KIKU IS GAY

I read this long ago before I fell into the world of fujoshi. As I reread this again, yes I think Kikuhikl is gay but not the theory of the child. I just cant accept the cruel fact that Kikuhikl wanted a child by using the daughter of someone he loves.

I think at one point Kikuhiko probably do love the daughter.

hey! so i've basically replied to a few people with this but i don't think that kikuhiko is shinnosuke's father. I feel like without a doubt, the father is Mangetsu.

here's why i believe this:

- in chapter 3, he asks yotaro about konatsu and in that conversation goes on to say that:
1) he's been to the house
2) he lived around the area while begging yakumo to take him on as an apprentice
3) talked about konatsu like they were more than acquaintances saying that he "would go mad with jealousy" because yotaro got to live with her

- we don't know for certain when he was living around the area, but if the timing was fairly short, then he could have been there around the time of conception

- shinnosuke looks exactly like him. and to me the kicker is MYOPIA/NEARSIGHTEDNESS! the daughter of yotaro and konatsu does not wear glasses. being nearsighted is a genetic trait. neither miyokichi nor sukeroku wore glasses or required them, and hence neither does konatsu. yakumo wore reading glasses for far-sightedness as he got older (which is a common part of aging) but he never required glasses in his youth, and hence never had myopia.

who is the only character in the series with myopia? mangetsu. shinnosuke also looks just like him. hence it's more likely than not that the biological father of shinnosuke is mangestu. konatsu probably didn't want to get together with her, because from the way he spoke, he seemed to be interested in her only for the relationship she had to sukeroku and yakumo.


I'll also elaborate on the other stuff relating to what kiku and kontasu's relationship was like in a separate comment

Yes I have read them and I know Yakumo feelings is not thay shallow because one of the premise of this story is the strong feeling Yakumo have for konatsu’s father and how he the one who know the most about longing to the father shit I’m crying again.

I'll link it at the bottom, but there is a volume 10 omake which goes into their relationship before the beginning of the series, when konatsu was a teenager. in it, the yakuza boss and yakumo discuss konatsu and her delinquency. I'll brush over the other aspects, but it yakumo has realized himself that konatsu is developing feelings for him, and it makes him extremely uncomfortable.

instead of trying to be kind to her or to address the situation, he decides to become very cold and verbally abusive to her, and taunting her about her parent's deaths. this is in start contrast of his gentle paternal attitude to her when she was a young child. he actively states that he wants her to hate him because them hopefully she would not have feelings for him.

it seems though like this didn't work, and it just warped konatsu's feelings towards him. but it's of note that yakumo was aware that she was in love with him, and he felt actively repulsed and guilty, and felt like he must have done something wrong as a parent. I feel like this contextualizes him saying to sukeroku " are you angry at me for what I've done to your daughter?" because he felt complicit in it, the same way that he seems to feel complicit for what happened to sukeroku and miyokichi.

so to contextualize the "allegation" that konatsu made regarding shinnosuke's paternity again - we need to remember that 1) this was made by konatsu about yakumo, post-humously 2) a narrative element in the series has always been about the truth and subtext. we know that she had romantic feelings for him, and so she would like to entertain that fantasy.


weaker circumstantial evidence:
- sukeroku's ghost was watching yakumo, and when they eventually met he didn't seem to mention anything about his treatment of konatsu. which idk i think you would at least address if your best friend groomed your daughter into sex

- the underworld is based off a fusion of shintoism and zen buddhism. in these, sexual misconduct is considered a grave sin - and it wouldn't matter that they "weren't blood related" as it would still be considered incestuous as a sin. he wouldn't have been able to be reincarnated before paying for such a sin.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/17tCeZ6hVS4wRhDDvKlsYK3dnm1qhsS5oZwqXPGX4DsE/edit

Damnnnn you make me cry as well

I really appreciate it that you've shared your thoughts here and I'm glad I read your comment! Cause I never put it that way. And I completely forgot about Mangetsu since he barely appear in the show now I can rest in peace (づ￣ ³￣)づ

same （/TДT)/ he was really deeply in love with sukeroku

I know it's been months since you posted this but you're the first person I've ever seen who agrees with me on who the father is and I'd just like to add one more thing (unless you've already mentioned it and I overlooked it).
We know there are only two people in this series who definitely know about the father of the child; the mistress an Konatsu herself. During one conversation, not too long after Konatsu gave birth, the mistress was afraid for a second that she would run away because of love. If Kikuhiko is the father and he is the one the mistress thought of, why would she be afraid Konatsu would do that? She's already living with him.

Also, just in general until it clicked I never really understood why glasses guy was even there since he didn't have much of a purpose. But if he's the father that would explain why he is part of the story for so long.

i didn't notice this, thank you! it makes perfect sense, they do already live together so why would she "run away" if it was him?

I agree