One of the reasons I liked her most recent talk with Renzou is that, even though she was annoyed, she never hit or insulted him. I hope that development is permanent.
I actually like that scene too. Though I see it as two people who don't get along but manage to stay polite and considerate of each other, because they have to work together.
Well, that sounds kind of ... inaccurate. In Chapter 88 they were assigned the task by Shiemi. Even if you consider it as "a work they must do together", they didn't necessarily have to talk about other things besides the task (cake). And I wouldn't say the conversation was "polite" because it was quite straightforward.
And Izumo isn't that kind of person who hit others out from nowhere or only because of very minor things. Insulting ... maybe, but he was not really annoying and she was not really annoyed at that scene, so I don't see it's possible that Izumo would hit or insulted him there.
Izumo doesn't outright call him a creep like she did before. She generally sees through his joking around. The best moment is when Renzou tries to play his "that's how you differ from me" over Izumo being open about how she cares for her friends, and Izumo just throws back how they are the same and Renzou really cares about them too. While Izumo doesn't like his annoying and deceptive behavior, she sees it as a front. She fundamentally knows he cares for them and she cares about him too, which is why she asked him to be careful in the tough times ahead. That's a great foundation for her developing feelings for him, especially if Renzou ends up leaning more towards his friends as the situation with the Illuminati gets precarious. The closer the Illuminati get to their goal, the less they will need Renzou. Eventually they'll turn on him, and I really want to see Izumo and Renzou fighting side-by-side.
I agree with earthforge here. I believe that Renzou and Izumo have the potential to be a good couple.
So you agree she doesn't have feelings for him right now? X)
Oh? I thought you'd say you agree she's not attracted to him but disagree that she's repulsed by him. Ah well.
Although I agree that Izumo is not attracted to him, I can see the possibly
potential, or a seed, in that scene. Besides the apparent change of her attitude and her concern of his safety, what surprised me is that she pointed out that he cares others, even in a very confirming way. It means she either observed him or tried to analyze him based on memory.
I also think this kind of progress after the nine tail arc is reasonable. The most evident motivation is the survival of the foxes. Knowing that he has controlled the power of his attack so that the fox didn't get permanent injury, Izumo surely was impressed. (And I believe Izumo never impressed by him before the nine-tail arc.) Izumo hasn't get any answer after
she asked him about that. In the short term she is angry, but in the long term she inevitably tries to observe or analyze by herself (like what we readers have been doing). Still, it is not necessarily lead to a romantic development and can be the start of a friendship development.
I hope she will never hit him. We can all agree he doesn't like it and he's got enough from his family.
And I wonder, do you guys think he'd never hit back? If he does, it's bad because she's weaker, but if she doesn't, it's bad because he can't defend himself.
At least with his brothers he can hit back. Even though he usually doesn't. Since he doesn't have a violent nature.
Again, I don't think Izumo likes to hit others, so I don't see any problem here.
About the Shima family, those were actually training instead of violence. And he just doesn't like training instead of doesn't like to hit back. Izumo is not going to become a knight, so it's not possible she would join that kind of training.
Agreed that the female-on-male violence double standard is the worst.
Is there really a rule that says you can't hit girls though?
Well, I guess anyone can sue you if you hit them hard enough.
Though seriously, don't tell me you never met people who live by the personal rule of "never hitting a girl under any circumstances" and who believe anyone who do is awful.
Maybe because Renzou's attitude to female is kind of reminiscent of Sanji in One Piece, so readers might suspect whether he has any similar rule as Sanji. Even if this is the case, it's still personal choice rather than general standard.
Because as I see it, it depends more on which kind of hit is being used.
1) When someone slaps you in the face with the palm of their hand, they're making a statement. They are letting you know that you have severely offened/angered them. This is more often used by females (on male and female), but it can also be done by males, like Shiro hitting Rin in the face in the first chapter. It is meant to hurt but not to injure; it is not an invitation to start a fight. Do not hit back.
2) When someone punches you in the face with their fist, they're picking a fight. Go ahead and hit back if you want. The only exception here is if a woman (or a man, for that matter) is punching you in defence because you cornered/grabbed her or something. But if a girl socks you in the jaw out of the blue, I certainly wouldn't blame you for returning the favor.
That's common sense. I surely can get behind that. But a slap can still do some serious damage if you lock your wrist and put a lot of force into it. It's even worse if you use the back of your hand.
Yukio's punch at the end of IK arc somewhat lies between the two category. I guess that's why it's controversial there
I think both of them are not attracted to each other and are already in friendship or professional but non-romantic relationship. Although Renzou likes to go out with her and always complimenting and never really forceful, I don't see it's any different from his attitude to other girls, so I wouldn't say he is sincere to her. Therefore I also don't see Izumo repulsed him since he is not sincere from the start.
Izumo doesn't like him precisely because she thinks that. That it's all just an act and that he does the same to every girls. That's part of being flirty and silly or fooling around.
But I think he's sincere because of that one scene during the Inari arc after she slapped him.
I know two people who are a lot like Renzou in that regard, so I know.That's one of my brothers, and one of my childhood friends who is now going out with that girl I ended up going out with before him. That's actually an interesting story, he was always complimenting her and asking her out, but he did so in such a ... theatrical way, that she never believed he was being serious. One day I just offhandedly asked her out and she accepted. After a few years of not getting along we broke up. And after a few years of not hearing from her I learned they were getting married. I suppose she should just have gone out with him from the start. X)
Given that the last time Izumo and Renzo were together, Renzo both literally and figuratively stabbed her in the back, I dont think Izumo is cold towards him just because he is annoying. Izumo said it herself that she hasnt forgiven him for the deception and it is fair considering he hasnt done anything to redeem himself in her eyes. This was a girl who had severe trust issues due to her past and Renzo betrayed her in what could probably be the worst way possible. I honestly dont think Renzo even remotely expects or believes that his feelings will be returned
Since I don't see he has ever been sincere to Izumo, surely I also don't think he expects or believes any "return". Still, as described above Izumo is not as cold as she was before the nine-tail arc. Though I do believe any kind of truly friendship or/and romantic development will only happen after he reveal/redeem himself.
Regarding his facial expression after she slapped him, it could still be a friendship development.
I don't feel like Izumo's attitude was really tsundere at the start of the series. In my opinion she was also exactly who she wanted to be. At first she thought Shiemi was challenging her in the tamer class. Then she thought Shiemi was annoying. In her first conflict with Bon, she was actually regard Aria as weak. Then in the second conflict on the train, she was actually regard their attitude to Rin as harsh. She was sincere at those scenes. We also saw Izumo was always nice to Paku, and she was also nice to Rin after he rescued her. So I don't think she choose to change her attitude to become generally softer, instead she realized she is not alone and they are actually nice guys, so she regret and changed her attitude to them. I don't think she changes her attitude to people besides the exwires.
Her actions were not completely insincere, but they were insincere in a way. Like in the train, she wanted to defend Rin and wanted everyone to get along, but when Rin thanked her, she said she only did it because their attitudes pissed her off. Same as when she gave Rin back his shirt and he said something like "thanks, you even washed it and all", all she could say back was something like "that's because it was so dirty". As for when she argued with Ryuuji about Aria, she was arguing that people should learn how to fight alone and not rely on others, but when Ryuuji told her she will really end up alone if she stays like this, she looked like it hit her hard. And with Shiemi, in the tamer class she was jealous of how cute and friendly Nii-san was and how Shiemi stole her spotlight, so she complimented her and her summon in a sarcastic way making it an insult (even though Shiemi just took it as a compliment). As for the rest, Izumo was annoyed by Shiemi because she was jealous of how very sincere Shiemi is. Izumo can't bring herself to be completely sincere and that's what makes her a Tsundere. Remember, that's also what Paku told her the night of the festival; to try and be more sincere.
Around the festival Izumo was somewhat in the middle between repelling the exwires and recognizing them as good friends (mainly because of what happened at IK arc), so Paku made the speech there. Paku wouldn't say that when Izumo was annoyed by Shiemi the first time. When Izumo argued with Bon about the weakness of Aria, she was somewhat lost confidence because of the previous incident and Paku decided to quit, so Bon's comment reminded her about that. I think she was worried about her friendship with Paku, not with the classmates (like Bon) she was not familiar with yet. I do agree her attitude to Rin has not been completely sincere and more like tsundere.
Poll