If someone held a contest to determine which of Otaru's marionettes had hurt Hanagata the most, Bloodberry would win hands down. Unpredictable, fiesty, and really desperate to get laid (she said it, not me, folks), Bloodberry doesn't take kindly to anyone who gets between her and her beloved Otaru -- especially if that someone is a blonde dandy who makes himself an easy target by prancing around her master in clothing rejected from the set of Moulin Rouge. And Bloodberry being Bloodberry, she usually voices... well, okay, shows her annoyance by punching any annoyance into low orbit. Needless to say, if one looked closely, one might find a Bloodberry's fist indent in Hanagata's jaw.

Given that Bloodberry seems to wail on Hanagata more than anyone else in the series and generally seems to have the least tolerance for his presence, one might naturally assume that the two have cultivated an (un) healty hatred for one another. In my opinion, however, this cursory analysis of their relationship is, like any knee-jerk analysis of any SMJ relationship, too simplistic. I actually think that in her heart of hearts (or kairo of kairos), Bloodberry actually likes Hanagata. And I think in his heart of hearts, the feeling is mutual.

Out of all three marionettes, Hanagata seems to spend most of his time and energy on Bloodberry, from playing games with her on New Years (Episode 12 of SMJ) to sitting next to her at dinner, to having pillow fights with her (okay I know he plays ping pong with Lime, but fighting with pillows seems *much* more intimate to me). And while Hanagata is quick to pick fights with any of the marionettes for any reason, he seems to engage in more fights with Bloodberry. For her part, Bloodberry also returns the favor, and sometimes, to my ears, the two harass each other as if they were an old married couple.

I'm not trying to say that Hanagata and Bloodberry are secretly in love with each other (not that I mind the thought too much, though ^^), but that they like each other far more than they'd ever admit. In Episode Three of J to X, Bloodberry, out of all the marionettes, is the most angry with Hanagata for being unable to stand up to his father. In fact, she's so upest that she yells at him, picks him up, lifts him over her head, yells at him some more, and then throws him to the ground. While certainly Bloodberry is a passionate soul who puts her passion into the most mundane of every day tasks, one almost wonders why she goes completely overboard with Hanagata on this issue. If she truly hated him, why not say 'good riddance' and gleefully leave him to make his own mistakes? And why attempt to break up the sumo match between Hanagata and Kamatarou, which Bloodberry is all set to do with fists ready before Otaru puts out a hand to stop her and patly tells her "It's Hanagata's fight"? For me, the answer is simple. Hanagata and Bloodberry sense a certain kinship in each other. Both are passionate, fiery, unashamed and (endearingly) selfish individualists who live every moment of life as if it were their most important. Even though neither of them would ever admit it, they enjoy every argument and every moment spent together.

And who knows, maybe their feelings even unconsciously run a little deeper... (*laughs evily*).