windy said:i feel that
- the mangaka is a BL fan and likes to joke around with that with the cockblocking
- because of that the dudes are already going to be somewhat feminine
- she doesn't want this to turn into romance; rather have it stay focused on ayakashi not people
and i very much agree that natsume's cute and gentle because it's non-threatening/attractive to girls.
i think the thought of "not extremely masculine = gay" is disgusting and ainex should be ashamed of what they wrote.
that said: i am neutral towards sasada and i just don't see it happening. she can't see ayakashi so how could they ever work? they could come to an understanding but natsume will always be in a different world. even if he loses the ability to see the ayakashi like that one guy in whatever episode, he'll still never be a regular human being. he'll never be able to interact with humans normally because of what he's been through.
honestly sometimes i think sasada's role as possible romantic interest is a joke because of how much she got cockblocked. she's kind of there for comic relief and ~ a young (alive) female presence ~. so far, anyway. if she drops the ghost hunters act and tries to get to know natsume for natsume maybe her role will change.
gender completely aside, if anything happened, i'd like to see tanuma and natsume develop something because of how tanuma can kinda see ayakashi. they can bond over it and they can help each other understand what it's like to "be on the other side" - seeing the ayakashi or not seeing them. it works because tanuma knows about them and can see partial things/understand nyankosensei and likes natsume for who he is.
anyway my point is...i don't think gender itself matters, it just matters how you feel for the other person. i guess that's why i really hate gay stereotypes and yaoi anime/manga where EVERY MALE IS GAY RANDOMLY!!! just doesn't work that way...
but i still don't think anything is going to happen in the romance department. if anything does i'll be pretty surprised.
about xxxholic: i enjoy natsume more because, as weird as this sounds, it's more realistic. i feel i could see natsume on the sidewalk tomorrow, walking around. for all i know, there IS someone just like him walking around. watanuki, on the other hand, is a marvelous character but he's so unreal. i don't feel i could ever know someone like him. his character is so EVERYWHERE it's hard to visualize the real watanuki, which makes him seem hard to get close to/see as an individual.
haha that got long, sorry. i enjoy this series so much i kinda ran off with my response.