Some in-depth thoughts this time. 
Romance, or Passionate Friendship?
Eâs desire to monopolise S is evident, particularly in the scene where he is walking S home, his arm around him, and A is trailing behind. However, he doesnât begin to pursue him romantically until A comments that he is treating S as though he were his lover. Does A give a name to Eâs feelings, allowing him to understand why he desires S so much? Or does E misinterpret his feeling due to her suggestion, and attempt to seduce S under the false impression that what he desires is indeed to be Sâs lover?
It isnât difficult to see this as a love story: E pursues S and tries to seduce him, Eâs desire to expose his naked body to S, Sâs fantasy of the two naked, the kisses, the similarities to the tragic romance of Romeo & Juliet, and the fact that the characterâs refer to their feelings of love. In most of my observations, Iâve taken for granted that this is indeed a love story.
However, I think itâs also worth considering that the boysâ feelings could be that of friendship, misinterpreted due to their inexperience. Both are very lonely: although E plays with A, she is after all only his younger sister, and he muses that he doesnât have any friends; S is an outcast with his peers. Neither has had a real friend before, and so their happiness and excitement at finally having a real friend is obvious.
While S is happy to play with A, E wishes to spend time alone with S; understandable since they are peers, and therefore will naturally have more in common with each other. It wouldnât be surprising if they felt more at ease with those of their own age and gender, and wished to spend time together rather than with a younger girl.
After E and A quarrel, E lies to S, saying that A left because she no longer wanted to play childish games. He comments that girls mature quickly - while this is used to support his lie, it may also reflect his true thoughts: even though A is younger, she suggests that Eâs behaviour is like that of a lover, something which apparently hadnât occurred to E before, demonstrating her emotional maturity compared to E.
Due to E trying to monopolise S, A becomes upset: perhaps she too lacks other friends, so it must be upsetting to be left out. Not only is she losing S, her new friend, but she is also losing her brother: she complains to E that he used to always be by her side, but now is only interested in S. A sibling rivalry develops to âwinâ S, as though the two are children fighting over a beloved toy. In their desire to win, they latch onto the idea of becoming lovers with S, because they have learned from their parents and society that this is an exclusive bond between two people; successfully becoming lovers with S would mean they would have this exclusive bond, and win their childish fight with their sibling.
And so the competition between the two to seduce S can be viewed as being motivated by jealousy between siblings to have something to themselves rather than sharing. It doesnât matter that the prize is a person rather than a toy; their desire to win is driven not by love, but by selfishness. Therefore the âromanceâ can be seen as merely a tactic that the siblings use in their game. Their emotional immaturity causes their initial rift (after all, they could decide that itâs best to all play together so no one is left out or feels hurt, as they had previously done happily before), and the idea of becoming lovers can be seen as similar to children playing house, as they lack the maturity to understand their own feelings or really understand what a romantic relationship involves.
A feels that she has a natural advantage since she is a girl - heterosexual relationships are the norm for the society she lives in, so she is confident that S will choose her. Compared to Eâs attempts at seduction, her pursuit of S is somewhat mild; she calls him out to play after Eâs failed attempt at seduction, and asks for a kiss after being rescued by S (which she doesnât seem to receive - it is possible that S kisses her while we only see Eâs angry reaction). Is this due to her confidence that S will naturally choose her, since she is a girl and a heterosexual relationship is ânormalâ? Or is it that she knows her feelings arenât those of love and romantic desire?
E, by contrast, is more daring and extreme: he tells S directly about Aâs comments on them seeming like lovers, steals kisses, caresses Sâs thigh, expressing his desire to be naked, strips in front of S, and in a last-ditch attempt at winning Sâs affection, makes himself extremely ill. Is this boldness driven by romantic desire, or merely a desire to win? It is obvious that he likes S a lot, but since he has never had a friend before (and presumably has never had romantic interest in others, either), itâs entirely possible that he lacks the experience and emotional intelligence to understand his own feelings.
While A feels she has an advantage by being a girl, E tries to turn the tide in his favour by stripping naked. A is angry, saying itâs different for girls, which is true - girls and women are held to different standards than men (both then and now) when it comes to nudity. While same-sex nudity may be acceptable in certain circumstances such as changing clothes for gym at school or bathing together, nudity in mixed company could be considered scandalous, particularly for women and girls (even today, in many places exposed breasts are considered highly sexual, even obscene - even when not in a sexual context, such as breastfeeding or, yâknow, just existing - and can result in harassment, threats, and assault, while menâs exposed chests are considered no big deal). E uses his own natural advantage of the freedoms afforded to men in order to try to seduce S.
We can also factor in the age difference between A and E when considering their attempts to make S their lover: while Aâs behaviour is more modest and âpureâ, Eâs appear more adult - his nudity, both in reality and Sâs fantasy, suggest the awakening of sexual desire in both boys. The way E is drawn in these scenes arenât sexual, though (at least to modern eyes): instead, it seems childlike and innocent, focusing on beauty and romance. It gives the impression of adolescent desire that doesnât fully understand the act of sex; the nudity is a metaphor for exposing their inner selves, removing the obstacles between them in their desire for closeness.
I think this is something that the intended audience would be able to relate to: young girls who have moved beyond the childlike games of playing house which merely mimic the family dynamics of those around them, and are interested in romantic relationships, but may not fully understand or be ready for a sexual relationship. The art displays curiosity regarding sex and sexuality, but primarily expresses the emotional desire of the characters.
Sâs shock at his own fantasies and running into Aâs arms suggest he is disturbed by feelings he considers unnatural, and seeks comfort from one who he feels is an acceptable object of desire; however it could also represent the conflicting feelings of an adolescent who is shocked and scared by unfamiliar desires that are so powerful they conjure up vivid images of a type of intimacy they have never experienced before.
Given the arguments above, it is possible that while E is pursuing S out of a desire to monopolise a cherished friend, his seduction ends up awakening real romantic and sexual desire in S. The turbulent journey from childhood to adulthood can be full of complex emotions and conflicting feelings: S experiences a sudden and intense desire for E, which shocks him so much he has to flee, both from his imagination, and physically from Eâs side.
Sadly, E and S arenât given the opportunity to explore their complex feelings and discover if what they feel for each other is indeed romantic love or passionate friendship; Eâs death crystallises their story into one of true love brought to a tragic end. Death is often used in narratives as a way to prove how intense and true a characterâs love is, showing that they are willing to sacrifice even their life for the object of their desire.
Itâs worth bringing up at this point that Romeo and Juliet were stupid. Perhaps thatâs too harsh: naive, rash, and hyper focused on their own feelings to the exclusion of everything else around them. It is a cautionary tale about young people who make bad decisions due to their emotional immaturity and inability to see the big picture. While part of the tragedy can be attributed to the situation they find themselves in (the warring families), it is their own choices that ultimately cost them their lives.
Eâs desperation drives him to put his life in jeopardy in order to win Sâs heart, and itâs possible that he (and perhaps also S) dies at the end. The enormity of his emotions, his immaturity, and lack of experience contribute to a potentially fatal decision to put himself in harmâs way. An adult can shake their head, tut, and say that there were so many other ways to achieve his goal, that he neednât have done something so extreme and dangerous, that he was a fool to sacrifice his life so needlessly⌠But itâs easy to forget, having weathered the storm of puberty and all its raging emotions and bad decisions, how overwhelming emotions can be and how hopeless situations can seem to those that are still trapped in that tumultuous period. Adolescents donât have the same freedoms, choices, experiences, and resources that adults have; they can feel helpless in the face of their own emotions and the situations they find themselves in. Adults conveniently forget their own bad decisions of their youth, and how it feels to be in that strange period between childhood and adulthood.
The story, like Romeo & Juliet, can be viewed as both a cautionary tale and a tragic love story. Perhaps Eâs love was platonic rather than romantic, but the power of his emotions still drove him to make choices that ended in tragedy.
Bury Your Gays
This trope is common in western media, but I donât personally think it applies to this story. Still, itâs worth taking a look and considering the tragic ending through this lens.
The potential heterosexual couple, S and A, donât face any consequences that we are aware of due to their relationship. There is the possibility of Aâs family being against their relationship if they were to become a couple due to the difference of class and racial prejudice, but thereâs not anything explicitly shown in the story. The only negative consequence seems to be Eâs jealousy.
By contrast, E and Sâs relationship does unequivocally result in tragedy. When E tries to keep S for himself, his arm around him and striding ahead of his sister, A slips and falls into the river, which leads to S rescuing her and A requesting a kiss. While Eâs actions donât lead to Aâs mishap, itâs interesting that the narrative shows his possessive behaviour towards S, swiftly followed by S bravely rescuing the damsel A, as though cosmically trying to steer the charactersâ stories into the ârightâ direction. Itâs easy to imagine the story being told from another perspective, where A is the main character and S her beloved, with E being an unwanted third wheel. In this scenario, the rescue would be considered a very romantic scene, with E being the evil love rival who is bitter about all the attention the sweet and pure A is receiving from S.
When E tries to seduce S in the sunroom, S flees into Aâs arms: this is a very clear depiction of E being the dangerous choice and A the âproperâ choice of lover. Eâs actions literally drive his would-be paramour into the arms of another. Similarly, after kissing S and leaving the room, A requests a kiss from S - his sister copying his tactics - which angers E. When E invites S over to the mansion and strips, A gets upset and S becomes angry with him and leaves the room, presumably to comfort A. It seems as though whatever E tries to do to win Sâs affection, it just drives S away from him and closer to A. Of course, Eâs final attempt is the most tragic: he purposely puts himself in a dangerous situation and catches pneumonia, which likely leads to his own death. While this can be viewed as him finally winning Sâs love, his death would leave S and A alone together to bond over their shared bereavement.
Having said that, the ending doesnât come off as E being punished for his immoral or unnatural attraction to S; instead it seems like the ultimate expression of love. Itâs interesting that the narrative manages to set up E and S as a couple in love who cannot be together (for many reasons: Sâs denial of his own feelings, the difference of their social status, Sâs ethnicity, the love rival A, the disapproval of Eâs parents, their physical separation, and finally, Eâs death); when viewed from the perspective of A, it could paint a very different picture - S saving her, wanting to include her when they play, running into her arms, and generally just wanting to be with her, while Eâs overt seductions fail over and over again. Even at the end, she selflessly helps S visit E while heâs ill, though her heart is breaking. Yet rather than sympathise with A, we root for E to overcome all the obstacles between them and win Sâs heart.
The tragedy of Eâs death isnât a punishment due to his sexual orientation, in fact the heavenly light streaming down on them and church-like sunroom could be viewed as their love being blessed by the heavens.
While I havenât read a lot of contemporary shoujo to be able to adequately compare them to E and Sâs love story, I did come across this interesting comment:
I think when discussing 1970s shoujo manga, in particular, this is a false equivalency. The fact is, aside from romantic comedies or aspirational sports shoujo manga, nearly all dramatic shoujo manga in the 1970s did end in tragedy, or at least had a lot of suffering in them. This is not unique to manga focusing on same sex relationships, but is largely true across the board. That was what was popular [âŚ] It was not something that singled out âqueerâ narratives (for lack of a better word) and is unfair to read it that way.
, and who knows, you might suck me into the coursework as well 
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I have no idea whatâs triggering it; I think the sunroom itself is also adding to the vibe, but I canât for the life of me figure out why.
