@pew pew empathy has it's limits and ML is way past that limit. Feeling too much empathy is just as toxic and unhealthy as feeling too little. It leads to forgiving dangerous people who endanger others and never change.
I might've felt some empathy for him if he had a proper redemption arc and suffered, but he didn't. His final letter is selfish and self absorbed. He barely talks about what he did wrong and only focuses on his wants and needs. His demand for MC to come back shows that he still doesn't respect MC's wishes. It was also a mistake on the creators part to focus solely on MC's suffering, illness and death, and only have ML's regret as a footnote in the story. I wanted to see more, then I might feel a bit bad for him. I also think the "delusional" trope is stupid. I don't know why Chinese witers think being delusional is the highest form of suffering, when it isn't. Your brain makes you delusional to protect you from a traumatising truth. As long as he doesn't accept the truth fully, he won't be able to make amends, suffer and take responsibility properly. In my opinion, a redemption arc can only be truly satisfying if the ML goes through it fully conscious, with a clear mind, otherwise it's way too easy. And him doing all the things MC was never allowed to do is not romantic or sad, just a slap on the face for MC's memory and suffering.
I might've felt some empathy for him if he had a proper redemption arc and suffered, but he didn't. His final letter is selfish and self absorbed. He barely talks about what he did wrong and only focuses on his wants and needs. His demand for MC to come back shows that he still doesn't respect MC's wishes. It was also a mistake on the creators part to focus solely on MC's suffering, illness and death, and only have ML's regret as a footnote in the story. I wanted to see more, then I might feel a bit bad for him. I also think the "delusional" trope is stupid. I don't know why Chinese witers think being delusional is the highest form of suffering, when it isn't. Your brain makes you delusional to protect you from a traumatising truth. As long as he doesn't accept the truth fully, he won't be able to make amends, suffer and take responsibility properly. In my opinion, a redemption arc can only be truly satisfying if the ML goes through it fully conscious, with a clear mind, otherwise it's way too easy. And him doing all the things MC was never allowed to do is not romantic or sad, just a slap on the face for MC's memory and suffering.