Umeda Hokuto (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
playingdoctor) wrote2006-04-22 05:45 pm
playingdoctor) wrote2006-04-22 05:45 pm
Umeda and Akiha (and Ryouichi)
So, especially given the happenings of a recent thread, some of y'all must be wondering what the flaming heck is up with Umeda and Akiha, anyway. Do they like each other? Dislike each other? One-sided love? And if it's the last, why has Umeda invited Akiha back to his office?
WARNING. The following has spoilers for the manga up to the final, extended chapter.
For a canon that has given us numerous scenes where Umeda was caught kissing men, walling men, even some decidedly mid-foreplay images, and threw this all into a manga primarily about a couple of boys with the crush on the same girl in wacky all-boys' school antics? You'd think what Umeda and Akiha felt for each other was perfectly clear. Hell, whenever Mizuki (protagonist) asks Umeda about his love life, Umeda is generally up front: Mizuki hears all about "that asshole" and how you can't help who you love; when she sees Umeda kissing a guy and asks if it's the one Umeda loves, Umeda clarifies, "No, he's my lover." When pressed on why he likes men, Umeda flat out explains, "Because they've got a thing that girls don't have. Mind, that's a little simple. I've got to like the guy first."
Basically, we're given strong emphasis that Umeda is heavily into one-night stands and casual sex (In one of Hisaya Nakajo's "Interviews" with her characters, where she took reader questions and had the characters answer them, Umeda is asked how many people he's dated, and his answer is something like "How many people I've dated? Does that include people I play with?" ....with an author's note that it looks like he doesn't actually remember the number.). He also dates; he notes at one point in the interview that he 'broke up' with Misaki (Misaki Ikeda was the man that he told Mizuki was his lover).
Actually, since it makes a good lead in, let me quote Locked Heart's translation of the last bit of the interview (Complete transcript over here, under the link 'One'). Emphasis mine:
--
M.: I see. We've talked about this before, so if you don't want to answer, please just say it. We would like to know a bit more about Kijima-san, the person whom you've liked since your high school days, "even until now, is Ryouichi the person you love most?" "Because you didn't really confess your love to Ryouichi, do you have any plan to do that in the future?"
U.: I'm bad at giving up. My "plan" is still "undecided". Anyway, if I tell you the story of my feelings for him, it'll just be the story of my downfall since the moment I realized my feelings for him a long time ago.
M.: "What do you like about Ryouichi?" "What do you think about Masato-kun?" "Has there been any developments with Ryouichi?"
U.: What do I like ...? Aaah... it's hard to say. I like everything about him. Masato? It seems like he is prepared to stand on his own feet now, so that's a good thing, isn't it? Developments ...? I don't think I'm obliged to answer that.
M.: Ah ... I see .. *sweatdrop, sweatdrop* Please don't be mad. Okay, "What's your favourite type?" "What do you think of Akiha-san?" "When was your first love? Was it a boy? A girl?"
U.: I think I'm particularly weak against those who are different between the outside and the inside. Although Akiha falls under that category, I don't want to get into it. Somehow it seems like a bad situation to be in. What that is, I can't clearly say. In my case, my first love wasn't Keiko-sensei the kindergarden teacher, but it was a young man, the school bus driver.
--
And that, my friends, is the closest we come to Umeda being candid about his feelings for Akiha -- and as you can tell, he refuses to actually say WHY he refuses to clarify his feelings for him.
Some quick background on the Umeda-Ryouichi thing, though it's probably obvious if you followed me in CFUD at all:
Ryouichi
Ryouichi Kijima was one of the important characters from her first manga, Yume Miru Happa, which was a collection of manga short stories. The first one spanned three chapters and it told the story of Masato, a mentally disturbed young man who had accidentally killed his family when he'd attempted arson on his household, and Masato's eventual hooking up with the female lead of the short manga. Masato and the girl both work for a small fortune-telling business, run by a man named Kijima Ryouichi (whose 'stage name' is Zakuro). Masato explains that Ryouichi was the son of the psychiatrists who took care of him in-house and that Ryouichi was the first person to befriend him and help him/encourage him to open up in his feelings. Sounds all flowers and sunshine, right?
Well, the girl (whose name is Futaba Kawamura) finds out that Ryouichi's been hypnotizing Masato -- for his own good, apparently, since Masato's personality is prone to irritability and violence and basically not good at giving customers what they expect in a 'mystic' type. When Futaba challenges him, Ryouichi clarifies that although Masato's personality changes, he's not under his 'control' -- he's still got his own mind and remembers everything he does, and besides, it's for the good of the business. Futaba's challenge gets a threat of her being fired; later, she tells Masato, who hadn't realized it was hypnotism; he'd thought it was 'mental training'. He challenges Ryouichi himself.
You'd think this'd end with separation, right?
No, the challenge basically ends with Masato hugging Ryouichi (in front of a customer), telling him he intends to keep working there, and heading off to get some fresh air.
Then, when she went to write Hana-Kimi, she brought Ryouichi into Umeda's backstory. In the same year in high school, the two became close when Umeda realized that Ryouichi wasn't really the friendly nice guy he passed himself off as, but was instead lying to them. One of their first one-on-one conversations was essentially:
"It's gotta be difficult, making those guys think you like them."
"It's not that hard."
... Yeah.
To make a long story short, they interact and Umeda's interest in Ryouichi's false face ends up turning into sexual and romantic interest that he can't shake. They break school rules together, hiding out in Umeda's dorm, smoking and drinking, an encounter that leads to them huddling together in the dark, Ryouichi's hand on Umeda's chest, and Umeda having All Kinds Of Conflict with enjoying this way too much even when he knows what kind of person Ryouichi is. Umeda finds himself jealous of the (then thirteen-year-old) Masato, who is the only person Ryouichi genuinely likes; Umeda knows he himself isn't really liked. In the end, after Masato was hurt, Umeda challenges Ryouichi in the rain about it and they kiss a lot. A lot. Over and over.
Then the next day in school, Ryouichi kisses him again -- right at school, much to (the closeted) Umeda's shock, then tells him to "forget about it", to which Umeda can only wistfully think, "How can I?"
Twelve years later, Umeda's still in love and can't seem to fall out of it.
To note? Ryouichi's still being an ass twelve years later. He 'forces' brand name clothing on Umeda because they're brands he himself likes (rather than Umeda's preferred brand, Helmut Lang -- YES IT GOES INTO THEIR FASHION TASTES I CANNOT MAKE THIS UP XD), he buys Umeda cologne and insists Umeda wear it to their meetings, he sets up meetings with Umeda and cancels without notice, etc. Umeda is totally polite and understanding on the phone and will immediately hang up and swear what an ass he is. And when they do meet for drinks, they chat casually, share an indirect kiss, and Umeda thinks it's 'their secret'.
Umeda? Is totally gone over Ryouichi and sort of hates that. Note that the casual sex/coming out of the closet definitely came AFTER this whole thing with Ryouichi started, which implies Umeda's dealing with his unhealthy attachment relatively well... he's not letting it hold him back from living, he's not pining, he just... well. Isn't falling out of love.
Which is sort of where Akiha comes into the picture.
Akiha
Akiha has known Umeda about as long as Umeda's known Ryouichi, and over the same time period, pretty much. Umeda clearly doesn't much remember him from high school ("We went to college together," Umeda says, and Akiha clarifies, "We also were in high school"); it implies that Akiha was aware of Umeda, but Umeda not aware of Akiha (EDIT: There's another point where in fact Umeda DOES comment on it, so! NM about that. Thanks,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
positive_print!). At some point in there, Akiha married, but divorced again; since he's only 25-26 in the manga canon, and probably didn't marry in high school, his marriage was almost certainly a brief one; it's safe to theorize this was because he was in love with Umeda the whole time, but knew Umeda didn't feel the same way. not to say he doesn't like Ebi -- he's still really genuinely fond of her, and she of him. But it's safe to figure that Akiha's love for Umeda interfered with his marriage in some sense.
But what do they feel for each other?
Akiha is happy to swear love for Umeda any time, any place.
In contrast, aaaaaaaaaaaas you've probably noticed, Umeda totally resists, argues, hits him, calls him an idiot, etc etc. Throws him out the window! (Admittedly, Akiha tried to climb IN the window first) Shuts the door on him! Rants bitterly about 'complicated adult things' and how that jerk does this and that and it always ends up going wrong. Etc.
That said.
Canon heavily implies they're having sex.
First, we and Mizuki both see a hickey on Umeda's neck. While Umeda's had many lovers and hasn't even TWITCHED at being walked in on at various states of, uh, sex -- when Mizuki saw the hickey, Umeda went beet red and slapped a hand over it. It was clear to Mizuki that it was a hickey given to him by Akiha, and it seems interesting that this is the only time we've seen him embarrassed of something like this and trying to hide it.
Second, when Mizuki asks about why Umeda's in a bad mood, and about how things are going with Akiha, Umeda goes on a long rant about, uh, how a visit to a love hotel went horribly wrong. From the context, it certainly sounds like he doesn't care if Mizuki thinks they're having sex. He DOES care if Mizuki thinks that it matters, that Akiha would leave marks on him, and. Well. The entire love hotel thing?
Is to cover up the fact that he's shaken because Akiha kissed him hard at school. Kissed him hard and long and then told Umeda that he'd wear him down and make Umeda love him. Umeda is literally unable to chase this from his mind for a freaking age and it's got him irritable and nervous.
Finally, in the extended version of the last chapter, Mizuki leaves. Akiha says "You must be lonely, Sempai. How about coming over to my place for the night?" and, after a short distraction, Umeda says, "I won't stay over, but let's go get drinks", which ... implies to me (by the 'I won't stay over' that he's gonna go and have sex and drinks, but won't stay the night -- staying the night being a considerably more 'romantic' or 'attached' aspect to sex. The "Come for the night/ I won't stay over" combination seems to heavily imply to me anyway that he's denying romance but accepting sex.
...add drama tracks into that, where Umeda gets all sorts of bad omens, slams the door on Akiha, and ends up caving to Akiha!Molestation...
... I think Umeda knows that Akiha's feelings for him are genuine and doens't want ... doesn't want to lead Akiha on with false hopes. The thing with Kijima is, like, his one spot of emo/emotional hangups evar and I think he doesn't want to make anyone else ... well, become like him. (As if Akiha would EVER end up bitter like Umeda XD). I think that's why he reacts so completely differently to Akiha than he does to anyone else -- he knows Akiha actually loves him.
It's not like Akiha ever tries to hide it.
At the same time. Do I think Umeda loves Akiha? Yes. But I think Umeda is at no place where he can admit it. He's loved Kijima only for so, so long that I think the thought of actually devoting himself to someone else as well would a) seem like cheating on his feelings for Kijima in a way the sex doesn't (because he never had sex with Kijima, JUST an emotional bond, so he'd be cheating on that emotional bond?) and b) is probably frightening to him. NOTHING has hurt him the way Kijima's behaviour towards him has, and I think the thought of loving someone else is scary. At least he knows how to deal with Kijima's lack of reciprocity. Dealing with someone who actually loves him? That involves a lot more responsibility, which I think Umeda thinks he's not able to cope with.
... Also. EVERYTHING Umeda really likes, he's extra mean to. *g* It's how he shows affection or something.
And on top of that, we know that Umeda does not really ... he's suspicious of Akiha, possibly because he KNOWS Akiha is plotting to make Umeda fall for him. But it's over things other than that. In the interview, he says he knows Akiha is a two-faced sort of person but 'doesn't want to get into it'. When he finds out Akiha's got an interest in photographing Mizuki, he demands to know what Akiha's plotting. Somewhere in their shared background, Umeda became well aware that Akiha's personality is rather manipulative.
And if he is in this weird half-back-and-forth relationship with Akiha? Despite his protests and his expressed resistance, on some level, he's opening himself up to that.
Also? Akiha is ... really intelligent despite his cutesy behaviour. I have no doubt Akiha suspects all this, which is doubtless one of the reasons why Akiha is ABLE to continue to insist he'll win Umeda over.
(That and Akiha is a puppy and will accept abuse from Sempai any time. Uhm.)
One of the interesting things about the Umeda/Akiha, Umeda/Ryouichi thing is that it is introduced VERY early on (Umeda ranting to Mizuki about "that asshole" he likes in, iirc, volume 1) but never actually resolved. Not in 23 volumes. The closest we come is Umeda agreeing to go back with Akiha "but not stay over". It sends a message that one-way love exists, that not all loves work out just by virtue of being love. It's particularly interesting in a manga given to shoujo cliche. Things work out for Sano and Mizuki, but we aren't given any actual answers for Umeda, just ambiguity.
So. Akiha and Umeda? Fuckbuddies, to put it crudely, with Umeda resisting emotional development and Akiha trying to push emotional development.
Where it'll go in camp, where sex isn't allowed? I have no idea. But Umeda will probably be resisting it every step of the way, whatever it is. XD
WARNING. The following has spoilers for the manga up to the final, extended chapter.
For a canon that has given us numerous scenes where Umeda was caught kissing men, walling men, even some decidedly mid-foreplay images, and threw this all into a manga primarily about a couple of boys with the crush on the same girl in wacky all-boys' school antics? You'd think what Umeda and Akiha felt for each other was perfectly clear. Hell, whenever Mizuki (protagonist) asks Umeda about his love life, Umeda is generally up front: Mizuki hears all about "that asshole" and how you can't help who you love; when she sees Umeda kissing a guy and asks if it's the one Umeda loves, Umeda clarifies, "No, he's my lover." When pressed on why he likes men, Umeda flat out explains, "Because they've got a thing that girls don't have. Mind, that's a little simple. I've got to like the guy first."
Basically, we're given strong emphasis that Umeda is heavily into one-night stands and casual sex (In one of Hisaya Nakajo's "Interviews" with her characters, where she took reader questions and had the characters answer them, Umeda is asked how many people he's dated, and his answer is something like "How many people I've dated? Does that include people I play with?" ....with an author's note that it looks like he doesn't actually remember the number.). He also dates; he notes at one point in the interview that he 'broke up' with Misaki (Misaki Ikeda was the man that he told Mizuki was his lover).
Actually, since it makes a good lead in, let me quote Locked Heart's translation of the last bit of the interview (Complete transcript over here, under the link 'One'). Emphasis mine:
--
M.: I see. We've talked about this before, so if you don't want to answer, please just say it. We would like to know a bit more about Kijima-san, the person whom you've liked since your high school days, "even until now, is Ryouichi the person you love most?" "Because you didn't really confess your love to Ryouichi, do you have any plan to do that in the future?"
U.: I'm bad at giving up. My "plan" is still "undecided". Anyway, if I tell you the story of my feelings for him, it'll just be the story of my downfall since the moment I realized my feelings for him a long time ago.
M.: "What do you like about Ryouichi?" "What do you think about Masato-kun?" "Has there been any developments with Ryouichi?"
U.: What do I like ...? Aaah... it's hard to say. I like everything about him. Masato? It seems like he is prepared to stand on his own feet now, so that's a good thing, isn't it? Developments ...? I don't think I'm obliged to answer that.
M.: Ah ... I see .. *sweatdrop, sweatdrop* Please don't be mad. Okay, "What's your favourite type?" "What do you think of Akiha-san?" "When was your first love? Was it a boy? A girl?"
U.: I think I'm particularly weak against those who are different between the outside and the inside. Although Akiha falls under that category, I don't want to get into it. Somehow it seems like a bad situation to be in. What that is, I can't clearly say. In my case, my first love wasn't Keiko-sensei the kindergarden teacher, but it was a young man, the school bus driver.
--
And that, my friends, is the closest we come to Umeda being candid about his feelings for Akiha -- and as you can tell, he refuses to actually say WHY he refuses to clarify his feelings for him.
Some quick background on the Umeda-Ryouichi thing, though it's probably obvious if you followed me in CFUD at all:
Ryouichi
Ryouichi Kijima was one of the important characters from her first manga, Yume Miru Happa, which was a collection of manga short stories. The first one spanned three chapters and it told the story of Masato, a mentally disturbed young man who had accidentally killed his family when he'd attempted arson on his household, and Masato's eventual hooking up with the female lead of the short manga. Masato and the girl both work for a small fortune-telling business, run by a man named Kijima Ryouichi (whose 'stage name' is Zakuro). Masato explains that Ryouichi was the son of the psychiatrists who took care of him in-house and that Ryouichi was the first person to befriend him and help him/encourage him to open up in his feelings. Sounds all flowers and sunshine, right?
Well, the girl (whose name is Futaba Kawamura) finds out that Ryouichi's been hypnotizing Masato -- for his own good, apparently, since Masato's personality is prone to irritability and violence and basically not good at giving customers what they expect in a 'mystic' type. When Futaba challenges him, Ryouichi clarifies that although Masato's personality changes, he's not under his 'control' -- he's still got his own mind and remembers everything he does, and besides, it's for the good of the business. Futaba's challenge gets a threat of her being fired; later, she tells Masato, who hadn't realized it was hypnotism; he'd thought it was 'mental training'. He challenges Ryouichi himself.
You'd think this'd end with separation, right?
No, the challenge basically ends with Masato hugging Ryouichi (in front of a customer), telling him he intends to keep working there, and heading off to get some fresh air.
Then, when she went to write Hana-Kimi, she brought Ryouichi into Umeda's backstory. In the same year in high school, the two became close when Umeda realized that Ryouichi wasn't really the friendly nice guy he passed himself off as, but was instead lying to them. One of their first one-on-one conversations was essentially:
"It's gotta be difficult, making those guys think you like them."
"It's not that hard."
... Yeah.
To make a long story short, they interact and Umeda's interest in Ryouichi's false face ends up turning into sexual and romantic interest that he can't shake. They break school rules together, hiding out in Umeda's dorm, smoking and drinking, an encounter that leads to them huddling together in the dark, Ryouichi's hand on Umeda's chest, and Umeda having All Kinds Of Conflict with enjoying this way too much even when he knows what kind of person Ryouichi is. Umeda finds himself jealous of the (then thirteen-year-old) Masato, who is the only person Ryouichi genuinely likes; Umeda knows he himself isn't really liked. In the end, after Masato was hurt, Umeda challenges Ryouichi in the rain about it and they kiss a lot. A lot. Over and over.
Then the next day in school, Ryouichi kisses him again -- right at school, much to (the closeted) Umeda's shock, then tells him to "forget about it", to which Umeda can only wistfully think, "How can I?"
Twelve years later, Umeda's still in love and can't seem to fall out of it.
To note? Ryouichi's still being an ass twelve years later. He 'forces' brand name clothing on Umeda because they're brands he himself likes (rather than Umeda's preferred brand, Helmut Lang -- YES IT GOES INTO THEIR FASHION TASTES I CANNOT MAKE THIS UP XD), he buys Umeda cologne and insists Umeda wear it to their meetings, he sets up meetings with Umeda and cancels without notice, etc. Umeda is totally polite and understanding on the phone and will immediately hang up and swear what an ass he is. And when they do meet for drinks, they chat casually, share an indirect kiss, and Umeda thinks it's 'their secret'.
Umeda? Is totally gone over Ryouichi and sort of hates that. Note that the casual sex/coming out of the closet definitely came AFTER this whole thing with Ryouichi started, which implies Umeda's dealing with his unhealthy attachment relatively well... he's not letting it hold him back from living, he's not pining, he just... well. Isn't falling out of love.
Which is sort of where Akiha comes into the picture.
Akiha
Akiha has known Umeda about as long as Umeda's known Ryouichi, and over the same time period, pretty much. Umeda clearly doesn't much remember him from high school ("We went to college together," Umeda says, and Akiha clarifies, "We also were in high school"); it implies that Akiha was aware of Umeda, but Umeda not aware of Akiha (EDIT: There's another point where in fact Umeda DOES comment on it, so! NM about that. Thanks,
positive_print!). At some point in there, Akiha married, but divorced again; since he's only 25-26 in the manga canon, and probably didn't marry in high school, his marriage was almost certainly a brief one; it's safe to theorize this was because he was in love with Umeda the whole time, but knew Umeda didn't feel the same way. not to say he doesn't like Ebi -- he's still really genuinely fond of her, and she of him. But it's safe to figure that Akiha's love for Umeda interfered with his marriage in some sense.But what do they feel for each other?
Akiha is happy to swear love for Umeda any time, any place.
In contrast, aaaaaaaaaaaas you've probably noticed, Umeda totally resists, argues, hits him, calls him an idiot, etc etc. Throws him out the window! (Admittedly, Akiha tried to climb IN the window first) Shuts the door on him! Rants bitterly about 'complicated adult things' and how that jerk does this and that and it always ends up going wrong. Etc.
That said.
Canon heavily implies they're having sex.
First, we and Mizuki both see a hickey on Umeda's neck. While Umeda's had many lovers and hasn't even TWITCHED at being walked in on at various states of, uh, sex -- when Mizuki saw the hickey, Umeda went beet red and slapped a hand over it. It was clear to Mizuki that it was a hickey given to him by Akiha, and it seems interesting that this is the only time we've seen him embarrassed of something like this and trying to hide it.
Second, when Mizuki asks about why Umeda's in a bad mood, and about how things are going with Akiha, Umeda goes on a long rant about, uh, how a visit to a love hotel went horribly wrong. From the context, it certainly sounds like he doesn't care if Mizuki thinks they're having sex. He DOES care if Mizuki thinks that it matters, that Akiha would leave marks on him, and. Well. The entire love hotel thing?
Is to cover up the fact that he's shaken because Akiha kissed him hard at school. Kissed him hard and long and then told Umeda that he'd wear him down and make Umeda love him. Umeda is literally unable to chase this from his mind for a freaking age and it's got him irritable and nervous.
Finally, in the extended version of the last chapter, Mizuki leaves. Akiha says "You must be lonely, Sempai. How about coming over to my place for the night?" and, after a short distraction, Umeda says, "I won't stay over, but let's go get drinks", which ... implies to me (by the 'I won't stay over' that he's gonna go and have sex and drinks, but won't stay the night -- staying the night being a considerably more 'romantic' or 'attached' aspect to sex. The "Come for the night/ I won't stay over" combination seems to heavily imply to me anyway that he's denying romance but accepting sex.
...add drama tracks into that, where Umeda gets all sorts of bad omens, slams the door on Akiha, and ends up caving to Akiha!Molestation...
... I think Umeda knows that Akiha's feelings for him are genuine and doens't want ... doesn't want to lead Akiha on with false hopes. The thing with Kijima is, like, his one spot of emo/emotional hangups evar and I think he doesn't want to make anyone else ... well, become like him. (As if Akiha would EVER end up bitter like Umeda XD). I think that's why he reacts so completely differently to Akiha than he does to anyone else -- he knows Akiha actually loves him.
It's not like Akiha ever tries to hide it.
At the same time. Do I think Umeda loves Akiha? Yes. But I think Umeda is at no place where he can admit it. He's loved Kijima only for so, so long that I think the thought of actually devoting himself to someone else as well would a) seem like cheating on his feelings for Kijima in a way the sex doesn't (because he never had sex with Kijima, JUST an emotional bond, so he'd be cheating on that emotional bond?) and b) is probably frightening to him. NOTHING has hurt him the way Kijima's behaviour towards him has, and I think the thought of loving someone else is scary. At least he knows how to deal with Kijima's lack of reciprocity. Dealing with someone who actually loves him? That involves a lot more responsibility, which I think Umeda thinks he's not able to cope with.
... Also. EVERYTHING Umeda really likes, he's extra mean to. *g* It's how he shows affection or something.
And on top of that, we know that Umeda does not really ... he's suspicious of Akiha, possibly because he KNOWS Akiha is plotting to make Umeda fall for him. But it's over things other than that. In the interview, he says he knows Akiha is a two-faced sort of person but 'doesn't want to get into it'. When he finds out Akiha's got an interest in photographing Mizuki, he demands to know what Akiha's plotting. Somewhere in their shared background, Umeda became well aware that Akiha's personality is rather manipulative.
And if he is in this weird half-back-and-forth relationship with Akiha? Despite his protests and his expressed resistance, on some level, he's opening himself up to that.
Also? Akiha is ... really intelligent despite his cutesy behaviour. I have no doubt Akiha suspects all this, which is doubtless one of the reasons why Akiha is ABLE to continue to insist he'll win Umeda over.
(That and Akiha is a puppy and will accept abuse from Sempai any time. Uhm.)
One of the interesting things about the Umeda/Akiha, Umeda/Ryouichi thing is that it is introduced VERY early on (Umeda ranting to Mizuki about "that asshole" he likes in, iirc, volume 1) but never actually resolved. Not in 23 volumes. The closest we come is Umeda agreeing to go back with Akiha "but not stay over". It sends a message that one-way love exists, that not all loves work out just by virtue of being love. It's particularly interesting in a manga given to shoujo cliche. Things work out for Sano and Mizuki, but we aren't given any actual answers for Umeda, just ambiguity.
So. Akiha and Umeda? Fuckbuddies, to put it crudely, with Umeda resisting emotional development and Akiha trying to push emotional development.
Where it'll go in camp, where sex isn't allowed? I have no idea. But Umeda will probably be resisting it every step of the way, whatever it is. XD
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You're gonna make me essay on Akiha and his feelings for Umeda and how he deals with them and all that stuff. D: (I should like, C&P all of the conversations we've had about them instead. XD)
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(...I note I heavily used our email correspondence as a base for this, whut. :D)
(Also, it doesn't trouble you that I essayed on this, right?)
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(I'm seriously gonna dig up all of our random logs
if I can find them)(...NOT AT ALL. :D
*iz lazy*)no subject
(Brilliant! You can always file search inside files for, like, 'Akiha'. XD)
(HURRAH. :D)
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*opens a txt*
(Oh hey, you're right. I can do that. 8D}
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8D
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Umeda does remember him from high school. XD
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Lovely analysis. (Found this through yahoo search.) I've always thought Ryouichi and Umeda's story ended too abruptly for my tastes. Unlike other people with unrequited loves who got their doors shut, this was left open and left me wanting for a sequel. I'm always a fan of trainwreck couples, and this is one of them, even if . :) Umeda is so snarky, Ryouichi keeps to himself and just watches everything from a distance, that, if put in a relationship, it'll be interesting to see how they'd work everything out to reach the end of that road.
I got the sense that in the first half of the manga, there were many signs that point to a blooming, violent love between Umeda and Akiha. I've always hated relationship dynamics like this, but I always ended up laughing out loud over this. ;)
Hanakimi is filled with unrequited loves, people loving someone they have no chance with (Nakatsu/Nakao/Nanba/Akiha/etc). Then the extended chapter came, and although it's funny, it's the last chapter, and it answered how Umeda and Akiha will be in the future: they're never going to move. After that, I realized Akiha wasn't going -anywhere- with him and I lost interest in this pairing. Akiha truly deserved better.
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Glad you enjoyed it. :) Me, I think that Akiha and Umeda are going to move, but slowly -- and I'd use the extended chapter to argue the same thing! Umeda caved and was the one to invite Akiha out for drinks, an emotional compromise the likes of which we hadn't seen from him yet. I think it's appropriate to move slowly; Akiha's been in love with him since high school, probably, a good ten or eleven years (if not twelve too). Umeda acts cruel but also gives in a bit there -- He won't 'stay over' but they'll go back for drinks (and if 'staying over' is clarified, sex). What I think is important to the Umeda-Akiha relationship there is that even if he does so in a casual, backhanded way, Umeda is making a move. Not a huge one, but a one, and that IS development. It IS going somewhere -- IMHO, at any rate. :)
And heh. Akiha may deserve better, but he doesn't want it. Just as, I think, Umeda deserves better than Ryouichi (who, for twelve years, refuses to give him any emotional connection but, you know, keeps him on the line with expressed interest in scents, appearance, etc) -- but Umeda doesn't want better.
It works for me, at any rate.
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and sexbuddy too.' The relationship won't progress to what Akiha wanted, but looks like Umeda won't blow his brains out anytime soon anymore. ;) But whether it develops into something more is up to us, and that's where fanon comes in. ^_^Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines, though there may be better people out there, Ebi as a fine example, you can't choose who you fall in love with. Lord knows how many times I bang my head on the walls in various shoujo mangas. :D That's why I wanted to see closure for all three of them, but it left just like that... well... at least both sides are happy, in a way. :D
(I'd be interested in carrying this convo about Umeda's love life over to IM, since I'm just clogging your journal with posts, which I hope you don't mind. *laughs* )