When you know the human's a demon in disguise but can't go apeshit on them like last time because of a certain headband so you gotta HOPE the monk will learn.
What's that bro? You began interacting with a media from a different country than yours and/or was made in time period different than the recent present day? Haha that's sick bro! Keep expanding your horizons bro! You're remembering to take into account that sociocultural norms, gender roles and genre expectations are different from what you are used to and meeting the story halfway, instead of forcibly superimposing your ideals into the story, right bro? Right? Right?
Lmk is funny to me, because it takes the ridiculously over-powered character, Sun Wukong, and then gives him every reason possible to not be that.
Most of all, his unspoken desire to not let his student see the "real him".
Because it's not that he isn't still just as endlessly powerful (except for a few narrative driven exceptions), but that he is actively holding back. He is a changed man so to speak, and he'd like everyone to stop bringing up his past, 'monstrous' self, please and thank you.
It's fascinating really, how well a 10 minute per episode children's series (made to sell legos) so nonchalantly explores the inescapable truth of one's past, and in extension: the haunting reality of outliving all your friends and very little of your enemies.
reading jttw is so funny because everyone is so genuinely AFRAID of wukong and that fact never truly sunk in for me while watching lmk and other second hand retellings of the book on yt. most of the time his mere presence is enough to get literal gods and deities doing backflips tryna get him out of their face LMAO