At first sight I’m tempted to condemn Kouichi as a complete Shinji, only confessing to Mao after Yuumi has finally and conclusively withdrawn from the ‘race’. That’s probably a bit unfair: Kouichi doesn’t have much left at the end of the show – no pride and probably not very much self-respect – but what he has (love for Mao) he’s got to work with.

Kouichi’d probably get cut more slack if he wasn’t contrasted to Kazuki, who figures out that he loves Eriko and then stubbornly persuades his way through her self-deception and fear. But then again it’s presumably the writers’ decision to put the two heroes together in the show.

Anyhow, thanks for the comment and I look forward to reading your own entry on the subject.

It seems KimiKiss has gotten surprisingly mixed reviews in the end around the blog- and forum-osphere, although I wonder how much of that is due to jaded shippers who fought a bit harder to get to the lifeboats.

I’m kind of confused on KimiKiss as a whole as well, and I’ll probably expound on this to tiring length later, but for now, I’ll reply to your succinct post.

Honesty with oneself probably is the closest thing KimiKiss has to a message, you’re right with that, mainly because none of the characters really were at the start. That doesn’t explain why some of them reaped the rewards at the end, and I’m still trying to find a moral in Asuka and Yuumi’s incredibly strong acceptance of defeat in the end (love isn’t everything?), though.

Also, I’m with you for giving Hiiragi some kudos for pulling out of the comic relief pile, although I wonder if this sort of attraction between him and Kuryuu had been going for longer behind the scenes.

(Meanwhile, Mitsuki sits around and gives everyone good advice and gets nothing in return. I figured she deserved more than a character that showed up for one episode in the beginning and two at the end, but oh well.)

So in the end, maybe KimiKiss wasn’t as much a world-rocking show as some of us first expected, but it still was undeniably entertaining and unpredictable (yet not) to watch, especially if you decide to become actively involved in taking sides like I did.

One more question: Do you think Kouichi redeemed himself in the last moments with Yuumi and Mao? I know Yuumi ended on a high note – somehow, I can’t believe that girl’s strength – but I’m not sure how much of that was Kouichi being slightly more awesome than usual as well.