The Third Aoyagi Brother- Loveless Theory
Thereās a lot of inconsistencies in Loveless. That much is for sure, as we all know. A lot of these inconsistencies revolve around Ritsuka, Seimei, and the entire Aoyagi family. To start off, we have the whole āother Ritsukaā problem, in which Ritsukaāand Iām quoting hereā'completely and suddenly changedā when he was 10. It was said in the beginning of the manga that the 'old Ritsukaā was a very energetic, happy kid who had lots of friends and didnāt do exceptionally well in school. Obviously, the Ritsuka we see in the mangaāa blunt, cold boy with not many acquaintancesāis not the same kid that he was before his 'memory lossā.
Thereās also a lot of other strange things, including Seimei and Ritsukaās names. No, not their 'true namesā (but Iāll get to that in another post!!!), but their given names. In the 'Ritsukaās dayā side story, Seimei is awefully cryptic about why Ritsuka was named Ritsuka. He says that he himself was named Seimei because his birthday falls around the time of the Japanese holiday Seimei, but Ritsukaās does not fall around the holiday he is supposedly named after. He mentions that Ritsuka was supposed to be called 'Toujiā, but was not, and does not explain why. He mentions that the answer to why is in their motherās diary, but seems to know that Ritsuka would never invade his motherās privacy and would not look in the diary, despite how much he is tempted by it. Because of the fact that the story is told mainly through Ritsukaās perspective, the reader never learns of this mysterious knowledge Seimei possesses and thus, it is left open for interpretation so far.
Besides that, thereās also the strange fact that while the body that died in Seimeiās place was not him, it most certainly matched his dental records. Sometimes, DNA from siblings can match to an extent, and the Ritsuka that we know currently is not dead. However, the 'oldā Ritsuka is. Thereās no sign of him. He appears to have completely disappeared from this world, with the only sign we see of him being in a hallucination during the Bloodless fight, in which Ritsuka sees a vision of someone who is presumably an Aoyagi, but neither himself nor Seimei.
The person that we saw was someone completely different, and the person that died in Seimeiās place still remains to be revealed, as is the mysterious reason that Ritsukaās name was not Touji, as it was planned to be. Itās also been suggested within these recent chapters that perhaps Seimei is not our 'final bossā villain. Maybe thereās someone else out there, someone biggerā¦
Itās no secret that thereās a lot of mystery surrounding our Aoyagi family, and Ritsukaās memory loss. I think itās safe to say that, given these circumstances, there could very well be a third Aoyagi brother.
Letās call him Aoyagi Touji. Ritsuka was supposed to be called Touji, because thatās the time of the year that he was born around, rather than the festival of Rikka, which is in the summer and which Ritsuka was named after. But he wasnāt named that, despite the 'traditionā of the Aoyagis being named after certain times of the year that they were born in. Ritsuka was inexplicably given the wrong name. However, maybe he wasnāt born on December 21st. Maybe thatās when Touji, the mysterious third Aoyagi brother was born, and the Ritsuka that we all know was born in the summer, when the Rikka festival actually is.Ā
Or, perhaps, itās the other way around, and our Ritsuka is actually named Touji, but was chosen to replace the old Ritsuka (who Iām calling Aoyagi Touji) once somethingā¦ Happened to him.
This could account for Ritsukaās 'memory lossā in that he was never the Ritsuka that was written about in school reports. He was never that energetic, friendly boy. That was someone else entirely. This Ritsuka is not Misakiās Ritsuka because this Ritsuka was never that person. Heās someone completely different. Thereās a couple possibilities as to what couldāve happened with Ritsuka, Touji, and, in the end, Seimei.
Option 1aāThe Ritsuka who is the main character of Loveless is actually a clone of Touji, who was the Ritsuka before theĀ āmemory lossā at age ten. Something happened to that Ritsukaāsomething drasticāthat may have broken Seimei completely down in many ways. The clone of Ritsuka was made, and was given the name Touji in accordance to the Aoyagi Naming Rule, but it was very soon decided that Main Story Ritsuka would replace Old Ritsuka and become the New Ritsuka. Thus, Main Story Ritsuka was led to believe that heād lost his memories and had changed personalities, when in reality he is a clone named Touji who was chosen to replace the Old Ritsuka after something drastic happened to him. This would fit in with the Loveless themes of being abandoned/replaced/reborn again, and with Ritsuka not wanting to forget who he was. This would also drive Seimei to desperately want to protect his little brother andĀ ācreate a new world for the two of themā after the Original Ritsukaās death. This also plays into the theme of Ritsuka becoming his own person.
Option 1bāThe same as before, except Main Character Ritsuka isĀ actually named Ritsuka and Old Ritsuka was actually named Touji. Main Character Ritsuka was actually born in summer during the Rikka festival, whereas Touji was born on December 21st, which we commonly know as Main Character Ritsukaās birthday. As part of immersing Ritsuka into his role as a replacement and part of Seimei/Misakiās delusions, they led him to believe that his birthday was actually in December, to make him more like the Old Ritsuka.
Option 1cāMain Character Ritsuka is notĀ a clone, and really did lose his memories after Toujiās death. As in the above options, Main Character Ritsuka replaced the Old Ritsuka (Touji), unknowingly being given a new past, history, and maybe even name and birthday, all to make him more like his deceased brother.
Option 2aāSeimei is the oldest, Ritsuka is the youngest (and is notĀ a clone), and Touji is the middle child. Touji and Seimei frequently butted heads and conflicted with each other, and Ritsuka was a happy youngest child who didnāt notice much. Something happened between Touji and Seimei, creating a traumatic experience that caused Ritsuka to lose his memories. Seimei later killed Touji in his place and used him to fake his death.
Option 2bāSame as above, except Touji and Seimei were twins, making the dental records more possible.
Option cāSame birth order, except Touji and Seimei did notĀ butt heads. Something else happened that caused Ritsuka to lose his memories, and Seimei is currently working for/with Touji, who is theĀ āBig Badā/Final Boss of Loveless.
Personally, I think options 1a, b, and c are the most possible! I feel like the existence of someone that Ritsuka replaced after a death makes the most sense, both contextually and conceptually. It fits in a lot with the themes of the manga and explains a lot of the mysteries surrounding the Aoyagi family. What do you guys think?
