Of Juices and Cookie - A Hikaru-Kaoru Analysis
I wrote this entry for an Ouran forum and thought I might as well post it here... although I'm not sure how many of you follow Ouran -.-;; I really suggest not reading this unless you did follow the latest manga development though cuz it contains a lot of spoilers and the recent development is not the most pleasant for a lot of us (read: Twincest fans). So it would probably be a very heavy read for those who does not know of the story.
Warning: This entry contains spoilers for Ouran specifically for those who does not follow the latest manga scanslation from LaLa.
In light of Kaoru's confession about his feelings for Haruhi, many of the twin's fans have mixed feelings. As usual, some cheered and some mourned. I guess I wanted to take this chance to take a closer look at the twin's relationship throughout the series, and hopefully give a logical predication as to where the author plans to take their relationship.
As many people have noted, Hikaru is dependent on Kaoru. Kaoru was the one who dealt with Hikaru's emotional outburst, and he is the one who understands Hikaru's emotion even better than Hikaru himself. Some says that Hikaru is selfish - I personally think otherwise, as we see from episode 16 (the dating episode), despite being with on a date with Haruhi, a girl who Kaoru claims that Hikaru likes, it was clear that Hikaru only treated Haruhi with civility because he remembers Kaoru told him to do so. In a sense, it was for Kaoru sake that Hikaru went on a date with Haruhi. Similarly, it wasn't until Haruhi suggests that they look for gifts for Kaoru that Hikaru can truly enjoy the date. Even then, Hikaru made the comment that he still wished Kaoru was there. Such example, to me, shows that while Hikaru is dependent on Kaoru, he is not selfish, but rather, he wants to share everything he experience, good and bad, with Kaoru. This notion of sharing is emphasis even more in chapter 45 in the manga with the cookies scenes. While Hikaru is bad with emotion, he, somehow, did sense that Kaoru was lying about him already had the cookies, and forcefully (?lol) shared the cookie with Kaoru. Hikaru did not know why Kaoru got hung up on a cookie, possibly because he doesn't know Kaoru's sentiment their feelings for Haruhi, but what Hikaru does know is that he doesn't like his brother getting the shorter end of the stick even if it's for himself.
So under the above same logic, how would Hikaru react if he knows about Kaoru's feeling for Haruhi? Well, first, we never really know how Hikaru really feel for Haruhi. While Kaoru understand Hikaru a lot, can we really trust his judgment? While Kaoru is the more matured one of the two, he is still not as matured as, say Honey and Mori sempai... His world, like Hikaru, is still small, and Haruhi's existence is a new phenomenon to both of them. We know that Haruhi is someone special to Hikaru because she can tell him apart from Kaoru, and he sees her as a friend that he cherished enough to want to be on the same team during the sports festival (chapter 46). Some argues that Hikaru sees Haruhi as more important than Kaoru because when Haruhi offers to switch teams with Kaoru so the twins can be on the same team, Hikaru says he wants all three to be on the same team instead of jumping to her suggestion. I find that argument rather flawed, as it really should not be a difficult thing to switch teams considering the connections that the Hatachiin have, so it would be natural for Hikaru to have the best of both worlds. The only reason why Hikaru didn't pushed for the team switch is because Kaoru on staying on the white team.
So in all honesty, we don't know what Hikaru feel for Haruhi especially in comparison to what he feels for Kaoru, simply because he himself does not know it either - and no one else can tell but himself. Also, since the twin's world is still small, they simply cannot comprehend the difference between someone who they like to spend time with (friends) verses someone who they like romantically (many older more experienced ppl in real life still don't know, so i don't expect them to). As far as we know, both "could have been" romantic scenes that Hikaru shares with Haruhi are marred with numerous thoughts of Kaoru that it really seem to prove that Kaoru is still more important to Hikaru than anyone else.
...which leads to the main issues that is revealed in chapter 45 - Kaoru's feeling for Haruhi.
Of all characters, Kaoru is the first to admit/acknowledge that he likes Haruhi, but is also the first to indicate that he does not want to compete for her because he (obviously) wants to set her up with Hikaru. While I know Hikaru is not good with his own feelings, I don't think he's totally unperceptive of other's feeling (whether he has the courtesy to respect them is another matter), consider the fact that he did notice Tamaki's feeling, I believe there's two reason why Hikaru hasn't catch up on the situation.
1. He doesn't know that Kaoru thinks he likes Haruhi (mostly because he doesn't think he likes Haruhi) - so to him, it's simply strange to think that Kaoru would set up up with her.
2. Kaoru wasn't acting strangely (until now) and was confident he was doing the right thing. And the twin can be a darn well actors when they want to be -.-;
But things are changing, and Kaoru is getting uncertain and it's really a matter of time before Hikaru would find out about Kaoru's feeling, so what happens then?
To me, I think Hikaru sees two straight solution:
1. Sharing: They join force to steal Haruhi's heart from Tamiaki and live the brotherly-love ultimate 3-some romance ^^; (Though due to the nature of Shojo manga, that will be highly unlikely).
2. Hikaru retire from the competition because as seen from above argument, just like Hikaru is more important than "romantic feeling" to Kaoru, Kaoru is still #1 to Hikaru. Even in the resort episode, we see that after the vase/window dropping incident, Hikaru is totally shaken from the possibility of Kaoru getting injured. If Kaoru is protective of Hikaru's feeling and his relationship with him, then Hikaru is frightened of losing Kaoru to the point of total dependence. It is hard to see the possibility of HikaHaru or KaoHaru in this respect, and I personally believe that the Kaoru confession is more a catalyst to end HikaHaru rather than to dispel HikaKao or to have a everyone for Haruhi drama.
Now on the second discussion which is related to the state of the twin's relationship. Can Kaoru really live on his own fine? Is Hikaru really just a burden to him? To me, it seems many tend to believe that Kaoru can do just fine without Hikaru because he's the more matured one. While I agree that Hikaru is more childish at handling his feelings, I honestly don't think it's a direct give-and-take relationship.
Kaoru did not drop out of the competition because he's nice. He drop out because he values Hikaru more than a chance to be with Haruhi.
Kaoru can't bare to see Hikaru upset - we see that in eps 5 when Kaoru defend why he sleeps in Hikaru's bed because he can't stand seeing him lonely (though one might argue that Kaoru is probably also feeling the same XD). And if Renge's scripts was any reflection of the twin's relationship, then one may say that they share each other's pain. While Kaoru is better at masking his anger, he did admit that he wasn't happy either when the crowd was talking with Haruhi's old friend... In a sense, both twins are still immature and possessive, just that Kaoru is better at hiding it (as Hikaru has hinted at eps 5, he maybe more blunt, but Kaoru is the one who's truly evil at the core). Kaoru is equally needy and perhaps more fearful of being lonely, except he's better at hiding it. In a way, I see that while Kaoru tends to Hikaru's emotion, he also feels secured because he knows Hikaru is still closest to him. (which is why he's relief when Hikaru returns to him first in the Halloween eps. In a childish way, he still wants to be Hikaru's #1)
And even though he keep pushing Hikaru to Haruhi, he feels more and more lonely and anxious as he sees Hikaru grows more independent. In a way, Kaoru is still silly because he's really hurting himself and not necessary helping Hikaru. People mature through time, and we learn to deal with our emotions and people one way or another (at our own pace), and Hikaru's world was already slowly opening up ever since they join the Host Club and later as they met Haruhi. Kaoru's pushes only seems to tear his relationship further apart from Hikaru rather than truly necessary to make him grow. In a way, I see Kaoru's action to be masochistic, as it simply cause more harm to himself than it would help Hikaru. Because while socially Hikaru depends on Kaoru to handle the his emotion, Kaoru depends on Hikaru to feel "not lonely". And there's yet a substitute for Hikaru in Kaoru's life.
Warning: This entry contains spoilers for Ouran specifically for those who does not follow the latest manga scanslation from LaLa.
In light of Kaoru's confession about his feelings for Haruhi, many of the twin's fans have mixed feelings. As usual, some cheered and some mourned. I guess I wanted to take this chance to take a closer look at the twin's relationship throughout the series, and hopefully give a logical predication as to where the author plans to take their relationship.
As many people have noted, Hikaru is dependent on Kaoru. Kaoru was the one who dealt with Hikaru's emotional outburst, and he is the one who understands Hikaru's emotion even better than Hikaru himself. Some says that Hikaru is selfish - I personally think otherwise, as we see from episode 16 (the dating episode), despite being with on a date with Haruhi, a girl who Kaoru claims that Hikaru likes, it was clear that Hikaru only treated Haruhi with civility because he remembers Kaoru told him to do so. In a sense, it was for Kaoru sake that Hikaru went on a date with Haruhi. Similarly, it wasn't until Haruhi suggests that they look for gifts for Kaoru that Hikaru can truly enjoy the date. Even then, Hikaru made the comment that he still wished Kaoru was there. Such example, to me, shows that while Hikaru is dependent on Kaoru, he is not selfish, but rather, he wants to share everything he experience, good and bad, with Kaoru. This notion of sharing is emphasis even more in chapter 45 in the manga with the cookies scenes. While Hikaru is bad with emotion, he, somehow, did sense that Kaoru was lying about him already had the cookies, and forcefully (?lol) shared the cookie with Kaoru. Hikaru did not know why Kaoru got hung up on a cookie, possibly because he doesn't know Kaoru's sentiment their feelings for Haruhi, but what Hikaru does know is that he doesn't like his brother getting the shorter end of the stick even if it's for himself.
So under the above same logic, how would Hikaru react if he knows about Kaoru's feeling for Haruhi? Well, first, we never really know how Hikaru really feel for Haruhi. While Kaoru understand Hikaru a lot, can we really trust his judgment? While Kaoru is the more matured one of the two, he is still not as matured as, say Honey and Mori sempai... His world, like Hikaru, is still small, and Haruhi's existence is a new phenomenon to both of them. We know that Haruhi is someone special to Hikaru because she can tell him apart from Kaoru, and he sees her as a friend that he cherished enough to want to be on the same team during the sports festival (chapter 46). Some argues that Hikaru sees Haruhi as more important than Kaoru because when Haruhi offers to switch teams with Kaoru so the twins can be on the same team, Hikaru says he wants all three to be on the same team instead of jumping to her suggestion. I find that argument rather flawed, as it really should not be a difficult thing to switch teams considering the connections that the Hatachiin have, so it would be natural for Hikaru to have the best of both worlds. The only reason why Hikaru didn't pushed for the team switch is because Kaoru on staying on the white team.
So in all honesty, we don't know what Hikaru feel for Haruhi especially in comparison to what he feels for Kaoru, simply because he himself does not know it either - and no one else can tell but himself. Also, since the twin's world is still small, they simply cannot comprehend the difference between someone who they like to spend time with (friends) verses someone who they like romantically (many older more experienced ppl in real life still don't know, so i don't expect them to). As far as we know, both "could have been" romantic scenes that Hikaru shares with Haruhi are marred with numerous thoughts of Kaoru that it really seem to prove that Kaoru is still more important to Hikaru than anyone else.
...which leads to the main issues that is revealed in chapter 45 - Kaoru's feeling for Haruhi.
Of all characters, Kaoru is the first to admit/acknowledge that he likes Haruhi, but is also the first to indicate that he does not want to compete for her because he (obviously) wants to set her up with Hikaru. While I know Hikaru is not good with his own feelings, I don't think he's totally unperceptive of other's feeling (whether he has the courtesy to respect them is another matter), consider the fact that he did notice Tamaki's feeling, I believe there's two reason why Hikaru hasn't catch up on the situation.
1. He doesn't know that Kaoru thinks he likes Haruhi (mostly because he doesn't think he likes Haruhi) - so to him, it's simply strange to think that Kaoru would set up up with her.
2. Kaoru wasn't acting strangely (until now) and was confident he was doing the right thing. And the twin can be a darn well actors when they want to be -.-;
But things are changing, and Kaoru is getting uncertain and it's really a matter of time before Hikaru would find out about Kaoru's feeling, so what happens then?
To me, I think Hikaru sees two straight solution:
1. Sharing: They join force to steal Haruhi's heart from Tamiaki and live the brotherly-love ultimate 3-some romance ^^; (Though due to the nature of Shojo manga, that will be highly unlikely).
2. Hikaru retire from the competition because as seen from above argument, just like Hikaru is more important than "romantic feeling" to Kaoru, Kaoru is still #1 to Hikaru. Even in the resort episode, we see that after the vase/window dropping incident, Hikaru is totally shaken from the possibility of Kaoru getting injured. If Kaoru is protective of Hikaru's feeling and his relationship with him, then Hikaru is frightened of losing Kaoru to the point of total dependence. It is hard to see the possibility of HikaHaru or KaoHaru in this respect, and I personally believe that the Kaoru confession is more a catalyst to end HikaHaru rather than to dispel HikaKao or to have a everyone for Haruhi drama.
Now on the second discussion which is related to the state of the twin's relationship. Can Kaoru really live on his own fine? Is Hikaru really just a burden to him? To me, it seems many tend to believe that Kaoru can do just fine without Hikaru because he's the more matured one. While I agree that Hikaru is more childish at handling his feelings, I honestly don't think it's a direct give-and-take relationship.
Kaoru did not drop out of the competition because he's nice. He drop out because he values Hikaru more than a chance to be with Haruhi.
Kaoru can't bare to see Hikaru upset - we see that in eps 5 when Kaoru defend why he sleeps in Hikaru's bed because he can't stand seeing him lonely (though one might argue that Kaoru is probably also feeling the same XD). And if Renge's scripts was any reflection of the twin's relationship, then one may say that they share each other's pain. While Kaoru is better at masking his anger, he did admit that he wasn't happy either when the crowd was talking with Haruhi's old friend... In a sense, both twins are still immature and possessive, just that Kaoru is better at hiding it (as Hikaru has hinted at eps 5, he maybe more blunt, but Kaoru is the one who's truly evil at the core). Kaoru is equally needy and perhaps more fearful of being lonely, except he's better at hiding it. In a way, I see that while Kaoru tends to Hikaru's emotion, he also feels secured because he knows Hikaru is still closest to him. (which is why he's relief when Hikaru returns to him first in the Halloween eps. In a childish way, he still wants to be Hikaru's #1)
And even though he keep pushing Hikaru to Haruhi, he feels more and more lonely and anxious as he sees Hikaru grows more independent. In a way, Kaoru is still silly because he's really hurting himself and not necessary helping Hikaru. People mature through time, and we learn to deal with our emotions and people one way or another (at our own pace), and Hikaru's world was already slowly opening up ever since they join the Host Club and later as they met Haruhi. Kaoru's pushes only seems to tear his relationship further apart from Hikaru rather than truly necessary to make him grow. In a way, I see Kaoru's action to be masochistic, as it simply cause more harm to himself than it would help Hikaru. Because while socially Hikaru depends on Kaoru to handle the his emotion, Kaoru depends on Hikaru to feel "not lonely". And there's yet a substitute for Hikaru in Kaoru's life.