#and with the recent developments in the webcomic I'm afraid Fubuki's future as a character

[the-gordianknot117]

What follows is, more than a character analysis, a messy personal evaluation of Fubuki’s role in the manga so far: why, from my point of view, Fubuki and Tatsumaki’s relationship in the webcomic made way more sense than the one with got in the remake and how the changes in regard of Tatsumaki are clearly affecting Fubuki’s character for the worse.

Beware of webcomic and manga spoilers and sorry for the subpar english!

EDIT 2024/02/29: this is my first post and, as you can clearly see, it’s a very rough analysis of Fubuki’s character in the manga. The vast majority of the opinions stated here still reflect my current feelings for the manga version character (though, at the time, I was way more optimistic, positive and indulgent toward the remake than I’m now, especially after the Esper Sisters arc Tatsumaki-did-nothing-wrong the arc, which made me utterly disinterested in the manga as a whole), but I’m not particularly satisfied with the way I expressed my issues with the remake and all its problems. So, if you are interested in a more cohesive and exhaustive analysis of manga Fubuki’s issues, these posts are the way to go (Part 1 and Part 2); for an analysis of webcomic Fubuki, this is the post. In any case, by all means keep reading if you are still interested, but with the knowledge that what follows doesn’t encompass all my problems with the manga and isn’t expressed in a way I feel satisfied with. I’m leaving this post in the blog solely for “archive” and personal reasons.

EDIT: I updated this post to reflect the additions and the developments as of chapter 142. The numbering of the chapters is a mess right now, so sorry if there are mistakes. I will fix them for good when the chapters I referenced will be included in a volume. 

1. So first of all, incidents  like Demonic Fan never happened in the webcomic: up until the events of the MA arc and the Esper Sisters fight, Tatsumaki had no reason to think of Fubuki as “weak” and so incapable of taking care of herself nor Fubuki has ever given her the opportunity to think so up to that point. I have a hard time believing that webcomic Tatsumaki would let Fubuki free after an incident like the one shown in “A New Wind Blows”. The following lines of Tatsumaki,“I get it. It’s my fault. I didn’t think you’d still be this weak… I shouldn’t have left you alone all this time. As I thought, I need to keep a close eye on you. I’ll have you quit being a hero too […]” (Chapter 100), don’t make sense in the context of the manga, where Tatsumaki seems to already consider Fubuki “weak”, after having seen her younger sister performances in battle multiple times (contrary to webcomic, where the two seem to not have seen each other for some considerable amount of time before their confrontation in the Esper Sisters Arc).

2. My personal guess is that ONE didn’t finalize Fubuki and Tatsumaki’s relationship when he wrote “A New Wind Blows” (dated December 2012) and, in fact in future “Tatsumaki’s rescue” scenes, such as the Fifth OVA of the First Season (written by him around 2015/2016) and the Do-s one (Summer 2016), Fubuki is actually prevented from taking care of the situation by herself (Tatsumaki even allows a Demon Level Threat to flee away unharmed, while she slams the Fubuki Group against a building and then blames and mocks Fubuki for it), which fits way more the webcomic dynamic and conflict between these two characters than the first chapter they appeared in. The Esper Sisters Arc, where the vast majority of their relationship and past is explored, happened back in 2015/2016.

3. Not only this makes Tatsumaki more sympathetic for the reader by having her reasons to protect her “weak” sister totally justified, but this totally undermines Fubuki’s struggles with Tatsumaki, who, instead of being control freak who has sheltered Fubuki for most of her life and only recently (in the series present timeline) has let her experience some sort of freedom (which seem susceptible to change at the first sign of weakness of her younger sister), indulgently allows Fubuki to do whatevershe wants with minor to nonexistent consequences even when the younger sister throws herself into dangerous and life-threatening situations.

4. None of this existed in the webcomic: Fubuki never lost to anyone up until Garou nor she seems to be the type to put herself in dangerous situations without being prepared (contrary to “manga Fubuki”); and she was never rescued by Tatsumaki like in the manga (up until now, at least), aside from her childhood flashback (EDIT 05/09/2022: actually, even then, there are chances she was simply unwilling to attack her bullies, but it’s a topic for another time). Even Saitama’s advice to Fubuki (“someone like you, that gathers weaker subordinates to feel stronger, won’t last. You’ll end up crying one day. When a monster stronger than you shows up, your subordinates won’t save you”) feels weird now since she already faced situations like these in the past (”A New Wind Blows”). I could add how convenient is that for every time Fubuki has been defeated or found herself in trouble it always happened off-screen, as if ONE and Murata didn’t know how to write around Fubuki’s powers and abilities and make these scenes more believable.

5. All of this contributes to represent the character as an unjustified, “weakling” who complains that her loving and benevolent sister isn’t letting her die. It’s not a balanced character dynamic anymore like in the webcomic, where Tatsumaki didn’t want her sister to suffer her same fate and yet ended up isolating Fubuki more and more, twisting her world views and controlling her for most of Fubuki’s life, whereas Fubuki attempts to achieve complete freedom over her life and establish human connections outside of Tatsumaki resulted in creating a group of rookie crusher, causing harm to others and, overall, limiting Fubuki’s own potential. These badly thought additions muddle Fubuki’s character to the point of forming a convulted and disjointed mess, where character motivations and conflicts are totally incomprehensible. Precisely for this, I invite you to read (or re-read) the webcomic while ignoring any manga-only content related to Fubuki: her character will make suddenly way more sense (other than being plainly better in every way).

6. Before moving to Fubuki’s role in the latest chapters, a little comparison:         

in the webcomic Fubuki was first introduced in Chapter 47 and her fight with Psykos ended in Chapter 77;

in the manga she was first introduced (not counting  “A New Wind Blows”) in Chapter 42 and her fight with Psykos has not even happened yet and we are at Chapter 142. 

Moreover:

in the webcomic Fubuki and co were aware of the HA raid against the MA HQ only by Chapter 63 (and we get the follow up to that scene in Chapter 66) and the next time we see them is in chapter 69, facing Rover.

in the manga they know from the start about the raid (by Chapter 95) and yet Fubuki, Fang and Bomb wander aimlessly for dozens of chapter: the story basically forgets about them, parking them out of the relevancy zone for a long time. We see them briefly in Chapter 107 (which has to be moved further down the line, after the redraws) and they finally face Overgrown Rover in Chapter 124. In the meantime, Fubuki’s additional scenes are just her reacting in awe (or being a damsel in distress) to another character feat (here).

7. It’s funny how many praise the manga for giving every character a moment to shine compared to the webcomic when, in more than 40 chapters (from “Let’s go”, basically), Fubuki barely did anything at all. Most of the time she is cowering in fear, hyping Tatsumaki (actually, even Fubuki’s reactions to her sister’s prowess have been changed  going from being afraid to amazement and cheer) or other characters, reacting to big off-screen events and the only fight she got was the one with Rover together with Fang and Bomb: and even then the manga, contrary to the WC and despite showing Fubuki as pretty useful and capable even against a Cadre in chapter 124, dismisses her efforts with some stupid gags that detract from what she actually did. 

8. In chapter 138 it’s barely clear how she helped Tank Top Master nor the narrative cares enough to delve into it, even only for a panel or a visual clarification (in the same series where we are so indulgent to spend almot 150 pages on support characters fighting fodder or dozens of pages for “warm-up” battles). Basically, every time Fubuki does something it’s usually dismissed or ignored by the story. Even an “third-rate” esper like Gearspear gets better showings than her.

9. Yes, even the webcomic makes fun of Fubuki from time to time: but these moments had a meaning (like the Psychic Whirlwind panel  with Tatsumaki, for example) and never tarnished her accomplishments; the comedy actually serves a purpose and, for example, the aforementioned gag anticipate development of the Esper Sisters arc. In the webcomic Fubuki was treated like the rest of the cast and so she was subjected like the others to the same rules, instead of being a clown only good for fanservice.

10. Fubuki feels totally unimportant now, straying more and more from having an actual role and relevance in the series. She seems to have less screen time and focus not only of the likes of Child Emperor, Tatsumaki, Atomic Samura, etc... (which would still be ridiculous), but compared to the Disciples, Pri Pri Prisoner, Mizuki or even even third rate characters like the Mercenaries ffs. When every other character in the arc got their moments, it’s a bit strange how a main character like Fubuki barely got anything, considering how things went in the webcomic: having an actual connection to the leader of the MA (unlike Tatsumaki), real character focused moments and flashbacks that expand her characterization in addition to a major battle scene, where she took down a Dragon Level Threat on her own despite being “only a B-Class” (none of the S-Class of the partecipants to the fight obtained this), and plenty more.

11. Thinking about it, Fubuki is one of the few characters in the manga who got less new fights overall (so, not only in this arc, but in the entire manga) and, as I already wrote, one of the fewer who only got “new” defeats with barely any new wins (aside from minor opponents or off-panel fights). The only other characters who got the short end of the stick are, so far, Pig God, Metal Knight and Amai Mask (who was, like Fubuki, one of my favourites in the webcomic and now is a parody of himself). 

12. And this extends to the Fubuki Group too: the biggest and most organized organization of the HA has never done anythng aside from losing (or, better, “jobbing”) in the manga. At least in the webcomic they went against the likes of Saitama and Tatsumaki - recently they even took down one or more monsters barring level Demon, albeit off-screen - but in the manga they are simply pushovers even compared to others “low ranked” heroes. As for why the manga portrayed them as “jobbers”? Because otherwise Tatsumaki’s dismissal and critical attitude towards Fubuki would feel at least partially wrong and misplaced, instead of being 100% correct. 

13. This is what Fubuki got so far, for the most part:

memorable scenes indeed!

Cowering in fear, limited to the role of the butt of a joke, the comic relief who only exists to show how awesome and impressive other characters are, doing nothing for dozens and dozens of chapters, despite the fact that she is (or at least was) supposed to play a major role in the arc. Maybe I’m biased, but reducing Fubuki to this when “characters” with barely any involvement in the plot or the themes of this arc get multiple scenes and moments of spotlight it’s unjustifiable, narratively speaking, and disappointing.

14. And this underlines how the manga uses humor and comedy in a different way compared to the webcomic: whereas in the latter it results from a striking (yet powerful) juxtaposition between serious moments and unexpected developments that actually build upon the characterization of the characters (their flaws, their goals, their attitude, etc...) and serve to an overarching narrative purpose (at least most of the time), in the manga, like in a typical “battle shounen”, the comedy is simply a break between tense battles or serious moments, with characters involved in wholesome interactions (with assorted funny faces) that barely contribute to the story. Often (like I said) these shoehorned funny moments happen at the expense of the characters, most of the time Fubuki or Amai Mask. Obviously, there are webcomic gags whose overall contribute is limited to the panel where these are contained, but, in general, they often fill a greater purpose. 

15. Furthermore, changing the lines of a character for the sake of making another look good is not good writing to me. Going from this:

to these:

really good character writing, this gives us so much insight on Fubuki!

it’s a 180 degree turn as far tone and characterization goes. It’s incredibly underwhelming. “My sister will never hurt me when she is using her powers” is totally random and exists only for the sake of Tatsumaki’s character (at the expense of Fubuki’s), depicting the older esper as a good, caring sister and giving Fubuki another stupid “she is so scared!” gag. On the other hand, the webcomic scene “hypes” Tatsumaki’s feat without depriving Fubuki of her personality and/or altering her opinion of her older sister (”That monster!”), which nicely leads to moments like this for example:

or this:

By deciding to remove a little moment like that, the manga makes painfully clear how afraid both Murata and One are to show Tatsumaki as an unstable and dangerous “hero” whose good heart is hidden deep, deep under several layers of ruthlessness and abusiveness. Instead of striving for a nuanced and challenging approach to the character, like the webcomic (so far, at least), they decided to gloss over her flaws, avoiding to deal with the most troublesome traits of her character, in order to to gain the sympathy of the reader. She is not anymore the hero who gets punished for understimating her foes and lowering her guard, thinking she already won the “war”, but an infallible (at least when the plot doesn’t require otherwise) paragon of all virtues who gets power boost as the fight goes on, seemingly uneffected by the injuries she just received while everyone praise and cheer for her. She even accepts help from others (from Genos, of all people, instead of someone who shares a history or something whatsoever with her, but I disgress) without making a fuss about it, whereas in the webcomic, the only time she cooperated happened at the end of the arc, against Garou, in a last, desperate effort involving all the S-Class - and they fail. A moment like this, here, is treated by the narrative as something trivial, with barely any impact on her character (even if it IS a big deal given her, supposed at this point, character arc). This makes for incredible poor and lazy story telling. It’s like admitting of not having the ability to write a character with flaws, both d capable of great things in battle and unable to recognize how her own actions warped her relationship with her sibling, how this affected the latter - who endend up causing harm to others on her own as a result - and how dangerous her "explosions” of temper can be (to the point of jeopardize the outcome of a mission like in the wc MA arc). Basically, by chapter 125/126 onwards, the flaws and the shortcomings of her personaly, that were still present in her manga characterization, have been completly dropped, replaced by a more humble, softer personality - by the way, suddenly, at the most narratively convenient moment possible, she even remembers the kid being taken hostage by the monsters, which prevents her from destroying Orochi and Psykos immediatly.

To tell the truth, she isn’t the only character to have been mellowed in the manga: Garou or Saitama himself are other notable examples; I will go as far to say that even the tone of the arc is way less heavy and desperate compared to the webcomic.

16.What makes it even more strange it’s how chapter 107* didn’t have any of these issues in regard of Tatsumaki’s depiction and Fubuki’s character. Not only Tatsumaki acts like she does in the webcomic (obviously, considering how this chapter adapts the original source with barely any notable changes aside from few lines) but Fubuki isn’t reduced to a (un)funny comic relief, cowering in fear. Yes, she is afraid, she knows how unusual is for Tatsumaki to display so much power in battle (compared to the norm, that is), clearly revealing how strong their opponents are and how hard will be to take them down, but none of this detracts from Fubuki’s character (on the contrary, it’s totally consistent with the way Fubuki has been protrayed so far, perceiving her sister as an terrifying powerful entity). On the other hand, Tatsumaki here doesn’t act like the selfless hero of the following chapters, but as the psychotic (and arrogant) killing machine of the webcomic. It’s a really minor thing, but to me, it makes the difference. See for yourself:

*I think, if the numbering it’s still the same. EDIT 05/09/2022: Chapter 113 now.

it’s still unclear if this scene will end up in the tankobon without any significant change.

17.Another thing it’s becoming more and more apparent it’s how, in the manga, Tatsumaki is drawn more in fanservicy instead of the chibi-gag style. It’s a small thing, sure, but it fits the way she has been softened and made overtly heroic compared to the webcomic: removing the more unusual, contradicting, “problematic” sides of the character for a less complex and more generic, likeable character - which now translates even in her appearence. And there are people who criticizes Murata’s Fubuki for being too “sexy”, despite most of the changes or the additions to the character (like the fur coat or the jewelries, for example) actually make sense in the context of her characterization, given how she cared about appearances, public perception and status (the Extra Chapter “Numbers” explains this and the reason behind it).

On a similar note: Fubuki’s lines and general attitude towards Tatsumaki are not the only one being changed. The scene at the star of the arc where wc Tatsumaki throws a tantrum, with related Child Emperor’s inner thoughts, has been completely removed and even a throwaway line like Silver Fang wondering “Tatsumaki is her older sister? How old is that child?” has been replaced with him and Bomb praising Tatsumaki multiple times. Actually, the vast majority of the cast is now a fan of tatsumaki! The only characters who disrespect her are either proven wrong/made fun of or Genos and Flashy Flash (and even then, Genos words to Tatsumak have been softend too). Characters have been called Gary Stu/Mary Sue for way less in the past. Morever, the manga doesn’t let Tatsumaki face failures or the consequences of her actions: when there are no justification for these or when she is obviously in the wrong, ONE/Murata handwaves it and avoid to address it.

18.And by the way, I’m not saying I don’t like seeing Fubuki worried about Tatsumaki or, in general,  heartwarming moments between these two (if these aren’t too prevalent and don’t show Tatsumaki like a role model sister with no bad sides): actually, one thing I tought it was sorely missing in the webcomic was a scene of  Fubuki reacting to Tatsumaki being defeated and injured by the Cadres (in the Esper Sister’s arc we know that Fubuki is aware of Tatsumaki’s injuries and there are several moments where she is worried about her older sibling’s well being, so it was weird to not include a moment like this before).To be fair, though, Fubuki being relieved about Tatsumaki being alive, in Chapter 140, is quite weird given how she wasn’t in danger anymore and Fubuki already saw her launching a titanic pillar against BlobOrochi in Chapter 138 (Tatsumaki even talked to her!): it’s like having too many characters to juggle with leads to this weird timeline/reaction issues in the cast.

19.So on one hand, Tatsumaki got her behaviour drastically changed, making her appear totally heroic with no downsides or flaws: instead of her undewhelming (but thematically fitting) performance against the Cadre, she receives now a long, “epic” fight with a character, Psykos, who has no ties with Tatsumaki (aside from being an Esper and Fubuki, I guess); Tatsumaki’s childhood flashback has been moved here to give her some sort of characterization and make her look like a poor Woobie (seriously, the manga added the scientists akwnowleding her presence in the cell and still leaving her behind, plus many other added details thrown in only to make her look more pitiful); on the other, Fubuki is now “demoted” to comic relief, the butt-monkey of every jokes, out-performed by any other esper and the one who gets what she deserves for disrespecting others; Fubuki, who in the webcomic did better than most of the S-Class, is now a useless and cowering “damsell in distress”; she will no longer be Psyko’s main opponent, but simply the one who will defeat her at her weakest state. The importance of Fubuki’s involvement in this arc will all go to waste and instead of being an underdog who fights in a world shattering events and contributes to the final outcome, here will be a total incompetent fool, who at best will win by sheer luck, before succumbing to her weak knees once again for the rest of the arc. It couldn’t be more obvious what ONE and Murata are trying to achieve here.

20. Maybe it’s all a marketing move or what-not, focusing on characters with large following in the fandom in an attempt to boost the sales (which would be strange considering how Fubuki is one of the most popular characters in the series or at least was, before Murata and ONE decided to not let her do anything whatsoever from the beginning of the HA raid against the MA HQ up onwards or, if we are more drastic, from the moment the manga stopped following the webcomic). Apparently to accommodate Tatsumaki’s incredible “characterization” the manga had not only to overhaul the S-Class’s role in this arc, but to give her Fubuki’s opponent and reduce Fubuki herself to a comic relief who does nothing for dozens of chapters too. Impressive.

21. I may add how odd it feels seeing all the S-Classes being beaten and humiliated like in the webcomic while Tatsumaki gets a DBZ battle filled with tropes and clichés. It totally defeats the point of having the S-Classes getting a reality check and being defeated, if, now of all the times, one of them (as strong as she may be) gets a moment to shine while her flaws are totally downplayed: even if Psykos will eventually take her down, it will lose all of the meaning it had in the webcomic, where Tatsumaki gets uncerimoniously betean by the Dragons in a once in a life-time situation (which totally fits OPM spirit, I believe). Every S-Class got their match (Atomic Samurai an enemy that he couldn’t cut, Pig God an enemy he couldn’t eat, etc...) and, in the case of Tatsumaki, what took her down wasn’t a strong and powerful foe, a “worthy” opponent, but a bunch of monsters way below her level, basically ants facing an elephant, that got lucky thanks to the arrogance and carelessness of the S-Class Hero - which, again, it’s in line with the S-Class attitude up until that point, who, with few exceptions, grow complacent of their power and for a long time never faced defeats before meeting the Cadres. Her random and quick defeat greatly contributed to set the overall tone of the arc, especially the second part (the surface fights). Portraying Tatsumaki under a 100% positive light goes against everything this entire arc has been building up to since the beginning (or, at the very least, against the webcomic narrative guidelines the manga has been loosely following for years now, the only things that makes this bloated, unplanned mess intelligible): with Tatsumaki depicted as a paragon of all virtues and exempted from facing the same humiliation the rest of the S-Class suffered because of “power scaling is what this manga should be all about and Tatsumaki is strong so she has to get a Michael Bay fight scene where we can see her at full powers while holding back”, the whole point of arc (like, for example, the flaws of the heroes, their lack of coordination, the limits of the HA system) or even the foundations of future arcs (such as the Esper Sisters arc) all fall flat on a bland and trite battle-shounen ground. 

22. Another thing I find funny is how Tatsumaki’s responsability in the creation of Psykorochi is totally ignored by the story (up until now, that is) as if the whole purpose behind that was to give Tatsumaki her epic fight, where she could showcase her lovely and caring sides (as jarring as it is).

23. About Tatsumaki’s flashback: I think it’s pretty obvious how revealing this now, before the Fubuki’s ones and the events of the Esper Sisters Arc, will completly change the meaning of the arc itself and the role of the two characters involved, even more so if Tatsumaki’s character flaws are basically nonexistent in the manga. 

24. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if Fubuki vs Psykos got changed to the point of lessening Fubuki’s victory or making it underwhelming - if it will happen at all this time. I feel like it’s too late to give Fubuki some spotlight and considering Murata and ONE track record I bet they won’t even try to do her justice. Still, removing or altering that fight is an incredible waste: it’s one of the absolute highlight of the arc for me, not only because it explores Fubuki’s views about the world, power and human relationship in a fascinating way, but because it even plays into the whole theme of “villains/monsters vs heroes” of the MA and how it subverts the roles of the two characters involved: Psykos, the leader of the MA, a powerful esper who succeeded in taking down Tatsumaki, faces a B-Class, the “weaker” sibling of the S-Class rank 2 and Psykos’s former president, Fubuki. Psykos should have the upperhand, her victory should be near, Fubuki should be totally outclassed and yet that’s not what happens. Fubuki, thanks to her skills, her strategy and her ability, nullifies the gaps in power between the two of them and humiliates Psykos, defeating her completely. And what’s more interesting is Fubuki’s portrayal during the fight (both artistically and writing wise): dark, unsettling panels where her expression is partially obscured by hair strands and shadows, giving her an eerie, malevolent vibe; an aura of confidence and superiority exuding from her taunting lines coupled with a fantastic, yet morally twisted monologue, where the typical roles of villains and a heroes seem to be blurred. Instead of trying to resort to “talk-no-jutsu” in an attempt to change Psykos’s mind or dissuade her from pursuing any longer her evil schemes, Fubuki outright admits why she sealed Psykos’s powers back in the days and what were her thoughts at the time*: she didn’t want Psykos to “take away” from her the ordinary people, the “weak” who exist purely to highlight the strong - I truly think it’s brilliant and, in general, one of the fights that captures the most the spirit of the series, strange as it may sound. Compared to this, the Psykorochi battle is an over-bloated, unfocused battle where things happen when the plot demands it: a Murata artistic “jam session”, where the authors decided to include something not because it has some thematic relevance, but because it looks cool. It’s more flashy and more spectacular than Fubuki versus Psykos, sure, but that’s about it. It’s astonishing how much more a 15/20 pages battle accomplishes for the characters and the themes of the arc than a slog that lasts a hundred.

To be honest, Fubuki is often seen putting on a facade, pretending to be a more haughty, heartless person than how she truly is (like at the end of the Esper Sisters Arc with her group), so her monologue here can be not entirely sincere: that still doesn’t detract from the moments itself or the characters. Actually, it even adds layers and complexity to it.

25. I know the manga and the webcomic are not the same thing and it’s fine by me: but when you trade a well written character with believable flaws and strengths for your typical “useless battle-shounen female character” I think it’s legitimate to criticize this approach. Manga Fubuki is following every trope of the latter, which is ironic for what OPM should stand for. With the way the webcomic (at least so far) avoided to address Tatsumaki’s actions during the Esper Sisters Arc and the prolonged absence of Fubuki, I wouldn’t be surprised if ONE is reconsidering their dynamic in the source material and how these characters will be portrayed in the future. With the release of the lastest batch of webcomic chapters I’m wondering what will be Fubuki’s role in the future of the series and if her development in the Esper Sisters arc was for nothing, aside for the benefit of other characters. I truly don’t know.

26. I have no problem admitting that there are several things that I liked (and that I like still now) more in the manga compared to the webcomic in regard of this character: the mafia themed aesthetic for Fubuki and her group, how the manga shows her relationship with her subordinates, “Numbers” (it’s the best bonus chapter and Fubuki is the highlight of it for me) and basically everything from chapter 85 to 94 (which shows us how her sheltered childhood and lack of real human relationships made her totally oblivious and naive towards mundane matters, see, for example, her reaction to Saitama accepting Kuseno’s gift and then asking the doctor to stay) or, as I said before, her concerns about Tatsumaki and the first part of the Rover fight.

27. Lastly, all my problems with the character (even the Demonic Fan chapter and the recent developments) can easily be "fixed” (for a lack of a better word) by both ONE and Murata. In the past I was sure these things were all going to be addressed eventually in a satisfying way, but, after all these years and the latest chapters, I came to the (now) obvious conclusion that they simply don’t care about this character and most of these changes happened only because they didn’t want to depict certain characters negatively, in a way that could alienate the fanbase; and, as a result, they had to tone down the (apparently too extreme) relationship between Fubuki and Tatsumaki, which ended up benefitting only the latter. In the end, the character that I used to like in the webcomic and in the early parts of the manga doesn’t seem to be part of this series anymore.