1. 

   Shirukii
   December 11th, 2007 - 23:16

   I could see myself mirroring Takayuki’s actions to a point. I would definitely not have rejected Haruka despite having a thing for Mitsuki, at such a young age most relationships are shallow and short lasting, you don’t turn these sort of things down.

   Sleeping with Mitsuki is another thing I don’t fault him with, or rather, something I don’t fault her with. It had been a year since Haruka’s accident, plenty of time to get over the tragedy, yet he didn’t. He needed a rebound, something to revive his pathetic excuse for a life.

   But this is where our paths would split. After spending what was it, two years (?) dating Mitsuki, I would not have brought Haruka back into my life. While I would sympathize with her parents begging for help, doing something that could potentially unravel two years of recovery, no thanks. Perhaps I’m a little more selfish in that respect, but is infinitely better than indecision in my eyes.

   At the very least he could have given Mitsuki full disclosure, but he started to go behind her back and alienate her.

   But I suppose you make a good point, judging from the sidelines is pretty easy. God knows what I really would have done if put in Takayuki’s position, forced to make these decisions on the fly.

   In any case, a worthy attempt to defend the man. I don’t hate him per se, but when you mentioned him along with Rin examples of better harem leads out there, it didn’t exactly compute.

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2. 

   suguru
   December 11th, 2007 - 23:29

   Good points….although I have to admit I bailed on Kiminozo halfway through, although that was more due to the series passing my dorama threshold than anything Takayuki did specifically ^_^ I agree, though, that he didn’t seem like a monster by any means, and I can understand why he did many of the things he did–but while his actions were understandable/human, his mediocrity made Haruka, Mitsuki, and Akane all falling for him less believable for me. Takayuki’s appearance in Akane Maniax did have me laughing out loud, though, so overall I can’t say I hate the guy.

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3. 

   Stripey
   December 11th, 2007 - 23:41

   Shirukii: The problem with Mitsuki and Takayuki is that their relationship is stagnant even after 2 yrs of dating precisely because of guilt towards Haruka. The solution to this presents itself as therapy for the newly awaken Haruka. With Haruka’s accident weighting so heavily on their conscience, going in to help Haruka is imho the way forward for Mitsuki/Takayuki. Of course we knew Fate had different plans for them

   suguru: Maybe because I’m a HUGE Akane fan so I managed to rationalise Akane’s affections for Takayuki. One of the things that women are drawn to is dedicated fidelity. And Takayuki showed plenty of that at the aftermath of the accident. Although it’s out of guilt, here Akane sees a person who devotes his entire existence to caring for her sister. That must have been admirable/very moving for a 15 yr old. Akane knows Takayuki well in that his strength is his kindness. (Her most famous words were in ep 10 – Why are you so kind? It’s painful.) Yes, it’s a cruel kindness but one that young maidens are weak to

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4. 

   Crusader
   December 12th, 2007 - 00:12

   To say Takayuki was a victim of circumstance is to say that Makoto Itou was a victim of societal norms. To be human is to adapt, to be a man is to take decisive action and accept the consequences. A bad decision is better than no decision, for at least one can learn from the former. Takayuki cowered in fear not for the sake of Haruka, but because he could not take the slap that was so long over due. At age 17 I’d sooner shoot a boy for professing “love,” for more often or not his intentions are far less than honorable at ages 17-95. If his love is indeed true then he can wait until both he and his partner can be tried as adults in a court of law. In a court of law a recalcitrant father cannot escape his obligations to his erstwhile lover or any born or unborn child that results. If all men were honorable there would be no need for laws. Takayuki’s intentions toward Haruka were less than honorable given how this love escalated so rapidly to the covers. At age 17 war had long since called and I answered unflinchingly, and perhaps unthinkingly, while a miscreant such as Takayuki was worried about getting a decorative degree.

   Perhaps my view of teenage skankery is all but quaint these days, but unless both are ready to accept responsibility for an unintended child I remain resolutely opposed to it. To be a single mother is to step into a world that will be unduly harsh, it is not fair but such is life. I could not sympathize with Takayuki because he could have simply told Haruka then that he was into 2-D girls or asked if she could have accepted third place on his heart to volk and fatherland. He gave into Mitsuki’s seduction because he did not honor their friendship. For if he had neither of them would have mistaken lust for love, for in love there is enough trust to mitigate jealousy, but such was not the case.

   I would have never taken part in such a dishonest charade for it only delayed the inevitable and constituted nothing more than a waste of resources. Haruka was already dull as a brick for not noticing that time had passed and that children had grown old. Takayuki could have told her that his faith was weak and he was no longer the man she once knew. Time once lost can never come again. While Haruka slept in eternal bliss the world grew dark. Had Takayuki respected Haruka he would have told her the truth for no amount of lies could ever hide it fully. Takayuki’s staying with Haruka for that all to brief a time was the result of guilt rather than genuine affection. Takayuki chose to lie instead of owning up to the truth that he had been less than honorable in his youth. He was a coward up until the end. He is a product of a degenerate genre of games that I spit upon. Takayuki only serves his own interests and his own personal safety. Takayuki sowed the wind with his lies and the lies of others, he should have been prepared to reap the whirlwind.

   I can understand why he used deceit, but a coward is a coward and should not be spared for choosing to be one. Takayuki chose to lie, he chose to bed Haruka and Mitsuki. His lies were throughly for the benefit of himself not for King and Country or anyone else. To ascribe his fall to the wiles of women is the same lame excuse used to justify the false notion that deceitful women are the bane of “honest” men. I doubt your master and Lord Nauzron would ever forgive honest Stripey for being “honestly” seduced. Why should we forgive the bastard Takayuki?

   Immaturity is a sin as is stupidity, to be an adult is to guard against both. Do not mistake understandable for excusable. At age 17 you are expected to start acting like an adult in preparation for your age of ascension. At age 17 you ought to know better. So what if they lacked a cold logical third person perspective? They could have simply asked for one, they call them counselors and psychiatrists. Unless of course Takayuki is beholden to Scientology, if so that would explain a lot of things… Fate decides nothing it only gives you a choice.

   -There is not true in the world except the glitter of gold and the treachery of man.

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5. 

   Stripey
   December 12th, 2007 - 00:33

   LOL @ 2D girls excuse. Is that how couples abstain from pre-marital sex nowadays? Passionate prose as usual Crusader. I think we differ in our starting point for Takayuki’s intent. I subscribe to him having good but immature intentions whereas you believe he has the heart of Baal. Our expectations from 17 yr olds are also vastly different and I’ve no doubt you would have condemned the 17 yr old tanuki. XD Having been in an all boy school for some very important formulative years on my life, I went on to the high-school equivalent making all kinds of terrible mistakes dealing with the other 50% of humanity. So I tend to cut 17 yr old boys a lot of slack. XD

   Many keen points you have brought up but I’ll just focus on the charade you speak of. I think within the story context, the doctors presented it as if Takayuki were not comply with the playacting, Haruka runs the possibility of mental collapse and eventually death. I’d go along as Takayuki did for the sake of Haruka.

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6. 

   dsong
   December 12th, 2007 - 00:58

   Accepting Haruka in episode 1 was a mild mistake; especially it seemed like he was wishy-washy towards her and was basically doing a favor for Mitsuki. But we’ve all done worse.

   His first major error was sleeping with Haruka. Not only is premarital sex a bad idea in general, it was especially bad at that time because of Haruka’s vulnerable state. It really puts Takayuki in a bad position and makes it much more difficult for him to break up with her. It also does plenty of damage to both parties in the long run; as it feeds Takayuki’s guilt and Haruka’s desperation.

   As for the other mistakes… well, beating himself up over Haruka’s coma was one; giving into Mitsuki was another; starting a live-in relationship with Mitsuki was a third; seeing Haruka again was another one… a runaway train that simply doesn’t stop, until he finally breaks up with Haruka and accepts Mitsuki. People will forever argue over Haruka vs. Mitsuki, but I feel that staying with Mitsuki was really the only way to stop the train wreck from getting any worse. It at least allows Takayuki to redeem himself and start over again.

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7. 

   Mentar
   December 12th, 2007 - 01:17

   Takayuki is a SOB in my view because of his treatment of Mitsuki after Haruka wakes up. Until then, he’s been okay, but simply letting his savior-for-one-year-and-partner-for-two hang out to dry was horrible. Selfish and uncaring. And pretending not to notice also showed a genuine lack of appreciation either.

   In other words, he’s not only a wishy-washy and indecisive wimp, he’s a terribly SELFISH, UNCARING and SPOILED indecisive wimp.

   Stomp on him.

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8. 

   Crusader
   December 12th, 2007 - 01:34

   @Stripey
   The 2-D stratagem is simple and brutally effective. It is better to be feared than loved, besides one only need to concern himself with not being hated to avoid enemies. Takayuki could have called for a second opinion, after all did not Frederick III of Germany die because his personal doctors were involved in politics?

   I judge men by what they have done, not what they intended to do. I don’t believe in slack for consequences are the tonic that brings about lessons in life. It does not suffice to tell a lousy teenage boy that he messed up and leave it at that, for he learns nothing except that the lecturer merely disagrees with him. Lock him in solitary confinement and strip him of his worldly goods and he will learn humility. Discipline him and he will know fear. Abundance does not breed frugality, nor does slack breed responsibility.

   Mistakes are fine, but if you learn nothing or learn too late like that lout Takayuki then I would be the first to deliver the coup de grace. Only in war does truth require a bodyguard of lies. Last I checked Takayuki was not in a war. At any rate prophecies of Haruka’s suicide seemed far too grand for scientific western medicine, though perhaps in KimiNozo Japan they still make sacrifices to ensure good fortune and execute Vestal Virgins if KimiNozo Japan loses a battle. Nevertheless not asking for a second opinion was simply inexcusable given the gravity of the situation. Besides if your doctor said that you had to cut off your balls because they were cancerous, I am more than certain that you would ask for a second opinion on whether or not you had cancer. Doctors are human and therefore fallible.

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9. 

   Darklord
   December 12th, 2007 - 01:37

   Takayuki is probably the perfect example that trying to please everyone usually ends up pleasing no one. You said it yourself – he is too kind and that is perhaps his biggest flaw – his kindness caused a lot of pain for both girls he was involved with. As Shirukii said, if Takayuki was more selfish (not by much but just a little bit selfish) things wouldn’t turn out that way. He felt guilty about what happened to Haruka and he was partially right, since indeed if he were on time the accident would not happen, but he must have gotten over it after those three years and told himself that he could not have known this had happened. He had no obligation to be with Haruka. He had an obligation to be with the person to whom he had committed – the person who brought him out of his emotional breakdown and took care of him all those years. If he did not want to be with Mitsuki, he owed her at least an explanation and he should have talked to her straight and said something like – “I don’t think we should see each other for a while at least until Haruka recovers”. However, he is a coward and is afraid of what she might say, he is afraid that she will leave him.

   What annoyed me most about him was that throughout the whole show, he was always wishy-washy, he almost never gave a straight answer. He was always saying “umm…ahem” and so on. He failed to take initiative in anything. When Mitsuki asked him if he loved her, and he said “yes”, she was genuinely surprised and very happy. Why do you think that is? Because…he must have never told her this before…he must have never shown her this. Basically he never realized that…until the very end when she left him and he realized what it meant to live without her.

   Another point of frustration was when Mitsuki openly confessed that she had slept with his best friend, his response was his usual – “oh…” – and nothing else. He wasn’t angry or surprised or anything. It’s like he was an empty shell. If he really cared for her, he would either be angry at her for her betrayal or try to find out why she did that, but he did none of that.

   It was really frustrating to see Mitsuki get all the blame from both Akane and Haruka when they learned about her relationship with Takayuki, since both of them were at fault and both of them deserved to be slapped.

   Anyway, at the end he is not such a bad character, since he honestly did the best he could and yes, he was a victim of circumstances. He annoyed me with his incessant inability to make any decision or commit to one girl but in the end he kind of redeemed himself by confronting Haruka openly and chasing Mitsuki and finally telling her what he felt. That required some guts, even though it came a bit too late, but better late than never. Although that final courageous act of his was not enough to redeem him in the eyes of the fans, it was definitely a step in the right direction.

   @Crusader:

   I felt like I need to address your post, since you said some pretty heavy things, even though my general impression of Takayuki is also negative. First of all, at age 17 most guys are pretty immature especially when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex. Girls mature emotionally about 5-6 years ahead of guys, that is a scientific fact. At age 17 many guys are still kids. I understand that you had to go to war at 17, and I really respect you for that, but that does not give you the right to demand that kind of self-sacrifice of everybody else at that age. If you or anyone else claims that they were mature adults at that age, then you guys were the exceptions. I myself came to the US to study here when I was 19 and I was much more mature than most of my peers but still I cannot say for sure I would do much better than Takayuki in his situation.

   Second, it seems like you are blaming him for having pre-marital sex with his girlfriend. Well…how many people do you know nowadays that were virgins before they got married? I’m not going to assume anything about you, but if you’ve chosen to stay celibate until you’re ready to make a commitment, that’s commendable, but again – the times are different and you cannot condemn people who have chosen otherwise. The sex was purely consensual, so you cannot blame him for being too pushy and he did not leave her after he slept with her, so he wasn’t after her for the sex only. In other words, I found that step perfectly natural in their relationship. Besides, I assume they used some sort of protection, since Haruka did not get pregnant.

   Third, he did not lie to Haruka because he was afraid to face “the slap”. He lied to her because he cared about her and was following the doctor’s orders and did not want her to have a nervous breakdown. Everyone lied to her, not just him. Akane finally gave in and told her the truth because she could not stand the situation anymore and she broke down – she did not do it because it was the right thing to do. Saying that Takayuki lied to her out of his personal benefit is ridiculous. He was tortured by guilt and besides – he is too much of a “nice guy” to do anything to endanger her fragile health.

   Fourth, he was a coward but not up until the end. As I mentioned, he faced Haruka by himself and chased Mitsuki by himself. If he was a coward until the end he would just return to his room and go back to being an empty shell like he used to be.

   Immaturity and stupidity are not sins – they are flaws of the human character and they can be amended. Anybody who claims he never did stupid or immature things is a hypocrite.

   Finally, yes, it is very easy to judge from the sidelines and always claim you would do a much better job that a certain character, but I am sure that 99% of the viewers were never in a situation like his and they do not know how they would react if they were in his place.

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10. 

    Zyl
    December 12th, 2007 - 02:44

    The only thing I would attempt not do is to isolate Mitsuki… In fact, he even wins my utmost admiration for turning down the fabulous FABULOUS Suzumiya Akane. That strength, I cannot even hope to emulate.

    This comment has been a loooooong time coming. What you meant to say was: After the Akane-in-the-rain and taxi-cuddle scene, you’d have taken her back home and ROXXORD Akane senseless thereby seriously screwing up three girls rather than two. In this respect, Takayuki is definitely a better man than you, my good bro. LOL

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11. 

    kaz3phyrous
    December 12th, 2007 - 03:24

    wow….
    it seems that the replies to this post are longer than the actual post itself…
    hehe…
    when i was watching kgne before i was probably just a newbie to harem animes but i did feel a bit upset at takayuki and haruka…
    though looking back after reading your post it seems that both their actions were realistic for hormone charged 17-year olds…
    i can’t really remember what happened on ep 1 (i’ll try to rewatch kgne once kgne second season is released) but i don’t remember takayuki having feelings for mitsuki though it was obvious that mitsuki had feelings for takayuki…
    i agree with takayuki’s decision in going out with haruka when he was confessed too…
    i would probably do the same thing too if a cute girl such as haruka would confess to me…

    i stated disliking takayuki after the accident…
    because for me… even though it seems that he had an emotional breakdown after that i feel that his emotional breakdown was mostly because he was feeling guilty and is blaming himself for the accident and and only partly because it was his love who got into the accident…

    and i dislike mitsuki for i got the feeling that she didn’t feel guilty at all about the accident eventhough it was partly her fault… and eventhough she was fixing takayuki she still backstabbed her bestfriend.. there were probably other ways of fixing takayuki than the path she took…

    though on the other hand if it was akane who did the fixing and not mitsuki i probably won’t have disliked akane… but that’s because i also have a bias for imotous and akane was haruka’s imouto and i liked akane… :p

    hmm… i hope they make a kgne ~third season~ and let takayuki have akane in the end… :p

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12. 

    Crusader
    December 12th, 2007 - 03:46

    @Darklord
    I define sin as: an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible. More often or not to act immaturely and stupidly often means apologizing in the end. I did not say they were not prevalent, but they are however as you say flaws. I believe that as such they must be guarded against.

    I also question the idea scientific proof that women mature earlier than men. I have known quite few irresponsible louts that were female, but then again what is true for me is not true for all. I don’t demand that Takayuki put himself in a position that he get his ass shot off, I merely point out that he and others like him did not. He was a miscreant for wanting a decorative degree, for it is because of people him that we now have degree inflation.

    As for pre-martial sex I said that my views have long since been antiquated for better or for worse. The fundamental question was whether or not he loved Haruka? Takayuki’s heart dithered so much that I don’t think he ever truly loved Haruka to begin with. Hence his sleeping with her while consensual was wrong because it was motivated by something that was not true love. I won’t deny that a woman has every right to decide when and where as long as her partner is under a certain age (ie 40 year old man and 12 year old girl is a big no) and she of the age of consent in the nation of her birth, but the fact remains that if she ends up with child the consequences for her will be heavy in most societies, even where it is accepted it will not be easy. That is why I oppose it. Its not that pre-martial sex is wrong because they are not married its is because there is little to no legal recourse for the mother should the father prove less than faithful.

    As much as Takayuki believes he is lying for the sake of poor Haruka, it does not change the fact that the continual lying and facade serves also to soothe his guilt too. So what if every one else was lying out of their ass? Does complicity mean that Takayuki was acting in the right? Merely following orders is no longer considered adequate defense for absolving one from responsibility from an action. If an officer ordered me to shoot a prisoner I am still liable for that murder. Acting under orders makes you a perpetrator regardless of a higher authority. Takayuki did defer to a higher authority but in doing so he tried to divorce himself from being responsible for the consequences. He used it as a shield against Mistuki, indicating that it was not his decision but that of others. He blamed himself for the accident, and then he played the role of good boyfriend out of “kindness” to make amends to ultimately absolve himself of the guilt by making Haruka happy.

    If he wanted to lie and be kind his best course of action would have been to ask that he be declared dead and move out with Mitsuki to parts unknown never to be heard from again. Dishonest yes, but it was no less dishonest than pretending that he had been faithful when he clearly was not for many a year. In fact the Takayuki that Haruka knew had by then long since died. Had he done that Haruka would have felt grief but she would have lived on without the anger of being deliberately abandoned or have knowledge of Mitsuki’s treachery. If you must lie, then lie elegantly and intricately. As it stands the web of lies they wove came down in short order, in short they were lazy. Regardless of Akane’s capitulation, though really its not all her fault that Takayuki was faithless and Mitsuki treacherous, his mere presence and that of Mistuki made the lie untenable. If he wanted to make amends the best he could have done was to leave Haruka’s life permanently with the only legacy a beautiful memory of her good noble and faithful beau who died ever true to her. Adding a will that urged her to live on would have added icing to the cake. Yes he would have had to live with the guilt but such is the price for his youthful indiscretion and Mitsuki’s companionship.

    True he faced the consequences of his actions, but at what cost? The friendship was torn asunder and Mitsuki ended up in dire straights and did much damage to her liver among other body parts. In the end he turned around, but not before. Hence he was a coward in the beginning, he was coward in the middle, he only turned around in the end. So he was twice a coward and only once dutiful. Like you said success in the end does not fully wipe away the stain of previous failures in the eye of some viewers. I happen to be one of them, just less forgiving than most.

    There are benefits to a dispassionate point of view. Simply to have been there does not make whatever you do at the time right. We do not excuse old Rummy of going to war with the army he had even if he did not anticipate things would turn out the way it did (remember there were warnings). We may not know how we would have reacted, but I am certain that we all would have done at least one thing differently if not every thing. Takayuki’s fatal flaw was not kindness, it was indecision.

    Besides I would have done a better job. I am older and have seen many youths damn themselves in the pursuit of love and lust. I have seen in youth foolishness and courage in equal measure. In the end I have found that old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.

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13. 

    Venneh
    December 12th, 2007 - 06:33

    I just have an extreme dislike/borderline hate for Takayuki’s type (indecisive), mainly because I’ve been in a relationship with someone like that, and he’s STILL jerking me around two years after we broke up, unable to decide what it really is that he wants. It wears down on the emotions of anyone involved with the type, and this type has the tendency, more often than not, to be insensitive asses, and really hurt anyone involved with them (see: Haruka and Mitsuki in the case of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, or Eleanor Campbell in Victorian Romance Emma for the perfect example of the damage indecisiveness can do).

    So my dislike of Takayuki and his type comes from personal experience more than anything else.

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14. 

    Kabitzin
    December 12th, 2007 - 08:08

    Damn at all these comments suggesting what a true playa Stripey is! No wonder he decided to be a tanuki, given the legendary powers of said animal. Did you steal Mrs. Stripey away from her comatose best friend (who is now your ex)?!?!

    Everyone can be an armchair boyfriend, but Takayuki didn’t do so bad. Sure he wasn’t perfect, but those were some truly crazy circumstances. Really the blame should fall solely on that driver who rocked Haruka senseless… with his car. Also, Shinji ended up being despicable, but no one ever mentions that.

    I don’t blame Takayuki for moving on to Mitsuki. They fit better anyway, and who knew if Haruka would ever wake up? I wish Takayuki would have handled the situation better with Mitsuki, but they really were in a tough position. The pressure put on Takayuki by Haruka’s parents was unfair, and it’s not like Takayuki and Mitsuki’s life wasn’t hard enough before all this Haruka-waking-up business.

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15. 

    Stripey
    December 12th, 2007 - 22:26

    Thanks for everyone’s thoughts. I’ve gain much perspective given the myriad angles your insights come from. Since I’ve relinquished my hunting rifle, I promise to pass this wisdom to my son (if I’m blessed with one) so that he’d be the honourable harem lead man Takayuki never quite was Man I can’t wait for him to get into high school XD

    Zyl: Actually I would taken Akane there and then in the cab XD In that ep, Takayuki displayed superhuman self control Good man.

    kaz3phyrous: YAY! An Akane route KGNE! Must. have. SEASON 3!

    Kabitzin: LOL! No way! However I pin all my hopes on my son.. pls let me have a son XD Wait… that’d mean I need to cut back on DVDs and figures to buy milk…. XD

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16. 

    Zyl
    December 13th, 2007 - 06:21

    I promise to pass this wisdom to my son (if I

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17. 

    Stripey
    December 14th, 2007 - 00:26

    LOL! Well then they better be blonde too….. wait a min… XD

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18. 

    Hinano
    December 14th, 2007 - 13:31

    Wuh oh a “MRS” Stripey! :O!

    I hate Takayuki I’m sorry XD Haruka route ftw!

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19. 

    Stripey
    December 15th, 2007 - 05:23

    For this tanuki, it has to be Akane route FTW! XD

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20. 

    dsong
    December 18th, 2007 - 18:03

    The writers should seriously consider throwing a curveball and have Takayuki ditch Haruka for Akane. Hate to say this but Haruka is such a wonderful “victim”…

    As for Mitsuki I think she is best served as a mutual friend; let the sisters battle it out!

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21. 

    Stripey
    December 18th, 2007 - 23:40

    I’m really hoping that this Kiminozo remake, Akane would be featured strongly. Yes, Haruka’s going to win but the Mitsuki and Haruka face-off has been pretty much covered in the first Kiminozo. Having Akane as a real rival would really be refreshing.

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22. 

    kaz3phyrous
    December 20th, 2007 - 10:09

    yeah…
    i totally agree with having akane as the the rival for this retelling of kgne…
    then they could have another retelling and have akane as the winner…
    the first dvd should be released by now /or a few hours from now so i guess we’ll soon find out what’s in stored for us…

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23. 

    Stripey
    December 21st, 2007 - 10:45

    I saw very little of Akane in Omni’s caps for the retelling of KNGE. Not sure if it’s a sign of diminished Akane role.. AGAIN. Uguu! XD

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24. 

    dsong
    December 21st, 2007 - 20:02

    Dang, I was hoping Takayuki would flip flop between Haruka and Akane… with Haruka as the eventual winner, but not before seeing some sweet Haruka angst!

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25. 

    imissasia
    March 21st, 2008 - 15:33

    a boy named takayuki knocked me up and fled when things got tough so although i have no idea what you are talking about, the very name itself makes me see red.

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26. 

    Kenshiro
    April 14th, 2008 - 13:12

    I got here by googling ‘hope takayuki dies’ so I suppose my position is obvious, but I basically came to vent my spleen.

    No defense of Takayuki is even close to adequate. The two primary defenses listed in the original post show a classical bias towards lack of personal responsibility, the victim-of-circumstance mentality that led to the rise of lawsuits against McDonald’s for ‘making’ people fat. Initially Takayuki acceded to Haruka basically because it was the path of least resistance – and slept with her (or tried to — in the game he had ‘performance anxiety’) without any actual significant emotional attachment.

    His acceptance of Mitsuki is more understandable, but nonetheless reprehensible; it is the fruit of his initial mistake and serves as little more than a balm for his guilt as is evidenced by the fact that he suddenly feels better and stops visiting Haruka. Basically she is nothing more than an opiate for him; and while it’s partly her fault for allowing herself to be used in that way, he does nothing to discourage her, and continues to sleep with her for years. Though he ‘decided’ to love Mitsuki, he does not follow through on that commitment, and given the opportunity, attempts to sleep with Haruka again and is only stopped by the sight of her scar (in the anime, not the game), which is a reminder of his own guilt. He then subsequently goes back to Mitsuki, knowing he does not love her, having in the interim responded to a mild advance by the sister of the girl he is supposed to love.

    Basically, Takayuki is the very antithesis of what it is to be a man. He is passive, submissive, and unable to contain his basest appetites, seeking not to be ‘kind’ to the women around him as some assert, but rather merely to minimize his own guilt for as long as possible – the mentality of a child who hides the shards of the vase he has broken rather than admit it to his parents and face his penalty. He at no point pursues anyone but rather merely picks the lowest-hanging fruit at all times – always feels sorry for himself and never does anything about it. Takayuki is, in short, not capable of being a functional adult; he is a coward.

    Let us review:

    1) Takayuki accepts Haruka to minimize guilt from Mitsuki – FAIL
    2) Takayuki tells Haruka he loves her when he doesn’t – FAIL
    3) Takayuki attempts to sleep with Haruka, knowing she loves him deeply and he does not feel the same way, and cognizant of the effect this may have on the relationships among their klatsch – FAIL
    4) Takayuki becomes dysfunctional, not because he loves the girl who was injured but because he feels guilty – a self-love induced reaction – FAIL
    5) Takayuki feels much better when getting an alternate source of poon and so stops feeling guilty and basically forgets all about his ‘love’ even though the girl in question is in fact his ‘love’s best friend – FAIL
    6) Takayuki is reminded of his guilt by Akane (not of his love, mind you) and responds. Note that Akane appeals after their initial visit to his guilt, his responsibility – FAIL
    7) Takayuki, brought back to functionality by Mitsuki and her love, betrays that love by kissing and attempting to sleep with Haruka (in a hospital bed!) and is stopped only by sight of the scar which reminds him of his own guilt – FAIL (but at least we know his guilt-drive is stronger than his lust-drive; or maybe the scar just makes her less hot) Takayuki, knowing full well that he no longer ‘loves’ Mitsuki at all but is in fact in ‘love’ with Haruka decides to continue letting her nurse him rather than tell her so to her face – minimizing (or delaying) his guilt and maximizing his opportunity to bed her a few more times, and then allows her to leave, having admitted her own guilt, without admitting his – FAIL
    9) At every juncture, Takayuki manages to turn his hurting people into self-pity rather than changing or truly taking responsibility – FAIL
    10) Having destroyed Mitsuki, rather than taking responsibility Takayuki tries to pass her off casually to Shinji – FAIL
    11) Takayuki then casually tells Haruka that he’s not dating anyone as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, despite it being only a few days (at most) since Mitsuki left him, and then lets Akane believe that he’s the one who broke it off – FAIL
    12) When Haruka is post-rehab and Takayuki hears her yelling at herself and crying, rather than comforting her, he runs – FAIL
    13) Even at the very end when Takayuki chooses Mitsuki – he does it because it helps *him* stand, etc., not because he loves her for her own sake – FAIL

    As we can see, Takayuki is a big bag of fail. Now, I know what it is to be so deeply wounded that you cease to be able to function. I know what it is to have someone throw themselves at you. But I also know that a person needs to have the strength to deal with both situations – whether male or female, and Takayuki doesn’t have this.

    Basically, this reminds me of a fable. A dog had a bone in his mouth and was trotting along, when he came to a river, and saw his reflection. Being a dog though, he didn’t realize it was his reflection, and thought it was another dog with another bone. Seeing a juicy morsel in front of him, he opened his jaw to snap at it and get it from this other dog – but dropped the bone in the river instead. Now, nobody would call this dog’s actions ‘manly.’ He just obeyed his base instincts without thinking. And really that’s what Takayuki is – a dog.

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