>>46010308>I didn't realize until recently *why* people hate your "designated love interest" characters (Hinata X Naruto, Orihime X Ichigo, Kyrie X Nero, to name a few) until just recently: because they don't really exist for anything else. I know I'm thinking mostly in fanon terms, but watching two characters with a ton of depth get reduced to cliched blushing lovers just feels like shit.You hit a nail on the head that I didn't even notice was on the board.
Seriously, when will people learn that this kind of "romance" isn't romance at all? Friendship takes time to foster, and love takes even more time (and work); Time shared together that establishes the characters fondness for each other as they share experiences, get to know each other, and come to like what they see in each other, culminating in the realization that they make each other happy. I don't even think I can recall the last time this happened in vidya, or even pop media as a whole.
