Reikuo said:SaucyShamrock said:
The farewell was platonic? Seriously? No way. There was way too much emotion.
I'm still not certain about Reina. She does so many confusing things that if she didn't have this immature crush on Taki-sensei, I would say 100% that she's into Kumiko. Either that, or she has a twisted sense of humour to toy with Kumiko like that.
However, I do think that Kumiko is in love with Asuka. Short-form, the turnaround she had from disliking her to loving her was way too fast. You'd expect such a reaction from someone who you have been friends with for a long time, or alternatively, someone you've just recently fallen in love with. The emotion is just too intense. I don't remember exactly how many times Kumiko has cried, but it was at least twice with Asuka, and those are couple of the most emotional moments I can recall in the series.
I think its pushing it to see Kumiko and Asuka as a thing. Asukas arc parallels with Kumikos sisters and Asuka is going through almost the same situation Kumikos sister did. This is part of the reason Kumiko wanted to help. Then Kumiko warmed up to Asuka the most right as she was about to graduate, which is why she was upset and told Asuka her feelings. She felt she wasted a lot of time that could have been spent with her, she was openly stating her regret. The whole spending the first part of the year disliking her statement. It was also clear Asuka was in more of a odd place then before in the show at then end of season 2 due to the emotions she had to deal with between playing for her dad, and putting up with her mom. Thats where most of her new emotions came from not a sudden love for Kumiko.
As for Kumiko and Reina, the community always has its yuri goggles on so general consensus does not hold much weight in a discussion like this but I think its clear that Reina and Kumiko could be a thing. You dont have to do much overreaching to see it either. She likes Taki sure, but who cares? Honestly its not a huge part of the show. She had a few moments talking to him and the longest bit of the show focusing on these two was as far as I interrupted it the conclusion to this arc and her feelings for him after visiting his wifes grave. Kumikos narration said she never spoke of him again, nor was her performance any longer affected. Kumiko and Reina being a thing does not mean that in episode 1 of the next season they should be making out, it just means that there is a genuine pathway for them to be together with more storytelling. Which there is most certainly with what they have built between them now.