Shipping Thread!

[Kannra21]

^Yes, that's true and I understand that (we all understood it in the way we have read it for the first time). But I still think that the way Shura is joking isn't innocent at all. Her jokes always had the deeper, more serious meaning of things. I don't think she would ever personally say to his face that he's hot (she would rather kill herself than say it out loud), so that's why she would hide behind her jokes. She reads lots of romance manga, I think she has a knack for those things.

[tandem]

To clarify, I can see some YukiShura hints in chapter 35,77,79,80, but not below one :

what seemed to me that bothered Shura the most was Yukio's behavior. Obviously she expected some kind of different reaction from him, she pointed that out herself by saying 'Your attitude kinda bugs me.' Oddly, when people get a 'Good luck!' others reply with 'Thank you!' or 'I'll need it!', so why did she answer that way?! And what should he be?

She also said his detached attitude (when he said "good luck, bye") pissed her off. Doesn't that mean she wanted him to be concerned?

Not sure how it's like in other country ... but here most people think joining a marriage-hunting party means some kind of ... failure, especially for women. (Don't argue with me! I disagree that prejudice.) Anyway, few people willing to admit they have to go to a marriage-hunting party. This topic is a little sensitive.

Therefore, Shura's reaction is completely normal to me. Because if I were her, I'd expect some kind of response that is … not so plain. For example something like "Oh you don't have to go to one, I'm sure you are very popular and already have many opportunity!", even if it's a fake response. Yukio's response sounds like …"Oh, as expected. I knew it will happen someday." and hence rude. Though I think he was just too surprised, so he didn’t have time to come up with a perfect response.

It was also strange to me when he mentioned the date. I mean, why would he, of all the events, mention that particular? It's totally not like him! We can notice that he is smiling and he seems to have proposed it only in a joke, but he looked very surprised when he got her approval.

I'll admit that I'm probably reading too much into it. I found it interesting he specifically asked if she was going on a date at all. Like, why would his mind be there? I usually assume people busy on Christmas Eve have some event or something, not necessarily a date. But it could just be a usual snark from him about Shura's iffy love life.

In Japan, celebrating christmas is a fairly recent thing. I think it started some time during the US occupation. But over there it's not a religious celebration, and they don't celebrate it with their families. It's just one more excuse for couples to offer each other gifts and go on dates. Asking someone if they have a date on christmas eve is as natural as asking them if they have a date on valentine's day.

I'm actually a little shock that it seems like not in every culture people always assume you're going to a date on Christmas Eve. Here if you don't spend Christmas with someone, it means you don't have anyone to date with. Yukio's question is totally normal to me, and I think he was surprised not because Shura had a date, but because it was a marriage-hunting party.

In recent years, Halloween is becoming popular too, but it's not for children and there are no trick or treat, it's again only used as an excuse for adults to dress up and go to parties.

So nowadays people really play trick or treat in Western country?! I thought it's an exaggeration that only happened in ancient history...

[Kannra21]

Not sure how it's like in other country ... but here most people think joining a marriage-hunting party means some kind of ... failure, especially for women. (Don't argue with me! I disagree that prejudice.) Anyway, few people willing to admit they have to go to a marriage-hunting party. This topic is a little sensitive.

Wow I didn't know that! Thank you for the explanation!^^

[earthforge]

Not sure how it's like in other country ... but here most people think joining a marriage-hunting party means some kind of ... failure, especially for women. (Don't argue with me! I disagree that prejudice.) Anyway, few people willing to admit they have to go to a marriage-hunting party. This topic is a little sensitive.

I'll admit that I'm probably reading too much into it. I found it interesting he specifically asked if she was going on a date at all. Like, why would his mind be there? I usually assume people busy on Christmas Eve have some event or something, not necessarily a date. But it could just be a usual snark from him about Shura's iffy love life.

In Japan, celebrating christmas is a fairly recent thing. I think it started some time during the US occupation. But over there it's not a religious celebration, and they don't celebrate it with their families. It's just one more excuse for couples to offer each other gifts and go on dates. Asking someone if they have a date on christmas eve is as natural as asking them if they have a date on valentine's day.

I'm actually a little shock that it seems like not in every culture people always assume you're going to a date on Christmas Eve. Here if you don't spend Christmas with someone, it means you don't have anyone to date with. Yukio's question is totally normal to me, and I think he was surprised not because Shura had a date, but because it was a marriage-hunting party.

Huh. I didn't know any of this. TIL. Thanks!

I'm from the US. Here Christmas is generally considered a family holiday, even if you don't celebrate it in a religious or secular sense. I will let Skeletor explain it better.

But I am completely oblivious to romantic social norms, so maybe there's something I'm missing?

In recent years, Halloween is becoming popular too, but it's not for children and there are no trick or treat, it's again only used as an excuse for adults to dress up and go to parties.

So nowadays people really play trick or treat in Western country?! I thought it's an exaggeration that only happened in ancient history...

Haha, yep, people still do. Usually kids under the age of 13.

[Kannra21]

^In our country, as far as I know, Christmas is considered to be a family holiday only. If you ask me, any holiday can be considered a day when you can spend free time with your beloved person. After all, the word date in Yukio's bubble is bolded, which means that he suggested it in a more playful way. Maybe something similar to that beach scene? But I can understand what he's meaning by it. Shura doesn't have any particular friends or family, so it's perfectly normal to think of such things like dating. I feel sorry for her...-_-

[chinonamida]

why is Shura suggesting that Yukio might have something hot on himself at all?! I don't know how you look at it, but to me they're behaving too suspiciously for friends/ colleagues/ family. But that's just my opinion, I can be wrong.

"What's so hot about you?" To me she's just asking what Shiemi finds attractive ("hot") about him. She's teasing him about Shiemi's potential interest in him.

^Yes, that's true and I understand that (we all understood it in the way we have read it for the first time). But I still think that the way Shura is joking isn't innocent at all. Her jokes always had the deeper, more serious meaning of things. I don't think she would ever personally say to his face that he's hot (she would rather kill herself than say it out loud), so that's why she would hide behind her jokes. She reads lots of romance manga, I think she has a knack for those things.

As I remember it, she said "good", not "hot". She said "What's so good about you?".

I don't think she's hiding anything. I think it's the part of her that sincerely sees him as a childhood friend/younger brother. If she's ever going to fall for him, it will be when she starts seeing him as a potential love interest. I think it sometimes seems like she might be seeing him in that way momentarily, but then chases those thoughts away and goes back to her usual self. That's the most I would concede to this ship at the moment. Not that I don't like the ship. Only that when I look at it, that's all I really see.

Not sure how it's like in other country ... but here most people think joining a marriage-hunting party means some kind of ... failure, especially for women. (Don't argue with me! I disagree that prejudice.) Anyway, few people willing to admit they have to go to a marriage-hunting party. This topic is a little sensitive.

As far as I know, there are no such things as Marriage-Hunting Parties, Gokon, or Miai in the west. The closest thing would be Online Dating Sites. Which only goes to show how even more badly viewed these types of things are in the west. Most people won't tell they're going to an Online Dating Site. And if they're found out, they'll deny it, saying they made an account but never really used it.

Therefore, Shura's reaction is completely normal to me. Because if I were her, I'd expect some kind of response that is … not so plain. For example something like "Oh you don't have to go to one, I'm sure you are very popular and already have many opportunity!", even if it's a fake response.

That's what I meant when I said "concerned". But Yukio and Shura are male-and-female friends, they somewhat have to keep teasing each other to show how indifferent they are to avoid sending wrong signals to the other. If Yukio said things like "you don't need to go to one" or if he said to many compliments while trying to cheer her up, he could make her fall for him by accident. That's why he shouldn't look concerned. Even while knowing that, not being cheered up still annoyed Shura.

Yukio's response sounds like …"Oh, as expected. I knew it will happen someday." and hence rude. Though I think he was just too surprised, so he didn’t have time to come up with a perfect response.

On the contrary, when people are surprised and don't have time to think, they usually go for the generic answer instead of going for well crafted trolling.

[Kannra21]

I don't know about you, but this is the first time I saw Yukio lose his shit cuz another person. His 'Die??' is shown with such a big letters and in such a large bubble that I simply couldn't help myself but wonder.XD

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On the other hand, I didn't know whether I would send this to 'Random stuff you noticed' or here because we're talking about the ship (please don't blame me if you mind that and I apologize in advance) but I noticed that both Yukio and Shura have the habit of putting their hands on their mouth when they're thinking (maybe other characters are doing it too so don't take my word).

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[tandem]

If you ask me, any holiday can be considered a day when you can spend free time with your beloved person.

I'm afraid you don't get what I mean. Although you can spend time with your boyfriend/girlfriend everyday (and many people do), the problem is, here almost every couple spend their Christmas together. If you aren't with him/her on Christmas, people will doubt whether you two are really together. A little like Valentine's day. And nobody celebrate Christmas with family. For students who are single, they might do some activity with friends, but people over 40 years old seldom care Christmas since it's not a public holiday anyway. Not sure how it's like in Japan, but Christmas isn't a public holiday in Japan either.

The closest thing would be Online Dating Sites. Which only goes to show how even more badly viewed these types of things are in the west. Most people won't tell they're going to an Online Dating Site. And if they're found out, they'll deny it, saying they made an account but never really used it.

Well ... not very close. At least parents won't push children to online dating I guess ...

[Kannra21]

^Wow, in our country we do not look at it in such a way at all! But cool! It's great to know the customs of other countries!XD

[chinonamida]

I'm afraid you don't get what I mean. Although you can spend time with your boyfriend/girlfriend everyday (and many people do), the problem is, here almost every couple spend their Christmas together. If you aren't with him/her on Christmas, people will doubt whether you two are really together. A little like Valentine's day. And nobody celebrate Christmas with family. For students who are single, they might do some activity with friends, but people over 40 years old seldom care Christmas since it's not a public holiday anyway. Not sure how it's like in Japan, but Christmas isn't a public holiday in Japan either.

It's the same in Japan. Where were you talking about, if not Japan? Just curious. I know it's like this in other places than Japan.

By the way, it's funny how, in comparison, the way it's done in the west sometimes prevent couples from spending christmas together. Since christmas must be spent with your family. So, if each goes to their own family, they can't spend it together. Unless the two families decide to celebrate together, though this is rare. What happens most of the time is, for example, on christmas eve the girlfriend spends time celebrating at her boyfriend's family home, then on christmas the boyfriend spends time celebrating at his girlfriend's family home. Sometimes people end up going to 4, 5 or more christmas parties. For example, they go to one with the wife's work colleagues on the 19th, one with the husband's work colleagues on the 21st, one with the husband's family on the 24th, one with the wife's family on the 25th, one with only their kids at the husband and wife's own home on the 26th, one with their friends on the 28th, ...

The closest thing would be Online Dating Sites.

Well ... not very close. At least parents won't push children to online dating I guess ...

Yeah, they wouldn't.

[Kannra21]

-She gets a report that Lightning's been detained for assault ("WTF LIGHTNING") and then one that Yukio is missing (*bursts a vein*)
-SHE DOES NOT WANT TO HAVE AN OFFICE JOB ANYMORE THANKS

Sorry, I can't help myself * my shipping feels ugh -_- *. Shura was completely surprised when she heard the news of Lightning from one of her associates, BUT when she heard the news of Yukio she totally lost it. She was  absolutely distraught like 'I DON'T WANT TO HAVE AN OFFICE JOB ANYMORE!' I wonder what she'll do next. Sure, sooner or later she'll have to find out from Mephisto what happened to brothers. Then she would insist on going to find Yukio along with Rin. But on the other hand, who will be responsible for patrolling and keeping accounts of other exorcists? I hope that somehow they'll manage to solve this problem as well. They need to find Yukio as soon as possible! I wonder how's Yukio doing in the Illuminati and if he had already found Todo...

[tandem]

I'm afraid you don't get what I mean. Although you can spend time with your boyfriend/girlfriend everyday (and many people do), the problem is, here almost every couple spend their Christmas together. If you aren't with him/her on Christmas, people will doubt whether you two are really together. A little like Valentine's day. And nobody celebrate Christmas with family. For students who are single, they might do some activity with friends, but people over 40 years old seldom care Christmas since it's not a public holiday anyway. Not sure how it's like in Japan, but Christmas isn't a public holiday in Japan either.

It's the same in Japan. Where were you talking about, if not Japan? Just curious. I know it's like this in other places than Japan.

I'm from Taiwan. Though some people think Taiwan is somewhat similar to Japan and maybe that's part of the reason, but I think Christmas might automatically becomes like that in any non-Western country. Every other culture already has their own family reunion traditional holidays, so people don't add Christmas as another one.

Then I finally have time to read remaining recent shipping discussion...

I honestly do think that Rin and Shiemi are set in stone for one another. Nothing else would make sense to me, considering how far along the manga is now. They have feelings for each other (imo) and Shiemi made it clear that she saw Yukio as a friend. Before, she clearly had a crush on him, so much so that Oblivious Rin saw it too, but now? She may say out of her mouth that she sees Rin as a friend too, but her actions, to me, proves otherwise. And Rin has had feelings for Shiemi since they met.

As far as I can tell, both Rin and Yukio love Shiemi. As for Shiemi, since the beginning and until recently, she saw both Rin and Yukio as her friends. Recently she seems to be falling for Rin, but she rejected him because she doesn't feel ready and needs to sort out her feelings.

At the beginning of the manga, just like Rin, I was sure she had a crush on Yukio, but it seems we were both wrong.

IMO Shiemi obviously doesn't love either of them before volume 16, and it's clearly explained in the school festival arc. (She saw Yukio as some kind of idol when they met, but idol is different from love and she already knew Yukio isn't perfect in Kraken arc.)

Things changed a little after Rin's confession. She thinks she's not ready, and IMO it means she's not fall in love "yet". What chapter 73 and 82 showed us is, she cares less about romantic relation, but more about catching up with others and curing injury of others. Therefore I can't say she "had a crush" on Rin now.

Rin and Shiemi have actively helped each other move forward. The both make each other better and want to be better. They are each other's first friend. Rin also believes in Shiemi unconditionally. Even his concern over her decision to quit is more out of worry for her life. They're like a positive feedback loop of striving for more. The best part is, Rin and Shiemi do this unconsciously. They aren't aware that they gain any benefit from helping each other, but they do it anyways. That's why they're so sweet and compatible.

Yukio and Shiemi looked like that too, but it wasn't.

That's actually where I think YukiShi sometimes still seems more natural than RinShi. There's a fundamental problem in RinShi that Rin doesn't understand Shiemi. For example, Rin probably never aware Shiemi feels left behind. (Although it's the same that Shiemi doesn't really understand Yukio, but at least it seems improving)

Moreover, despite it seems like RinShi make each other better while YukiShi do not, and even Yukio might think so, I actually disagree. Shiemi's improvement is a combined effect of Rin, Yukio, and even Izumo. Rin regains confidence not only because Shiemi, but also because Izumo, Bon, and especially Koneko. When looking at RinShi alone, I actually feel their relation stuck

[chinonamida]

Though some people think Taiwan is somewhat similar to Japan

I hear that a lot too.

IMO Shiemi obviously doesn't love either of them before volume 16, and it's clearly explained in the school festival arc. (She saw Yukio as some kind of idol when they met, but idol is different from love and she already knew Yukio isn't perfect in Kraken arc.)

At that same time, she had the same realization about Rin too, didn't she? I don't know why many people keep mentioning Shiemi is looking up to Yukio, while ignoring she's also looking up to Rin and the others. That's the main reason why she rejected Rin; because she doesn't want to go out with someone if she can't feel they're on the same level.

Things changed a little after Rin's confession. She thinks she's not ready, and IMO it means she's not fall in love "yet". What chapter 73 and 82 showed us is, she cares less about romantic relation, but more about catching up with others and curing injury of others. Therefore I can't say she "had a crush" on Rin now.

I agree. She might be more or less falling in love right now, but she hasn't fallen in love yet. She barely knows what love is, so...

Rin regains confidence not only because Shiemi, but also because Izumo, Bon, and especially Koneko.

Don't forget Renzou. At the start of the Kyoto arc, while Shiemi, Ryuuji, and Koneko were all avoiding Rin, Renzou was chilling with him, introducing him to his brothers, and making plans to go to the beach. Renzou also helped convince Koneko that Rin is a good guy and isn't responsible for his father's crimes. I never understood why back then Rin thought so highly of Koneko and so low of Renzou; it felt forced by the authors for some obscure reasons.

[HorseTechie]

I have felt that Shiemi would rather get to know the twins more, and is comfortable as being a helpful friend. Then since it seems she got her romance input from a bunch of manga (possibly experiencing all those up and down woes that get worked into those story lines)... she decided to stay safe and decide to wait.

On the other hand, in respect to Yukio, I have wondered if this could be a possibility.  Clearly, their foster dad was not married, and did not seem to want to be.  (Then later we learn he's a clone, so that could be the real reason.)  But would it be that Yukio rather abstain?  In that, not for the usual reasons of putting full attention on work... but also for being related to Satan? 

Then in reference to Chapter 99 (and to night be a stinker!), if I may add that after Shiemi woke up, the first person she asked about was Yukio. ;p

So, I think it's the obvious reason as we expressed - Yukio is struggling with too many depressing things. The reason why Shiemi and Shura (and Rin) are so concerned about Yukio is that he's a hot mess in need of help. So they worry because they love him platonically as a friend/family relation and hope of relieving that trouble.. even after he has pushed them all away.

[chinonamida]

^No, not at all. Right now, at the time of chapter 99? If they had an honest talk, it would be more like this:

Rin: Do you love Shiemi?
Yukio: Yes, I do. Do you?
Rin: Yes.
Yukio: Are you sure?
Rin: Of course. Why are you doubting me?
Yukio: Because if you really loved her, you would stay as far away from her as possible.
Rin: Just like you?
Yukio: Exactly.
Rin: And why should any of us do that?
Yukio: Because we're a danger to her. I have my eye possessed by Satan and I'm going crazy. You're a demon and you can't control yourself. If she dies or gets hurt because of you, would you ever forgive yourself?
Rin: I'll learn how to control myself.
Yukio: Good luck with that. And what about the equally dangerous people who are after us? Do you want her to get involved in this?
Rin: I'll protect her.
Yukio: Can you?
Rin: If they already know she's important to me, she's safer near me than away from me.
Yukio: Not as long as you can't control yourself.
Rin: Then what do you want me to do?
Yukio: Pretend she's not important to you. And stay away from her.
Rin: I can't.
Yukio: Then that's one more reason for me to kill you.

Wait. Maybe not that last line.