#and his relationship with shigure is complicated enough that it's hard to imagine him being fine with a hand-me-down

[lastthroes]

which one of these statements is less believable? discuss

[stormcrowthegrey]

Based on episode 10 how do you interpret Shigure's feelings for Akito and what do you think his ultimate goal is?

Shigure’s feelings for Akito are complicated. They’ve been established before the start of the story and we get to see their backstory together in flashbacks. I’ll analyze their relationship in further detail below.

Spoilers ahead for anime only’s!

(this got long, btw lol I’m sorry! Read under the cut!)

Shigure is and always has been in love with Akito. It is because of this love that he has taken it upon himself to somehow break the curse so he can have Akito to himself and not worry about the other zodiac members having to subjugate themselves to her. And it seems to me that his way of breaking the curse is to not only have an outside influence (Tohru) affect the loyalties of the zodiac members towards Akito, but to also manipulate and drive Akito into a corner so that she loses control of the others. That’s just a hypothesis of mine. Dunno if that’s true at all. He does mention, if I recall, the fact that the curse has weakened over the years, so he could also be using that to his advantage. It’s like he’s trying to dethrone god. 

I would say he’s also trying to get the other zodiac members out from under Akito’s influence, but I don’t think he’s quite that honorable, lol that seems for him more like an added bonus to achieving his goal in getting the person he loves.

Now, when I say love, I don’t really mean love in its purest form like we see with Hatori and Kana or later on with Kyo and Tohru. Shigure’s love is childish; it’s selfish and possessive. To be honest, I think that passion would be a better word for his feelings towards her. 

Love is a choice one makes to cherish and honor someone else. It’s a desire to see said person happy; to esteem them above themselves, even if it costs one’s own happiness. 

Shigure is…well, not quite there when it comes to the selflessness aspect. He wants Akito for himself, and he lashes out in a childish way when it becomes clear that Akito is fine with using him just how she uses all the other male zodiac characters however she wishes. She even says that to him at one point: that he and all the other zodiac members are hers to use how she deems fit. This, in her eyes, justifies her treating Kureno special to the point where she uses him for emotional and sexual gratification.

And Shigure hates that. The fact that the only other person he probably loves as much as himself doesn’t see him as important enough to solely rely on him angers him. To him, he should be the only one getting special attention.

Let’s be honest, Shigure is a selfish character. Proud too, perhaps. I almost want to say narcissistic, but I haven’t really investigated that personality disorder enough to justify that statement. However, he makes it clear that no one is more important to him than himself and that he doesn’t feel emotions quite the same way everyone else does. And yet, here we have him saying how Akito is the person most important to him. Is he serious? Or is he just saying that to appeal to her?

This is where I think the selfish love comes in to play. Like I said, he doesn’t feel much emotions like everyone else, and I do think he was being serious when he said he only cares about himself. But then, we have the flashback to when he was a kid: the dream and the memory of him waking up overwhelmed and crying. I think this is, in fact, the only emotion he has ever felt besides apathy: that overwhelming passion he’s had since he was a little child - that passion for Akito. It’s an emotion he’s fascinated by but he doesn’t quite understand; it’s supernatural, almost. And I think it’s because of that, that he gets so upset when Akito (to put it bluntly) cheats on him. After all, it would suck to realize that the one person who you actually feel like you can love other than yourself doesn’t feel the same way towards you. For a person who is selfish like Shigure, that would prick his pride hard. 

Not that I’m saying it’s entirely Akito’s fault for Shigure’s actions. He’s definitely flawed and could have handled the situation better instead of sleeping with the worst person imaginable just to retaliate towards Akito. But we are dealing with a guy who is childish when it comes to getting what he wants, and when he doesn’t, he makes other pay for it and flaunts it over them just like a little kid would. His selfishness shines bright as day in the fact that he doesn’t seem to care that Akito’s fragile emotions are shattered when she discovers he slept with her abuser. To him, she deserves it for hurting him and feeling like she can use everyone to her own whims. 

And yet, he stays by her even as he taunts her. He does all this so they can be together. Is he selfish and proud? Yes, but I don’t think he’s inherently evil. There is genuine love there, deep down, that perhaps needs to be cultivated and worked on.The two of them have a long way to go before it could be said that they have a healthy relationship that’s free of possessiveness and selfishness, but to be honest, I think that there is room for improvement and it slowly begins to show at the end of the manga.