Episode 10 of Sasaki and Miyano dissects what love means to Miyano – and it’s more complicated and nuanced than he realizes.
Kodoani.com – WARNING: The following part contains spoilers for Volume 10 of Sasaki and Miyano
With episode titles like “Love”, one would think that fans of Sasaki and Miyano would eventually see some real confessions, but that’s not the case. This most likely means that Miyano is finally realizing how much love means to the guy – it’s a real character development – but one also has to wonder if it’s really necessary. Does it take that long? It’s not like Miyano is completely ignorant of romances as he reads them all the time, and the guy even admits that he once liked a girl. So why does this wait happen?
Even in episode 10, Miyano still struggles to come to terms with her own feelings, wondering if her “like” is the same as Sasaki’s “like”. This thought even came to mind right after Sasaki rested his head on Miyano’s shoulder and they held hands like a couple. It seemed odd that Miyano could still be uncertain at this point since that was already obvious to everyone else, even Sasaki.
There are two main explanations for Sasaki and Miyano’s hesitation. First, as Miyano said, he wasn’t sure if his feelings were the same as Sasaki’s. Since he admires Sasaki first and foremost as a senpai – and the one who saved himself and his friend from bullies – he is trying to secure Sasaki’s respect. The second possibility is that he still has a lot of self-doubt that he has been carrying around for a long time, and is not easy to overcome.
Miyano told himself the first explanation but it didn’t make sense, because he felt Sasaki more clearly than anyone else, including other senpai like Hirano and Hanzawa – and there were many the case he seemed to have guessed. It could also have something to do with miyano’s fudanshi identity, as he is trying to reconcile it with his narcissistic feelings. Maybe Miyano just cared too much because sasaki wanted to help him. In that sense, Miyano was quite selfless and careful in how he treated Sasaki.
However, the second explanation makes less sense upon closer examination. In theory, Miyano could still have ways to move on when confident enough to accept that another person could love her as much. Even so, his actions really contrasted with any lack of confidence; if he really lacks confidence, maybe Miyano should assume that Sasaki will give up and move on after half a year with no response. In fact, Miyano was so sure about Sasaki’s feelings that he didn’t even seem to be in a hurry after being sure of his feelings.
This really shows that Miyano is secretly quite selfish. He is willing to leave Sasaki alone but is still ambiguous and even flirts without giving him a proper answer. It wasn’t until Miyano saw Sasaki with another woman (Sasaki’s younger sister) that he started to worry more. Miyano will probably enjoy being pursued by Sasaki more than he cares to admit, because it helped give him the confidence he lacked in the first place. He also didn’t want to take the initiative because he was always the passive one in this relationship.
Can both explanations be true at the same time, making Miyano both selfless and selfish? This was discussed in episode 8 of Sasaki and Miyano when Hanzawa talked to Miyano about what it means to love someone. Feelings of wanting to do things for the other person (selflessness) and wanting that person to do everything for you (selfish) are not mutually exclusive – they are both part of love.
Via: Kodoani.com
