrifices are now other scientists. I would not consider him vile, nor a villain, just an antagonist but an antagonist is not always vile or evil. My favorite character creation of all anime/manga I've seen. I think my profile picture says everything. If you want to consider him vile then it depends on which point of view you consider someone vile or evil. You can consider he is vile because he wants other to suffer or you can consider someone vile from the ethics perspective. If you consider someone is good or evil because of his intentions then he not an evil person and that's why so many people love Bondrewd, because he is an antagonist that you are able to understand even though etically he is wrong, you can understand his situation and his objetive and better if you read the manga because I felt he is better developed in the manga. Man, He was even happy when Riko and Reg killed him and he saw they got better. If you consider someone is good or evil just by his actions then for you he will be evil.
that is honestly so interesting. he really defies the whole "this guy is the villain, he kills people so he must be a sadistic pervert, a maniac devoid of any humane traits" thinking process. nothing is scarier than a villain who genuinely thinks they are doing the right thing, and does not appear to be obviously evil (until it's too late)
If there is one word to describe Bondrewd, I think it's "Genuine". He's genuine in both his words and action. He has genuine care and love towards his test subject. That's why all that he does just hits so fucking hard, cause it's not mallace nor ruthlessness, but a genuine curiosity drives all of his action.
Indeed, it is strange how heartless he is but yet it seems he has a heart. While it may seem like on odd comparison but it's almost like a tiny version of the Lovecraften monsters stuff. He is a monster that one can't understand because it's so inhuman. He's a mix of things that can be understood yet in a way that makes it so alien.
I think we should be careful on what we consider love. I think he genuine believes he has love but also believe he's mentally insane and realistically no one that would do those actions to someone else would not actually love them. Bur again he 100 percent believes he does
@@cngotham4111Not to be crass here but, no shit. We all know realistically these vile actions are far from anything we consider love. But what’s terrifying and interesting is the fact that he commits such deplorable experiments in spite of whole heartedly loving his children. No one is going to argue that he isn’t mental ill, that’s a no brainer. You saying “be careful” is almost as if us acknowledging he has a capacity to love is us somehow excusing him of all wrong doing. Absolutely not.
@apexknight9356 you say no shit yet completely miss what I'm saying. You said he whole heartily loves his children inspire of those cruel experiments what I'm saying is he absolutely doesn't love his children but rather he believes he loves his children. Not to be crass but idk how tf you got that out of my original comment lol.
The most insane thing is that while he did all that, the town above the abyss still sees him as a legendary hero and most white whistles knew about what he was doing. But they did nothing to stop him because in the end he found a way to get to the sixth layer by figuring out how to make white whistles
those hard blocks of food they eat at his base are probably sold or given to other explorers and allows them to keep exploreing, at the end of the day him being around does help society, but at a price
Griffith:I Dont Care Nor Remember Who Ive abandoned and sacrifice Bondrewd:Luther,maki,sahib,jojo, brando,walter,gus,jesse,artoria, dovahkin,peter,steven,marge...
bondrewd is such a genius bit of writing as he is a villain with the power of love on his side. the abyss itself vindicates him, granting him the blessing as proof of his love for his children.
Man, I absolutely LOVE Bondrewd analysis videos. Each one I watch gives me new perspective into the Sovereign of Dawn, and reminds me why he's my favorite villain in all of anime. Great video
A couple things i think you missed -Bondrewd loves his children but in his mind the pursuit of knowledge of the abyss is a higher goal so he would sacrifice anything including himself to achieve it -white whistles can only be formed in the face of terrible personal sacrifice, having a white whistle basically means you sacrificed a part of yourself to pursue the abyss mysteries. - Bondrewd has a unique relic that makes him able to split his conscience between multiple bodies but also slowly destroys his mind, it's heavly implied bondrewd got his white whistle sacrificing his own body
>Bondrewd loves his children but in his mind the pursuit of knowledge of the abyss is a higher goal so he would sacrifice anything including himself to achieve it No. Bondrewd does absolutely NOTHING to reduce the suffering of his victims. And all of the technology he develops benefits himself directly. There is no indication of him loving anyone but himself. He is never conflcited about committing the worst atrocities towards others.
@@MrCmon113i thought it was required for him to transform that he loves the other individual which was shown by how he remembered each childs name and wish.
@@randomguy9305 no, you transform no matter what when you ascend if you don't have the cartridge system he made. He has repeatedly gone up and down and has never transformed before, until now. The reason he became "blessed" like nanachi this time is because Prushka loved him, not because he loved her. Prushka was the cartridge he threw away after transforming. If he didn't have her then, he would have become a normal narehate because he was out of cartridges. In a twisted way he loves those kids, but Prushka was the only one that ever loved him back
Imo bondrewd sees his children as livestock. Hes like a farmer caring and raising his children, only to harvest them to enrich humanity. His redeeming qualities make him vile, as they show that his horrendous actions aren't evil out of hate. He never shows hate, and that's what makes him incredible. He is an antagonist with the power of love. He loves and feels empathy to such a degree that he sacrificed himself for his white whistle, instead of another person. He even performs all of his experiments on himself before doing it on others, as in his mind, anything he can do, someone else can.
He seems like a personification of a scientific ideology. His perspective is so skewed. It is hard to consider him vile, from my standpoint. He seems to be aiming at the goal that will reduce a greater amount of suffering later on through intense suffering now, like he is taking, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," But to an extreme degree. His actions are not justifiable, but at least they have more meaning beyond just causing pain. That is one complex discussion that can be absolutely bungled in the UA-cam comment section.
I personally disagree, because a farmer doesn’t memorize the hopes and dreams of each of the animals they raise, nor do they truly care for them, I think bondrewd genuinely saw each and every one of his test subjects as his own child, they weren’t just stepping stones that he used and threw away, they were all genuine sacrifices
@@lemonpresswood705 sorry to add but I've watched shows where farmers name their livestock, they pick up on their individual traits, they read their behaviours and cues; and still kill them for market. it depends on the farmer i think. some of them love their animals but will still sell them to be killed
Bondrewd is such a fascinating villain, you did a great job of articulating why! ...I absolutely wasn't expecting a Zant sound effect in the video though, caught me off guard despite the Zelda music lmao, but then I think, creepy, masked, inhuman villain who turns people he's supposed to take care of into body horror nightmares and... yeah, I suppose the Zant sound effect IS fitting
I think it's how personal they are with the things they do. Frieza can chuck an orb into space by accident while yawning and make hitler look like a toddler. But slowly torturing one person still seems worse to you, because the INTENT matters, and the character understanding and meaning every single tiny bit of it.
@BondrewdIsHere he said other bodily fluids and used the ...... and in every single time I've seen that without it being a sentence continuation it always means something different
What makes this dude special is that he’s one of the few villains in fiction where his redeeming qualities actually make him even more detestable. Because you’re always thinking to yourself how could who is sincere and loving be capable of some of the worst horrors imaginable. Reacting to these children through unimaginable suffering as if they got a gold star from their preschool teacher.
One of my favorite things about that arc and Bondrewd, is that as shown by Nanachi's backstory, it's heavily implied that the thing that allows the curse to be shunted onto another is love. Or at least a deep affection. So when Bondrewd attained the 'Blessing' the abyss recognized that not only did those children love him he genuinely loved them back. If not for that the cartridges wouldn't have worked. It's shit like that that's so horribly fucked up that make me love made in abyss. The abyss is endlessly cruel by human standards, but what right do we have to judge something as grand and ancient as the abyss by our mortal standards?
Exactly, but just one thing Bondrewd didn't receive the Blessing from the cartridges, because his bond with the kids wasn't equally strong on both sides. He did actually love all the kids, but they only had some affection for him. Efficient enough for curse-repelling, but not enough for a Blessing. Only Prushka loved Bondrewd as much as he loved her. That's why he received the Blessing after ascending with her. Fucked up and brilliant.
By what right do we have to judge something as grand and ancient as the abyss? The same right by which a mortal challenges their divine creator by drawing breath even without that creator's consent. The right to challenge that which is greater than we are is our greatest right as mortals with free will.
I'm still betting that Lyza ASKED Bondrewd to make a Life-Reverberating Stone for Riko... Lyza must've heard the whole "everything returns to the Abyss" mantra at some point and connected that to her daughter. She would've had to meet up with Bondrewd to take her last dive, so what did they talk about? Maybe the potential fate of the only person to be born dead then brought back to life by the Abyss/relic? So, Bondrewd knew all along. "You've brought about a trial that was necessary to guide Prushka to completion." Also, Faputa calls the Life Stones/White Whistles "Kind Stone Person/People", which would hint that Bondrewd knows the person's soul is still connected to the stone. Makes me wonder what Faputa would think of Bondrewd's White Whistle.
I think it would make sense, but at one point he tries to convince Riko to become a white whistle (item), and if this theory was true it wouldn't make much sense. Unless, he'd want to make a prank on Lyza for wanting him to turn her daugher into white whistle, lol Pretty sure he knows people's souls are connected to white whistles since they can actively communicate/talk with their owners [unless it works different for him since he's his own white whistle]
You forgot to mention that he experimented on himself which led to him becoming his own white whistle and he would have continued to experiment on himself or the "umbra hands" but the abyss no longer sees him as a living human
The sad part is his crimes yield results managing to find countless artifacts built a base in most dangerous and furthest layer anyone can go (and live) and furthered humanity’s knowledge with regards to how the curse works and even how to repel it. The guild is also likely very complicit in his crimes and willing to turn a blind eye
@@commenteroftruth9790 exactly Every delver we’ve seen has been willing to sacrifice their humanity in the name of exploring the abyss look at ozin or even Rico’s mom as prime example.
The white whistles deeper down are probably worse. Like we've seen the insanity already. Ozen with the strength of 200k men was able to beat reg up but can't break his skin while a mere wild animal of the deeper layers can dent his armor.
About Prushka's infamous "Papa Pole" line. The truth is that Bondrewd was simply educating her in dissecting an animal, and showed what happens to a male's appendage when blood is pumped into it, and what it's for. As it's the organ used to make one into a father, Prushka took to calling it the Papa pole. The scary part? While Bondrewd wasn't doing THAT sort of thing to Prushka.... even if he was, it would still be the SECOND worst thing he's done all day.
We now know that white whistles are people who sacrifice themselves for someone they love Bondrewd whistle is unique because his white whistle is himself, his original body So his body got turned into a whistle, and his mind is inside his mask/machine with controls all the other bondrewds... this dude is something else
One of my friends described Bondrewd like this: "A ton of villains believe that they're doing the right thing, but what's unique about the abyss is that so many people die so horribly to it that it makes us question if Bondrewd really is. Like, he's cruel, but it could be argued that the world is even crueler."
:/ what was he trying cook? bro wanted us to reason with a Psycho? like the problem with your friend's statement is that the world is natural. The Abyss is natural. Bondrewd isn't, none of the shit he does is natural. It's abnormal.
@@HonoraryTemplar The abyss is definitely not natural. I haven’t read much of the manga, but I seriously doubt there is anything else like it in the world. Even to the people living on the island, the abyss is this mystical anomaly, so much so that they are attracted to and even see it as a deity-like figure. I think the point is more so that people are going to be attracted to and die horrible deaths within the abyss either way, so bondrewd may actually be saving lives with all the cruel shit he does.
@@justjoe4794Considering his lab and men actively reduce the threats plaguing the surrounding floors. Like that insect that got up to the upper floors, which was super deadly. I think he's one of the main reason why majority of the more dangerous entities of the abyss have settled in greater numbers above. The town on Abyss is really lucky to have him down there.
@@HonoraryTemplar His research is definitely not abnormal by Abyss standards. After all he basically discovered how to make whistles, and how the curse and layers worked. And the Abyss is just as cruel as Bonedrewd, if not more. Nobody's saying to reason or emphasize with him, that's not the point. The point is understanding that he basically lives in a world that has nothing to do with the normal human way of thinking. In the Abyss everything is out to kill you. Even the very air. Bonedrewd, if anything, is a product of his environment. Such an extreme and mysterious place requires extreme and esoteric ways of thinking. You can hate him, but at the end of the day, anyone who goes down to the Abyss willingly has to be prepared to lose their life in the most horrific way possible.
Something I love about Bondrewd is the fact that seemingly everyone has a different takeaway from watching/ reading him. There are so many different things people get from him that I never would have due to his motives remaining fairly removed and up to interpretation for the most part
I seen a really strange one last week, the guy didn’t think he was an antagonist at all, said he was good, that he only did what he did to make them stronger, give Riko her white whistle & help them on their way.
@@InfamyOrDeath-__-I see where they're coming from but not completely right. He did test Riko and gang by taking away Reg, their combatant, logically they have failed right from the start but managed to salvage the situation. He saw potential, readied Prushka, kept at it, and the gang passed with flying colors. The consensus is someone is bad for what they did is bad, at the same time Bondrewd is "innocent" because he just do not have a concept of good and evil. I've read a similar story tackling the paradox of good and evil, and innocence from a gacha game no less. The story is Lostbelt no. 6 Avalon la Fae, I suggest looking online for resources if you want to read the story since the game have buttload of contents before that.
He is certainly and purely evil. His obsession is progress for its own sake, and he is willing to kill and destroy a variable amount of humans to make that happen. This nature makes him a unique villain, more like a force of nature than an antagonist. He is unstoppable, unshakable, and completely sincere. This is not an enemy to be beaten, but survived. Hope you get something out of this take.
@jimijenkins2548 kinda cringe take lol. This ignores the fact one of his main motivations is **avoiding a recurring extinction event** not "progReSs fOr progReSs sake"
There's also a whole complexity about his use of the relics that makes him immortal. I think he is able to have this low attachment and care about life because he has a different perspective/outlook on life. He is multiple people. He shares his mind through multiple generations. Life for him is just a tool that is expendable to progress. And he does not only apply that to others, but to himself too. It's also incredible that he isn't just insane. He's still so smart and thoughtful and caring, even through his mind being distributed amongst his umbra hands and through multiple generations He is a deeply well thought out antagonist. Everyone in the comments are pointing out more things and details about him
I think the main thing I keep coming back to with Bondrewd is this: He's the purest form of the Progressivist Mindset. The whole motto of "Anything for the sake of progression," he upholds that as his ultimate goal. Nothing is withheld from the "Altar" of Progression, not those he just met, not those he cares for, not even family (blood or found), and not even his own life is sacrilege compared to the gears of progression. And I think that amount of dedication to the one goal is what terrifies us and proves the warning we had of him being a "monster." But even through all his mantra that final knife turn is hearing those names of those he sacrificed as their last existence was expired, in the end this "monster" cared enough of these kids he experimented on, knowing their dreams, their emotions, and their last thoughts. If he was an uncaring "monster" the terror and fright would still be there, it's just the extra implication of that so called "love and care" he had that just disturbs us to our core.
That implies progressives care about children. They blatantly don't. They hate innocence and seek to spoil it at every turn. That said the author seems to be a pedo and progressives pedos so maybe there is something to that
The fact that he cares enough to know them but not enough to care for their lives dulls the terror of his villainy. Yet he is the monster I fear the most
Of all the anime villians out there Bondrewd is without a doubt one of the most twisted, interesting and well written of them all. Also his drip goes hard.
Bondrewd is genuinely the only character I have never understood completely. A sadistic psycho or a cowardly despot are somewhat simple archetypes. Although morbid they often have hedonistic desires that control. Bondrewd is different, he so effortlessly walks the line between love and apathy that I can't fathom what actions he could take. He rarely outright lies but you still can't let your guard down around him. As crazy as a psycho or despot may be they're still human, warped but human. Bondrewd is not human, hasn't been in a long time he stopped being human when he got his white whistle. Bondrewd as we know him is progress personified.
Yeah that's one of the special things about him that separates him from 'normie villains'. He don't lie to you. If he said you are going to have an adventure, you will really have one. Wether you are still whole or a white whistle, there's no difference. You still had your adventure.
What's particularly horrifying about Bondrewd is how his dynamic with Nanachi so eerily mirrors the relationship between an abusive parent and child, specifically one who sees their abuse as an extension of their love, at worst a lamentable necessity. He is magnanimous in his praise and full of warmth and generosity where he sees it fit, and this is not insincere, at least not in his own mind, but beneath it there is something quietly desperate, obsessed with control and survival: Binding every subordinate (many willing) to his tattered mind and soul as if they were his many hands, grasping at immortality and omnipresence, forever preparing for ever-approaching calamity of the two thousand year cycle with the conviction that his consciousness shall live on to bring about a new age, using countless bodies as stepping stones. Even his own love is a tool, something to be used against others, not out of sadism, but because it gets him results, and results feed that mad scramble out of the maw of oblivion which he can't help but look back and gaze into endlessly. It's what makes Nanachi pushing his hand away from their half-smiling face as his transformed body dies so incredibly satisfying and powerful. His blessings cut, but the wounds are shrugged off. He has no power over them anymore. Nanachi is finally free, at least for a moment.
Completely agree people are saying that he actually loves his kids are crazy no one would do that to any kids they actually lovd. He's literally insane
@Pleiades_Erret to a degree but I'd some realistically if a parent abuses a child or a spouse abuses there partner we would as a society generally agree that is not love. And what is words if not sounds that we give definitions that societies people agree about.
@commenteroftruth9790 yes he believes he loves them just like many abusive people believe they love there children that doesn't mean he actually loved them.
13:32 little correction. He isn't the real Bondrewd but another Umbra Hand member, his project after he cracked the mechanism of the curse of the 6th layer. It's what he did next after what he did to Nanachi and Mitty. The real Bondrewd is his white whistle, meaning he's long dead and just sharing his consciousness to all his Umbra Hands. He can control multiple Umbra Hand members but with less efficiency.
Oh yeah, that's right. It's such an odd factoid about him. It makes me wonder if the real Bondrewd before all the abyss stuff was even human at all. Or perhaps because he became a white-whistle he became so alien about his sense of morality.. or lack there of.
I mean u can say real in body is a no but would he be him without his mind. His conciousness is importnat enough to actully be him, at least in my opinion
i once read a comment on a video with his theme song where the person who wrote it theorized that bondrewd is exceptionally strong, both physically and mentally, but that he cannot even fathom that others can be weaker than him and that he trully believes that everyone can endure what he can or worse. its kind of horrifying
Fantastic video. You nailed every single point about this villain. While I know nothing of Berserk yet I can say Bondrewd is the most vile villain I've seen in any form of media to date.
Griffith is fundamentally a worse villain, not because of the scale of depravity, but because it is a deliberate betrayal, while sane, for a selfish cause. Shou Tucker is the same as Griffith, if smaller in scope, he betrays and defiles those he has bonds with and is responsible for. Bondrewd on the other hand, is not quite human/sane. He does not see what he does with a twisted love in his heart, as shown by the fact that he still "loves" his cartridge kids. In his mind, he never betrayed those children, he is simply giving them purpose.
Bondrewd is cool as fuck. Badass design, killer presence, and steals every single scene he's in. He's a villain that's just fascinating to watch, and he isn't even "evil." He's not a sadist, or cruel for the sake of cruelty. Just an example of how badly the Abyss and the desire for the secrets it holds can corrupt you.
I feel like the moment I finally got a grasp on Bondrewd is when the gang was leaving for the elevator and were seen off in the distance by the new vessel of Bondrewd. He could easily beat them now, since the circumstances favoured him, but he did nothing such. Even though these are people that essentially killed him twice by now and ruined a vessel that encapsulated years of progress, he had no desire whatsoever to harm them. This man has no personal grudges or ego. He really is just an entity. The embodiment of science.
Exactly, everything he does is with purpose, and even when he was dying and saying how much effort it took him to create that curse-proof body he never blamed Nanachi, Riko, or Reg, he simply said it was a shame. Imagine spending decades on something just to have it ruined, wish the people who are responsible for it a genuine farewell, and not even think about seeking revenge when you have the chance? All the evil he did was because he had a genuine reason to do so.
Even better: he _wanted_ them to defeat him so that Riko could get a white whistle to gain access to the sixth layer. He let them destroy his base and everything else solely to help them, which he decided _from the moment he saw them._
Another very interesting thing about the whole interaction with him is how it ends and how it reflects on Riko, the main character. In the end, after they "defeat" him they don't actually defeat him. From what I remember he's still around and may very well continue to do what he has been doing. But Riko doesn't really care enough to continue trying to stop him. In the end, all she cares about is exploring the abyss, and is willing to forsake everything else to do so.
It was interesting to see that whenever Bondrewd appeared in the screen the protagonists tensed up. They were afraid because they knew he was dangerous but still approached him because of how genuine he is
You know what's the worst part. It's that it can be argued bondrewd isn't evil at all. He's just lost his humanity and ascended a new level. He's definitely not a human anymore. More like an entity guarding the gate to hell. In some twisted sense he has ascended past humanity to become the sovereign of dawn. Nature and science are his passion and so he's passionate about everything related to it no matter how horrible it might be. Whatever experiments he forced on people he went throgh himself as well. He constantly sacrifices himself and goes through immense pain for his science. He's willing to kill so many people and destroy so much of his base and himself just to get the main characters a white wistle.
Kinda reminds me of a line fromm the book animal farm "some animals are born more equal than the others" like an almost hitlarian form of "greater good".
Getting to see Bondrewd in all his glory, as a white whistle, as a sovereign, as a villain of progress. A prayer cannot be born of one only knows joy. Today was special.
Bro fr, I watched made in abyss late so I didn't imagine in my wildest dreams I would have another "Shou Tucker" chimera moment in my life. That was horryfing, it took me so much by surprise. Goddamn love this show!
Absolutely loved the film and the anime...he has such a commanding presence whenever he appears. And as some stated,his godly level of stoicism is something to marvel at...even if he loses,he wins... 1st- because he is 50 steps ahead of you, 2nd- because he is so stoic,you can never "teach him a lesson" nor make him suffer, 3rd- because due to his white whistle he is functionally immortal. Yes,you can kill him, but you can never get rid of him,as long as he has umbral hands at his disposal and "cartridges" to use. He never gets angry,frustrated or annoyed and never loses his temper or gets emotional. Truly like a force of nature. And what makes him truly chilling is that he isn't a cosmic horror type villain either...an ungodly,unstoppable and uncaring monster whom you happen to be in the way...he CARES....he is a monster with a SOUL,yet no morals. A being of such insane focus on "progress" he makes Dr. Mengele seem like a decent bloke.
1:44 Would also like to recite the famous Stalin quote, as I think it applies here. "A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic" In the very simplest of terms, humans are more likely to resonate with a tragedy than a statistic. EDIT: Of course, goes without saying. Amazing Video!
One thing i wish you mentioned when mentioning prushka becoming a white whistle is that to become one you need to sacrifice a life and that unlike other villains and monsters that other media portrays he is not afraid to do what does to others to himself He was not scared of recieving the curse of the abyss and he was not scared of sacrificing possibly his first body to make his own white whistle Nothing phases him wether its done to others or himself just as long as it can be progresses to his studies and informations He is truly the most Amoral character the biggest definition of one
I used to think Weather Report's statement that those unaware of their own evil are the worst kind of evil was kind of silly-Jojo is full of blatant psychos like Cioccolata or Dio that know what they're doing. But Bondrewd? He embodies Weather's statement perfectly
what bondrewd did genuinely broke me, even after a year or so since i last watched made in abyss i still get teary eyed hearing about what he did to prushka and nanachi
He's a horrible villain, but not worse than Griffith. Everyone is a stepping stone (at best) to Griffith, but Bondrewd remembers all of their names despite how horrible he is.
kind of a bad argument, because that's what exactly Bondrewd thinks of everything he's done up until this point to be a stepping stone to conquering the abyss. It's just he's nice about it, he remembers each and every stepping stone he's stomped on to get there, and his drive and motivations match up to Griffith himself. Both desire good things, Although that often paved the way for evil to take over once they realized that their very desire is what turns people into metaphorical monsters. For conquering the abyss and making an all mighty kingdom requires those to abandon their humanity to combat the existential consequences of their actions.
nah. he knows that they suffer and thinks that he's showing love, while those souls will make sure he suffers a fate millions of times worse then theirs.
@@war_fish That's the thing, Bondrewd knows that. He knows the children are suffering, and that karma exist. He even has a quote about it " May your journey overflow with blessings and curses." But that dosen't deter him from doing what he believes is right.
@@war_fish Also I just realized that your children point is dead wrong, literally every kid had to some extent love him enough to burden the ascension curse. So they aren't singing about his demise, more so praying he succeeds in his plans to conquer the abyss. Wayy more evil when you realize blud basically manipulated them into loving him to that extent.
@@SkillHunterThousandManPlanHe's just a mad Scientist. Wither you love him or hate him, mankind will benefit from his knowledge and discovery. People will thank him someday if he succeed and that what really matters.
Hes a unique one for sure, not emotionally detached or getting a sick sense of pleasure but genuinely feeling love, im sure he would be the kind of person to do horrific experiments in the night then talk about sports with the neighbours in the morning all without pretending, to a normal person who feels guilt after suffering others h simply doesn't, no guilt, no joy, just love, which is far more twisted than anything i can imagine
Definitely rivals evil that takes pleasure in it too both have no morals but one feels more unnerving in a way to be nice while doing such acts is chilling
Initially, I scoffed at the title of this video as a long time Berserk reader. But then you said 'Made in Abyss' and I immediately whispered '...okay, this is a very compelling argument.' I do love MIA, it is ...heart wrenching in a different way than Berserk while also being just as dark. I enjoyed this very much, thank you!
Fact: Bondrewd's work is absolutely vital to human well-being. Fact: Bondrewd is selfless, so much so that he found a way to get a White Whistle without sacrificing anyone else. Fact: Bondrewd loves his adopted children. We know this in two ways. He remembers all of their names and dreams, and his evolution wouldn't be possible otherwise due to the nature of the curse. Fact: he gives their lives meaning. If it weren't for him, they would die of exposure and starvation, unwanted urchins. Fact: he helps his daughter fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a white whistle. Conclusion: Bondrewd is a hero. A misunderstood genius with a heart of gold. Addendum: the choir of children singing in his themse is meant to be his children singing their support for him.
Especially considering the 2000 year extinction cycle that he is researching, he is probably trying to stop an apocalyptic event, or at least transfer all the knowledge that humanity had gathered to the new era, he is a true hero that abandoned everything and everyone for the betterment of humanity
You don't count the umbra hands consciousness as sacrifices? Or do you count the whole group as a single amalgam under the name of Bondrewd? Anyway, if they were aware, sound of mind and voluntary, it is creepy at best, I guess.Taking in vulnerable children to turn into recruits and resources is not exactly noble, specially if said children had no better option on top of that. The world of MiA is fucked up and I think Bondrewd just went and said "aight, then let me double down all the way to the bottom"
@@hugofontes5708 Yes this is absolutely the case. He understood their reality. And then he went on to understand the Abyss. And he became infatuated with it and its truths.
@@tormentedstar8480 Would you kill millions to save billions? Or let everyone and everything so far achieved to perish because you can't make a decision?
After watching the movie. It's just insane how bondrewd loves his "children". The only reason why he's my favorite is the entrance, it's the best thing i've ever seen. Nanachi just shit herself after seeing bondrewd The ending is insane tho, from what i remember bondrewd's assistant just sacrifice himself just to make bondrewd alive again(i can't tell if im wrong, i watched this movie long time ago) Overall 9.5/10 villain. the climax of the movie is insane, i love it
The irony is that not only does Bonerewd TRULY love these kids, but his actions have made the Abyss so much safer for people because he learned so much of how the abyss works. He is the DEFINITION of doing evil for goodness sake. The issue is that the Abyss DEMANDS a sacrifice. He sacrificed, not his humanity, but very being (thus why he can give his Praying Hands White Whistles). His humanity is fully intact, and he is very in touch with it. But he CHOOSES the greater good of understanding the Abyss, at ANY cost.
I never seen or read Made in Abyss before, but I am well aware of that infamous scene. So as soon as you said that this guy was responsible for it I was like “Yep, he’s the worst.”
Made in Abyss has three main tragedies: Mitty, Prushka, and Irumyuui. The fact that Bondrewd, a character that only shows up for 10 chapters is responsible for TWO of these atrocities, speaks volumes about his character. And to make things worse... he does a DAMN GOOD job convincing you that his actions were justified.
I do love how he is a character with human traits but is almost impossible to fully wrap your head around because he is completely divorced from love and what he can do for the sake of science, there is zero overlap between them and he manages to express both without letting his ability to care hold him back from committing horrible things
Bondrewd feels like an current actual scientist. Only big difference is they use rats and other animals to conduct experiments not humans. The ability to not understand rats makes it OK in our current society. I might sound like PETA but I truly love eating meat.
Well that and that for current scientists, all studies have to go through an ethical board to decide whether or not the scientific and societal interests are worth the suffering of animals. This is different depending on the animal. Apes for example have way more stringent demands and can't be used for just any experiment whereas zebrafish have way less stringent requirements. Part of this is because we are humans and apes are much closer to us evolutionarily speaking. Other reasons are that we assign them more value than say a rat or a zebrafish or a microbe and that zebrafish for example multiply a lot faster than apes. Bondrewd doesn't really have to get approval from anyone
@@ryanmcmeekin6085 Obviously these kinds of regulations exist but during warfare ethics are bent. They are at war with abyss and so he's given free reign.
Man the Twilight Princess Music fit this video so well. I literally got goosebumps all over my arms the immediate moment I heard the first note. (It's literally my favorite game of all time.)
Bondrewd sure gave Prushka exactly what she asked for: Becoming just like him... A literal White Whistle. And the crazy part is that Prushka probably knew what eventually waited for her. Bondrewd surely didn't tell her exactly what would pass and when it would pass (because he didn't want for the information to allow for Prushka to doubt her convictions), but she was his assistant after all, just like Nanachi before her, and he probably told her how he obtained his White Whistle as well. She was innocent, but not naïve or stupid. She was, after all, his daughter, and tried to follow his footsteps the best way a human child could (for Bondrewd is transhuman).
I wouldn't call someone devioud of humanity a transhuman 🤷♂️ but fair point about prushka but what about the orphans that didn't want to turned into cartridges he had no right to that. Personally I don't think he was capable of love not in a meaningful way anyways.
I love this because it's the psychological aspect of the reality of the character that's best way I know how to describe it. Is that very real chilling effect that these people could actually exist in the world. And they probably do. Great video love it
Another great aspect of Bondrews is how well he fits with the show and what the abyss represents. He, as well as Wazukian are very unique characters that, outside of the setting, wouldn't make much sense. They are so versatile because they are perfect depictions of the type of person who would make their life goal reaching the bottom of the abyss. In other words, people who wouldn't hesitate to leave behind their humanity (conventional morality included) in the search of something greater. Therefore, when they contrast with Riko, who keeps being the same despite being at the same layer of the abyss as them, the reader can condemn them as evil or repugnant and still recognise the logic behind their actions and their motivations. The latter one being the same that the protagonists have.
Griffith joke aside, this guy isn't sadistic or vile, he's machiavelian. He serves what HE believes is the greater good. He isn't even technically a villain that is solely subjective. He can be a villain to some, because of the circumstances but to others he would be a hero. He's kind of the hero of the story. While I surely don't have the stomach, as my overactive empathy would always prevent me from doing these things, it would be a good thing that someone can.
Another thing people who watch this has to understand if it wasnt for Bondrew Riko's journey would have ended there. Since the lift to the 6th layer wont activate unless you got a white whistle with a deep connection too. He asked Prushka to be friend with Riko just for the sole purpose to create the white whistle so Riko could continue her journey. None in Riko group would sacrifice themselves to become a white whistle and since Bondrew see Nanachi as a blessed child of the Abyss he wont hurt her and Reg is a legacy from the Abyss he would rather experiment on himself since he would really want a body like Reg, in order to be unaffected by the curse. And Riko who is a friend of nanachi he would gladly help for her so called last journey to the bottom, so Prushka is the only choice in Bondrews mind.
What makes characters like Bondrewd so interesting is that they could be considered evil incarnate, but there isn't an ounce of malice in them, which in turn makes them even more scary and alien because we as "normal" people with a "normal" frame of morality can't reconcile that someone like that can actually exist, so we simply don't know what to make of it once you get past the initial shock value of his actions.
I think the most impactful thing about Bondrewd is that he's not sadistic even though he's a villain who causes grievous pain to his victims. He's not doing these things to gain a sense of pleasure, but instead he's doing them because he simply has no sense of ethics and only cares about achieving the results he's aiming for. If you removed his experiments from the story and he was simply a character that the adventurers met along the way like Ozen, he'd actually seem pretty benevolent. His personality is that of a nice person, but his actions and methods are absolutely sociopathic and psychotic.
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as a vaper...
that felt personal
this shit is so expensive 😭
8:28 You are welcomed to stop reading the manga if you dont like fictional chatacters, we dont need people like you in our community
Bro is really said the author should be under arrest for drawing fictional characters💀
you should check out villain and also hero at same time from labotomy corporation lol
It is an undeniable fact that the more villainous an anime villain is, the higher their drip levels are.
Real life too. Look at the 1940’s
I was about to say that. N@-zis are a real life showcase of this. Or in inspiration, Star Wars and the Empire, basrd off afromentioned 40s bad guys.
It was me Dio!
You are very wrong about that
Haha
Bondrewd's VA also voiced Griffith and Yoshikage Kira, other fantastic manga villains
I find this funny as those 3 characters are in my top 5 anime and Manga villains
He also voiced Minato
@@Killer_Bee06 He voiced the fathers of two of the big three anime and Paul Greyrat.
And kagaya ubuyashiki from Demon Slayer.
Also Naraku from Inuyasha lols
Shou Tucker: "Truely i am the worst anime dad."
Bondrewd: "Hold my flesh container with the mutilated still living body of my daugther in it."
Hmm... Shou just wanted to keep his alchemy license and fusing Nina with Alexander was a last ditch effort not to lose face. Bondrewd continues in the purpose of bringing people back from the lower levels.
Short term desperation versus long term humanity?
I guess that the big question is whether Bondrewd would restore his kids if he found a way to? Alas, I sincerely doubt Nina would be given that consideration.
@@karkosgiehex Well, a way to restore the kids would also be a way to make his curse-eating boxes renewable
@@karkosgiehex Let's not forget Bondrewd actively made Nanachi HELP HIM in dissecting fellow orphans that he "adopted". And he actively tortured Mitty after turning her into a monster to test how much he could vivisect her without her dying.
Either way, they are obviously both insane, therefore it's hard to compare them to tell who's worse.
Dads of the year right there
I dunno whether to like this comment or just leave it at the 666 it is now, fricking heck, man....
My favourite part of the movie, was when the stingerhead trap was being explained, it mentions “the most dangerous creature(s) of the 5th layer” or “the ultimate predators(s) of the 5th layer” in the sub, while the camera focuses entirely on bondrewd
Oh sh*t, you're right!
The same goes for the sub. That specific line is down while circling best dad.
I freaking love Bondrewd because he shows that all white whistles are monsters.
You don't survive in the most dangerous pit hole by just being 'normal'.
To become a white whistle is to sacrifice your humanity. To become as much of a monster as anything else that lives down in Uncle Lovecraft's happy fun pit.
@@conwaysquest6961 Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
The only way to survive where monsters thrive is to become one yourself
@@conwaysquest6961"Uncle lovecraft's happy fun pit" has to be the best description for the abyss😂
Funniest at least
Bondrewd makes perfect sense as a personification of the reader. He:
-Is completely anonymous and could be anyone.
-Is heavily invested in exploring the abyss regardless of the consequences.
-Knows all the characters by name and loves them, similar to how the readers become attached to characters after seeing them suffer.
The variety of reactions and interpretations of his character mirror the variety of reasons people choose to read manga as well.
This is the best meta description I have ever read about this character. As a reader we are not effected by the suffering caused progress because we are not susceptible to the consequences. Bomdrewed is likewise disconnected from the reality of his horrors because he is functionally immortal so he doesn't experience any permanent consequence for his actions.
That is a very interesting take on the story. I can truly see that. Many times on MftA it's clear the story has a lot of meta and real world allegories built in to it.
I personnaly think he is more of a personification of science.
- He is going down the most efficient road without caring for morality and all for humanity's greater good. He will bring a lot of knowledge and improvements, much faster than the scientists who are restrained by morals.
- He seems like he will not cause unneeded suffering. He will give the kids all they need, including genuine love, until he actually needs to box them, despite the fact that it would probably be more efficient to treat them like livestock. Also the only kid being boxed we see is prushka, and she did not look like she was in pain at least but we can't really be sure, especially with Nanachi's meltdown. You could say that goes both with the "helping humanity" motive and with the efficience drive.
- All of his followers are "him", they share the same interest and when he dies, one will become the new Bondrewd, like a peer picking up another scientist's work and continuing to work and expand on it after their passing. He will also remember any sacrifice's name, kind of like how we remember Marie Curie and other people who died to further our understanding of things.
- Of course, the whole discovering and understanding shtick
He also can see what nanachi see so he can watch the adventure of the MC just like us the readers , perfect description
@@jaredbowman7764unmm maybe if there's something wring with yea but I was affected with certain characters he killed. I think this is just over thinking it
I can't ever confidently say that Bondrewd is worse than Griffith, merely because Griffith is pure evil and malice while Bondrewd has none, he's just insane.
Yeah I agree there as I think Bondrewd can be seen as more vile do to the fact he is hurting loved ones and doing all of this to the ones he cares about the most but that's also what makes him not as bad as Griffith. Griffith does all of his stuff to become a god to become the most powerful. Well Bondrewd does it all for the sake of learning, discorving and even in his mind the greater good. As he research will save people in the future if he can slove what ever he is trying to do. Not only is Bondrewd goal way more noble but unlike Griffith who is only using other and the idea of making peace as a way to get to his goal, Bondrewd end goal is not necessary a bad thing at all. Like you said Bondrewd is insane and his beliefs are messes up but his end goal is not evil. You can Griffith insane and there are point in the story we're he is (right before the eclipse) but his end goals have always been the same, he is thinking clearly and knows what he wants and how to get it. He is just an evil person. Bondrewd is technically evil also, but not in the same way and I don't know if I would call him evil.
I don't really consider Griffith to be pure evil. He did care about his army or else he wouldn't been able to sacrifice them. Not to mention he made the sacrifice when both his body and mind was mangled beyond repair and the Godhand was gaslighting him into thinking it was the correct decision. I'm not saying a person couldn't resist that deal but it would be very difficult to resist considering the circumstance.
@@benjamincuevas9627I think it mainly refers to him post eclipse. Human Griffith had enough shame to contemplate being a bad person. Femto doesn’t appear to show much of any compassion. Sure his return saved a lot of lives, but he was simply going after a kingdom and Midland was where he had most of his connections and where he was hailed as a hero. So long as people are happy under his rule, he is secure and can continue working towards a perfect kingdom. But if his kingdom’s security required him becoming cruel to its people, he would do so, so long as he had his own kingdom.
@@meloneatingwolf1882 of course Femto is pure evil he's basically Griffith with his humanity removed. But it's important to remember that Guts' and Casca's child is fused with him. Where this is going in the story is unclear but he does show some care for Casca in this altered state as he went out of his way to save her. Now he's clearly still a bad guy but I can't call him pure evil if he literally has a pure child a part of him.
@@benjamincuevas9627 there is some speculation whether Griffith saved Casca of his own volition or if the Moonlight Boy saved her. Besides most of Griffiths inexcusable actions happened after the transformation. Most of his questionable actions before then could be justified.
This man was a straight-up menance every single time he appeared. His motives are complex and his methods are insane. What an awesome villain.
And we never got to know what his issue is, after all.
@@Farhan_049I mean pretty sure he's just mentally unstable and obsessed with the abyss
@@Farhan_049 he is obsessed with the abyss and,from what I remember,every time he switched bodies he became more and more insane,to the point that he is now the living embodiment of ambition to learn about the abyss
I wouldn't call him "awesome"
@@cngotham4111 Oddly enough, the way Bondrewd talks, it would seem like he is the most "stable" person in the entire series. Never once did he scream out in pain, anger, or anything like that. Just always calm and composed. Kind of ironic for a mentally unstable person.
Ozen being the one to criticize Bondrewd is genius writing. She isn't terribly kind, but the gulf between her and Bondrewd could still comfortably fit the distance between Gandhi and Stalin. When she calls him a scoundrel, the reader thinks she's being hypocritical or cheeky, when she _very much isn't._
actually...stalin and ghandi aren't as far apart as one might think
@@svenlauke1190 Nuclear Gandhi enters the chat
@@kacperwoch4368 *Real life Gandhi enters the chat.*
Might wanna ask Ghandi about what was up with him and his niece.
@@hariman7727ghandi was bad he was racist, a pdf file but he isn’t Stalin mass murdering people for suspected treason and killing their entire family nor did he starve his people via his own actions or let his son get killed in prison
There's something *otherworldly* and *haunting* about how bondrewd acts... he's incredibly positive and never gets upset, to a point he doesn't feel human. Even as he's dying as he loses massive parts of his base and even loses the body he wanted most! His reaction? He congratulates our heroes... there's not a HINT of malice, no anger, not even a passive aggressive comment... he acts more robotic than any character and it's even reflected when we see his eye before our heroes leave and it's empty, his face void of expression... bondrewd is terrifying because he doesn't act like a human being, he acts as a scientist, but moreso he acts like a *machine* as if all he can feel is joy regardless of circumstance it's like his character embodies "a human ripped of his humanity"
Great analysis 💯.
Yes exactly 💯
A great aspect of Bondrewds character that I don't see many people talk about is how his stoicism makes him mentally undefeatable. Like you mentioned at 17:55, Bondrewd is not the slightest bit upset at being beaten in battle. Rather, he is inspired by it and wishes the party the best of luck on their journey. He's always cheerful and positively minded, which is frustrating since you want to give him a taste of his own medicine, you want to see him suffer and cry in pain like his subjects did. But Bondrewd doesn't suffer. Even when he loses, he wins. Bondrewd dies with pride for Reg, Riko and Nanachi, while Nanachi lives dissapointed that she failed to teach Bondrewd his lesson. Bondrewd won, Nanachi lost.
Bondrewd can be killed, but he can not be defeated, and that's what makes him such a wickedly interesting villian to me.
Same exact thing was said about Fang Yuan from reverend insanity lol Ying Wue Xie said "He can only be killed, he cannot be defeated".
That's the scariest part for sure. He has functional immortality, but no desire to change. He is perfectly aware of, and satisfied with how evil he is, and how reprehensible his actions are
@@jstar3382 No, no he isnt aware how evil he is. I am pretty sure the moment he had his daughter in his hand we lost bondrew last human part had
Its been statement by mc or bondrew, all his clones work for science and only science the results are what matter. His miracle took over his human self.
@@justinmay8161 why would they try to kill our most beloved Great Love Immortal Venerable? Heretics I say!
basically mentally untouchable
What i love about Bondrewd is that he genuinely love all the kids, its just that for him science and discovery are more important and he sacrifice anything for the ability to learn more. Though this includes himself which we know he has done but and would even more if that was an option. He such a amazing villain because he is genuinely not doing what he does out of bad interest, he does everything out of love or for the great good (in his mind.) He such a compelling villain because of that. He probably the best one arc villain ever.
Yup. I love villains like those.
"For the greater good" is a stretch. He wanted to become something beyond human and imposes that on others. It's selfish by default
@Astro2024 No he didn't, like he did want to find out all the secrets of the abyss and how to break it's curse. Also don't know if I said it but I mean more so greater good in his own mind. As there is an outcome thaf help a lot but of course there is that twist nature to it all. Still his goals are not really selfish as he happily and does sacrifice his own body and mind in order to solve the mystery of the abyss and for in his mind the "greater good." I'm not say the ends justify the means at all but I'm saying his goal is not super evil if evil at all it's the way he goes about things.
Unlike Guts. Pure self-interest, wouldn't have had any friends unless they were Griffith's friends first, and would give zero shits about anyone unless it's a proxy to feel better about his failures during Golden Age arc.
Including murdering people for Griffith because they're NOT "his friends", which, if it wasn't for Griffith would have always remained to include every living person in the world, he'd just have been willing to murder for DIFFERENT whims.
The ONLY slight hope for Guts to not be remorselessly and utterly evil is if he happens to make friends with somebody like Schierke who MAY look after herself without making that somebody else's problem, like Band of the Hawk couldn't and would rather kill for money. If it was for an "innocent" person he'd just quickly pop out to do some murdering to get food on the table for that "innocent" person.
@@Astro2024the take of his selfishness is unique too, it is completely skewed. Everything he had done is leading up to a goal, he gave basic necessities to unwanted children and then use them. He cared for Prushka then turned her into a curse repellent then effectively serve as Riko's white whistle. Riko and gang wants to delve deeper, he wants Reg, he wants Nanachi, so he tested them by setting them up for failure as what he did to Reg.
The craziest thing about him is that he doesn’t feel like a villain,he doesn’t even feel like an antagonist,and our characters wouldn’t even be able to progress without him. He is till this day one of my favorite antagonists ever,and it’s crazy that he is that high on my list considering he doesn’t even have that much screentime.
And it's not just that they couldn't progress without him: he _actively_ worked to help them without them even asking.
@@marchmelloow
Well, they ultimately helped him discover more about the abyss, that's all he wants.
@@trutwhut6550 Yeah, but it was also to let his daughter live out her dream of going on an adventure, and turning her into a white whistle lets her do that _and_ helps Riko and the gang proceed with their goals. He really is best dad.
@@marchmelloowwow you and him are alike
@@marchmelloow Yes, I don't consider Bondrewd vile and by no means more vile than Griffith.
We have to take into consideration that Bondrewd split his consciousness into multiple ones because of his rebirth artifact. He has no longer an ethical attachment that makes him consider something good or evil.
He even put himself to suffering and dying just for the sake of science, let's remember that everytime he dies, he loses a part of that we would call ''himself'' but I think he doesn't care anymore.
The only thing that prevail is his love for science and that's because propably all his teammates are scientists. As the name of the host of Bondrewd implies ''The Rumble of Scientific Triumph''.
We have to say that Bondrewd is and will be a pillar not only to the story but to the mankind itself. He sacrificed the only thing that a human cannot lose and that's his consciousness, the metafisic ''capacity'' of being his own self, he sacrificed that because of his ideals which were in the beggining the beggining the hope of humans to get a better living and his passion for science but since he is unable to control his consciousness anymore then no wonder he lose some of himself along the way, maybe that's why he noticed it and now his only sacrifices are now other scientists.
I would not consider him vile, nor a villain, just an antagonist but an antagonist is not always vile or evil.
My favorite character creation of all anime/manga I've seen. I think my profile picture says everything.
If you want to consider him vile then it depends on which point of view you consider someone vile or evil.
You can consider he is vile because he wants other to suffer or you can consider someone vile from the ethics perspective.
If you consider someone is good or evil because of his intentions then he not an evil person and that's why so many people love Bondrewd, because he is an antagonist that you are able to understand even though etically he is wrong, you can understand his situation and his objetive and better if you read the manga because I felt he is better developed in the manga. Man, He was even happy when Riko and Reg killed him and he saw they got better.
If you consider someone is good or evil just by his actions then for you he will be evil.
Griffith wanted a kingdom, Bondrewd wanted to save the people living on the island.
that is honestly so interesting. he really defies the whole "this guy is the villain, he kills people so he must be a sadistic pervert, a maniac devoid of any humane traits" thinking process.
nothing is scarier than a villain who genuinely thinks they are doing the right thing, and does not appear to be obviously evil (until it's too late)
If there is one word to describe Bondrewd, I think it's "Genuine".
He's genuine in both his words and action.
He has genuine care and love towards his test subject.
That's why all that he does just hits so fucking hard, cause it's not mallace nor ruthlessness, but a genuine curiosity drives all of his action.
Indeed, it is strange how heartless he is but yet it seems he has a heart. While it may seem like on odd comparison but it's almost like a tiny version of the Lovecraften monsters stuff. He is a monster that one can't understand because it's so inhuman. He's a mix of things that can be understood yet in a way that makes it so alien.
he's exactly like riko the MC , the only difference is she didn't lost her sanity yet in the story
I think we should be careful on what we consider love. I think he genuine believes he has love but also believe he's mentally insane and realistically no one that would do those actions to someone else would not actually love them. Bur again he 100 percent believes he does
@@cngotham4111Not to be crass here but, no shit. We all know realistically these vile actions are far from anything we consider love. But what’s terrifying and interesting is the fact that he commits such deplorable experiments in spite of whole heartedly loving his children. No one is going to argue that he isn’t mental ill, that’s a no brainer. You saying “be careful” is almost as if us acknowledging he has a capacity to love is us somehow excusing him of all wrong doing. Absolutely not.
@apexknight9356 you say no shit yet completely miss what I'm saying. You said he whole heartily loves his children inspire of those cruel experiments what I'm saying is he absolutely doesn't love his children but rather he believes he loves his children. Not to be crass but idk how tf you got that out of my original comment lol.
The most insane thing is that while he did all that, the town above the abyss still sees him as a legendary hero and most white whistles knew about what he was doing. But they did nothing to stop him because in the end he found a way to get to the sixth layer by figuring out how to make white whistles
It's like a reflection to how us humans know almost everything about illnesses and our own body through vile inhumane experiments back then.
Just like in real life, the horrors are often government funded...
I don't think that was the point of OP's comment.
those hard blocks of food they eat at his base are probably sold or given to other explorers and allows them to keep exploreing, at the end of the day him being around does help society, but at a price
exactly, hes messed up methods gave gains to the people above, in that sense we are no diffrent.
Griffith:I Dont Care Nor Remember Who Ive abandoned and sacrifice
Bondrewd:Luther,maki,sahib,jojo, brando,walter,gus,jesse,artoria,
dovahkin,peter,steven,marge...
How many references do you want in the names?
User-bj3ct5rl8b: yes
@@TheTophatGuy
... ... ...
"Yes".
that the scariest part of him
he remember them all, and what they wished for
Well Griffith is also kind of a god, thus he views others as being lesser than him
@@jefflight8188 Well they are more than it will ever be don't forget it no longer chooses how to act beyond ambition.
bondrewd is such a genius bit of writing as he is a villain with the power of love on his side. the abyss itself vindicates him, granting him the blessing as proof of his love for his children.
I know, right?
Man, I absolutely LOVE Bondrewd analysis videos. Each one I watch gives me new perspective into the Sovereign of Dawn, and reminds me why he's my favorite villain in all of anime. Great video
One of the greatest antagonists in animanga history! So glad you're covering Bondrewd
A couple things i think you missed
-Bondrewd loves his children but in his mind the pursuit of knowledge of the abyss is a higher goal so he would sacrifice anything including himself to achieve it
-white whistles can only be formed in the face of terrible personal sacrifice, having a white whistle basically means you sacrificed a part of yourself to pursue the abyss mysteries.
- Bondrewd has a unique relic that makes him able to split his conscience between multiple bodies but also slowly destroys his mind, it's heavly implied bondrewd got his white whistle sacrificing his own body
heavily implied? isnt it just stated?
>Bondrewd loves his children but in his mind the pursuit of knowledge of the abyss is a higher goal so he would sacrifice anything including himself to achieve it
No.
Bondrewd does absolutely NOTHING to reduce the suffering of his victims. And all of the technology he develops benefits himself directly.
There is no indication of him loving anyone but himself. He is never conflcited about committing the worst atrocities towards others.
@@MrCmon113i thought it was required for him to transform that he loves the other individual which was shown by how he remembered each childs name and wish.
@@randomguy9305 no, you transform no matter what when you ascend if you don't have the cartridge system he made.
He has repeatedly gone up and down and has never transformed before, until now. The reason he became "blessed" like nanachi this time is because Prushka loved him, not because he loved her. Prushka was the cartridge he threw away after transforming. If he didn't have her then, he would have become a normal narehate because he was out of cartridges.
In a twisted way he loves those kids, but Prushka was the only one that ever loved him back
@@MrCmon113 No indication? Brother, the blessing of the Abyss REQUIRES love. That alone asserts that his love is genuine.
Imo bondrewd sees his children as livestock. Hes like a farmer caring and raising his children, only to harvest them to enrich humanity. His redeeming qualities make him vile, as they show that his horrendous actions aren't evil out of hate.
He never shows hate, and that's what makes him incredible. He is an antagonist with the power of love. He loves and feels empathy to such a degree that he sacrificed himself for his white whistle, instead of another person.
He even performs all of his experiments on himself before doing it on others, as in his mind, anything he can do, someone else can.
he sees them as lab mice, this really is asking if "is searching for cures to cancers evil" level of thought
He seems like a personification of a scientific ideology. His perspective is so skewed. It is hard to consider him vile, from my standpoint.
He seems to be aiming at the goal that will reduce a greater amount of suffering later on through intense suffering now, like he is taking, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," But to an extreme degree. His actions are not justifiable, but at least they have more meaning beyond just causing pain.
That is one complex discussion that can be absolutely bungled in the UA-cam comment section.
I personally disagree, because a farmer doesn’t memorize the hopes and dreams of each of the animals they raise, nor do they truly care for them, I think bondrewd genuinely saw each and every one of his test subjects as his own child, they weren’t just stepping stones that he used and threw away, they were all genuine sacrifices
@@lemonpresswood705 sorry to add but I've watched shows where farmers name their livestock, they pick up on their individual traits, they read their behaviours and cues; and still kill them for market. it depends on the farmer i think. some of them love their animals but will still sell them to be killed
It's the hollow "love" of a narcissist: What he cares about is how he can use the children, not who they are or them as people.
Bondrewd is such a fascinating villain, you did a great job of articulating why!
...I absolutely wasn't expecting a Zant sound effect in the video though, caught me off guard despite the Zelda music lmao, but then I think, creepy, masked, inhuman villain who turns people he's supposed to take care of into body horror nightmares and... yeah, I suppose the Zant sound effect IS fitting
I think it's how personal they are with the things they do. Frieza can chuck an orb into space by accident while yawning and make hitler look like a toddler.
But slowly torturing one person still seems worse to you, because the INTENT matters, and the character understanding and meaning every single tiny bit of it.
I think the scariest thing about him is the level of drip they gave him no one can pull off a monstrous lizard rabbit and make it drippy but he did
It certainly was drippy with blood and other bodily fluids...
@KatonRyu why you had to make it sus 💀
The single slit helmet always looks so good
@BondrewdIsHere he said other bodily fluids and used the ...... and in every single time I've seen that without it being a sentence continuation it always means something different
What makes this dude special is that he’s one of the few villains in fiction where his redeeming qualities actually make him even more detestable.
Because you’re always thinking to yourself how could who is sincere and loving be capable of some of the worst horrors imaginable.
Reacting to these children through unimaginable suffering as if they got a gold star from their preschool teacher.
He can turn on and off his emotions selectively. He's effectively a robot in every way, aside from the fact that he's not an artificial imitation.
One of my favorite things about that arc and Bondrewd, is that as shown by Nanachi's backstory, it's heavily implied that the thing that allows the curse to be shunted onto another is love. Or at least a deep affection. So when Bondrewd attained the 'Blessing' the abyss recognized that not only did those children love him he genuinely loved them back. If not for that the cartridges wouldn't have worked. It's shit like that that's so horribly fucked up that make me love made in abyss. The abyss is endlessly cruel by human standards, but what right do we have to judge something as grand and ancient as the abyss by our mortal standards?
That's exactly my interpretation as well! I just commented almost the same thing xD
Exactly, but just one thing
Bondrewd didn't receive the Blessing from the cartridges, because his bond with the kids wasn't equally strong on both sides.
He did actually love all the kids, but they only had some affection for him. Efficient enough for curse-repelling, but not enough for a Blessing.
Only Prushka loved Bondrewd as much as he loved her. That's why he received the Blessing after ascending with her.
Fucked up and brilliant.
By what right do we have to judge something as grand and ancient as the abyss? The same right by which a mortal challenges their divine creator by drawing breath even without that creator's consent. The right to challenge that which is greater than we are is our greatest right as mortals with free will.
Every right. We have every right to judge that.
The Curse can't tell the difference between the manipulated love for a narcissist who "loves" the use a person can be put to and actual caring love.
18:44 damn, you got us there. Well done
I'm still betting that Lyza ASKED Bondrewd to make a Life-Reverberating Stone for Riko... Lyza must've heard the whole "everything returns to the Abyss" mantra at some point and connected that to her daughter. She would've had to meet up with Bondrewd to take her last dive, so what did they talk about? Maybe the potential fate of the only person to be born dead then brought back to life by the Abyss/relic? So, Bondrewd knew all along. "You've brought about a trial that was necessary to guide Prushka to completion." Also, Faputa calls the Life Stones/White Whistles "Kind Stone Person/People", which would hint that Bondrewd knows the person's soul is still connected to the stone. Makes me wonder what Faputa would think of Bondrewd's White Whistle.
I think it would make sense, but at one point he tries to convince Riko to become a white whistle (item), and if this theory was true it wouldn't make much sense. Unless, he'd want to make a prank on Lyza for wanting him to turn her daugher into white whistle, lol
Pretty sure he knows people's souls are connected to white whistles since they can actively communicate/talk with their owners [unless it works different for him since he's his own white whistle]
You forgot to mention that he experimented on himself which led to him becoming his own white whistle and he would have continued to experiment on himself or the "umbra hands" but the abyss no longer sees him as a living human
Then why does the curse still affect him?
@@pdpgbbecause his body is alive?
@@pdpgb he's still pretty close to human
The sad part is his crimes yield results managing to find countless artifacts built a base in most dangerous and furthest layer anyone can go (and live) and furthered humanity’s knowledge with regards to how the curse works and even how to repel it.
The guild is also likely very complicit in his crimes and willing to turn a blind eye
If it wasnt him, it would be someone else. Someone has to study the abyss, and he is by far the best there is.
@@commenteroftruth9790 exactly
Every delver we’ve seen has been willing to sacrifice their humanity in the name of exploring the abyss look at ozin or even Rico’s mom as prime example.
The white whistles deeper down are probably worse.
Like we've seen the insanity already.
Ozen with the strength of 200k men was able to beat reg up but can't break his skin while a mere wild animal of the deeper layers can dent his armor.
And the Father of the year award goes tooo
no one
Bondrewd!
Dude even makes Gendo look like Ghandi in comparison
Bondrewd is as bad as Kyubey.
Irredeemable and a liar.
...not this guy!
About Prushka's infamous "Papa Pole" line. The truth is that Bondrewd was simply educating her in dissecting an animal, and showed what happens to a male's appendage when blood is pumped into it, and what it's for. As it's the organ used to make one into a father, Prushka took to calling it the Papa pole.
The scary part? While Bondrewd wasn't doing THAT sort of thing to Prushka.... even if he was, it would still be the SECOND worst thing he's done all day.
12:11 the whole stuff traumatized me but this part just makes me laugh
We now know that white whistles are people who sacrifice themselves for someone they love
Bondrewd whistle is unique because his white whistle is himself, his original body
So his body got turned into a whistle, and his mind is inside his mask/machine with controls all the other bondrewds... this dude is something else
One of my friends described Bondrewd like this: "A ton of villains believe that they're doing the right thing, but what's unique about the abyss is that so many people die so horribly to it that it makes us question if Bondrewd really is. Like, he's cruel, but it could be argued that the world is even crueler."
:/ what was he trying cook? bro wanted us to reason with a Psycho? like the problem with your friend's statement is that the world is natural. The Abyss is natural. Bondrewd isn't, none of the shit he does is natural. It's abnormal.
@@HonoraryTemplar The abyss is definitely not natural. I haven’t read much of the manga, but I seriously doubt there is anything else like it in the world. Even to the people living on the island, the abyss is this mystical anomaly, so much so that they are attracted to and even see it as a deity-like figure. I think the point is more so that people are going to be attracted to and die horrible deaths within the abyss either way, so bondrewd may actually be saving lives with all the cruel shit he does.
.
@@justjoe4794Considering his lab and men actively reduce the threats plaguing the surrounding floors. Like that insect that got up to the upper floors, which was super deadly. I think he's one of the main reason why majority of the more dangerous entities of the abyss have settled in greater numbers above.
The town on Abyss is really lucky to have him down there.
@@HonoraryTemplar His research is definitely not abnormal by Abyss standards. After all he basically discovered how to make whistles, and how the curse and layers worked. And the Abyss is just as cruel as Bonedrewd, if not more.
Nobody's saying to reason or emphasize with him, that's not the point. The point is understanding that he basically lives in a world that has nothing to do with the normal human way of thinking. In the Abyss everything is out to kill you. Even the very air. Bonedrewd, if anything, is a product of his environment. Such an extreme and mysterious place requires extreme and esoteric ways of thinking. You can hate him, but at the end of the day, anyone who goes down to the Abyss willingly has to be prepared to lose their life in the most horrific way possible.
Something I love about Bondrewd is the fact that seemingly everyone has a different takeaway from watching/ reading him. There are so many different things people get from him that I never would have due to his motives remaining fairly removed and up to interpretation for the most part
I seen a really strange one last week, the guy didn’t think he was an antagonist at all, said he was good, that he only did what he did to make them stronger, give Riko her white whistle & help them on their way.
@@InfamyOrDeath-__-I see where they're coming from but not completely right. He did test Riko and gang by taking away Reg, their combatant, logically they have failed right from the start but managed to salvage the situation. He saw potential, readied Prushka, kept at it, and the gang passed with flying colors.
The consensus is someone is bad for what they did is bad, at the same time Bondrewd is "innocent" because he just do not have a concept of good and evil.
I've read a similar story tackling the paradox of good and evil, and innocence from a gacha game no less. The story is Lostbelt no. 6 Avalon la Fae, I suggest looking online for resources if you want to read the story since the game have buttload of contents before that.
He is certainly and purely evil. His obsession is progress for its own sake, and he is willing to kill and destroy a variable amount of humans to make that happen. This nature makes him a unique villain, more like a force of nature than an antagonist. He is unstoppable, unshakable, and completely sincere. This is not an enemy to be beaten, but survived. Hope you get something out of this take.
@jimijenkins2548 kinda cringe take lol. This ignores the fact one of his main motivations is **avoiding a recurring extinction event** not "progReSs fOr progReSs sake"
@@krisv1038 Very well, you may cringe.
Both Bondrewd and Wazukyan are terrifying characters since they both display how the abyss warps the mind and humanity of a person.
Remember, he would had made a cartridge out of himself if it wasn't for he was no longer considered humn
this is so important actually
There's also a whole complexity about his use of the relics that makes him immortal. I think he is able to have this low attachment and care about life because he has a different perspective/outlook on life. He is multiple people. He shares his mind through multiple generations. Life for him is just a tool that is expendable to progress. And he does not only apply that to others, but to himself too.
It's also incredible that he isn't just insane. He's still so smart and thoughtful and caring, even through his mind being distributed amongst his umbra hands and through multiple generations
He is a deeply well thought out antagonist. Everyone in the comments are pointing out more things and details about him
Isn’t the intro the backstory to most anitubers for the most part in how they’re mass produced and grown in containers.
I think the main thing I keep coming back to with Bondrewd is this: He's the purest form of the Progressivist Mindset. The whole motto of "Anything for the sake of progression," he upholds that as his ultimate goal. Nothing is withheld from the "Altar" of Progression, not those he just met, not those he cares for, not even family (blood or found), and not even his own life is sacrilege compared to the gears of progression. And I think that amount of dedication to the one goal is what terrifies us and proves the warning we had of him being a "monster."
But even through all his mantra that final knife turn is hearing those names of those he sacrificed as their last existence was expired, in the end this "monster" cared enough of these kids he experimented on, knowing their dreams, their emotions, and their last thoughts. If he was an uncaring "monster" the terror and fright would still be there, it's just the extra implication of that so called "love and care" he had that just disturbs us to our core.
That implies progressives care about children. They blatantly don't. They hate innocence and seek to spoil it at every turn. That said the author seems to be a pedo and progressives pedos so maybe there is something to that
The fact that he cares enough to know them but not enough to care for their lives dulls the terror of his villainy. Yet he is the monster I fear the most
Of all the anime villians out there Bondrewd is without a doubt one of the most twisted, interesting and well written of them all.
Also his drip goes hard.
Bondrewd is genuinely the only character I have never understood completely. A sadistic psycho or a cowardly despot are somewhat simple archetypes. Although morbid they often have hedonistic desires that control.
Bondrewd is different, he so effortlessly walks the line between love and apathy that I can't fathom what actions he could take. He rarely outright lies but you still can't let your guard down around him.
As crazy as a psycho or despot may be they're still human, warped but human. Bondrewd is not human, hasn't been in a long time he stopped being human when he got his white whistle. Bondrewd as we know him is progress personified.
Yeah that's one of the special things about him that separates him from 'normie villains'. He don't lie to you. If he said you are going to have an adventure, you will really have one. Wether you are still whole or a white whistle, there's no difference. You still had your adventure.
What's particularly horrifying about Bondrewd is how his dynamic with Nanachi so eerily mirrors the relationship between an abusive parent and child, specifically one who sees their abuse as an extension of their love, at worst a lamentable necessity. He is magnanimous in his praise and full of warmth and generosity where he sees it fit, and this is not insincere, at least not in his own mind, but beneath it there is something quietly desperate, obsessed with control and survival: Binding every subordinate (many willing) to his tattered mind and soul as if they were his many hands, grasping at immortality and omnipresence, forever preparing for ever-approaching calamity of the two thousand year cycle with the conviction that his consciousness shall live on to bring about a new age, using countless bodies as stepping stones. Even his own love is a tool, something to be used against others, not out of sadism, but because it gets him results, and results feed that mad scramble out of the maw of oblivion which he can't help but look back and gaze into endlessly. It's what makes Nanachi pushing his hand away from their half-smiling face as his transformed body dies so incredibly satisfying and powerful. His blessings cut, but the wounds are shrugged off. He has no power over them anymore. Nanachi is finally free, at least for a moment.
Completely agree people are saying that he actually loves his kids are crazy no one would do that to any kids they actually lovd. He's literally insane
@@cngotham4111 Love is subjective in a way
@Pleiades_Erret to a degree but I'd some realistically if a parent abuses a child or a spouse abuses there partner we would as a society generally agree that is not love. And what is words if not sounds that we give definitions that societies people agree about.
@@cngotham4111 bro did you even read his comment lol.
@commenteroftruth9790 yes he believes he loves them just like many abusive people believe they love there children that doesn't mean he actually loved them.
13:32 little correction. He isn't the real Bondrewd but another Umbra Hand member, his project after he cracked the mechanism of the curse of the 6th layer. It's what he did next after what he did to Nanachi and Mitty. The real Bondrewd is his white whistle, meaning he's long dead and just sharing his consciousness to all his Umbra Hands. He can control multiple Umbra Hand members but with less efficiency.
Oh yeah, that's right. It's such an odd factoid about him. It makes me wonder if the real Bondrewd before all the abyss stuff was even human at all. Or perhaps because he became a white-whistle he became so alien about his sense of morality.. or lack there of.
I mean u can say real in body is a no but would he be him without his mind. His conciousness is importnat enough to actully be him, at least in my opinion
i once read a comment on a video with his theme song where the person who wrote it theorized that bondrewd is exceptionally strong, both physically and mentally, but that he cannot even fathom that others can be weaker than him and that he trully believes that everyone can endure what he can or worse. its kind of horrifying
Fantastic video. You nailed every single point about this villain. While I know nothing of Berserk yet I can say Bondrewd is the most vile villain I've seen in any form of media to date.
Griffith is fundamentally a worse villain, not because of the scale of depravity, but because it is a deliberate betrayal, while sane, for a selfish cause.
Shou Tucker is the same as Griffith, if smaller in scope, he betrays and defiles those he has bonds with and is responsible for.
Bondrewd on the other hand, is not quite human/sane. He does not see what he does with a twisted love in his heart, as shown by the fact that he still "loves" his cartridge kids.
In his mind, he never betrayed those children, he is simply giving them purpose.
Bondrewd is cool as fuck. Badass design, killer presence, and steals every single scene he's in. He's a villain that's just fascinating to watch, and he isn't even "evil." He's not a sadist, or cruel for the sake of cruelty. Just an example of how badly the Abyss and the desire for the secrets it holds can corrupt you.
I feel like the moment I finally got a grasp on Bondrewd is when the gang was leaving for the elevator and were seen off in the distance by the new vessel of Bondrewd. He could easily beat them now, since the circumstances favoured him, but he did nothing such. Even though these are people that essentially killed him twice by now and ruined a vessel that encapsulated years of progress, he had no desire whatsoever to harm them. This man has no personal grudges or ego. He really is just an entity. The embodiment of science.
Exactly, everything he does is with purpose, and even when he was dying and saying how much effort it took him to create that curse-proof body he never blamed Nanachi, Riko, or Reg, he simply said it was a shame. Imagine spending decades on something just to have it ruined, wish the people who are responsible for it a genuine farewell, and not even think about seeking revenge when you have the chance? All the evil he did was because he had a genuine reason to do so.
Even better: he _wanted_ them to defeat him so that Riko could get a white whistle to gain access to the sixth layer. He let them destroy his base and everything else solely to help them, which he decided _from the moment he saw them._
The way the Abyss is constructed, it's such a brilliant allegory for sin and hell. I think Dante Alighieri would be impressed by this.
I always thought of it this way: He simply can't understand the concept of suffering.
I really liked 18:44, gave me a chuckle. All in the name of progress! This was a great video, even the sponsor is great. Nice stuff man
Another very interesting thing about the whole interaction with him is how it ends and how it reflects on Riko, the main character. In the end, after they "defeat" him they don't actually defeat him. From what I remember he's still around and may very well continue to do what he has been doing. But Riko doesn't really care enough to continue trying to stop him. In the end, all she cares about is exploring the abyss, and is willing to forsake everything else to do so.
It was interesting to see that whenever Bondrewd appeared in the screen the protagonists tensed up. They were afraid because they knew he was dangerous but still approached him because of how genuine he is
This guy makes the Dad from FMA look like Homer Simpson by comparison.
(Granted I haven’t seen FMA but still)
Shou Tucker?
Excellent use of the legend of zelda music! Perfect fit for a great video!
You know what's the worst part. It's that it can be argued bondrewd isn't evil at all. He's just lost his humanity and ascended a new level. He's definitely not a human anymore. More like an entity guarding the gate to hell. In some twisted sense he has ascended past humanity to become the sovereign of dawn. Nature and science are his passion and so he's passionate about everything related to it no matter how horrible it might be. Whatever experiments he forced on people he went throgh himself as well. He constantly sacrifices himself and goes through immense pain for his science.
He's willing to kill so many people and destroy so much of his base and himself just to get the main characters a white wistle.
Bondrewd is fascinating. No human moral or ethical system is capable of encompassing the alien mentality he displays. Thanks for the video.
That's exactly it.
He genuinely thinks entirely differently, it's inhumane but not in a way that makes him non-human and that's terrifying.
Kinda reminds me of a line fromm the book animal farm "some animals are born more equal than the others" like an almost hitlarian form of "greater good".
Getting to see Bondrewd in all his glory, as a white whistle, as a sovereign, as a villain of progress. A prayer cannot be born of one only knows joy.
Today was special.
Bro fr, I watched made in abyss late so I didn't imagine in my wildest dreams I would have another "Shou Tucker" chimera moment in my life. That was horryfing, it took me so much by surprise. Goddamn love this show!
Shou Tucker could never
Absolutely loved the film and the anime...he has such a commanding presence whenever he appears. And as some stated,his godly level of stoicism is something to marvel at...even if he loses,he wins...
1st- because he is 50 steps ahead of you,
2nd- because he is so stoic,you can never "teach him a lesson" nor make him suffer,
3rd- because due to his white whistle he is functionally immortal. Yes,you can kill him, but you can never get rid of him,as long as he has umbral hands at his disposal and "cartridges" to use.
He never gets angry,frustrated or annoyed and never loses his temper or gets emotional. Truly like a force of nature. And what makes him truly chilling is that he isn't a cosmic horror type villain either...an ungodly,unstoppable and uncaring monster whom you happen to be in the way...he CARES....he is a monster with a SOUL,yet no morals. A being of such insane focus on "progress" he makes Dr. Mengele seem like a decent bloke.
1:44 Would also like to recite the famous Stalin quote, as I think it applies here.
"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic"
In the very simplest of terms, humans are more likely to resonate with a tragedy than a statistic.
EDIT: Of course, goes without saying. Amazing Video!
the worst part is that there is no malice in his intentions, in that sense he is worse than griffith he does things with malice
One thing i wish you mentioned when mentioning prushka becoming a white whistle is that to become one you need to sacrifice a life and that unlike other villains and monsters that other media portrays he is not afraid to do what does to others to himself
He was not scared of recieving the curse of the abyss and he was not scared of sacrificing possibly his first body to make his own white whistle
Nothing phases him wether its done to others or himself just as long as it can be progresses to his studies and informations
He is truly the most Amoral character the biggest definition of one
I used to think Weather Report's statement that those unaware of their own evil are the worst kind of evil was kind of silly-Jojo is full of blatant psychos like Cioccolata or Dio that know what they're doing. But Bondrewd? He embodies Weather's statement perfectly
These are my fav types of villain's.
Great job making this in-depth video. ❤
what bondrewd did genuinely broke me, even after a year or so since i last watched made in abyss i still get teary eyed hearing about what he did to prushka and nanachi
He's a horrible villain, but not worse than Griffith. Everyone is a stepping stone (at best) to Griffith, but Bondrewd remembers all of their names despite how horrible he is.
kind of a bad argument, because that's what exactly Bondrewd thinks of everything he's done up until this point to be a stepping stone to conquering the abyss.
It's just he's nice about it, he remembers each and every stepping stone he's stomped on to get there, and his drive and motivations match up to Griffith himself.
Both desire good things, Although that often paved the way for evil to take over once they realized that their very desire is what turns people into metaphorical monsters.
For conquering the abyss and making an all mighty kingdom requires those to abandon their humanity to combat the existential consequences of their actions.
nah. he knows that they suffer and thinks that he's showing love, while those souls will make sure he suffers a fate millions of times worse then theirs.
@@war_fish That's the thing, Bondrewd knows that.
He knows the children are suffering, and that karma exist. He even has a quote about it " May your journey overflow with blessings and curses." But that dosen't deter him from doing what he believes is right.
@@war_fish Also I just realized that your children point is dead wrong, literally every kid had to some extent love him enough to burden the ascension curse. So they aren't singing about his demise, more so praying he succeeds in his plans to conquer the abyss.
Wayy more evil when you realize blud basically manipulated them into loving him to that extent.
@@SkillHunterThousandManPlanHe's just a mad Scientist. Wither you love him or hate him, mankind will benefit from his knowledge and discovery. People will thank him someday if he succeed and that what really matters.
Hes a unique one for sure, not emotionally detached or getting a sick sense of pleasure but genuinely feeling love, im sure he would be the kind of person to do horrific experiments in the night then talk about sports with the neighbours in the morning all without pretending, to a normal person who feels guilt after suffering others h simply doesn't, no guilt, no joy, just love, which is far more twisted than anything i can imagine
Definitely rivals evil that takes pleasure in it too both have no morals but one feels more unnerving in a way to be nice while doing such acts is chilling
I would say bondrewd is rationality taken to such lengths it becomes insanity
Wow 1 million ? I think you are underated so its good to see a video blow up (i love made in abyss cherry on the cake)
Initially, I scoffed at the title of this video as a long time Berserk reader. But then you said 'Made in Abyss' and I immediately whispered '...okay, this is a very compelling argument.' I do love MIA, it is ...heart wrenching in a different way than Berserk while also being just as dark. I enjoyed this very much, thank you!
I keep telling fellas, He is actually creepier than any monster in the abyss
0:01 - I got here and already came. This sent me *chills*
Already what
Pause no Diddy?
Already WHAT DAWG 😭
Fact: Bondrewd's work is absolutely vital to human well-being.
Fact: Bondrewd is selfless, so much so that he found a way to get a White Whistle without sacrificing anyone else.
Fact: Bondrewd loves his adopted children. We know this in two ways. He remembers all of their names and dreams, and his evolution wouldn't be possible otherwise due to the nature of the curse.
Fact: he gives their lives meaning. If it weren't for him, they would die of exposure and starvation, unwanted urchins.
Fact: he helps his daughter fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a white whistle.
Conclusion: Bondrewd is a hero. A misunderstood genius with a heart of gold.
Addendum: the choir of children singing in his themse is meant to be his children singing their support for him.
Especially considering the 2000 year extinction cycle that he is researching, he is probably trying to stop an apocalyptic event, or at least transfer all the knowledge that humanity had gathered to the new era, he is a true hero that abandoned everything and everyone for the betterment of humanity
You don't count the umbra hands consciousness as sacrifices? Or do you count the whole group as a single amalgam under the name of Bondrewd? Anyway, if they were aware, sound of mind and voluntary, it is creepy at best, I guess.Taking in vulnerable children to turn into recruits and resources is not exactly noble, specially if said children had no better option on top of that. The world of MiA is fucked up and I think Bondrewd just went and said "aight, then let me double down all the way to the bottom"
I just cannot agree with that conclusion
A good being? I doubt so...
@@hugofontes5708 Yes this is absolutely the case. He understood their reality. And then he went on to understand the Abyss. And he became infatuated with it and its truths.
@@tormentedstar8480 Would you kill millions to save billions? Or let everyone and everything so far achieved to perish because you can't make a decision?
bondrew acts like an eldritch god tbh
After watching the movie. It's just insane how bondrewd loves his "children". The only reason why he's my favorite is the entrance, it's the best thing i've ever seen. Nanachi just shit herself after seeing bondrewd
The ending is insane tho, from what i remember bondrewd's assistant just sacrifice himself just to make bondrewd alive again(i can't tell if im wrong, i watched this movie long time ago)
Overall 9.5/10 villain. the climax of the movie is insane, i love it
The irony is that not only does Bonerewd TRULY love these kids, but his actions have made the Abyss so much safer for people because he learned so much of how the abyss works.
He is the DEFINITION of doing evil for goodness sake.
The issue is that the Abyss DEMANDS a sacrifice. He sacrificed, not his humanity, but very being (thus why he can give his Praying Hands White Whistles).
His humanity is fully intact, and he is very in touch with it.
But he CHOOSES the greater good of understanding the Abyss, at ANY cost.
I never seen or read Made in Abyss before, but I am well aware of that infamous scene. So as soon as you said that this guy was responsible for it I was like “Yep, he’s the worst.”
Made in Abyss has three main tragedies: Mitty, Prushka, and Irumyuui. The fact that Bondrewd, a character that only shows up for 10 chapters is responsible for TWO of these atrocities, speaks volumes about his character. And to make things worse... he does a DAMN GOOD job convincing you that his actions were justified.
Shure and afton explained why him murdering 5 children was justified
I do love how he is a character with human traits but is almost impossible to fully wrap your head around because he is completely divorced from love and what he can do for the sake of science, there is zero overlap between them and he manages to express both without letting his ability to care hold him back from committing horrible things
Bondrewd feels like an current actual scientist. Only big difference is they use rats and other animals to conduct experiments not humans. The ability to not understand rats makes it OK in our current society. I might sound like PETA but I truly love eating meat.
no i think you cooked with this one
@@CorporalCornGamingliterally
Well that and that for current scientists, all studies have to go through an ethical board to decide whether or not the scientific and societal interests are worth the suffering of animals. This is different depending on the animal. Apes for example have way more stringent demands and can't be used for just any experiment whereas zebrafish have way less stringent requirements. Part of this is because we are humans and apes are much closer to us evolutionarily speaking. Other reasons are that we assign them more value than say a rat or a zebrafish or a microbe and that zebrafish for example multiply a lot faster than apes. Bondrewd doesn't really have to get approval from anyone
@@ryanmcmeekin6085 Obviously these kinds of regulations exist but during warfare ethics are bent. They are at war with abyss and so he's given free reign.
@@bleep0004fair enough
Man the Twilight Princess Music fit this video so well. I literally got goosebumps all over my arms the immediate moment I heard the first note. (It's literally my favorite game of all time.)
It was the Forest Temple of all kind of time and spirit temple of the same game by the way
Bondrewd sure gave Prushka exactly what she asked for: Becoming just like him... A literal White Whistle.
And the crazy part is that Prushka probably knew what eventually waited for her. Bondrewd surely didn't tell her exactly what would pass and when it would pass (because he didn't want for the information to allow for Prushka to doubt her convictions), but she was his assistant after all, just like Nanachi before her, and he probably told her how he obtained his White Whistle as well.
She was innocent, but not naïve or stupid. She was, after all, his daughter, and tried to follow his footsteps the best way a human child could (for Bondrewd is transhuman).
I wouldn't call someone devioud of humanity a transhuman 🤷♂️ but fair point about prushka but what about the orphans that didn't want to turned into cartridges he had no right to that. Personally I don't think he was capable of love not in a meaningful way anyways.
@@andrewk5723he's a transhuman regardless, having transfered his mind thru a relic
I saw the name of the video and immediately was like, "If its not Bondrewd, they don't know what they're talking about."
I love this because it's the psychological aspect of the reality of the character that's best way I know how to describe it. Is that very real chilling effect that these people could actually exist in the world. And they probably do. Great video love it
Another great aspect of Bondrews is how well he fits with the show and what the abyss represents. He, as well as Wazukian are very unique characters that, outside of the setting, wouldn't make much sense. They are so versatile because they are perfect depictions of the type of person who would make their life goal reaching the bottom of the abyss. In other words, people who wouldn't hesitate to leave behind their humanity (conventional morality included) in the search of something greater. Therefore, when they contrast with Riko, who keeps being the same despite being at the same layer of the abyss as them, the reader can condemn them as evil or repugnant and still recognise the logic behind their actions and their motivations. The latter one being the same that the protagonists have.
Griffith joke aside, this guy isn't sadistic or vile, he's machiavelian. He serves what HE believes is the greater good. He isn't even technically a villain that is solely subjective. He can be a villain to some, because of the circumstances but to others he would be a hero. He's kind of the hero of the story. While I surely don't have the stomach, as my overactive empathy would always prevent me from doing these things, it would be a good thing that someone can.
Average ero guro villain: “Allow us to introduce ourselves”
I love your background music choices
LIke the eerie background music. Fantastic! @TheMaskedMan would you please specify the background music in the video description?
Another thing people who watch this has to understand if it wasnt for Bondrew Riko's journey would have ended there. Since the lift to the 6th layer wont activate unless you got a white whistle with a deep connection too. He asked Prushka to be friend with Riko just for the sole purpose to create the white whistle so Riko could continue her journey.
None in Riko group would sacrifice themselves to become a white whistle and since Bondrew see Nanachi as a blessed child of the Abyss he wont hurt her and Reg is a legacy from the Abyss he would rather experiment on himself since he would really want a body like Reg, in order to be unaffected by the curse. And Riko who is a friend of nanachi he would gladly help for her so called last journey to the bottom, so Prushka is the only choice in Bondrews mind.
What makes characters like Bondrewd so interesting is that they could be considered evil incarnate, but there isn't an ounce of malice in them, which in turn makes them even more scary and alien because we as "normal" people with a "normal" frame of morality can't reconcile that someone like that can actually exist, so we simply don't know what to make of it once you get past the initial shock value of his actions.
the “all in the name of progress” after referencing the thumbnail just earned my sub GAWD DAMN
I think the most impactful thing about Bondrewd is that he's not sadistic even though he's a villain who causes grievous pain to his victims. He's not doing these things to gain a sense of pleasure, but instead he's doing them because he simply has no sense of ethics and only cares about achieving the results he's aiming for. If you removed his experiments from the story and he was simply a character that the adventurers met along the way like Ozen, he'd actually seem pretty benevolent. His personality is that of a nice person, but his actions and methods are absolutely sociopathic and psychotic.
This is wild. Damn I gotta check this out!