poptart
Whoa, slow down there with the attack. I never pushed anything. I wrote everywhere that "I THINK" this is what is happening. The one who is pushing anything is you. Really, you must be part of the production team, to know so damn sure what exactly is happening and what Haru is supposed to be feeling. And of course I try to understand a character by using my own experince. How else are you supposed to judge a character? I use what I know, and take note of what I don't. Sorry, english is not my first language (and not my second, but who cares), maybe I don't know how to, then pray tell me, how else am I supposed to voice my OPPINION without hurting your (or anyone else's) sensitive feelings?
Asperger? Yeah, maybe, why not? Why so against the idea? It's not my headcanon. I didn't push the idea. It was the first time I voiced it. And I was not the first one to do it. So obviously I'm not the first to notice some things that are different about him. Let's see: Difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication? Check! Lack inborn social skills? Check! Restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests (taking the same route always, doing the same things, eating the same thing all day everyday)? Check! Appear to lack empathy? Check! Have a formal style of speaking? (someone said that he is like the wise voice in the group) Check! Avoid eye contact? Check! Be preoccupied with only one or few interests? Check! Unusual preoccupations or rituals (come on, he wears swiming trunks instead of underwear)? Check! Skilled or talented (drawing and sculpting, beside swimming)? Check!
He could very well be an aspie, alright! Was that the intention of the creators? Who knows! The creators put him there for a reason. They could have very well made four sweeties like Makoto, and we would have a very boring show. I don't know if the creators wanted to show us that different people need different aproaches. And I don't know if they wanted to show specifically an asperger case. But if they did, then they failed, because people see Haru as a braty bitch before a kid with psychological and emotional struglles.
Someone else also picked something about abandonment issues? Well, that's adding insult to injury then.
I'm not saying that he's the best character and is not his fault for what is happening. I'm just saying that he IS different, and reacts differently to the same situations. That has been thrown to us from the first season. That's why I'm judging him differently. Before concluding that he is a jerk, I want to try to understand why he acts the way he is. Anyway, considering that he's been like that his whole life, I think his friends already know that he won't act and react the same way as they do.
Haru is bad? Let's talk about the rest of them, shall we? I can somewhat understand Haru, because I can somewhat identify with him (I emphasize. Somewhat.). I can't understand Mako's desire to please everyone, and completely forget about himself. I can understand Rei's insecurities, but I can't understand his obssesion with "beautiful", while choosing butterfly swimming gear and butterfly pijamas and his obssesion with theories and calculation where is not the place for them. I can't understand Nagisa's bublly all-time-cheerful personality (actually, most of the time, that's damn annoying) and lack of understanding of personal space. The whole first season, Rin had a stick up his ass, for no apparent reason, to the point of not really talking to his own sister. Gou's obssesion with muscles, to the point of including that in that school presentation, probably had driven new members away. Souske had bulied Haru from the moment he appeared on the scene and had lied to everyone about being scouted and about the injury.
If you remember, Haru always said that he doesn't swim for winning or for time. But because he swims so well, everyone assumed he would go for that when he was not ready. Everyone was pushing him: Ama-chan, his old couch, his teachers, scouts, school principal, reporters, students from other school clubs, members from other teams and his friends.
Nagisa: "Before we swim at nationals, there's something we want to say. Because I get the feeling we can't swim as a real team there unless we do."
Rei: "Haruka-senpai... Both Nagisa-kun and I have admired your swimming for a long time. Watching the way you swim so free and unbound by anything, I found myself wishing I could swim that way, as well. But now that you're no longer able to swim freestyle, your swimming just isn't like you anymore. We want you to swim in front of the whole world, so that more and more people can see your swimming. And then, if more and more people were able to see your swimming and be moved like us, and wish they could swim like you too... I couldn't imagine anything more wonderful."
Mako: "Haru... I don't think you can go on this way, either."
Come on, you don't put the weight of the whole world on someone who just had a breakdown!
Yes, Rin also tried to guilt trip him. But he said somewhere before that he has found his dream, and he's not gonna swim for anyone else, not even for his father's dream, but for himself. I still don't like what he did here, with the words and story. What I did like, is him taking Haru out of the same scenery, away from the same people. I liked Rin showing Haru that there is more than Iwatobi, that there is more than Japan. Because it seemed that he couldn't see past that (what he said in the first season there? "About three years until I'm ordinary. I can't wait to be ordinary"). And he already kind of was the best there. What's there more to it? Of course he always had a choice. Everyone there has one (except poor Souske). Did he see that he has a choice? I don't know. Everyone wants something from him. Does he want the same thing? I still don't know.
And no. Mako didn't say that he can do whatever he wants, even stay the same. It was Haru who said that he wants to stay the same. And Mako said that he doesn't. Again, implying that he knows Haru better than Haru knows himself. An it might be true (it probably is), but that's not a way to tackle this problem with some people. Looks like things pilled up, and he snapped (I would too. Yeah, self insertion. So what?). In Australia he had time and (partial) silence to acknoledge what he wants, before everything is breaking apart even more. And I actually do think that Haru is fragile. More so than others. And you need to understand that not everyone is able to reach for help (fine ex. being depression). People are different. And (again, IMO, before you jump at me again), he needs to fix himself, before he tries to fix his team. Time in Austraila, breaking away from the routine and therefore his comfort zone, away from it all, might just be the cure for that. I guess we'll see in the last episode.
The fact that the team is breaking is not only his fault. Is everyone's. Especially Mako's. As much as I love Mako (he's so sweet, I would wrap him up and take him home), he is weak. He is not a leader. He listens to everyone, does what everyone wants of him, except what he wants himself. What happened to that episode, where everyone watching thought that he is gonna become a couch to teach little kids to swim? No, Mako is not a good captain. And actually, out of all of them, none would be. Mako is weak. Haru is detached. Rei is insecure. Nagisa is childish. Actually, I'm surprised the've gone this far. And Rin is iresponsible (letting Souske swim, when that might cause permanent damage to his shoulder). Souske is stupid, not taking care of himself, when he knows how serious that injury is, to just blindly follow Rin.
But hey, they're kids. And the bigest problem they all have, is proper comunication. But that's a problem for all animes. That the source for all misunderstandings and therefore, angst and drama.
And yes, if he doesn't say sorry to everyone, I'm gonna be mad.
Damn, this is definetly tl,dr. |