#maybe he'll find out about yuzuru too.............

[yume-fanfare]

but man im so curious abt tori center too. for him i actually wouldve loved a low-stakes event where not much happens and they all get some ice cream, but seeing how much thought is being packed in these mvs is. making me infinitely curious

[neerons]

Kind of curious about what you think of Yuzuru. In terms of him as a character, his storyline, and his friendship with Kaz and Kei.

Hi there!

[Warning: Mentions of a spoiler from Yuzuru's S3]

What do I think of Yuzuru's route and characterization?

I will be discussing this more in depth in my character analysis on Yuzuru, but I think Yuzuru has a lot to offer and is equally as interesting as the other LIs!!

Years ago when the title started releasing, Kazuomi had instantly caught my attention, followed by Kei and the Boss who was way too mysterious and handsome to be ignored.

When it comes to Yuzu, I didn't focus on him right away simply because I usually need more time to develop an interest for "cold" characters like him. But back then I didn't know I would become obsessed with this title, so I fell into the abyss and checked out Yuzu's story as well soon after Kazuomi and maybe even Kei, and he then became as interesting to me.

Out of the 3S's, he's the most difficult to approach in his MS and it's harder to really bond with him at first. He basically doesn't give you any space in his heart for you to occupy. He wouldn't give you the time of day if it weren't beneficial for him to have you.

This is why, in the universe of MK, he was probably the hardest target to ever approach for MC. She had to hope she'd be able to see him again to continue her mission, otherwise she'd have been in trouble.

Because compared to Kei and Kazuomi who themselves gave her a reason to meet again, she had to go find Yuzu herself with an excuse that could have failed.

Also, what I appreciate in a way is that he truly is a "cold" character when you first meet him. His words are cold and sharp. His attitude is also pretty shocking at first. And he's not just someone who acts cold for a specific reason.

Being almost robotic and set in his ways is just part of his persona. And he doesn't mean to be cold, he just is, because of his own overly logical mind.

It makes him practically inaccessible, which makes the challenge even more worth it at the end, when you finally find the way to his heart and get to see his human, emotional self.

He is also extremely well developed throughout his stories. I'm currently re reading every MS for the guys' character analyses, and although I didn't re read Yuzu's S3 yet, from what I remember, this is the season that had a lot of moments I loved in his development.

Especially the part about him choosing MC over Victoria... This is the kind of thing that can make me cry 🤣

One thing I also really like about Yuzu's personality is that he is very realistic. I wouldn't know how to explain it, but the way he forces himself to be constantly logical and rejects his emotions at first is something some of us might have experienced, when we try to take the "right" decisions.

Something extremely realistic too in my opinion is the fact that his actions speak louder than any words. Personally, I was raised by a father who is like that, so I really enjoy seeing how Yuzu's personality is depicted. And I appreciate that despite how bad he is at conversing, he'll try his best to communicate with the woman he loves and will work for the relationship just as much as her.

Speaking of MC, what I absolutely love is how Yuzu always respects her and learns to rely on her, even in other routes. (Although all the LIs respect her, it feels even more meaningful with Yuzu due to his personality and the way he used to treat women).

He redeemed himself pretty well after recognizing he didn't compromise enough in their relationship and said he'd respect her more. I absolutely love that side of him. The way he is able to see his own mistakes and then acts to fix his poor attitude shows how truly intelligent and mature he is.

His friendship with Kazuomi & Kei

Now, when it comes to his relationship with Kazu and Kei, I really REALLY love how they all came to meet and share a bond.

Because if we think about it more in depth, how the hell did these three manage to become friends when they're practically opposites!?

We have Kazuomi who is so free-spirited he does whatever he wants, is also hedonistic and can socialize very easily.

Then there's Kei, worshipped by many because of his nobility and charming, angelic looks. Also a social butterfly and can learn anything he wants about anyone.

And finally Yuzu, who focuses all his senses on his work, sucks at handling conversations and understanding others. Hates anyone nosy who might disturb his perfectly organized schedule and lifestyle.

Let's just say that for Yuzu, Kei and Kazuomi simply sound like his worst nightmare. However, they both become extremely important people in his life later on without him even realizing it, when they were simply supposed to share a transactional relationship.

What I personally really love that they all complete each other. While for Yuzu conversing is not really his forte, he has Kei and Kazuomi serving as examples and means to build his network.

As extremely observant people, his friends are also here to notice Yuzu's troubles and help him out even if he insists he doesn't need it. They often make him realize things he doesn't see himself when it comes to his own emotions.

The pattern I love the most in their friendship is whenever Kazu and Kei tease Yuzu 🥺❤ He's just so easy to annoy, I can see why they'd be tempted to do that, since they are both so easy-going and relaxed compared to him, who is always so uptight.

I love when they manage to make him frown just as much as them hahaha:

As I mentioned, I will be working on analysing it all better and more in depth in their character analyses, but I hope I satisfied your curiosity for now!

Thank you for the ask, and have an amazing day! ❤

[yume-fanfare]

about your ibatori post—there’s a home screen interaction between tori and wataru(i think) where tori mentions that someone from cospro gave him a piece of candy and said “let’s get along, salute~”, obviously the salute implies that ‘someone’ is ibara. so that might’ve been their ACTUAL first meeting, depending on how canon you consider homescreen lines. but of course cradle of turbulence was the first time they had a proper conversation…i’d really like to see them talk more, i’d especially like to see akira’s take on their rlship

YESSS i know!!! and there are follow up interactions too hsdjhfgjks

(unsure if that fourth one is related, but thought it was worth adding!)

warning you before you get to the rest of the ask i have thought about this at length so. information that may not be of interest to most people

because although funny, it's an odd line to me bcs if we're being realistic, it's imposible for tori to not recognize ibara given hes. a really important guy you know, cospro's deputy director and part of eden who were in the ss and that tori's admired hiyori-sama is part of. and in cradle of turbulence he indeed recognizes him perfectly and refers to him as saegusa senpai like it's not a big deal. so i guess they had somewhat met before offscreen 🤔 gotta wait for rainbow translation and see if there's anything there

and i find it suuuuch an interesting interaction too ! ill read too much into it because i can. it's macarons, so ibara most likely knows tori has a sweet tooth. not something too hard to find out about given they have many contractions, but it's one of those moments where ibara's penchant for collecting information "for evil purposes" comes across as a sweet gesture hskjflsjdkfhs picking a gift he'd like. but i also like how nonchalant tori is about it gajskdhfslds he did learn to not accept food from strangers. and it Is a pretty weird thing to do. i wonder if he really did it just to piss off yuzuru lmao but he's not the type to actively look for conflict so idk, he def knew it was not a way to actually get tori's favor either. i once in fact read it as a post cradle of turbulence interaction, like some odd way of saying "i like you" but yeah, it doesn't quite track with the "someone"

AND YEAHHH AKIRA WITJ THEM i need that so bad. adding this to the mental "tori finds out about the military facility" ideal event. it's precisely because there is such a heavy link between them that cradle of turbulence is a perfect first one-on-one interaction. a situation where ibara has to protect someone he has many reasons to dislike, because tori is a cute and lovely child that almost inadvertantly has that kind of effect on you ("his loveliness is a centripetal force // the people around him won't let him be sad"* and so on). by seeing tori in a vulnerable position it makes it more unlikely that he'll later do something that could be bad for tori.................. and at the same time it's so telling how casual tori is about ibara, as he just makes simple small talk like there's nothing to be awkward about, because to him there isn't.................. much to think about. i really want to see how akira makes ibara grapple with tori as a person and everything he signifies. a cute child, partly responsible of many terrible experiences ibara has had, yuzuru would kill ibara if he ever laid a finger on him, hiyori sees him as a small version of himself somewhat, eichi's successor of sorts... jimenyan's best friend, even. there is so much there. i kind of really want him to be the one to tell tori about the military facility. there is Something there that has potential idk. maybe put yuzuru in some sort of danger and have tori be more in charge or something mhmmm.....