Otaru Mamiya and Hanagata Mitsurugi... anime's most underrated yaoi couple or merely the wishful thinking of several fan girls? Sorry, Hanagata. But I think you might be out of luck...it seems it's all in our heads and the joke may be on us. While I don't think Otaru hates Hanagata as much as he pretends to (if he did, why wouldn't he just tell his marionettes to send Hanagata packing once and for all?), Otaru's affections definitely belong to the Marionettes -- and especially to Lime. After all, their safety and well-being is always his primary priority (How many times has Otaru abandoned or ignored Hanagata because one or more of his beloved marionettes was in danger or simply wanted his attention more?) Even though I truly believe that Hanagata Mitsurugi would be a far better partner for Otaru than anyone else in the series, it seems I am in the vast minority of SMJ fans on this opinion.

But I also believe valid arguments can be made for Otaru liking Hanagata far more than he lets on. As I said earlier, if Otaru truly hated Hanagata with as much passion as he pretends, there are several ways he could get rid of him permanently. The most effective of these tactics would be telling Hanagata in no uncertain terms that he never wanted to speak with or see him again. While Hanagata is certainly persistent in his attempts to win Otaru's love, he is by no means stupid. If he were told bluntly to cease and desist, he would most likely do as asked without a fight because the last thing he wants (even in his somewhat deluded state) is to cause Otaru any harm or discomfort.

And it is often Otaru's ambivalence which feeds and encourages Hanagata's delusions in the first place. By permitting Hanagata to visit frequently and allowing him to accompany him everywhere he goes while simultaneously subjecting Hanagata to verbal and physical abuse, Otaru is sending possibly some of the most mixed signals in anime history. And it is Otaru's inability or perhaps refusal to fully accept Hanagata or write him off completely that keeps the young man's hopes alive.

Thus, we are brought to an interesting question. Why is Otaru behaving this way? Does he truly feel powerless to stop Hanagata ("He's going to stalk me anyway no matter what I do")? Could he be too kind, polite or perhaps pity Hanagata too much to let him down so harshly? Could he value his friendship in spite of (or because of) this insain devotion? Or could his inability to tell Hanagata to leave be rooted in Otaru's own uncertainty? After all, Otaru has spent his entire life in a world where male/male sexuality is obviously the norm (in spite of those men with attatchments to their hardware). Thus, for him, feelings for women/marionettes with maiden circuits are pleasurable, but ultimately confusing as he has no heterosexual models to either guide him in his sexual maturation or define heterosexual love sufficiently. So if Otaru is confused over his feelings for men and, ultimately, the place Hanagata should play in his life, he has good and understandable reason to be. Whatever the reason for Otaru's rather ambivalent treatment of Hanagata, it seems as if the series creators never intended him to ever accept his next door neighbor as a legitimate love interest. But the shades of grey in their relationship, at least in my mind, will always keep several Saber Marionette fan fiction authors and fans (well, me anyway ^_~) writing and thinking.

Well there's my two yen on the subject, now what do you think? Does Otaru hate Hanagata or is he simply three marionettes away from proposing? Send your essays to me. I'd love to put them up for everyone's consideration.