#i love almost all the characters but natsumikan are my favs both together and individually

[everythingsinred]

Hello! I’ve been reading your character-relationship analysis’ of Natsume and Natsume/Mikan’s, and was curious about your take on Hotaru’s relationship with Mikan (rereading GA has had me bawling, as well as now being in the LGBTQ+ community noticing the subtle/heavy implications of Hotaru’s sexuality and Higuchi’s consideration of Hotaru even being one of Mikan’s love interests) as well as Narumi’s character development from when he had met Yuka, leading to his relationship with his students throughout the story (in flashbacks he’s very cold to smol Subaru and Sakurano after Yuka’s departure, but the earliest memory after that would probably be him scouting Ruka, Aoi, and Natsume). By then, he appears to be similar to the Narumi we usually knew—cheerful, enthusiastic, but above all showing genuine concern over his students. In fact, I’d even argue he seemed a bit more genuine with the children at that time than compared to when Mikan first meets him. He just felt oddly less involved with the ESP and the ESP’s plans when he scouted the trio (upset and angry that Persona had resorted to such dirty means even under the principal’s orders to the point he even slapped him, whereas it’s hard to imagine him lashing against a direct order from the ESP by the time he met Mikan.

Comically though, a small comment on Koko’s character in the story would be cool, too. He’s often played as comic relief, but it’s reinforced time and time again that he knows knows practically everything. His character is interesting when you put into perspective he’d be aware of all of the sacrifices Natsume had been making as well as his abuse, the darkness within the elementary school, everything that Mikan and co. had to go through throughout the story and etc. A small part of me wishes the kids in Class B had bigger roles in the latter half of the story, though I’m satisfied with their relationship with/to Mikan at the end (after all, I still sobbed at her graduation scene and their ‘memories of Mikan’ classes).

thanks for the message! im glad you read my analysis!

for hotaru, im probably not the right person to ask about this b/c i dont have particularly strong feelings about hotaru/mikan as a relationship. i do see hotaru as being queer in some way but im not really that interested in her having a romantic relationship with mikan, and even their canon friendship (as opposed to in fanfic) leaves me a bit... idk the perfect word to put here but like?? lukewarm ig? i think thats sacrilegious or controversial to say but its just a feeling that disappoints me as well. i have cried hard for them and i like their general dynamic, but theres something lacking abt them that i cant rly put into words. i would like to have felt more strongly about them, if that makes sense. its not hatred or even dislike or apathy. just more mild feelings than i would like. their friendship has potential, imo, but i just never considered it to be fully realized. but in regards to a romantic ship, then as a staunch natsumikan shipper, its hard for me to enjoy imagining them with other people, personally. but you have a lot of cool thoughts of your own and thats great! <3

like im pretty sure anybody who ships other ppl with natsumikan will end up being disappointed in my mikan pov natsumikan analysis bc my biases will be made pretty clear in that regard lol ;) but thats bc i dont write about things i dont like or that im not as interested in

i think i mentioned in my essay that i find narumi confusing as a character. his motivations and actions are really weird and sometimes hard to pin down. really i think hes the most mysterious character in the whole manga and any attempt to analyze him would probably lead to more questions than answers. hes a paradox lol. i cant really give u a "take" bc my take is just... who knows with him lol?? hes an enigma

i dont think koko is always using his alice though. he seems to have a large amount of control over it and only uses it for pranks and jokes. otherwise his character seems malicious, implying that he would know things about luna/persona/esp without letting any of the other kids know. but i think theres some evidence in the manga that hes not always using it, like when other characters tell him to use it (mostly natsume re:mikan like when she first transfers into class b or after the labyrinth). koko likes teasing mikan about who she likes, for example, bc he likes pranking ppl, but he wouldnt out somebody for something serious or keep something dangerous to himself. he says a few times something about "accidentally reading" somebodys mind. so i think he has some control over it, and isnt always reading ppl's minds 24/7, if that makes sense. im sure he knows some important/sensitive info particularly abt natsume, but probably on accident. but there isnt much he can do as a powerless kid so he keeps it to himself bc its all he CAN do for natsume.

i really liked the graduation/memory classes as well but tbh the ending could have perfectly utilized the smaller roles in class b if it had been longer and gone on for one last arc. i mean imagine the quest to find hotaru! natsume not using his alice so as to keep his life span longer and mikan having very little alice left means that other characters can finally have a bit of focus, like ruka as well as other class b characters! i like to think about this idea a lot lol. idk in general class b deserves more attention and love

sorry if these answers are disappointing. i have opinions on all these things but i dont wanna prattle on too much. thank u for sending me this ask! <3 have a lovely day or night depending on ur time zone!