Ore Monogatari: A Story of Love, Bromance, and Asexuality

WARNING:

The following does contain spoilers for Ore Monogatari! (My Love Story!). You hath been warned.

So, the other day I made a post about my favorite OTP's and mentioned at the end of that list I'd left one off that I'd go over on Valentine's Day. And here I am, fulfilling my promise. 

So today we're taking a look at the hilarious romantic comedy, Ore Monogatari! (My Love Story!). You know, the one about the really big kid (Takeo) that just graduated middle school and falls awkwardly and sweetly in love with this really small girl (Yamato).

Rather than taking the obvious route and looking at the main couple, I'm going to be talking about the obviously best character in the entire show: Takeo's best friend, Makoto Sunakawa.

At first glance, Suna doesn't seem to unique a character: he's another pretty boy uninterested in girls, and all the girls seem to for whatever reason flock to him because of it. Just so you get the gist, episode 1 starts out with the girl Takeo likes confessing to Suna, and him rejecting her. It's not anything special; we see these types of characters all the time in anime: Takumi from Kaichou wa Maid-Sama is a good example that comes to mind very quickly. Sasuke from Naruto is yet another example. So, OK: basically, anime is saying that women love assholes.

Well, not exactly.

You see, the twist with Suna is that he's actually not a bad guy at all; he gives his seat on the train to people that obviously need it more, he gives all credit to Takeo whenever people thank him for his friend's good deeds, and he tries not to get Takeo wrapped up in his personal troubles because he doesn't want his friend to worry about him. He just is genuinely disinterested in girls, especially the ones that talk about his best friend behind his back. Because those are the ones that he for whatever reason seems to attract. Ugh.

"OK," you may find yourself thinking, "Then he really does like girls, just not the ones that have confessed to him." And that's a little more difficult to prove or disprove than you may imagine.
Episode 2 features a misunderstanding in which Takeo believes that Yamato is in love with Suna, and, being the awesome guy that he is, he decides to trying setting the two of them up, despite having feelings for Yamato, himself. Part of his plan includes asking Suna about what kinds of girls he likes. The problem, however, is that Suna is very reluctant to talk about himself, particularly about girls, and what answers Takeo does force out of him seem forced.

"Suna. I know this is sudden, but what kind of girl do you like?"

"That sure is sudden."

"Let's talk AKB. Who do you like there?"

"Sorry, I'm not familiar with celebrities."

"What if you had to choose between Sayla-San and Fraw Bow?"

"We're doing anime now?"

"Okay, then what about the Song Lady or the Exercise Lady?!"

"Maybe the Exercise Lady."

"What about between Main-Chan and Sui-Chan?!?"

"Main who?"

Not too long after, we get another interrogation.

"Suna, do you have a girlfriend?"
"What's with you today, man?"
"Do you?"
"No."
"Why not?? You're popular with the ladies! You never think about dating girls?"
"... I dunno. It makes me tired."
"Huh?!"
"When I think about what I'd have to do if I dated anyone, it makes me tired."
(What?! It should make you happy!) "... Are you sure you have a pair?"
"Sure."
"Then why aren't you interested in girls?"
" I never said I wasn't."
"Then you are interested!"
"Sure. As much as any other guy."

As we learn in later episodes, Suna is usually pretty careful about how he says things, so take notice of his wording. "Sure." "Maybe." "I never said I wasn't." Also take note on how he scratches the back of his head and rubs his neck Obviously, he's saying stuff to get Takeo off of his back.

Unfortunately, we don't get much more on this subject until we hit episodes 21 and 22, when we are introduced to his love interest: Yukika Amami.

Now Yukika is a little... different from the other girls in this show thus far. She apparently fell in love with Suna in kindergarten, when he took a hit in the face for her in a game of dodge ball, and since she's pretty shy, she's been holding it in for about ten years now, contenting herself with literally stalking Suna (yes, stalking; she's in the background of all of Suna's photos, she knows what days he goes to the supermarket, etc.). None of which is known to Suna, so when nice-guy Takeo introduces her and tries to set them up, all he really knows is that this is the shy girl he's been going to school with and probably the chick that's been sending him chocolates and love letters anonymously every Valentine's Day.

As you can imagine, Ore Monogatari seems to be following all rom-com anime tropes. Suna agrees to go on a date with her at the zoo while Takeo and Yamato tag along, making it a double date. Things seem to be looking up for Yukika; she manages to have a conversation or two with Suna, and she pairs pairs up with him in a trivia game, in which she scores a complete victory for the two of them. He even held her hand for a moment! She feels as if she's really connected with him; it feels like she's had the best time of her entire life.

If this were just about any other anime, they would have started a relationship at the end of the episode. Takeo is cheering for him, excited that best bro is finally going to find love and get a girlfriend. Yamato is excited. A lot of the audience is excited, too. By the end of this date, Suna will no longer be forever alone!

But-

Ore Monogatari is not any other anime.

And I cheered and cheered.

Now don't get me wrong; it wasn't because I disliked Yukika; I may have found her stalking tendencies creepy, but I by no means like watching any person getting their heart broken. I wasn't happy that Suna friend-zoned her. In fact, I was happy when by the end of the episode things were resolved, he gave her a gift to repay her for all the chocolates she gave him over the years, and she seemed to more or less move on.

No, no, no. What had me so elated was Suna's obvious struggle during this episode. Here was this girl that he should have by all means liked: she was cute, a little shy but overall very nice to him, she was smart and had the same hobbies as him (like reading), and she obviously really liked him. And you could tell that he tried, and tried because he didn't want to hurt her, but in the end, there's only so much a person can do. He likes her, but he can't just force himself to like like her.

Holy Mother of God. Makoto Sunakawa is my spirit animal.

I had been suspecting that Suna was asexual from episode 2 onward, but I was hesitant to really accept it until this episode rolled around and completely flipped the table.

For anyone unaware, asexuality not just a means of cloning oneself by means of self-reproduction; it's a sexuality (or lack thereof) in which a person is not sexually attracted to anyone; like-wise, aromantics are not romantically attracted to anyone, either. Basically, this is Suna in a nutshell.

Some people may argue that Suna is actually gay based on his obvious lack of interest in girls, and if you think so, then that's good for you, though I disagree based on 1) His reaction to Takeo asking him if he liked him and 2) His similar lack of interest in boys throughout the series.

That part's up to you, but I wholeheartedly believe Suna to be asexual, and I am overwhelmingly happy to accept him as such because, as someone who once thought myself to be asexual, I loved finally having a fictional character that I could relate to.

Let me say that again: "Finally having a fictional character that I could relate to."

Meaning: I have never seen another character in any anime, cartoon, movie, book, video game, etc. that I have ever considered to be asexual.

And that-

That is beyond sad.

Now bear with me as I go on a bit of a tirade here; I will mark the following section in bold if you wish to skip it.

START

I mean, yes; asexuals are the vast minority on the spectrum (only about 1% of the population identifies as so), and we don't have it nearly as bad as a lot of other sexualities do- gays and lesbians have to deal with a lot of bigotry, and I feel extremely sorry about the amount of hate that bisexuals get (especially since bisexuality makes a hella lot more sense than homo or heterosexuality to me, but that is a whole topic for another day). But at the same time, I would like some, just SOME sort of asexual representation in the media.

We do have our struggles. Like I said, not nearly as bad as other sexualities, but I often met people (including my own parents) who believe that asexuality is not an actual thing, that it doesn't exist, or is just some virgin's excuse for being too scared to have sex. I'm just thankful that I wasn't one of those unlucky few to be subject to corrective rape- as, yes, that is an unfortunate thing that many asexuals have suffered through before. 

But it's not just an excuse, and not all asexuals are virgins. Asexuality is simply the atheism of sexuality; it is a lack of desire to be in a sexual, or sometimes even romantic, relationship with another person. And it is totally natural; it's just the way our body is wired and our hormones are balanced, just as it is with any sexuality.

Which is exactly why I feel that asexuals need a little bit of representation in the media; nothing too big, just some characters slipped in every now and then that don't end up with a love interest and don't sulk about it. Because it turns me off from a medium just a little bit when every single side character has to be paired up with someone else.

END

What makes Suna being asexual really great to me, though, is that the author of Ore Monogatari doesn't make that define him: he's not heartless by any meaning of the word, and in fact has a much bigger heart than you would initially expect. He's a fantastic friend to Takeo, always tagging along on his and Yamato's dates- he's kind of the reason that they asked each other out in the first place- and always gives them the best relationship advice. He also helps all kinds of other people, going as far as to comfort Saijou, who had her heart broken after finally confessing her feelings to Takeo despite knowing she would be turned down. He even cares so much about other people that he doesn't tell Takeo about his anxiety about his father's surgery because he didn't want to bother him with it, too.

Which is yet another thing that I can identify with Suna for.

Suna is just full of love, it just so happens that his love comes in a much more platonic form than a romantic one, which is just wonderful and beautiful.

So, once again, if you still want Suna to find love some time down the road, good for you! Feel free to ship him with whoever you want! I don't think he would particularly mind either way. But for now, personally, my biggest OTP will be Suna x Nobody.

That's all for now, you beautiful people, you! I hope you have a fantastic Valentine's Day, whether you're in a relationship or not! And just remember: there are lots of more relationships that you can celebrate than a romantic kind, so don't beat yourself up over it if you're single! Celebrate with friends and family, show people you care!

Love y'all! Bye!

"Suna! I hope you find someone you like!"

"Well, I'm having a great enough time as it is."