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Originally Posted by Diedrupo
Honestly I don't see why it wouldn't. There are strong indications Karasuma will leave the series which opens up for Harima finally conquering Tenma in the 3rd term.
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It's interesting that you should mention that. That type of thinking forms the backbone of Harima's approach to Tenma - and it's one of the very ideas that the story has challenged every step of the way. If you can spot Harima's mistake here, you're well on your way to understanding a major theme in SR.
Let's take a look at Harima's approach throughout the series. Harima constantly assumes that a successful relationship simply depends on dating "skill" or "ability". In essence, Harima believes that if he is persistant, and if he just says and does the "right" things, he can "win" his happy ending. However, whenever you see Harima treating his relationship with Tenma as a "solo sport", you consistantly see him run into difficulties. By contrast, his happiest moments inevitably involve a "sacrifice", whereby he learns to empathize with others and make their needs his own. This is a running theme throughout the story for him, regardless of whether the girl in question is Tenma or Eri.
Harima cannot "conquer" Tenma, nor can he win her over by "defeating" Karasuma. True victory comes from character growth and maturity. From what we've seen to date, Harima's best chance of growth as a character lies not in clinging to his age old dogmas and (mis)perceptions, but in challenging them and tearing them down. As a matter of fact, the Tenma-Eri swap imagery that runs throughout the series fits in perfectly with that idea.
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Originally Posted by Diedrupo
It's very unlikely that Harima will end up with Eri or Yakumo. I mean it's unheard of for a shounen romance to have the hero end up with a girl who has a crush on him that he has no interest in.
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As a matter of fact, although SR is published for a "shounen" fan base, I've always had a suspicion that it is really more of a shoujo series in disguise. I'm not sure why everyone insists on treating this like a harem series built around Harima - not only does he only have one girl who is actually interested in him (a harem of just one girl?), but the organization of the relationships in the series forms a complex web that interconnects all of the characters in the series (there is no absolute centre, as you would find in a harem romantic structure.) The sparkle backgrounds are another device that you often see used in shoujo series. Yet another point to consider is the manner in which the story is treated - the emphasis is taken off of a goal orientated approach to romance to a more relationship orientated approach (ie. romantic "success" is based on gradually building a relationship, rather than "getting the girl"). This unfamiliar attitude is part of what seems to frustrate many viewers, who are used to just getting their catharsis quickly and moving on to another series.
Another point that is worth considering is the issue of the "primary protagonist" in SR. At the start of the series, our primary protagonist was Tenma. As a matter of fact, Harima doesn't even appear until the second chapter of the manga. Early on, the primary conflict isn't "Will Harima get Tenma?" but rather, "Will Tenma get Karasuma?" We cannot devalue or reject Karasuma as a male lead simply because we cannot identify with him. Rather, early on, Tenma is the character with whom we are to identify with and empathize with. This is yet another issue that can be difficult to overcome - shounen series often have male protagonists with whom we identify with and project our ideas and attitudes on to. Shoujo series, by contrast, often have female protagonists. Male viewers may attempt to adjust by identifying with the secondary male protagonist of such series, but such an approach can also distort our perceptions of the series. Harima does not automatically become the main character of the series just because we identify with him more easily than we would a female lead.
Later on in the series, when the focus switches from Tenma to Eri, we still have the same problem - although the vast majority of the storyline is concerned with Eri's feelings, conflicts, and her relationship to Harima, we still tend to view the story as if it were built around Harima. While we do have a clear picture of Harima's goals, we rarely get a glimpse into the feelings behind those goals - the "why" of his character. Although there is a shift away from Tenma's character, the storyline is still told from the viewpoint of another female protagonist - Eri.
The structure of SR may be an issue for debate, but one thing we can be certain of is its unpredictability. It may comfortable to label and categorize the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar - but we always risk distorting the story in the process.