Heavensrun, if others are like me, I think we’ve been avoiding being specific about Touko’s immediate reaction to a Yuu confession because of all the things both you and ColdGoldLazarus have been discussing—we’re confident (or at least I am) that things will ultimately work out, but it’s just not like Nakatani to have Little Miss Tied Up In Psychological Knots suddenly be like, “Kisses and dating, Yuu? I thought you’d never ask!” There are too many possible narrative paths to feel very sure about any one of them at this point.
That said, Touko’s “love is a shackle” idea is very specifically tied up with the way she (previously) was living her life according to other people’s expectations, so when her attitude towards herself changes, I’m pretty sure that view of love inevitably will change too.
In a way, although not the way she means it, love is a kind of restriction on oneself—you start to consider your own actions from the perspective of how they affect the other person and how that person will respond to them. But that example she gives—“if you did that, I would fall out of love with you”—is particularly toxic, (I mean, who even says that in a relationship?) and she doesn’t understand that the other one, “I love that about you,” doesn’t mean, “I love you only because of that.” You may like and admire someone because of the list of their positive personal qualities; you love them because they’re who they are and not someone else.
It is notable that Touko’s “anti-love” speech is placed against a drawerful of confession letters where people list all the things they like about her—Yuu would be well-advised to stick to the theme of, “I love you however you turn out, senpai” when she gets around to throwing her own hat in the ring.
last edited at Jul 1, 2018 6:51AM