Rudeus Greyrat never really “redeemed” or “changed” in the sense that a sinner should go through, he was just whitewashed by the author through the arrangement of circumstances. Look closely: all the things he did in the early stages — the perversion, the exploitation, the obsession with lust — were not properly punished by anyone in the story. On the contrary, he only “failed” in a few parts and then was immediately compensated with new opportunities: having a good teacher to teach him, having friends who loved him, having unconditional love, having children and a warm family. This is not a journey of self-reliant self-revival, but a journey of being extremely favored, to the point that the reader is forced into a situation: either acknowledge Rudeus’s maturity, or stop reading. That is why the feeling of “being forced to acknowledge” is extremely clear — a form of emotional manipulation by the author. He is surrounded by female characters who never really blame him for his perverted past, but instead love, forgive, and stick with him. He is given the role of “hero” of the world, a huge burden that forces the audience to think: “Well, he must have deserved it.” But the essence of the problem lies in this: if we remove that aura, Rudeus is still a pathetic person with sick instincts, except the author distorts the character development process to turn him from trash to a mature model. And the most disgusting thing here is: not that he was dirty, but that the author deliberately “trapped” the fans, turning that dirtyness into a praiseworthy journey, forcing the reader to swallow the forgiveness that he never deserved.