@MoonOtter
Maybe, though we’ll see in the next uploads with route this is suppose to be. I can’t help but think of how Freedom Planet 2 tackled it and did it better partly by preventing Merga from crossing the line of no return and slowly informing the player of what happened to lead up to this (especially in the true ending route where you watch recording to see what let up to her capture in the first place).

@Nicelucario
I do agree its a big up in the seriousness of a porn-with-plot comic. I don’t think this is supposed to excuse Mandy’s actions, just explain them. Despite the fantastic setting its a fairly realistic depreciation of the cycle of abuse, especially when a person experiences it from a young age; the abused often become the abuser if they go without therapy. Yes, its supposed to evoke some sympathy, but not in a Steven Universe “Oh I completely forgive you!” way but a “Damn, no wonder youre so messed up” way.

@MoonOtter
The problem is that a recon is only as good if it’s better than what came before, and I can’t say I like this twist. Feels too much like we’re suppose to feel bad for rooting against the woman who tried to rape someone than tried to kill them and their partner when her plan failed. Feels more like Games of Thrones than Sixth Sense honestly.

@Nicelucario
Yes and no. I suspect it’ll be a retcon, as I doubt Gamma Inks had this all planned out. I wouldn’t sweat it too much

@MoonOtter
And the comic I linked earlier implied the break-up was much more recent.

@Nicelucario
Assuming Dylan is the human, as I said the next comic shows Mandy rejecting him as well to go with the abuser. So she pushed Val away and broke up with Dylan to protect them from the abuser. From Vals perspective getting with Dylan years later was revenge for Mandys sudden rejection, since she couldn’t have known why she did it back then.

@MoonOtter
And the reason for Dylan to keep dating her?

@Nicelucario
I mean, it was answered in the next comic. It looks like the evil people are blackmailing/threatening to hurt Dylan and Val once they found Mandy. Realizing the threat she pushed them away without explanation. So from Dylan and Val perspective she’s a bitch who pushed them away suddenly for a ex, but the reality was she was a severely traumatized and abused girl who thought that was her lot in life and didnt want her friends hurt.

Val probably kept the number first out of hope theyd reconcile, and then eventually for what she thought was revenge.

@Azlikekitty
I think you’re misreading what I mean. I meant why did the guy keep dating the gal who beat up his childhood friend, especially for so many years (high school to full grown adults is awhile). I get them forcing her to do this, but why do they keep in contact/date her afterwards?

And I watched 02. It wasn’t that disturbing. If anything, it makes it more frustrating that the writers prefer to do a brief flashback to a video game that never left the WonderSwan than actually have it play out in the show.

@Nicelucario
Maybe because she got blackmailed by them (the anon who took her as the experiment girl) that she just turned into soulless person. Just like the sad and disturbing flashback story of Ken Ijijouji from Digimon Adventure 02

Wait, why would Dylan keep dating Mandy after this?

And for so long, considering that the Jolly series implies that Dylan/Valerie hasn’t seen each other in so long that they didn’t recognize each other at first (partly due to Val evolving during that time). Also, why would Val keep Mandy’s phone number after this?

I feel like she would have deleted that number well before this point in the comic. Assault isn’t light drama. That’s “I never want to see again for the rest of my life” drama. And why would she still have the hots for someone who stayed with the woman who attacked her after the fact is clear? That would be a deal breaker for most people, for very good reasons.