Talk:Kumiko Oumae/Relationships/@comment-417154-20190227031232

There's a line of unreciprocated love in the show:

Hazuki ⇒ Shuuichi ⇒ Kumiko ⇒ Reina ⇒ Taki ⇒ dead wife

Kumiko is definitely gay. Reina is not (maybe; it could just be that she just doesn't recognize the difference between her obsessions and her attractions, leaving her sexuality a complete unknown), and is obtuse and doesn't even recognize the signals she's throwing out. Kumiko falls for Reina, whereas Reina is oblivious to what Kumiko means when she confesses.

Just as Hazuki gets over Shuuichi's rejection, Kumiko likewise gets over Reina, by the second season. The final relationship that matters is Kumiko ⇔ Asuka. It's less of the high school crush that Kumiko had for Reina, and more of a mature, long-term thing. Unlike Reina, Asuka seems to be very cognizant of the feelings being expressed, and, by the end, accepts them. Kumiko couldn't play coy games like with Reina; she had to break down her own shell and be completely open with Asuka, because Asuka was far too familiar with the fake.

Meanwhile, it looks like Kumiko might finally be reaching a point where she can be friends with Shuuichi again, but there will never be a Kumiko/Shuuichi pair (at least not one that makes sense in the anime timeline). Shuuichi's unrequitted feelings, combined with an unwillingness to either improve himself and take action (ironically, counter to his proclomations wrt the band), or accept and give up, leaves him in a worse state than those like Hazuki, who both took risks to move forward, and accepted the pain of rejection, or Kumiko, who realized that there was never going to be anything romantic between her and Reina, and returned to just being best friends with her.

There is a vast difference between the meek pining that Shuuichi does and the raw interplay between Kumiko and Asuka. Compared to Kumiko/Asuka, Shuuichi's feelings can't be seen as anything beyond pitiful selfishness. If the story rewards him for that, it would be a travesty.

Claims of yuribait are mostly false, but claims that there is no Kumiko/Reina are true. It was one-sided, and Kumiko had to get past it. And that's fine. It fits the themes and tone of the story.