To explain what I mean I need to go into spoiler territory. You see a relationship is about being there for each other, working each other's problem, feeling each other's pain, and work to help each other overcome their struggles. The majority of the story Rikuo and Shinako have been doing this. It is extremely believable for me to see that they are in love; they're just bad at it. (Which is understandable considering their personalities.) They are willing to suffer for each other to be together. That felt like love. They stumble a lot and made many mistakes because they have reach peak maturity yet. But that how relationships are. You make mistakes and mature for each other. Haru on the other hand didn't go through this with Rikuo. It felt more like an immature crush. Haru has "best girl personality" and did what considered a favor. Pushing Rikuo to chase the job he wants is a extraordinary favor. But it doesn't bond a person closer in the way you think. It just makes you appreciate them more. They didn't put in effort take on each other's struggle at all. The only suffering being experience is when Haru experience heartbreak or jealously. Rikuo never felt that. He didn't feel her struggles. He just felt bad for her and tried his best to not make it worse. They do support each other. But only in out of nowhere moments that wasn't present through out the series like that break-in thief moment. This is more akin to friends support rather than romantic support. Haru has "best girl personality" which makes her likable, yes. But that's not the same as pairing her up with what Rikuo and Shinako experience together. What they went through together was special. Trading that away for someone with a better personality leaves many viewer feeling empty. I'm not mad at pairing her up with Rikuo. I'm mad at how it was handle. If the author wanted to pair these two up at the end, he needs Rikuo and Haru to go through something special. They need to have a moment where Rikuo sees Haru differently for the first time. Rikuo needs to accept Haru's struggle and he also needs a struggle that doesn't depends on Shinako so Haru can accept his struggle. Since his struggle revolves around Shinako, Haru can't exactly accept it the same way Shinako and Rikuo accepeted each other's struggle. How the author paired up Haru and Rikuo was poorly done and failed to be special like what Rikuo and Shinako had. Haru should have had a different happy ending.
Let's talk about Rou now. Rou whether it was intentional or not, represent immaturity. He would have been the perfect allegory for what all the other character should be trying to get away from. Every character are on a path to maturity. He is the most immaturity character on the show. He constantly lashes out and make create selfish drama. He would have been a great foil if the show used him right. The most logical step for his character is finally mature at the end. If the show actually done that, I would've like his character. Instead, every screen time he gets, we never see him make steps into growing as a person. He remains the same person throughout the story. This makes him my least favorite character. Pairing him up with Shinako was a bad idea. Shinako states over and over again that he is nothing more than a kid brother to her. She cannot see him anything other that. Nothing's changed. Why did Shinako choose him out of no where. It makes no sense. Where did that come from? Yes, she loves Rou more than Rikuo. But it's she over and over states it's because he's like a little brother to her. He is family. That's why she loves him. How is loving Rou more than Rikuo an excuse for the break up? Her relationship with Rikuo never changed. It was stagnate. Nothing happened to change how she sees him. Even if she did love him all this time and never realized it, it doesn't make sense. Why did she reject him in the begin and throughout the series if she loved him back the same way all this time? Why about being in a relationship with Rikuo made her realized she loves Rou. This is never explored. It just comes out of nowhere especially since her perception of him never changed. Although I don't agree with the decision, there is a way to make the pair work. Include a scene that shows Shinako seeing Rou in a different light. Then show a scene where Shinako finally sees him as a potential love interest. I still would like it but it's workable. That at least have some level of working. Her conflict with Rou didn't even resolve. She just kinda says I love him and that was that. Having that be the other half of why Shinako and Rikuo's relationship fall apart just insulted the audience really bad.
At the end of the day, The first 11 episode showed two adults reach the next level of maturity. But then the 12th just plummeted to high school maturity, which is worse than where the show began. That ending was beyond bad. I do still think it's a good anime. It challenges the viewers to question what it means to be mature. Just don't expect it to give you answers because the answers it give are bad. There where much better ways for the author to end with the pair they want. You can enjoy series, but you most certainly won't enjoy the ending.
