#i wanna go into bamboo lore territory sometime or jealousy meta but

[nanakah]

Miko Iino's Justice and growth: Ishigami's role

Hello, hello! It's no secret at this point I sincerely love Kaguya-sama and Ishimiko - the story itself and the ship/those two characters in particular - and I don't even need an excuse to start my essays anymore.

I just have no shame and miss the livejournal ship manifesto culture (both the canon ones and the crack ones people had really good arguments for. Please bring those back. In this case though, I'm being totally canon compliant.) This is the kind of series with a lot of love and care into its creation, so I'm always up to advocate for its strengths.

After discussing Ishigami's character development and how/why Miko can elevate it, it's only fair I reiterate that he is just as needed for Miko-chan's story to truly shine.

Aka loves character pairs that are cut from the same cloth so to say and for personal, environmental and other circumstantial reasons, go about their ideals in different ways as they live - just as he likes infusing them with "real" - positive, ugly, simple - feelings to make them unique and allow them to choose their own path. Much like he says Kaguya and Shirogane are made from a same template that each developed into their own thing as the story progressed - so are Miko and Ishigami.

Both of them share an innate idealism and intolerance to unfairness. While Ishigami manifests it differently and appears to "reject rules", early on in the story he is just as preachy as Miko is and constantly complaining that society, values and morals are corrupted. He initially jumps to conclusions and to the worst outcomes possible when minimally prompted to, being just as "delusional" as Miko was. (And the deliciously ironic part is that Osaragi doesn't realize most of this, despite knowing that Ishigami and Miko are similar. She views him through an idealistic lens due to knowing his best qualities, but fails to recognize he was also immature and in the wrong).

Both are introduced into the story as foils to the Stuco trio and wanting to quit the council once that environment forces them to confront their own shortcomings and failing to understand the dynamics around them. Both are introspective, anxious and demonstrate a genuine fear of people. And while you'd think Ishigami is the "emo" character, Miko is the one with the darkest/ most depressive remarks throughout the story.

The most unique aspect of Miko Iino's love story is how it serves not as an end to her arc, but a means for her to overcome her childish sense of superiority that kept her from ever truly connecting with people, and thus being unable to properly fight for Justice. It's a crime to see people dismissing it as cliche without trying to see things from this angle.

And if someone were to ask "But why Ishigami?", besides them looking the cutest couple ever being a satisfactory enough answer, I can give my own two cents on that too.

"Sutera" - Stella. Not only a flower reference, but also an analogy to stars. It's written exactly the same as the katakana for the latin for star, which is due to Bacopa's scientific name being a reference to its five pointed petals. Miko wrote a poem about stars during the story and she's also juxtaposed more than once to Tsubame, which was "the sun". The sun is too bright to look directly at and you get burned up close, the stars light up the night and are gentle on the eyes. Stars have their own light all the same. I'll bet fifty bucks this will come up as a metaphor in the future.

(And I'm going FULL META(L ALCHEMIST) here, but Aka likes this sort of thing: take as evidence of this a collab doujin one shot of his called "早い���がいくつか - Hayai Hanashi ga Ikutsuka". It was published before he even had the Akasaka pen name. One of the stories features a boy and a girl walking along a beach shore at sunset and he's apparently upset because he's been rejected by another girl he "set his sights too high for ". The girl is smoking a cigarette and he asks if it tastes good. She says if he starts smoking to get over an unrequited love, he'll never be able to quit (implying she has such a love). Girl tells him there are as many girls out there as stars in the sky, the guy says that's pointless because he can't reach for the stars anyway. The girl tackles him, gets on TOP of him and says "There's a star within your reach", that he doesn't ~realize~ but it's "right there" and that this star might spread itself out before him. At the same time, the sun sets and the sky becomes starlit - the guy doesn't get it yet, though, and wonders if that's true. I COULDN'T BE MAKING THIS STUFF UP EVEN IF I WANTED TO LOL.)

Miko's unshakeable will, kindness and convictions feel relatable to Ishigami because of her shortcomings and failures, as I've said in his analysis, and they are the key to helping him become a more confident version of himself that can find bravery and pride in his ideals instead of shame.

Conversely, Ishigami's crushing insecurity also accompanies important virtues: in particular, his empathy, observational skills (he's unironically called the love master by Chika and Shirogane) and, above all, self-awareness. While Ishigami doesn't utilize this favorably at first (if anything for his first two volumes he had next to none lol and the embarassments made him vastly improve), his biggest difference from Miko is that he was able to seek change for himself and is quicker to admit when he's in the wrong. His problem regarding that is being too harsh on himself, but surrounding himself with people who care for him is slowly changing that.

Even if it took people reaching out to him along the way - Miko, Miyuki, Kaguya; he was never super resistant to change, nor actively avoided it. He is the one that chose to enter the cheer club simply because he thought he "should try it for himself". Miko at the beginning of the story would never have been able to do something like this. But now, because she's humbled herself down to accept people's help in particular due to how unfruitful her attempts of becoming part of the student council since childhood had been and also her "failure" in earning Ishigami's attention through destructive behaviors or being a tsundere, she can currently do things like making amends with Osaragi despite it trampling her sense of right and wrong, or even concede playing games instead of studying can be adequate and can be fun.

rip Ishigami, we know you tried speedrunning her arc but at that point it was Too Soon. But don't feel bad, she tried speedrunning yours at the sport's festival too and got rickrolled by Chika and Prez, thus triggering the Senpai Flag. At least you haven't had to deal with a rival for her love yet (jk jk, I'd rather not get one at all).

Also do note the subtle but absolutely PRESENT usage up there of Ishigami's "covered eye" in that panel. It tries to pass off as a gag, but Miko is probably the most frequent instance of us seeing that eye of his - symbolizing how deeply tied to him overcoming his insecurities she is and how there are still things about her he hasn't decided to face as of now.

It also must be said that Ishigami has always been able to see Miko for who she is at heart despite her shortcomings and immaturity, and that's why he's able to support her with no reward. He isn't one to judge good people for messing up if their intentions are good. He also doesn't agree with Miko's methods, but doesn't disregard her efforts or her love for rules like everyone else ("It's fine if you want to be strict").

As Osaragi puts it: "Anyone who has known you (Miko) long enough should be able to see your good points". (Coming from Koba, who says she can relate to Ishigami.) When they played the "operation friendship" game, Ishigami had a list of compliments about her ready on the fly. Over a hundred chapters later, he's seen and experienced even better sides of her persona.

...And that admiration and "watch habit" of his are supported by the narrative. The page above doesn't simply imply "I saw her once or twice, I know of her". It conveys watching someone closely over a larger spam of time and feeling their pain. On several occasions, smaller stuff about her even. I like this "I'll get someone to vote for me this time" panel of Miko in the manga better because it feels heart wrenching to see her sad, empty eyes because of the constant bullying.

Aka's love for parallels is almost as great as my other beloved authors', CLAMP. lol There are many, many of them in the manga which I love spotting, and Miko and Ishigami's first meeting is no different - but unlike how tired she looks in the election flashback, here she looks bright and optimistic, as Ishigami even in his outward cynicism, wanted to listen to her:

Aw man, I'd want to give her a flower, too.

Ishigami, like Kaguya, doesn't actually consider himself to be kind. When Tsubame says that his name suits him ("優 - kind/gentle ") when he's watching out for the drunk Miko after the xmas party, he says he just follows the good examples surrounding him.

His fear of others and belief he's not "made for" kindness is what connects him to Kaguya and, quite literally, makes him the Kaguya to Miko's Shirogane. He doesn't yet realize the admiration of kindness is enough to speak of his own goodness of heart, but because he thought it was so unlike himself ("loser dude that can't impact anyone or amount to anything"), he can't help admiring Miko's stance because deep down he likes her same ideals - and he does go an extra mile for Miko, as noticed by people around them. Because he's seen her sincerity and conviction, her smile and the purity of her wish (nothing like wanting power or recognition), it feels all the more horrible to see her make such a desperate face like in the election flashbacks.

The fun and connection in that is as I say - Miko is both weaker and stronger than everyone thinks. Osaragi concludes on the dual confessions arc that her being overprotective of Miko was holding back her growth. Ishigami is also confronted with this concept during the election - I don't think he actually intended to rile Miko up to stand up to Shirogane. He wanted to support her in a roundabout way by having a crushing defeat, but the fact she could take Shirogane's hand and deliver a speech that actually touched people was better than what he could have ever dreamed of. We don't even get to see his expression as the showdown happens, but we do get to see his eyes never leave her afterwards until making sure noone is approaching to hurt her: and IMO, sappy as it sounds, that's how "Miko can't be laughed at" becomes "I want to make Miko smile". He's often smiling to himself or other people that want his genuine opinion on it how she's a hard worker and how her smile (and that vague answer of his in that scene gives the impression he's glad she's smiling, not "everyone") suits her more than her frown of playing the rules too straight.

The election was the first time we ever saw Ishigami put effort into anything: it's important to him - Miko was already important to him, no matter the flavor of love we want to call it. However, he was still challenged in his ways in the sense that he underestimated Miko's strength - she could actually stand up and fight back, as long as she had a little push. If he were to just support her from the shadows she won't be laughed at - but to make her smile and to see Miko's smile he has to take action himself. He has to allow her to experience the risks and wounds that come with supporting, but not overly protecting her.

Not only that, Ishigami has a meta moment in which he comments to Shirogane a campaign speech is important because you can't "just have accomplishments, you gotta get your credit where it's due for people to appreciate it" - and the same goes for his relationship with Miko. Both of them want to do a lot for each other, and both of them were naive to think it's not noble to be upfront about it or expect appreciation. They were literally the biggest hurdles to themselves becoming closer much, much earlier. And Osaragi's judgment of the situation is hilariously too meta - she knows too much about what both have done for each other, so of course it's easy for her to say "they've always been a good couple but Miko dropped the ball" because of how much info she had - but allowed herself to be a bad friend by not sharing. She genuinely demonstrates care for Miko at times, but is not the kind of genuine friendship Miko needs - bless Onodera.

Ishigami was worried about Miko for the bonfire patrol, but didn't (or couldn't lol) stop her from going or doing it. And when the bonfire happened, despite it being a time he could have stared longingly at his former crush all night or spent looking for an opening to confess, he seriously walked all around the party taking pictures of people...just for her, completely unprompted.

And looking back on the Dual confessions arc, I am fully hoping and expecting for Ishigami to really open his eyes to all times his relationship to Miko was Weird.

Afterparty: "I can't really chase everyone off and keep her (senpai) to myself! Welp I failed time to take this lost keychain right now to Iino and take some bonfire pics"

Earlier that day: *smacks Miko with rolled up newspaper, confronts two dudes for TALKING to her and glares daggers at them*

pspspsps, have you ever realized the reason Miko considers walking around with those festival guys was indeed to get Ishigami's attention? It's the very same chapter where she hears he "confessed" to Tsubame and looks visibly Bothered by it. During Xmas she also let's the Cheer club guy with Pikachu cheeks hit on her because she could tell Ishigami was watching them, her eyes were gauging Ishigami's reactions the whole time.

A big theme of Miko is that she needs to reconnect with her emotions and accept her needs for what they are. She loves hugging and loves the concept of love, but she advocated for a 50 cm distance between boys and girls/relationship ban. She clearly has repressed libido and catches on/creates in her mind lewd innuendos far too easily, but lashed out on people for the slightest hints of expressing sexuality. She enjoyed gaming/manga/anime a whole lot but started out completely intolerant of Ishigami's hobbies. Another theme is, much like Ishigami, that she needs balance of her idealism and what she can realistically do.

While her obsession with Justice was naive and initially out of a desire to connect to her parents, she does genuinely value integrity and is a good girl. She is extremely kind and she does want to see people happy and living peacefully. And even before she could begin growing into a better person, she already had the quality of being able to see things and people for what they are and deciding her own opinions - which is why even when angry at him, she did not doubt or cut Ishigami off and still defended him during his suspension. Or even why she's so worried about him during the sport's festival - she knows how deeply the Ootomo incident scarred him and she wholeheartedly wanted to help him more.

An unshakeable belief in Ishigami's integrity and potential, to the point of standing up to her superiors. Miko's justice may have started out as rough in the edges and simple, but it's exactly what the Principal tells Miyuki in the 239 chapter: "don't blindly believe what adults say, make your own choices". Everything Miko needs to be successful as Student Council president, Ishigami has helped her with, directly and indirectly.

While many romcoms and love stories depict having a romance or love interest as something alienating to the female lead or that even sidetracks her from her goals, the pursuit of Ishigami Yu is ultimately the same road that will allow Miko to actually achieve her goals of getting closer to a "true" justice and finally reaching a position to share, rather than enforce, her values.

And not only that, the experience of being absolutely crushed trying to win Ishigami's affections led her to rely on people more and finally understand the kindness and initiative she already had in her from the start, but didn't know how to go about expressing it.

That she's able to say that ("I really respect Tsubame senpai") after being conflicted over having Tsubame as a rival, means she's steadily growing, and it's only getting better from there. And that she realized Ishigami being closer to her or not wasn't even really a matter of Tsubame or anyone else. Both of them were at fault for not meeting half-way to stop arguing, and the way she used to approach him only drove them further apart. Now she understands being there for him to comfort him, like she wanted someone to do for her as she suffered over her (formerly) one-sided love, is way better and it skyrocketed their progress.

Because it never took much to draw Ishigami to her, being herself would always have been enough.

And my last bold prediction for her arc is that the last she needs done is to fully achieve "loosening up" (much like it's lampshaded for Ishigami, her hair too is symbolic of her self-imposed restraint) is balancing being a responsible student/leader also means she should know when to be lenient. She's learning, but there's more to learn. Not only that, she hasn't fully overcome her phobia of public speaking.

So for my bold theory: I'm hoping Ishigami will help with her own Stuco campaign, which should be 3 months from the dance, and be the opening to it in Osaragi's place. Miko doesn't simply need to be rescued, she needs/wants someone to fight by her side.

A common public speaking technique was partially applied on the first election - when directing yourself to a large audience, you gesticulate and look up as if you were addressing all, but one of the best secrets to not feeling nervous is looking for someone familiar or someone who will nod and agree with you for support and focus your gaze on them.

If she were to be super honest as to why she's been able to grow during her time on the stuco and direct those words to Ishigami, it would be the coolest ever. Idgaf if I sound sappy, I WANT MY CUTE ROMCOM TO GO ALL OUT. WHAT IS THE POINT OF ROMANCE, IF NOT TO BE CRINGE.

I'm sure the Principal has his eyes set on her and expects her to be up to the task - and if anything, he'll make sure to challenge her.

Godspeed to Miko-chan and I can't wait to see their story reach its payoff. May she be teased every day after the election for being the President to the 69th student council. XD