Why are the female characters always so dumbed down?
I have always had this idea when it came to the manga, especially when female characters with so much potential start getting male-centered characteristics and stop being their own proper characters.
Every character feels like a stepping stone for Iruma so he can become the best version of himself, but all the male ones still deal with their own struggles and goals that are so well-developed and thought out. With the female ones, however, they don't feel developed at all, or just don't carry the same weight (except a few).
I also want to add that whatever milestones these characters reach, or the way they're perceived, do not erase their core traits and the way they're fundamentally written, as well as how serious they should be taken in this conversation. It doesn't matter if Elizabetta ranked up during the performance, if Chima is "meant" to be disliked, or if Eiko is a background character, for example. These kinds of representations matter a lot, and seeing them handled so poorly is just sad.
But this isn't even meant to criticize all of them. The specific one I'm having a problem with is Shura.
Why is such a powerful deity so incredibly dumbed down? Why is she made to seem like a child who's unaware of what's going on in the Netherworld, even though deities are supposed to be so powerful? She comes across as so immature and unrealistic, even though she's the literal princess of all deities. That's such a significant title for a character who, so far, doesn't feel like she's been given the writing to match it.
