The Golden Orchid
joined Jan 19, 2017
Plus the whole "badmouth their relationship to their other friends when they aren't around" is what adds up to him being pathetic to me.
The pining is one thing, that's common in unrequited love of any sort and can be difficult to let go so I can't hold it too much against anybody just for that.
The actively trying to find reasons Saeko and Miwa don't work together is a whole other issue. Okay I get that real life can be more complicated, including the person you have a crush on truly being in a bad relationship, etc. and which I'm sure people would argue is true here, but Miwa has also never approached him about any of that. She hasn't told him about anything going wrong in their relationship or made him a confidant. So all that he can see is from an observer's standpoint and he's overstepping some boundaries, because of his feelings. Along the same line, he is acting more because of his feelings and less because of concern for Miwa. Not that he doesn't genuinely care for her, but it can't be denied his feelings are blinding him in his actions. The way he acts around her is so puppy love. So his feelings aren't pathetic but the way he's acting really toes that line.
So if I were to judge him by real life standards, I wouldn't see him as a suitable partner for Miwa. His feelings blind him, and he has yet to make a real connection with the real Miwa. He doesn't truly see her, only the idealized version of her who Saeko isn't treating properly. He is not even being real himself, trying to act like the good guy in front of Miwa while not properly dealing with much darker feelings of jealousy that he accidentally lets out at times. If he were to ever change in that regard, then he might be a better hypothetical candidate for a hypothetical bi Miwa.
On the topic of jealousy, that does actually make him somewhat similar to Saeko. And I do believe this, Saeko and Tsuruta are no "better" than each other, if you were to compare the two. So I couldn't agree with assessments that Tsuruta is a better partner for Miwa or that Saeko is a better partner for Miwa, by measures of their inherent personalities / actions at this point in time. This is my own philosophy more than anything, but the one reason I do think Saeko is a better candidate is by virtue of Miwa having chosen her, and them still continuing to choose each other up to the current chapter. Until that changes, until they begin having serious doubts or long-lasting, unresolved issues, that's how I like to see it.