My disappointment with Manaria comes from different place. Looking at stuff in games and this anime, it's clear that studio consider them a couple. And that's my issue. If they're so certain they want them to be a couple, why then they don't make them one? Despite having all rights and possibility to make it explicitly canon, they don't.
Komi028 posted:
Manaria is selling like hotcakes because the blurays have codes for gran blue, so they can confirm everything they want in this show, the otakus are forced to buy the blurays regardless if they want those codes.
When I read it, I was really happy, but after nothing was confirmed in the end, I'm starting to see it all in different light. If it really didn't matter and they could go as far as they could, without worrying about backlash, why then they kept it as subtext-y as humanly possible? Sure, it's very blatant, but still they never went over anything you couldn't just dismiss as subtext if you tried really hard. That's because, they are waifus. In the end there are still fans who wants them to be only theirs and studio is afraid to risk upsetting them. Sure, by all means they're canon and they're meant to be a couple, but if you don't see it that way, you can still fantasize about them, because nothing is confirmed. That's what annoyed me the most. In the end, they played it safe. They could take the risk and become first big franchise with confirmed yuri couple, but they either didn't have guts or saw point in doing so. After all why they should be the ones to do it? Let some other company risk it first and show it's profitable move and then we'll do it too. They have no stakes in increasing representation, so unless it'd guarantee them more sales, they have no reason to do it. And like that everyone is waiting for someone else to do first step. After all, yuri fans see them as couple anyway. They'll make doujins, write fanfics and all that good stuff, without them having to confirm anything, so why should they bother, right?
And keeping it like that even hurts them as a couple. Honestly, I'm not even sure whatever they're supposed to be dating or just like each other. Anne often acts as if she was flirting and Grea responds more as if it really was just flirting rather than how they act as a couple. But then they hold hands in episode 7 as if it was totally normal and they were dating. Without ever asking each other out or starting dating. And before you say they hook up between episodes, in the same one Anne flirts with Grea again and they clearly have the "we are not dating yet" dynamic. In fact episode 7 is the one that really made me sure, they'll never make them official. They had the perfect set up for Anne to ask Grea out and it went nowhere. She's reading book about how to ask someone on a date. Gee, I wonder if she has someone she wants to ask out. Then she gets to "Sometimes you need to be assertive" part and she even repeats the word. Then gets all excited and giggles while blushing. Grea asks her what she's reading. The perfect answer was "Book how to ask you out". But nope, she just says the title all happy as if she was just sharing something with her friend instead of person she might actually use it on. And if add insult to injury, she mentions it has love option and then wonders whatever or not it would work on a girl, implying she's into girls. So everything was there. Anne just never got assertive and actually asked Grea out. And you could say we can understand it all was implying she wants or was just teasing her girlfriend or whatever. That is the key word implying. After they blown set up like that, I knew it. They'll never make them official. Also ignoring how problematic idea of love potion in general is, I really had mixed feelings about part where she might or might not add it to the tea. Like was Anne just pranking Grea? Or she didn't think she would respond otherwise? Or does it work more like a aphrodisiac. So do they date or not? I wanted to see Anne asking Grea out, not giving her love potion for some cheap gag.
BugDevil posted:
I just take the evidence in the story and base my judgement on that. And there is just no reasonable doubt to this pairing being legit. That's the only reason I defend it.
I don't hold grudge against you or anything, but it's really funny seeing you so intensely defending a subtext couple, based on evidence, when before you were very quick to dismiss one, despite all evidence pointing to it.
