Quote Originally Posted by DarthEnderX View Post
There is a blank, but even with that blank in place, I still wouldn't describe his situation as "unbelievable" or "unrealistic". Not when there are real-world examples that can account for his situation.
Since we're in agreement about there being a blank there's no real reason to keep going, I've said my piece that I think Mfauli had a point and highlighted which parts of what's shown was hard for me to believe after considering his claims. We both gave real-world examples of how someone could end up outside the system but it's was still just conjecture and not necessarily correct. Simply put Mfauli isn't wrong for questioning how Denji ended up in such a situation since the show didn't adress it.

Quote Originally Posted by Kraco View Post
Didn't the mafioso tell Denji that he never liked him, on a fundamental basis, just before the other dude stabbed him in the back? I'd say that would explain sufficiently the reason why Denji was kept living as he did. Basically, the mafioso always hated Denji, and likely had wanted to kill him for a very long time, but as long as he needed to run his little gang, he did put Denji to work as an asset, but most likely he would have been quite happy if some demon had killed Denji. More importantly, he hated Denji for Denji being like he was: a faitful dog who never tried to fight back, never tried to run, was even willing to sell his own organs, accepted without a complaint the absurd reductions in the rewards. The mafioso hated such a man, yet because of it he knew Denji would never run away, so it didn't much matter if there was seemingly no leash. It allowed him to contact Denji whenever he wanted, but he also didn't need to see Denji too often, except for the occasional jobs.
Sure I buy this, but I'm not sure what you're trying to adress. That I don't think it's Denjis fault or that they didn't put him to work? If it's the latter then I'm not sure how much it of it applies to child Denji since it seems to more reflect his current state. You could say that even when he was a kid he knew he wouldn't run away but I still don't see why they didn't put him to work right away.