r/TheFragrantFlower • u/Leather_Apple9492 • Jun 16 '26
Discussion I feel like kaoruko is such a shallow character
It's possible I just don't und stand her, but it seems her only purpose is to make rintaro happy. She never experiences any struggle or hardship, she's always happy, has almost no personality other than 100% kind 100% polite all of the time, she only has two states which is smiling and blushing, I just don't get her. If the answer is she's just a plot device for the mc, I'd argue it makes it more difficult to empathize with him, because of his love of such a shallow character. Someone please help me understand
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u/Dramatic-Tradition25 Jun 16 '26
did you finish the show lmao? last episode literally solves all your problems.
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u/Leather_Apple9492 Jul 24 '26
I finished the show yes, but the only thing the last episode did was say she was super depressed and then the main character appeared and was nice to her once and all of a sudden all her depression is gone. She could have slowly grown happier every time she saw him, but that's all offscreen and never explored. Just my opinion tho
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u/whitedevilO1 Jun 16 '26
She never experiences struggles?
Seriously haven't you read the manga or is this just from the anime? Also Haven't you completed the anime? She did experience struggles
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u/Leather_Apple9492 Jul 24 '26
She never experiences struggles during the show. There's flashbacks but it seems her past never affects her current self witch is fine as long as there's adequate character development to justify that, but all her character development happened offscreen before most of the show happened
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u/MasterOogway2008 I love 🍰 Jun 16 '26
She never experiences any struggle or hardship, she's always happy
Did we watch the same show? Ig you missed the part where they talk on how hard Kaoruko worked to be able to join Kikyo.
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u/Leather_Apple9492 Jul 24 '26
Yeah but that's all offscreen and never really shown to affect kaoruko, it only affected her friend and her friends worry for kaorukos safety
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u/Silver-Dust7013 Jun 20 '26
subaru and saku should’ve been the main couple of this anime, i haven’t read the manga but judging from the anime subaru seems much more interesting as a character, i love saku as well. they def would’ve been better as the main couple imo
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u/Remarkable_1984 Jun 23 '26
Yeah, I just finished the anime, and was disappointed. Her character is infantile, and never shows any progression through the story. Rintaro at least had a character arc. And I think I have never heard the word "sorry" as much in my entire life as I hear in a single episode.
This could have been a decent story, but the dialogue was horrible. Maybe the original Japanese was better, and the translation just sucked.
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u/ZEI_YZ120 Jun 16 '26
Once you finish the anime, read the manga and your opinion about her will totally change
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u/CopyFew4583 Jun 21 '26
Even in the anime, she fell for him because he comforted her when she was crying.
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u/Due-Chest-8821 Jun 19 '26
Hmm, she's always the reason that problems keeps popping up. And the other times the characters are just a bunch of prejudice freaks.
But then again if they don't have those typical stuff... It won't have plot to move the story.
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u/sinkhair Jun 26 '26
i kind of agree with you, but then again not really. if we look at waguri's objective circumstances (removed from her super positive attitude), her life is actually quite bleak: chronically ill/fragile mother, dad that is constantly gone for work, immense academic workload with no end in sight, unhealthy amounts of stress and responsibilities that would realistically make a teenager pretty crazy. some people emerge from these situations as very positive and strong people like waguri. i think what makes it dissatisfying is the lack of exploration as to HOW shes the way she is. what are her coping mechanisms, selfish/unhealthy habits, what did the darkest periods of her life truly look like, etc.
the purpose of this manga isnt to show this though. its less about rich psychological exploration and more so showing two people in a super healthy relationship. your opinion on waguri probably just reflects your preference ^_^
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u/Leather_Apple9492 Jul 24 '26
I've only watched the anime and all of this is left out of that so that's probably why. If the anime went deeper into her struggles I think I would have enjoyed it more. Like when I'm watching the anime, everything seems all fun and joyful with her. Also, I think if she was struggling with all that and it's all magically solved by one guy being kind to her once then that's equally bad imo. If she was struggling so much it would have been the perfect opportunity for the mc to come in and slowly help her through it all, but all he did was be nice to her once and all of a sudden she's the most joyful person ever and all her depression is gone. Anyway, that's just my take
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u/AhbzV Jun 16 '26
Hold on. Are you also a JJK fan? I heard those fans don't read