Quote:
Originally Posted by madmac
Well, I adore the Hamster, but...
The thing with Ayumu is that while she's made great strides in forming relationships with other girls, her relationship with Hayate hasn't progressed much from where it started. To her credit, she's been upfront about her feelings for him since her introduction, but her development keeps moving her firmly towards "friend" territory, to the point where Ayumu herself recognizes that she wants to be around Hayate more then anything else and can come to terms with him choosing someone else.
I don't disagree on your assessment of Hina and Athena though. Athena has made herself a non-factor until she at least shows up again and does something, and Hina is still exactly where she's been since her birthday arc.
|
Hmm... I think there are different takes on this. To begin with, saying her relationship with Hayate hasn't progressed is right down not taking notice of all the things that have happened in the manga so far, I think.
Sure, in terms of a love relationship, it hasn't moved much. However, they started as barely friends in the beginning, with Ayumu having a mere crush on him at the beginning, only to be turned down by Hayate. However, eventually she got over from it and kept on pursing Hayate more earnestly, becoming more open with her own feelings as the story kept on moving, to the point in which she can speak about her feelings casually around Hayate, and even go as far as to kiss him (in the cheek).
Those are things no other girl, with the exception of Athena, can claim to have done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by madmac
This always bemuses me a bit. I consider the relationship between Nagi and Hayate to be the entire premise of the series, and Hayate choosing any other girl would be a huge upset. (Not impossible, just unexpected.) If nothing else, I don't think it's remotely a coincidence that all the drama of the Golden Week Arc came down to Athena vs Nagi while Hina and Ayumu got the big sis talk from Yukiji about how life doesn't always give you what you want.
I also think it's pretty telling that Nagi started showing real signs of increasing emotional maturity during Golden Week and is rapidly growing into a different character ever since. I mean, there's barely more then a hint of the old jealousy/misunderstandings that used to be everyday life for her, (I'm starting to think Nagi really did figure things out and that's what she meant by "words only cause misunderstandings" back in 253) and even Hayate has been giving her the "who is this pod person and what have you done with the real Nagi" stare every couple of chapters now.
|
Nagi's growth in the manga is something that cannot be questioned. She's definitely been maturing from the beginning of the story up to this point. However, up until now, not even once, has there been any form of romantic development between the two of them. In fact, so far, their relationship has been built as that of family - almost like a father and his daughter, or an elder brother and his little sister. One could even say that trying to change that would simply be derailing from the developments that have been had.
This is why I said I don't count Nagi as a romantic interest. If things change in the future, and she starts getting romantic development, then that'd be a completely different story. Until then, I simply cannot put her in that category.