If Made in Abyss wasn't a pedophile show, the fandom would be insufferable. The pedophile stigma is a necessary social barrier to keep normies out.
Just think about how anime fandoms went to shit after the pandemic made normies stop seeing it as cringe - having some sort of stigma around a community is the only effective way to gatekeep.
Just think about how anime fandoms went to shit after the pandemic made normies stop seeing it as cringe - having some sort of stigma around a community is the only effective way to gatekeep.