Slight warning, this post is a little bit long. So prepare for some douchebaggery and fun
Love, at a time, was so ripe the air, and it’s gonna be around for a couple of days which will equate to quite a number of hours. That doesn’t have to suck actually, especially if the love of your day has been a bar of soap and some VHS time (do people still have those?). Love comes to all and is for all, as even anime characters get their own share of love; some times reciprocated, some times ignored, some times unknown. With this in mind, here’s just a few combinations of some sort of unrequited love scenario that exists (or has existed) in anime.
Naruto Uzumaki & Sakura Haruno
Anyone who is in the faintest way familiar with the anime world (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?) and doesn’t recognize the name Naruto needs to be anally raped with a pestle shot in the face with a nail-gun checked proper for any signs of memory loss. Naruto is a brand name that you can scream out and have several looks; top of which would be either looks of familiarity or judgmental looks. But that’s not our business right now, no. We’re bringing this up to check out the love situation present. Naruto watchers know very well that Naruto loves Sakura and would go great lengths for her, although in an episode he told a certain Princess that he hadn’t told her that yet. Sakura’s love interest however, is Sasuke; and that one is a rather boring line scenario as it’s as one-sided and delusional as ever. Also, it’s full of too much angst. If Sasuke was gay however, he’d go for Naruto… no I’m not making jabs here, I’m just saying what I think may be so. Think about it; Naruto’s about the only one Sasuke has put his life on the line to save, and he’s the only one that Sasuke has actually asked to have a real fight with. Not only that, I think Naruto’s the only person Sasuke has actually had the longest conversation with out of everyone Sasuke knows.
So it’d be a love-triangle, but it’s not. It’s something almost like that… Anyhoo, Naruto’s love isn’t precisely unrequited, considering he hasn’t completely told her how he feels in all entirety.
Inoue Orihime & Ichigo Kurosaki
Kurosaki Ichigo is a character who has made actual bleaches all around the world very happy to be associated with the word bleach. Not only that, if he was whiter, a little muscular and decided to save off the awesome do that is his orange hair, he just may pass up as anime’s Kratos. Why? C’mon. Ichigo walks among the Shinigami, who could just be Greek’s version of gods. He’s kicked their asses (and gotten his handed to him several times) and has still had the time to keep his hair orange and spikey. With all this, there is one person who would be ever so grateful to him, and that is Orihime Inoue. Unlike the Naruto/Sakura situation, Orihime is more on the side of being ever appreciative of Ichigo’s presence because of what he did for her WAY back in the anime. If you remember that, you’re awesome. If you can’t, no worries, the brain can only contain so much of 220-episode animes apiece.
Ichigo saved Inoue from her brother when his wandering spirit turned into a Hollow (call this our Ogbanje lesser demons) and helped send him to Soul Society; giving him peace and washing away Inoue’s guilt after she had the chance to apologize for her rudeness on his last day on Earth.
We all wish we could have that kind of chance right? Yeah….
Ichigo would go to great lengths to save Inoue, as was evident when he got into Hueco Mundo to get her back. So you could say the feelings are somewhat reciprocated, although Ichigo wouldn’t state it as having feelings for her. Same could be said for Inoue, but earlier evidences of her stammering and blabbing whenever Ichigo talked to her is pretty much enough to tell us she had a sort of crush on him, which is probably still present.
Aoi Kunieda & Oga Tatsumi
Oga Tatsumi is the Earth parent of the Demon King’s baby son, in the anime Beelzebub. Dang, I need to get a piece about this one up because it’s definitely worth the time you’d spend on it. Oga gets stuck with Baby Beel early in the anime after Baby Beel is attracted by Oga’s fierce strength and disregard for human morality (not as par being perverse, more like ‘punch hard now ask what happened later’). After finding out from Baby Beel’s demon maidservant Hilda that it was his strength that caused the bonding, Oga originally goes in search of a suitable parent with immense strength. This path of fate brought him with Aoi Kunieda, who was the leader of the female group The Red Tails; ladies who were bent on preventing unnecessary fights among delinquents and at the same time beating up guys who tried to get the ladies’ ‘grubbies’.
It should be noted that Aoi is strong, strong enough to use a ruler and beat someone hands down using a stick. Her first major attack had her swiping the air and breaking windows as well as the wall. Yes, you read that right. She swiped the air and broke things without touching them. Of course this would be a suitable parent for Baby Beel, and Oga tried his luck and asked Aoi if she would be his mother.
You see, Oga’s known as the B.O.B; Baby Onboard Brawler. Because he kicks multiple asses while Baby Beel hangs on his back. The whole baby thing had Aoi getting a crush on him, and his offer to her made it flare even more. She has the tendency to blush hard whenever she realizes she’s with Oga and they are suddenly alone, but Oga is a pretty dense human being who constantly fails to notice the fact that Aoi has a growing crush on him; even though she would deny it with stammers and frantic hand gestures to anyone who points it out (sounds familiar right?).
Rin Okumura & Shiemi Moriyama
If after the rather entertaining yet summarized review of Ao No Exorcist you failed to pick up the anime and check it out, I can’t really imagine what I should say. May as well keep going with what I’m here for before I digress and enter sadomasochistic techniques that should be unleashed on you. Rin Okumura is one of the protagonists of Ao No Exorcist, the twin brother of Yukio Okumura and the son of Satan who inherits his abilities completely. After the death of Shiro Fujimoto, who committed suicide so Satan would stop possessing his body and hence leave the material world, Rin decided to become an exorcist so he could one day kick Satan’s ass. With this resolve, he’s enrolled into True Cross Academy alongside his brother, and begins attending Exorcist Classes in between normal classes.
Shiemi Moriyama on the other hand, helped her Grandma run the Exorcist-Only shop in True Cross Academy. She was saved by Rin and Yukio after they found out a demon was leeching her life force, and with this made a resolve to become an exorcist as well. It’s possible this is the point her crush for Rin began to develop. After enrolling into the Exorcist Classes, Rin tries to do things to seem pretty cool and impress her (a true life event of that here), but thanks to his ability to sleep easily during classes fails in the impressing sector. However, Shiemi’s gentility, perseverance and cuteness gets to him, and he soon begins to develop a crush for her. This gets on a higher level when she begins schooling in True Cross and starts wearing a uniform (she wore a kimono earlier, which pretty much hid her true figure). Damn traditional clothing.
Rin and Shiemi eventually have a nice friendship, and have really good talk times at later points in the show. Even after his true identity was known, she still accepted him as a close friend of hers. There’s a certainty that if it had been longer, their relationship could have been explored the more. Especially because close to the end she was in tears after Rin and Yukio returned from an epic battle; hugging both of them and scolding them for suddenly doing what they did. There are talks of a movie for Ao No Exorcist, who knows what could happen then.
Shirley Fenette & Lelouch Lamperouge
When talking about teen badassery, Lelouch Lamperouge (who changed his name from Lelouch vi Britannia) of Code Geass takes a high spot on that rank. Not only does he have an alter-ego and cool costume to prove that, but he also has a throne and a nationwide vendetta to prove it. The Emperor of Britannia, Lelouch eventually becomes entangled with the political issues arising between resistance groups and the Britannia Empire after accidentally getting on a truck used by Japanese resistance operatives. It’s on this truck ride that he is touched by someone dubbed C.C. and gains the power of the Geass, power that makes people obey you without any questions asked. If that isn’t one of the best gifts ever I don’t know what it. With this, he forms the Order of the Black Knights and rebels against the Empire. It’s in Ashford Academy which he attends that he meets Shirley Fenette.
Shirley Fenette is your typical nice girl who’s a very friendly person and has much love for her friends. Love makes the world go round a bit you know, so do friends. She gets a crush on Lelouch, which results in her jumping to conclusions about things involving him. This crush grows to the extent that she confronted another girl because she happened to get his attention. However, the girl (Karen) dismissed Shirley’s claims of anything happening between Karen and Lelouch. Her problem is being on the shy edge… and that is a real bummer, especially when you can’t seem to get the attention. Although eventually Shirley admits that she does have a thing for Lelouch, which is a plus don’t you think? Oh yeah, did I mention C.C. is a girl? That’s right. A girl gave a guy a gift that made him get people to obey him, and all I get are hand-written cards with Happy having one P.
Wako Agemaki & Takuto Tsunashi
Our early readers (we can’t forget you guys, you helped raise this blog status and we’re still grateful!) should be familiar with Star Driver thanks to Detanfy’s efforts. Those familiar with the anime in itself would know about it’s stunning art, it’s simple and yet get-you-in-the-behind story, it’s epic fight scenes and the turning of tables that make you go ‘What the hell?’ Star Driver had an uncanny way of showing you that good guys win, and win, and win, and win. Not even DJ Khaled making 3 remixes for ‘All I Do Is Win’ could compare with how much Takuto kept winning in this flick. Just ask Detanfy if you think I’m pulling sheets over your eyes.
Takuto Tsunashi is your average guy, except he’s not. He’s got hair to make you want to shave off the spikes on your mohawk because they look like brush bristles compared to his own spikey hair, and he doesn’t need to keep a mohawk. Not only does his hair color and eye color match, but he is as fit as God knows what. This is evident in the fact that he swam from a port to the island where he was to begin school and still managed to live. He also possesses a ‘Tau’ that signifies when someone has the force; force in this case being a gigantic robot called a Cybody. Know the awesome part? He owns the legendary 22nd Cybody called Tauburn.
Back to the swimming thing, after the full run he gets washed ashore and is found on the beach by Wako Agemaki and her to-be husband Sugata Shindou. Of course it’s not everyday you get to see lean sexy guys with flowing hair wash up on the beach close to where you live, so you can’t really blame Wako for developing something of a crush on him. But, she had a husband to-be. Like traditions, whichever ones still exist, Sugata’s heritage was to marry the South Maiden of the island, who was none other than Wako. When a group known as the Glittering Crux succeed in breaking the seals of the other maidens and try to break that of Wako’s, Takuto takes up his Galactic Pretty Boy persona and kicks serious butt, saving Wako while doing so. This is known as a driving factor to increase the potency of a crush, fellas. Take that down. Don’t buy flowers or anything, just kick butt and save her hiney, it’s guaranteed to not fail so far as you sustain injuries like Sylvester Stallone in Rambo and you’re still standing. In the end, the dreaded Friend Zone remained triumphant, and you can imagine that they became best of friends.
Well, there it is for you all. One major thing that can be noticed is that these relationships have to do with teenagers, so if you’re nearing 30 I advice you take up something else and become like Jiraiya in Naruto. Yeah, the one and only Pervy Sage, the Ero-Senin. But you should know that Jiraiya was also like Naruto; he had someone he loved but he never actually told her properly before he died. Need a hint? After hearing about his death, she drunk herself to a stupor while fighting back tears.
I’m pretty sure there are other relationships like these that exist in the anime world, for example Ouran Highschool Host Club and Dragon Crisis both have something akin to this. Which ones can you relate to? And do you think there are major ones that should have been here? Shout it out in the comments and let’s all find out, who knows this post could have a sequel if we get more scenarios rolling in.
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