Thank you sm for the ask about Teru :D
And I just read your tags and you said you really liked Kou 👀👀 I am curious to know why if that's okay with you :D
Thank you for answering the Teru ask! :D
And absolutely! I'll take any excuses to talk about Kou!
I adore Kou because he is kind, but it’s a very interesting and genuine take on kindness. He isn’t an angel that does no wrong and forgives it all, he is just a 14 years old boy.
He always tries his best to help, and he usually has good intentions but he fails more than anyone. He is naive and reckless: He unconsciously sabotages himself a lot, which ironically hurt people more than helps.
His selflessness is inherently selfish, and he always accepts more than he can take: He promised to always stay on Yashiro’s side. He promised Teru to keep an eye on Hanako and make sure he doesn’t get out of line.
These promises contradict each other, he cannot fulfill the two, so even though his intentions clearly aren’t to hurt anyone he will have to hurt someone. But he is impulsive and he doesn’t seem to fully realize that, so he keeps making even more promises as he goes, promising to increase Yashiro’s lifespan, promise to help Mitsuba...
He betrayed Teru by taking Nene’s side and protecting Hanako despite their deal from the young exorcist arc, he hurt Teru badly, just like he would have hurt Nene, his entire family, and Mitsuba as well, if he truly had become a supernatural.
His goal to make everyone happy is impossible. Is childish.
He wants to be the one to help, but he also wants help. He genuinely does want help, he can recognize he needs guidance and he is desperate for answers, but he doesn’t have available parents, Teru is too biased and busy, No. 5 won’t help, Hanako has been questionable (or ‘a bad friend’ in Kou’s words), and so on. He is shit at asking for help and he also doesn't want Nene and Mitsuba to worry and add to their problems. He refuses to give up tho, so he gets lost inside his own head, he bottle ups deciding to solve it all by himself but clinging to any answer he gets, no matter how suspicious the source (Yes, I am talking about Natsuhiko here).
Kou under values himself a lot. Ironically is what makes him miss the mark and not do what his friends want despite being so good at reading other emotions/ needs (jumping off the rooftop for Mitsuba despite Mitsuba definitively not wanting his friend to die for example-)
It makes sense too, in a twisted way. He was trained to take care of everything by himself: He cleans, cook, babysit, does the laundry, all by himself. He is both 'not good enough' but also 'the last line', so if no one more competent is there to help, he must suck it up and do it himself.
His family is an anomaly that can see supernaturals, so of course he want to find a reason as to 'why' he has this supernatural senses, of course he thinks he is special. In many ways, he really is special!! Even if believing he can 'change the course of how the world work' is pure arrogance. But he is 14 years old, that's self-explanatory.
Despite these flaws, he is a genuinely sweet person that believe in the good of people and overall want to trust those around him. His love goes far deeper than just a trained instinct to take care of others. He had been put on that caretaker role in the first place cause it ‘fit him’, as fucked up as it was, considering he was a eight year old kid the Minamoto family makes me want to cry.
I love the big scenes of him protecting/ cheering up/ loving his friends but I also treasure the small moments of him helping that are short and 'insignificant' but are still constantly there.
I also adore how goofy and silly he is! Just look at him, he really used 'labor pains' as an excuse, I love him so much
And Kou may be naive but he is observant as hell. He knew just what to tell Yashiro to cheer her up in the Donuts chapter. He understood Mitsuba's real wish even when he was still having trouble distinguishing the two Mitsubas. He is the first to notice the supernatural tendency of giving up and settling for a ‘compromise’.
And while he is one of the most open characters he is also constantly changing. In a natural and coherent way.
He is an exorcist that deeply loves his family surrounded by supernatural friends, he has no idea what to do but he will still cling to what he feels is right. Even when he doesn't know what is right, even when it's clearly the hardest path.
He wants to be right about supernaturals being good. He want them to be evil, so he can still be proud of the Minamoto Clan, not feel odd in his own family. He wants Teru to see his ways. He wants Teru to keep being always right. He wants his school friends to be part of his life, he wants them far away from it all. He have so many wants but he tries to ignore them, only focusing on himself when is to focus on his flaws and mistakes, to try to learn from them.
And he is understanding enough to accept these are his wishes, but they aren’t reality. And Kou is constantly shown to hate all that’s fake.
He is a beautiful box of contradiction: He is extremely arrogant yet he lacks confidence. He is a resigned optimist. He is emotionally smart yet dumb when it comes to almost everything else. Extremely strong, fast, and capable compared to normal kids, but with an inferiority complex. He is self-aware yet dense as hell. He is moved by guilt just as much as he is moved by love. He has a savior complex but his ideals aren't unshakable, far from it.
ALSO VERY IMPORTANT: He is shaped like a friend! His smile is free joy to me!
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