I swear, I think we were sisters separated at birth. This same thing bothered me to no end. Never would I ask my husband to do a job that he didn't want to, just to prove himself to me. I could never be happy knowing he was doing something he didn't want to do. Pushing the one you love is different than encouraging them. Just as being "worthy" in the eyes of others isn't as powerful as knowing your own worth.
Maybe we were? Who knows? I'd like you as a sister! (づ￣ ³￣)づ
It's as you said. Pushing the one you love is different than encouraging them. Because there are times where you just have to do a job you don't like, but if you have someone besides you supporting you, then your situation is different, it's more bearable.
But here, not only the fact that Ren is not so reliable comes to show, but also that he doesn't help to assure Midori's self-esteem.
In the end, to me, Ren wasn't worthy of Midori.
Again, I couldn't agree more. The tsundere types are commonly written to be so fickle and Ren is definitely tsundere. They have the feeling of disappearing at the first sign of real hardship in the relationship. I have no confidence that Ren wouldn't cut and run on Midori. Which, of course, makes the story not have such a happy ending for me.
I found that tsunderes are extremely used in mangas but not always given the proper character growth and resolution. And that leaves us with a character that isn't very likeable nor trusted.
The tsunderes that I do like, usually the authors make the go through some trial, where they must acknowledge their feelings to themselves and the other party, and sometimes even make some kind of big gesture, that goes against everything they believe in, but they do so because their SO is worth it.
Ren isn't one of them. Even worst, is not like it was a one shot, where character development is usually non-existent. The mangaka could have, should have, made a better job there. Just something that makes us more certain about their relationship.
It's one of those mangas where in one hand you are kind of happy for one of them (that's usually wrong, a happy ending you should be happy for both of them) because in some way that got what they wanted, but at the same time you want that same character to just realise that what they wanted wasn't exactly right for them and start wanting a different ending. It's not a happy ending. It just leaves you confused and dissatisfied.
I couldn't have said it better if I tried. I concur with every word.
I thought the same . Why would they force him like that and also the.
I didn't like the fact that in no part of this manga was the fact that Midori didn't want to be a model was addressed. His family kept pushing him into it and when he tried to tell Ren about it, Ren just tells him to man up. And so every effort he put into it is only so he could be "worthy" of Ren when Ren never cared about what Midori actually wanted.