My thoughts about Aru's character and Maru shipping

After reading PØPØ's Blog about Aru's character, I kinda want to throw in my perspective xD (might or might not edit depending on future updates)

I. Regarding Aru's character

II. Regarding Maru shipping

I. Aru as a Character

First, I see that some people felt like Aru was made to be this perfect character, well for me, Aru is not EXACTLY perfect if you look closer, she does have flaws, she's lazy, she is insecure about herself, shes not academically the best???, it's just that those flaws doesnt seem to give her any consequences, it's just there to make her feel relatable.

And she doesnt seem to receive any punishment for her mistakes/ flaws, or at least we didnt get to SEE her going through the punishment. sure she got kidnapped because she disobeyed the rules when they're on the school trip, but she got saved with no injuries. Sure the teacher plans to punish the disobeying student who broke the rules (possibly including Aru), but will we ever see Aru actually doing those punishment??

Also, I think Aru feels like a plain character who is very kind and stuff because she is meant to appeal to the wide audience, she is supposed to be this relatable figure for teens around her age. plus the story is set in korea, I have a feeling that to appeal to korean audience (or the whole audience in general), her personality needs to be widely accepted, such as kind forgiving, etc. Imagine if she makes a fatal mistake like gunn, ESPECIALLY towards mook (who is everyones favorite) later on, I think a lot if people would be pissed at her? (like look at gunn lol, no matter how he tried to make up for his mistakes, a lot of people still discredited him)

Aru, a character that's meant to be relatable and reflect on the harsh school life^

Plus let's be honest, the way she is made to be relatable with the whole (I'm dead but I still have to go to school??? / I still dont have a boyfriend???) is probably one of the reason the audience is baited into reading RHS, (the others can be because of the hot boys on the cover, or because of pure curiosity, etc)

There are some things that I like about Aru though, the whole different beauty standards thing is actually interesting, & sorta gives her a new position in life(or death lol), she has shown some SLIGHT development by being less googly eyed over some boys ever since her breakup with gunn, and even showed her strong side when she got back up from being tripped by yeohee, and shows kindness in the simulation test during midterm... but I guess that's it so far? other than that she hasnt done anything that is worthy to make her be considered "badass" or very "noteworthy", & she is basically just living a normal student life, going over breakups, wanting love & all. sure that can be a good story material for a main character in school life settings, but when you compare it with the others .... but then again each student has their own pace, that's what RHS is for, to develop each students. but the thing is, how FAR will they improve? that's what I want to see, but Aru for sure HAS improved. Just slightly tho xD

Regarding her goal, Her goal kinda feels underwhelming as well, sure that goal is one of the things that probably baited us into reading the comic, and Aru has shown to improve such as : I want to date someone I LIKE (she said that when she was friend zoning gunn, in ch 40, even though in ch 41 she still wants a handsome and loyal BF, but eh who doesnt lol) but it would be pretty disappointing if that's gonna be her end goal (which is to just getting a boyfriend) UNTIL THE END, because the guy that Aru is going to date will feel like a trophy instead ^^;.

Personally, IF someone just gave me the power where I HAVE to replace Aru from being the main lead, I would experiment with Sehwi. her background as a soon to be idol that ended tragically seems to be a good material that both fit the highschool theme & not to mention her friendship drama with mari. HECK, I might get hate for this but, even for the romance (the Mook or Gunn thing) is still possible with her IF she is the main lead! because with Gunn she already has a backstory with him, and with Mook? well I dont know how to explain it but at the same time with the right writing it would be interesting xD the only big problem would be their completely different goals though. Sehwi wants to be a singer while mook wants to be a dragon and I dont think any of them is willing to give up so I guess this is why Aru has a better chance to keep the ship sailing? xD because Aru wants love so if she loves someone she might go with them?????

Lastly, even though I just said these things about Aru, I'm still giving aru chances xD because I just felt that the time for her to really SHINE hasnt come yet...

where that's so far what I can think of for arus character, and now ...

II. Maru shipping

Alright now about Maru!

As much as I ship maru hardcore, I can see some oddities at certain times.

first of all, when mook first interacted with aru, he was rude. and aru was pissed at her, but the second time they met, it's as if nothing happened? (especially on arus case) what happened to the bad first impression???

then when he accidently bouthed Aru, sure he did try to make up for it through secret buddy, but he never apologized to aru directly so far, and it hasnt been touched upon since then. it did affect aru but only for A BIT, then poof! its forgotten. either aru is the type who doesnt bother to dwell on those things, or it's just not important enough for the comic to bring up??? I still wished that he apologized directly though, it coulve been a good potential moment for them to naturally bond, bonus point if he apologized for being rude the first time they met.

speaking of naturally bonding, I feel like most of the major Maru moments feels like fan service?? chapter 42 was still ok for me, because it's when Aru found out about his secret for the first time, which is good.

chapter 45-50 though, it's when Aru got kidnapped and mook rescues her. I mean sure theres nothing wrong with that, we expected Aru to be rescued at some point. but at the same time the way its delivered though, it all happened because Aru and the others snuck out, I can understand why Aru snuck out, (teenage curiosity, being in a group, also it's near the dorm so it couldnt be that bad), but it ends up putting her in a bad spotlight showing how dumb the decision was (even though the RHS students might have a different level of awareness than normal students) and because of that the whole rescue mission thing felt like it couldve been avoided/unsatisfactory for some people. It's a different story though if it happened NOT because Aru snuck out, but genuinely because something unpredictable happened?? it felt like so we can see the major moment of "mook to the rescue~!!!" HOWEVER we did learn something interesting about the grim reaper and we get to see his badass showdown with the infernal spirit so I guess it does have some ties with unfolding the story ovo.

now Chapter 52! Ahhh yes, the scene that made a lot of shippers including me explode of fangirling, where we see aru alone in a room with a half naked mook (covered in bandages of course, but still half naked nonetheless) as much as I enjoyed the scene, I cant help but feel like mook was slightly out of character? xD knowing how his personality is supposed to be, he couldve just handed her the hairclip and be like : "here, you dropped this" and even just smile a bit. but nooooo he had to pull a kdrama by getting up close to her face and put it on her hair xD which was kinda intimate loll. maybe the rock his his head too hard at the time idk hahaha

where a lot of shippers are well fed

chapter 53. we see how mook smiled a lot around her, which was genuinely sweet, the interactions were adorable as well, him giving aru a melon bun so she wouldnt forget, it was so cute hehe~ HOWEVER ... Chapter 54 comes ...

where boom! Mook is back to normal and it's as if those dreamy moments was just a dream, the only difference is that now Aru feels more flustered when she is close around mook, but mook himself seems to be back to his usual self. also when the purple guy shoved mook to arus face, it felt like Maru was being shoved to our face xD but maybe, JUST maybe, I think Mook is just not the type to show his emotions on public, if with Aru alone he is more open and bold, then maybe hes not if it's in front of the whole class, plus the situation was pretty embarassing for both of them so yeah xD

Also not to mention those moments where his face just seems blank when he saw aru treating gunns wounds (at ch 40) like what's up with that?xD mook what's on your mind?? hahahaa

Of course Mook is shown to care for Aru, he found her letter and gave it to her, and respected her space, he also shielded her from the rain which was kind of him. but I dont think this shows that hes in love with her and stuff. So yeah, Mook is kind to Aru and all, but unless I see a freaking blush on him, I'm not convinced that he has feelings for her ... yet.

Moreover, compared to other students, Aru can be considered closer to Mook, especially she is the only one who knows about his secret and still accepts him as a friend, but other than that she hasnt done anything MAJOR that would make him fall in love with her. aru herself is still denying her feelings, and she herself is not interested in dating non human creatures.

HOWEVER! I do have some part that I enjoy for the development of Maru...

on Mook's part:

1. when he paused at her smile TWICE, that was genuinely sweet for me. it's just the right amount.

2. he did his secret buddy job very well, like, he couldve just send her a plain letter, but nope! he gave all those gifts and his words were sweet (either to hide his identity or he is just bolder behind the curtains)

3. the way he teased Aru in ch 53 was adorable though, although it could be a part of his other side where he lowkey likes to rub it in peoples face (such as when he rub it in Thornys face when thorny tries to apologize, he also smiled there hahaha) shows that mook does have a humorous side.

4. he is the only one who saw aru in her lowest moment. such as when she was crying in the rain.

5. After getting accused by thorny and getting cornered by the whole class, the pissed of dragon didnt care when class was in chaos, but when he heard Aru screaming he ran straight into danger, this shows that he cares for her more, or at least she is one of the only students who he doesnt have any hard feelings for, as she stood up for him before.

on Aru's part:

1. she seems to be the only student who is shown to know about Mooks weakness, which is technologically challenged, and she finds it amusing.

2. she along with gunn were the only ones who stood out for mook when he was accused

3. both her and gunn were the only ones who helped carry him to the nursery room and saw him cry

4. she was the only one who tried to cheer him up after, by giving him his own melon macaroons xD

5. she is the only one who knows about Mooks secret, and genuinely does her best to keep it, plus she still accepts him the way he is as a friend afterwards

6. on ch 53, She is the only one who still stayed by Mooks side for a bit, asking him to rest more, which resulted in mook teasing/lowkey roasting her xD (while the other students just go with the teacher naturally) although this can also be because deep down she knows that it's because of her he is injured??? xD

so yeah, and as for the different goals (mook wanting to be a dragon while aru just wants a loyal boyfriend), THATS actually one of the things that I am curious about how the author will handle it. although personally I WOULDNT want Mook to end up sacrificing his dream just to be with Aru in the after life xD. I would be pissed if that happens. I prefer it if Aru is the one who follows mook to his decision, but that's just my personal taste.

last but not least, I am curious on how the author would make him to develop feelings for her. hopefully there will be another event, and this time maybe Aru saves Mook?

so in conclusion, Maru is does have potential, it's just so far the way its handled tho, and not to mention the author probably needs to keep the readers to be interested hence the Maru fan services???

but still, doesnt stop me from enjoying the ship hahahaha xD I'm just aware that it's not perfect, but I'm not gonna let that stop me from enjoying the ship, as I feel like we havent seen more yet to fully judge the whole thing? ovo and I just wish to see the two of them to interact more and genuinely interacting and enjoying each others company or just do friendship stuff before falling in love and stuff ~

hahaha again, this is just my ramble though~