SHOW VS TELL | A Miraculous Kuro Neko Rant

Let me tell you what I thought about Kuro Neko. Spoilers... it isn't great. But did you really expect greatness from Miraculous Ladybug?

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Twitter: @FallenGale

#miraculousladybug #kuroneko

[annieandelsieofarendelle]

I kind of wish Plagg said something like, ‘Cat Noir is his BREAK! You have no idea what his actual life is like, Ladybug!’ which would make Ladybug actually wonder about Cat Noir’s home life

[kagamitsurgi]

it concerns me that most of the people in the fandom would be better at writing the show than the actual writers

[HawkHuntress]

My biggest two problems with the episode:
1. It implies that in order for her to love him he has to change who he is, which is a very wrong and toxic message for kiddos…
2. She never apologized or seemingly felt any remorse for anything. Her instant thought was finding a replacement.
I love this show but it’s really not what it used to be man…

[miracles]

My biggest problem with the episode was how ladybug never really apologizes to cat noir

[nkohler]

I have started saying "Marrinette is a character for the show to develop. Adrien is a tool for the show to use" and this episode encapsulates that perfectly.
It is a get out of jail free card for Marrinette as it sets her up as "what ever choice she makes will automatically be right do to her status as guardian"

[pandagamer]

The fact that Ladybug only likes Cat Noir when he is acting like he does with his father, is very concerning. It's like she only likes the idealized version of Adrian she has, not Adrian himself. The thing is, relationships can't work if you only love the person on a good day. If you only love one small part of them, then you don't truly love them. It's ok to despise certain aspects of a person, but when those flaws make you no longer love them, then you don't love them as a person, you love the idea of them.

[StargazerAeons]

The writers have forgotten that the entire reason Marinette fell for Adrien is he was kind to her despite someone he was close to bullying her and making her feel horrible. He chose to be a decent person despite Chloe's wants for him to join in one making Marinette miserable. He saw it was pouring and offered her an umbrella, never expecting her to return it.
Except, they did remember, but not until the finale. Wherein they paralleled that scene and FINALLY had her see that Chat Noir made the same gesture just without a physical object. He was there when it was pouring, when the world fell around her and she felt like she lost. But hes done this for her SO MANY TIMES ALREADY. This idea she would fall for Catwalker before he even tried to help her, was probably some of the biggest assasination to Mari's character Ive seen yet.

Marinette season 1 fell for a boy who gave her the time of day when no one else would and symbolized that with an umbrella.

Marinette season 4 fell for a fancy boy in latex.

[TwilightWolf]

What I hate the most about this whole ordeal is that I actually like the idea of Chat Noir being sidelined by the temporary heroes and that leading to a rift between the two of them. And with Ladybug refusing to communicate with her supposed equal and true partner, she keeps giving herself far more trouble and piles of responsibilities that she isn't ready to deal with or can't by herself (even having Alya helping her), but instead of asking CN for help, she just doubles down on neglecting his existence and makes things even worse as the season goes on.

But the execution was TERRIBLE!!! It all came down to Chat Noir being annoyed sometimes, but then throwing hissy fits in some episodes pretty afar from each other. When Kuro Neko came, the show didn't really build on the idea that CN was being neglected, only that he tried to talk to Ladybug when she was busy and under pressure, and his actions came off as someone petty trying to get attention rather than a true partner that is really trying their best but continuing to be ignored!

For Kuro Neko to work, the entire season should have been building up to this moment, by having Ladybug constantly having nightmares or remembering Chat Blanc and refusing to call for CN's help because of it! And with the temporary heroes, she has the perfect excuse to stop interacting with him! Have CN not be his goofy and silly self this season, but be even more neglected and abused by his father, and with Emily bedridden he has no one to talk to at his own house outside of Plagg, and you have the two sides piling up bad emotions. Then, when Ladybug says to Plagg Chat Noir can have all the free time he wants because she has made the decision to not put him in the field, Plagg has the moral ground to scold her for pushing HER ideals into Chat Noir - she doesn't know how much Adrien wants to be Chat Noir, how much he wants and NEEDS to be useful, because that's all he has left at this point. And then her not realizing Kuro Neko is a Sentimonster, instead insisting that it really was Chat Noir akumatized, would just lead the rift between them to grow even bigger.

THAT would have been a much bigger threat to the heroes in a season finale than Risk or Strikeback were! The reason Ladybug always wins is because she always has the support of everyone around her, be it the heroes, the city itself or Chat Noir. If CN and LB have a falling, they can't work together to fight such a complicated enemy as Strikeback, which then would lead Ladybug to make all the mistakes she did without even the need for Risk.

When Chat Noir decides to show by her side and comfort her after she's lost all the Miraculous to Hawkmoth, it comes off as a powerful moment that shows Chat Noir's instance on his responsibilities to Paris, and that can be the trigger for Ladybug to start trusting others more and actually confide in Chat Noir! That could elad to a Season 5 reveal of their identities, but Adrien having been hurt by the neglect in the past, he would be completely over his crush on Ladybug and only see Marinette as his school mate whom he fights crime with.

THE DRAMA WRITES ITSELF, WHY CAN'T ZAG GET IT RIGHT!?

[moviehermit]

Another thing, Marinette's primary reason not sharing identities with Chat Noir is because of the fear of one of them being Akumatized. Yet all throughout season 4, we have seen multiple people both resist and break free of an Akuma (Chloe in season 3, Alya, Sabine, Felix, and Nino).

And when some of that fear comes from Chat Blanc, she still doesn't explain that entire story to him to try and justify her fears.

And the fact that so many people have resisted an Akuma (probably to diminish the significance of Chloe doing it first) leads to a whole mess of issues. Basically, everybody seems to have the capacity to resist and reject and Akuma, which makes their actions while akumatized more intentional (in a sense). Even when people like Luka resist, the fact that they fail to reject it paints it as if they embraced the Akuma.
And considering the Akumatized people seem to have free will and choose to follow Hawkmoth's orders makes them seem more guilty

It's funny how Shadowmoth is supposed to be an upgrade for Gabriel, but then everybody is just casually rejecting Akuma's after a cheesy pep-talk

[yeastov]

One funny thing from this episode is how it further highlights the stupid Chat Nior identity leak in Ephemeral.

Adrian had a whole arts and craft project going on designing a new cat suit whilst talking it out with Plagg and that doesn't cause any suspicion, yet Adrien saying an established term over the phone was an instant give away. Where did he put that flip-board when he was done?!?

[Zephirite.]

LB crushing on Catwalker DIRECTLY undermines WHY she loved Adrien in season one!
DESPITE his politeness, Marinette assumed it was an act until he PROVED it was genuine.
Her falling for his act and us KNOWING that's all it is....reverts the love square.
This was the nail in its coffin.

[ZombieLad]

The thing that bothered me most about this episode is that it basically spelled out in big block letters, Marinette DOES NOT like Adrien when he's being himself. She doesn't like the real him. She has deluded herself into thinking Adrien is some perfect Ken doll boy toy, and she does not like him when he's being himself. It's wild

[DeoraisWhelmed]

What I see going on here from this episode is that Adrien NEEDS HELP.

Everyone knows Gabriel is abusive and manipulative to both Adrien and Natalie, for Adrien it’s one of the only relationships he has ever had in his entire life, this means he thinks what he and his father have is “healthy” because his father says it is, therefore it is law. Something that happens fairly often to children who grew up in an abusive environment have a higher chance of getting into an equally abusive/toxic romance later in life. It’s the only thing they know and they think it’s how relationships are in general.

Adrien is so used to being nothing but an object to people, a convenience or a china tea set only to be viewed and never used. Chloé treats him like a personalized accessory to drag around and look famous, Lila keeps him around only as a tool to make everyone’s least favorite Heroine jealous for literally no reason, Gabriel keeps him around like some mannequin to hang clothes on in a storefront window, a extension of his will rather than a growing human with free will.
Marinette isn’t too far from that too.

When Adrien first met Ladybug he was under the impression that they where equals, two halves of one whole, not only that but he could actually be himself around her and she wouldn’t become angry or aggressive toward him. Adrien fell in love with her because she was one of the few people to treat him like an equal human with a mind of his own. This idea has been engrained in his mind not only as a supposedly healthy relationship but a plausible escape plan.
As the seasons go on their relationship becomes very toxic, and Ladybug is beginning to treat him just like everyone else does, an accessory, a convenience, just another sock in the pile.
Adrien refuses to acknowledge the toxicity because he is desperate to escape the hell his life has become and he still believes that Ladybug is the only lifeline, even though said lifeline is slowly being pulled back up.
Chat Noir apologizes instead of Ladybug because he actually believes that he is in the wrong, in his mind he always is. He tries to break away from the beaten-to-death path and immediately is blamed for it no matter who it is he’s with.

I’m a firm believer that Adrien should be with Kagami and Mari should be with Luca. Adrien and Kagami have similar hellhole situations and can escape together without having to wait for someone to realize that they NEED HELP. Mari and Luca are good for one another because Mari is everywhere at once and freaks out often, but that is balanced by Luca’s calm demeanor and ability to think clearly even when stressed.

Adrien needs to be saved from the torture he lives every day, someone needs to end his suffering and set him free, I can tell you one thing, it won’t be Ladybug who does it.

[avourrito]

The 'I got rejected so I changed myself to fit their attractions so they would choose me (even though who i become will not be who i really am)' trope has been so devastating every time I encounter it.
Mari falling for a cat version of Adrien the Model Boy is so disheartening when Chat Noir was Adrien's free self living without the weight of expectations tied to his name. I genuinely become sad listening to this recap at that scene, I have stopped watching Miraculous for so long and this is worse than it was.

[DFeligamiAdrizoeSworaDennisFan]

Yeah. Plagg shouldn't have defended Ladybug. But let's focus on the part that Plagg yelled at Ladybug! That is so satisfying!

[baval]

Same reason Chloe turned on Ladybug. Would have actually been interesting if they had tried this plotline with Chloe, over a longer period of time. Marinette doesnt want to use Chloe because its Chloe. Chloe betrays them. Marinette gets in trouble and needs a bee holder but cant get one herself for some reason so she tells Pollen to find a holder. Pollen goes to Chloe who comes back in a new disguise. Marinette suddenly loves this "new" Bee holder and uses her more often without knowing who it is.

[infinitedreamer]

My problem is not only the episode makes out CN's issues with Ladybug to be about him being inappropriately flirty with her, which isn't true, but the show wants to ignore how Ladybug has been treating CN like shit since Day 1. She's always locked him him out of the loop when it came to Miraculous lore, never told him her plans, never let him either give his opinion on or or recruit any of the temp Miraculous wielders. There's always been an unequalness in their partnership and the only thing Chat Blanc and Ladybug being guardian did was make that worse. But the narrative wants to pretend that this is exclusively a S4 issue for the two. And that's BS.

[gabaii]

when she admitted that she pushed chat away in the final scene in Striker back, It rubbed me wrong., instead of saying "I'm sorry i didnt realise I was doing that i was stupid blah blah blah i thought I was protecting you" she fully admited that she did pushed him away. to me, Marinette was very aware of what she was doing - It wasnt an unconcious act bred by her trauma from chat blanc, It was a choice
that, and the fact that she let chat take all the blame in kuro-neko, just didnt sit well with me

[darknova]

Miraculous Ladybug is a prime example of how to not write a good story and characters

[small_and_dangerous]

I think her attraction to Catwalker wasn’t inherently wrong, but I think the flaw was that she should’ve realized how much more she enjoyed HER cat noir, no matter how charming the other one is. This makes it feel like she can’t love both sides of Adrien inherently. We need to see her love for cat noir as a person.

Also my only caveat to the “not needing cat noir 24/7” thing is that she reasonably can’t get him when an akuma is loose and needs help. What if Adrien just doesn’t know what’s going on until much later? So I can understand her maybe using a hero when he’s clearly not showing up. But I do agree that she used too many heroes and I also think she should hold out for him for at least a little while.

Just my thoughts :)