Y’all over here writing a report—wow. You do you. I would never have the patience to write something this long. It’s well thought out too.
PERIODTTTT
wewww. that was long.!
Hey man, good for you! That was a really thoughtful analysis of the situation between these two thus far. I agree with you 100% I also think Souichi is stuck between his own bodily desires and what he’s built up in his mind to be the death of a part of his identity (admitting he is gay, or at the very least that he is in love with another man, or another person who happens to be a man). A big chunk of his identity is his manliness - he is stoic, rational, scientific, physically strong, arrogant, selfless, and yada yada - and all the shit stands in diametric opposition to “I wanna be loved and I wanna be fucked.” He can’t be that vulnerable because his ego will shatter into a million pieces. Maybe the whole world would end! The reason why this manga persists in popularity despite it’s rapey undertones non-me too conformity is that, well, it’s what we’re all after, isn’t it? A perfect paradox. All of society’s ideals overthrown by the irrationality of love and lust. I love Souichi because he is a shithead. If he were to throw up his arms and say, “I love you, too,” - don’t get me wrong, that would be fucking adorable - I might just start to lose interest. Anyway, thanks for the rant! Thought-provoking.
Many ppl say that tatsumi is gay however just cuz he is in a relationship with a man. I thought that he might be on asexual/ aromantic spectrum since it seems he isnt attracted to people sexually or romantically. Being on ace spectrum doesnt mean not having/ liking sex altho it might be that way for some, its about having little to no attraction towards ppl. Imo he was never attracted to anyone really until morinaga came and with him he had a platonic attraction. Not being able to really have romantic or sexual attracton ofc this relationship was very important to him. He understood that he cares for morinaga however he is scared that he might be gay if he is in a relationship with a man. I remember the chapter where morinaga was pressing tatsumi telling him to be honest with himself and admit to their relationship where tatsumi said "im not gay" and dropped to the ground. He was very scared that he might be something that he hates. Hopefully he discovers what he is soon so he can come to terms with himself and his relationship with morinaga and so morinaga could understand tatsumi even better.
amma downloading something and it's taking forever so will read this comment for now
wah i agree on the last bit, he surly did not care about things like sex, if we go back to chapter one, mori clearly said that he confessed and waited for the unknown for a whole year, which mean sensei did not think about it at all! i mean, if someone confesses to u, u may take that long to decide *a whole year ,wow u must be slow* but as we saw from sensei he kept mori beside him with out even an indication of even thinking about it and without thinking kept denying mori's sexuality and if that does not hurt...for mori
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when i say denying, it's just that i think denying someone's love for u is like denying their whole existence, like they r ghosts...and some how sensei managed to do this the best way possible!!
and just to make it clear, i don't agree with all u said, that in the first chapter was a rape scene, even with alcohol kicking in or the unstable situation mori was in cuz he was waiting for an answer, that does not mean he could just grip on his fucking hand and get out of the room... yes i said he's unstable and why would i expect that from a drunk dude, but it's a fucking crime that u r about to do... and when we take our eyes away from this, when he showed up weeks later, he said that he was just visiting someone, LIKE? not even a sign of guilt?
Alright let’s just get to the point. Let’s not gloss over the fact that at its core this is a homoerotic pornograpchic comic, sooo if you’re tired of how often Souichi and Morinaga end up doing the horizontal mambo everytime literally ANYTHING even begins to develop then you’re probably in the wrong place, my dear. Yes, this genre is meant to cater to women, stereotypically women react more to emotional appeal, yes, but that don’t change what this genre is. So honestly y’all can either chill, or I would very helpfully suggest y’all go read another yaoi manga or some shonenai. A lot more on the soft fluffy side and plenty have great stories and consistent character development. I’d highly recommend Given. Both the manga and the whole 11 episode beautifully animated season of the anime it was blessed with.
Now, let me tell you where I think you’re wrong. I completely disagree with there being absolutely zero character development on Souichi’s part in the recent chapters. Sure the signs are subtle, but ironically enough, these subtle signs are almost certainly going to be the only changes we get from Souichi unless something drastic happens.
First off, Souichi (although begrudgingly at first) agreeing to sleep in the same bed as Morinaga, cuddled up no less. Souichi has said time and time again how much it annoys him to have his personal space invaded, pointing out that it is a huge difference between himself and Morinaga who craves closeness and intimacy. But in the recent chapters we’ve seen those walls come down a bit, whether those walls stay down we just have to wait and see.
Second, Souichi very obviously cares about Morinaga even if he doesn’t show it plainly. Souichi was worried enough to come visit Morinaga when he couldn’t get in contact with him. He took care of Morinaga while he was sick, and (after a bit of begging) agreed to stay and spend time with Morinaga. Now for all y’all looking for Souichi to blurt out, “Damn it, I-I love you, you moron!” Honestly, we’re not getting that anytime soon. I’d be surprised if Souichi didn’t come up with some round about way of saying it when it does come the time too. He is much more emotionally reserved, stoic, and even cold at times than Morinaga is. So I don’t thing Souichi is ever going to to reciprocate love that same way Morinaga does, not to say Souichi won’t reciprocate at all just not necessarily so plainly or verbally. It’s literally in Souichi’s character as a tsundere to be this way and I don’t think that’s going to change. Before we get to this dude acknowledging his relationship with Morinaga as being a legit romantic relationship, where both see one another as life partners who love each other, I think Souichi needs to figure himself out in terms of sexuality.
Now we get to the third subtle piece of development, as agonizingly slowly as it may be, Souichi is still in the realization process of his sexual attraction to Morinaga. From having to come to terms with the fact that he has had and become physically aroused from having sex with a man, to becoming flustered when seeing Morinaga undress, to realizing he also has urges to have sex with Morinaga. Y’all argue that Morinaga is just continually forcing himself on Souichi, and though yes Morinaga is still a bit pushy, he really didn’t intend to do anything until Souichi very obviously showed signs that he was literally hot and bothered. The dude pretty much admitted that if Morinaga went any further he was expecting SOMETHING to happen. Yes Souichi swore he didn’t want Morinaga to touch him at first when he still literally wasn’t planning on going any further than just getting Souichi off since the man was obviously pent up, but that’s also in Souichi’s nature. He is not going to be agreeable, he is timid and prideful, and the closest we’ve gotten to Souichi asking Morinaga for physical intimacy is Souichi calling out Morinaga’s name and him questioning why Morinaga hadn’t tried to make a move on him for a prolonged period of time VOLUMES AGO. Back to the point, Souichi is becoming more aware of himself and Morinaga, in how he pretty plainly stated it was unfair he got the feel good while Morinaga didn’t. And then when Morinaga asked if Souichi wanted to go all the way, he did not deny it. Yes I believe in, “If it’s not a clear yes, then it’s a no.” But if we’re being for real we’re like 2 volumes too early from us getting Souichi to give a straight up yes to a sex proposition from Morinaga. Is that troublesome to a hell of a lot of people? OVBVIOUSLY. And it’s the main damn reason the rape argument keeps coming up, but AGAIN this is in Souichi’s nature as a character.
Once Souichi stops seeing this as purely a homosexual relationship, since he’s pretty clearly still at least mildly homophobic I think he can then really admit to himself that he loves Morinaga. I think Souichi just genuinely fears he might be gay, and even worse (to him) may have to admit he is something he once hated, when very obviously Souichi is NOT gay. Now he’s certainly not straight, oh no, no, but he ain’t gay either. In my opinion Souichi is either demisexual or pansexual/romantic. I believe Souichi needs to explore himself and really take his sexuality into question. Something I really don’t think he had ever done until he met Morinaga. His world revolved around keeping his family together after the death of his mother, and his school life. Nothing else was important enough until Morinaga came along. And I think finally once he’s figured himself out he can sort out his muddled feelings for Morinaga and we can get the story we all really want.
Wooooooo! That was a long one. Sorry for the rant. Just needed to get that out. Bye-bye now!