LogFAQs > #980222724

MacArrowny posted...

I guess the difference is that Hotaru never confronts Hananoi about the creepy things he does. Like, when he implies he'll rape her if they're alone together, she should say "don't be a creep." When he says "I can only ever love one person," she should say "does that mean you'd never have children?" It'd be nice to have a bit more conflict in that department.

You're misrepresenting Hananoi there, imo. Part of what I really like about him is that he's realistically flawed and not an abusive caricature who would say something like that (as opposed to the My Little Monster guy who made that exact threat with no room for interpretation). Assuming you're talking about the end of episode two, that was when Hotaru asked him to pretend to kiss her so she could see how she feels about it. For her, hovering her face near someone else's is no big deal... but it's a huge deal for Hananoi to hover his face near hers. I read it more as him trying to get her to acknowledge the depth of his feelings, that he wants to do so much more than just pretend to kiss her. I didn't read it as an actual threat (plus it turns out he had the dreaded anime cold further scrambling his brain). He reacted badly, sure, but so did Hotaru by minimizing his feelings for her. Not sure if you've continued to episode three or not but they both realize they did bad there, apologize, and promise to do better. As for the only loving one person thing, Hananoi later clarifies that he only wants to care about his lover and his family, obviously kids would be included in that.

I suppose Hotaru could more actively conflict with Hananoi, but I think that wouldn't fit her character. The best part of the show for me is that both of them are flawed. Neither one of them knows what love really is. Hotaru is clearly bothered when Hananoi goes too far, and the story shows that, but she can't lecture him about something she doesn't understand herself. They're on a bumpy road coming from two different extremes, and hopefully they'll eventually meet in the healthy middle.

I'm really loving the story, but like I said, it isn't for everyone! You and I especially I don't think have ever agreed about an anime romance. I vastly prefer the problematic exploration of love in A Condition Called Love as opposed to, say, The Dangers in My Heart where the story pretended the main dude had issues for half an episode before going "just kidding those elements will never come up again, he's a perfect cinnamon bun who can do no wrong".