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Originally Posted by ZhangKhaiEn
Nu uh. The reason Onigiri has that much of a following because it is also the most likely of the other factions (with the close exception of Flag) to succeed. No contest there. (unless the future chapters give us an unexpected twist..)
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You need to take into account the effect of the current storyline on your perspective. Someone in the middle of reading the Eri vs. Mikoto or Eri vs. Tae portions of the manga will percieve the associated factions as being more relevant. People who have been following along with the anime's Eri vs. Yakumo rivalry are bound to assume that Onigiri is more important. When you examine an overview of the manga, however, each rivalry only constitutes a part of the overall story. What's more, each rivalry exists entirely in Eri's mind - the central conflict of these story arcs isn't between Eri and her rival, but are instead between Eri and herself. The resolution of each "rivalry" results in character growth and development for Eri.
Based on what I've seen, Onigiri behaves exactly the same as the others. Eight months is a long time.
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Originally Posted by ZhangKhaiEn
I don't see how the spolied, backstabbing, loudmouth should deserve Kenji more than the calm, softspoken, and gentle Yakumo.. >_<;;
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This is where our attitudes towards the series differ. From your statement, you seem to equate "happy ending" with "winning Harima". As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is probably related to the harem anime phenomenon - we tend to view the romance genre as a sort of sporting event where we can root for our favourite team. SR, by contrast, is character driven - the real value of the series comes from watching the characters grow, mature, and achieve their dreams.
As of the present moment, we have the opportunity for a win-win situation. As of late, we've seen Yakumo learning to open up to her friends, and we've seen a bright future in store for her with Sara in college. Yakumo's future happiness is in no way dependent on a relationship with Harima, especially in light of the fact that she hasn't developed a romantic interest in him, to date. In Eri's case, however, there's a strong body of evidence to suggest that an ending without Flag will be an unfulfilling one.
In order to justify the Onigiri approach, you would need to demonstrate that Eri should not have a happy ending, and that Yakumo should. The usual approach to rationalize this is by portraying Eri as evil (thus deserving to suffer) and by portraying Yakumo as angelic (thus deserving of happiness) - as you have attempted to do here. The problem with this approach is that it depends on using character stereotypes that have little basis in reality.
You claim that Eri is "selfish" - which is likely based on the fact that she is introduced to us as the classic rich, spoiled princess type. Yet, throughout the series, we see plenty of examples to the contrary. From the importance that Eri places on taking the time to cook a meal for her father, to her interactions with children and the sick, it becomes evident that 'selfless' is a much more appropriate label for Eri than 'selfish'. Eri, similar to Tenma, is more externally focused - her strengths come from her kindness towards others and her genuine interest in their welfare, and her weaknesses come from her dependance on others for validation and her resulting lack of self-esteem. Another important point to note is that Eri tends to do her good deeds in secret - the support that she gives to Tenma in Ep.5 S1, the encouragement that she gives to Akira in Ep.4 S2, the financial assistance that she gives to Harima in Ep.12 S2 are all excellent examples of this. This approach adds an element of genuineness to Eri's good deeds that makes them stand out - she actively avoids the praise and personal gain attached to those acts. The observations made about Eri during Ch.185 should really drive the above points home, as well.
All characters have their share of strengths and weaknesses. Yakumo, too, doesn't match up with the "perfect girl" type that she is introduced to us as. Compliance is not the same thing as acceptance - Yakumo often agrees to be helpful, but rarely takes the initiative to do good deeds on her own. In addition, her early interactions with Hanai demonstrate hidden aggression lurking within her character - which later turn out to be directed primarily at Tenma (Ch.174). Yakumo, like Harima, is more internally focused - her strengths come from her ability to validate herself and her strength of character, and her weaknesses come from her inability to emotionally connect with others and her lack of genuine social interest.
Neither character is "good" or "evil". Your preferences depend entirely whose weaknesses strike you as more acceptable. May all the characters in SR be as happy as they can be.
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Originally Posted by ZhangKhaiEn
Also, I find it interesting how Onigiri and Flag factions always argue about the best match, but when asked who their second choice would be.. Bingo! It's Eri for Onigiri and Yakumo for Flag.. xD (Everybody just.. hates Tenma.. huh..? xD
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I beg to differ - Oudou is actually my second choice. I don't support the alternate Harima factions (Marker/MI/Onigiri/Pencil) because neither side is interested. A Flag or Oudou pairing means that only one character who isn't successful in his/her romantic endevours - either Eri or Harima. All of the other pairings result in two characters who are unsuccessful, with the purpose of pairing up two characters who aren't even romantically interested in each other, to begin with.
While my relative preferences for Flag and Oudou vary with the story, the main distinction that I see between those two factions is the approach that each takes towards building a relationship. Harima, for the most part, is focused on "winning" Tenma over - he's sees a relationship with Tenma as a means of fulfilling his desires, rather than as a means of fulfilling hers. That being said, Harima has done the occasional "heroic" act for Tenma from time to time, which always seems to do wonders for my esteem of that faction.
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