A few weeks ago, yuriperception mentioned a topic that intrigued me. It interested me to the point that I felt like I should discuss the topic of interest at least once (this particular post only skims the surface, admittedly).
I’m talking about the concept of ships that just won’t work out. That shouldn’t work out.
Of course, this is only my opinion. Some pairs can probably overcome these obstacles that I’m about to bring up. But they certainly make having a healthy relationship a bit more challenging.
1. One side is constantly angry or just cold
Alright, look.
It can be nice when a character gets angry at another character out of worry. After all, it’s a way to show that the upset character actually cares for the other character after the latter has gone through a dangerous situation. Fine. Warm and fuzzy feelings all around, right?
But if that sort of reaction is the default reaction and it comes up again and again, then it can get slightly irritating. It becomes a bit harder to remember that the upset character is genuinely concerned with the other character and a bit easier to assume that the character just likes nagging the other character.
Your mileage may vary, of course. But there’s a reason why some individuals dislike the Umi x Honoka ship. Although Umi does care for Honoka, she can only express her love (platonic or otherwise) by scolding her or by disapproving of Honoka’s poor choices or ideas. Umi ends up slapping Honoka hard (at least twice if my memory doesn’t fail me) and experiences no repercussions simply because she’s worried about Honoka’s well-being and because that’s the only way she can convey that anxiety.
People also like the concept of a tsundere love interest, but when the amount of tsun overshadows the amount of dere to a significant degree, then there’s bound to be some confusion and hurt feelings. Kanata from Little Busters! is a wonderful example in that regard. She does care for her little sister, Haruka, but she’s been essentially blackmailed to mistreat her or else Haruka might end up being killed by their extremely messed-up family. As a result, Haruka only sees Kanata’s cold and harsh attitude, which causes Haruka to resent Kanata for many years until the truth finally comes out.
2. Unrequited and excessive groping
Well, it’s a way to establish that a character really likes the other character. Or that the groper is a tease who likes provoking the gropee. But it’s still a blatant sign of disrespect and disregard of personal boundaries and can be taken too far.
Mari x Kanan manages to balance this out fairly well – while Mari gets a bit too physically intimate for Kanan’s tastes at times (as seen when Kanan half-jokingly claims she’ll sue Mari for her misconduct), Kanan herself can return the favor. As a result, the behavior shared between the two girls is thus shown to be mutual and friendly (and flirty).
But, as yuriperception pointed out, the same can’t be said for Kuroko x Misaka. Kuroko is too aggressive and her hands-on approach is not appreciated by Misaka in the slightest. Despite Misaka repeatedly demonstrating that she dislikes and is uncomfortable with Kuroko’s antics, the assertive girl continuously sexually harasses Misaka. This is definitely not mutual and not exactly healthy, which makes supporting said ship difficult.
3. Emotional manipulation and negative attention
I’m probably going to get some heat for this, but the current behavior between Chise and Elias cannot be considered romantic in my book. Elias admits that he claimed she is family to him because he knew those were the words she desperately wanted to hear during episode 6. Essentially, he was just saying the words she wanted to hear. But since Chise is so starved for affection, she accepts said words and doesn’t resent him when the truth comes out.
Because to her, any sort of attention is fine. Even negative attention is still attention and is thus acceptable. And this is something that a lot of anime characters (and shippers) seem to believe. Think of all the class clowns that mess around in order to be scolded and punished (*cough*like Naruto*cough*). Such behavior is often demonstrated by lonely individuals who are, simply put, desperate.
As a result, Elias’ behavior can only be interpreted as manipulative. I’m not sure if the fact that he doesn’t really understand human behavior or rationale helps his case here. But it does establish that his sense of morality doesn’t necessarily align with human values. I wouldn’t be surprised if he does something that is decidedly evil in an attempt to keep Chise dependent on him. If that were to happen, would that be considered romantic? Would Elias get a free pass because of his lack of understanding human values?
There’s a lot more to say about this subject, but I’ll cut it short here.
Do you have any “red flags” when it comes to shipping? I’ll love to hear about it in the comments section!
The Lily Garden 
As for Misaka/Kuroko, I’ve thought it was a matter of Kuroko needing to mature a bit. In the moments when Kuroko *isn’t* being perverted or clingy, you can see some clear affection they have for each other. I think if Kuroko could tone it down (a lot) and just be Misaka’s support system, it could easily develop into love. I would say Kuroko missed her chance in S2 Ep22, when Misaka felt no one would have wanted to be her friend if she weren’t a Level5. As Kuroko was embracing her and reassuring her, Misaka has a moment of peace and contentment. All Kuroko had to do was control her lustful desires at that moment, and she could have started winning Misaka over.
I also see certain difficulties in Misaka’s relationship with Touma. First there’s the Imagine Breaker, which would effectively curse their relationship. Second is his “unwanted harem”. I see Misaka as the monogamous type; it’s established she is a jealous type. As Touma would never be able to rid himself of the harem (as much as he might want to), her jealousy and desire for a one-to-one relationship would ultimately drive them apart. A toned-down Kuroko on the other hand would be committed to Misaka alone, no outside distractions.
Of course, a lot of this speculation come from some post-series fanfic I’m trying to work on, seeing how the characters could develop years later (I need to fix the prequel story I already posted, to clarify the issues with the Touma relationship).
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Fair enough. It is clear that Kuroko and Misaka do care for one another. Kuroko just goes a bit too far in showing that affection.
Touma really does have his own issues, yeah. In that respect, I have to give props to Kuroko for only having eyes for Misaka. Pretty sure Misaka is the only girl she goes for, too, since when she temporarily lost her memory…
Oooohh neat!
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I inspired a blog post?! Nani?!
Oh my. I feel…kinda honored, I guess? And mentioned twice, to boot? Gosh. *blush*
Anyways, I agree with these ones mostly and the ones in the comments (though I haven’t gotten to ep6 of Magus Bride yet, as I’ve been waiting for better subs that have been slow to come out, and have lots of other shows to watch this season).
Though…I am pretty guilty of shipping Umi x Honoka…but in my defense, it’s as part of the HonoKotoUmi OT3? And also, my ships sometimes tend to detach a bit from the reality of a show/what happens in canon and go straight into fanfic/headcanon territory, so that likely also plays a part here…
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Haha! Yes, rejoice! Well, it was a very valid point so I should be the one feeling honored that you brought it to my attention.
Ah, got it (mmm I understand the need to wait. There’s a lot of shows to watch for Fall 2017!)
Ohhh I didn’t meant to shame Umi x Honoka shippers. There’s definitely something there (as with the OT3). It’s just that I wanted to point out that some people may like to exaggerate Umi’s harshness and they’re not entirely wrong. Be that as it may, I really can’t see Honoka with anyone else but a 2nd year (except maybe Tsubasa).
Mmm nothing wrong with a little headcanon here or there.
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I haven’t seen episode six of the masses bride yet, but I kind of saw a reveal like that coming. I don’t view the relationship between the two in any way romantic. Their characters both have a lot of maturing to do before it can head in that direction in my opinion. I wouldn’t mind seeing it take a more romantic turn once they have matured.
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Mmm. It wasn’t unexpected for sure. It’ll take quite a considerable amount of character development before I accept their relationship as being romantic, too. I’m glad you and I are on the same page!
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When one person’s love is supposed to “fix” the other person. He might be a thug, a delinquent, a drug addict, even a murderer, but all he needs to do is fall in love with her, and suddenly he’ll become the most wonderful guy in the world. *barf* I don’t even want to know how many people have bought into that load of nonsense about “fixing” your partner with love, and ended up in disastrously unhealthy real-life relationships because of it.
That coupled with a healthy dose of #1 was the reason why I utterly loathed the Sasuke/Sakura ship, BTW.
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Yeah, that sort of silly mentality is only a set-up for heartbreak. Not everything in life can be fixed like in fairy tales, after all.
Oh, totally, Sasuke is a complete thug. Sakura has terrible judgment.
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I don’t think you are going to get heat at all for Chise and Elias’s relationship, because that is exactly how I feel about it. I don’t consider it romantic in any way at the moment. In fact I don’t even trust Elias. I haven’t in any way since the beginning of the series. It might be that Chise is going to hopefully have a positive influence on him in some way, I don’t know. At the moment though, I seriously don’t like where this relationship is going.
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Ah, I’m glad that I’m not alone.
Elias is rather shady even for a mage of shadows, right?!
Mmm we’ll have to see.
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Yeah, shady is definitely the correct word for it, that’s for sure. I hope we are proven wrong and Elias turns out to be agreat guy, erm mage 😀
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Those three are very valid, I don’t think I can think of any off the top of my head. Well a common theme in BL is that often times a character is coerced into a physical relationship and that they’ll enjoy it in the end.
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Thank you, Zel!
Ah, yeah, that happens in yuri and probably heterosexual rom/drama, too. It paints a bad picture where being forceful or disrespectful of consent is okay as long as the recipient enjoys it at the end. Yikes! Good one~
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Have you heard of this manga where this girl is kidnapped by some guy, and while shes being held hostage realizes she doesn’t mind being caught by this dude and eventually falls for him? I saw it, and was like WTF but yeah. I cant remember the title.
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No, what the heck?!
Yikes, that sounds like a disaster.
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Mainly those three Remy-nii, mainly those three are the issues!
If I HAD to include some more reasons, I guess I have to include-
When one of them flirts with every other person but expects the other not to talk to anyone else: Excessive Possessiveness
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Ah, there’s definitely more. I just listed some that came into mind.
I HATE THAT ONE.
Double standards AND being overly possessive? I don’t like it.
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4. Remy is the shipper!
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That spells doom for any ship, I agree.
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