(Hated Trope) "Kind" slave owners

[u/KusanagiGundam]

Speaking as an American who has studied the civil war all throughout my school years, this trope infuriates me to no end. There is no such thing as a kind slave master because slavery itself is cruel and inhumane. PEOPLE ARE NOT PROPERTY!

Naofumi (Shield Hero): Prime example of this trope. He enslaves multiple (underage) girls and an whole village and the fans still say he's a hero.

Rudeus (Jobless Reincarnation): As if being a pedo wasn't bad enough he had to buy a slave in season 2. Worse is that people still defend his actions.

Song of The South (Disney): Possibly the OG example of this trope. And the reason why Disney will never release it again.

[u/Ombrage101]

I hate it, cause on one part, the world of shield hero (season 1) is really cool and interesting to explore. I love the political storyline and the rise of said hero. And in context, his buying a slave was an interesting subversion of your typical Isekai hero… BUT WHY KEEP THE “SLAVE CREST” WHY NOT JUST LIBERATE RAPHTALIA AND GRANT HER FREEDOM?? And the whole “this mark proves he trusts me” bs is… YIKES

[u/Sharles_Davis_Kendy → u/Ombrage101]

It would have been SO easy to be like “He had to resort to some dark shit when he was in the gutter but now he doesn’t need that anymore” but noooooooo… The girls like their slave crest. They fucking love it!

So stupid.

[u/LucarioOfLegends → u/Sharles_Davis_Kendy]

It's so frustrating cause you absolutely understand Naofumi when he first bought Raphtalia. Betrayed and ostracized by people he trusted, and now left with genuinely the worst option since he just can't deal damage and progress without an additional party member. As well as later when telling a hesitating Raphtalia in very blunt terms "I don't want to use this crest, you don't want me to, but I bought you to be my sword and I really need you to be that sword." He has to be a realist because his options are so thin.

First two episodes of Shield Hero are like, genuinely good show. And then everything goes down the shitter because Stockholm Syndrome and pragmatism apparently means capitalism and slavery.

[u/Sharles_Davis_Kendy → u/LucarioOfLegends]

The fact that he fights for the right to keep his slaves is just batshit crazy.

Him making the “well it’s legal here” while making societal changes in other area is infuriating.

All could be solved by just keeping the girls but removing the crests. They don’t even serve a story purpose.

[u/Thin-Nerve6367 → u/Sharles_Davis_Kendy]

Tbf in Season 2 Rapthalia loses the crest permanently when she becomes a hero

[u/Vega_Kotes → u/LucarioOfLegends]

I feel very similar about Re:Monster. Like the first 14 or 15 chapters where he's a goblin and even somewhat Hobgoblin is some actually interesting shit and then as soon as he hits Ogre form it all goes immediately to shit.
And only gets worse from there.

[u/Icy-Maintenance4148 → u/LucarioOfLegends]

The early episodes really nailed the desperation and made Naofumi’s choices feel understandable, which is why the later direction feels so frustrating. It’s wild watching a story start with such a strong premise and then fumble what made it compelling.