I've always found the way the author handles labels and romance to be fascinating, mainly how many of her characters--Kasumi and Koruri being the two big ones--aren't internally driven to them at all. They're fine with leaving things unspoken but intimate and only consider the label 'girlfriend' when the people they're close with push for it. It makes me wonder if the author's own experience with romance has been similar, and that's why she depicts love this way.
Moca strives for labels. She places meaning in them, so that if "one day she disappears" someone will mourn for her. This is how she validates her existence.
Sakurako was okay with not defining her relationship with Kasumi because they had a balanced give and take together, until she was challenged in a way that made her to want to secure her place in Kasumi’s life. The idea Kasumi could just...be without her and let her go (Special 3) pushed her to try to change their relationship into of explicit romance.
Kasumi, is the ultimate loner. She neither seeks labels, nor needs them, and doesn't need people in her life nor the assurance of her own permanence in their lives. She fundamentally lacks the fear of "disappearing" like Moca, or not mattering, because she's the epitome of self-sufficiency. No part of her is dependent on another human to define herself or fulfill her needs. However, there's a twist. Somehow living with Sakurako for seven years has been the right balance of "not too much but not too little" (ch 65.3). Somehow, she hasn't gotten sick of Sakurako despite how bothersome it can be for her (who is lazy and chooses the path of least resistance) to live with a whole other person.
This story is a really cute slice of life, but the author also places different forms of connection against each other. This story was never about the Romance! It's about how we navigate the relationship we have with someone we want to be with for the rest of our lives. When Koruri finally accepted being Moca's girlfriend, finally accepting that label of girlfriend, she was using romance as the Vehicle, a Means to secure Moca in her life. We never get a deep psychological dissection of what romantic love means for her. It doesn't matter. What matters is the conflict between them (Koruri fearing Moca may leave one day without saying a word, both sating their need for companionship) and how they compromised to keep each other in their lives (Koruri accepting being Moca's girlfriend). This story is different variations exploring the fundamental intimacy between people who live together, who share A Room For Two, and how different people choose to define it using the means they have.
I'm sure the other different pairings like Seri and her roommate, or Sakurako's sister and her roommate, all have their own flavors and nuances. I just can't remember them after following this series for so many years lol.
last edited at Apr 1, 2023 7:43PM
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