Sun is goofy, loud, and reckless, but that is not the same thing as lacking emotional intelligence. In Volume 4, he is the one who finally calls Blake out on her real issue: she thinks leaving people is “protecting” them. Sun tells her, in plain words, that she does not get to decide whether her friends fight for her, and that pushing them away hurts more than the villains do. That is not a guy who “doesn’t understand Blake.” That is literally him understanding the emotional root of her running-away habit better than almost anyone else at that point.
The “Sun stalked Blake” argument is also exaggerated. Yes, he followed her without permission, and that was messy. But the context matters: he thought Blake was going alone on a dangerous White Fang mission after Beacon, not sneaking after her for creepy romantic reasons. Once he learns she is going home to Menagerie, he stays because Blake is still in danger and because the White Fang problem is real. The story itself proves his concern was justified: a Grimm attacks the ship, White Fang activity is happening in Menagerie, Ilia becomes involved, and Sun later gets seriously hurt protecting Blake.
The slapping point is weak too. Blake slapping Sun is not proof that Sun is evil or incompatible; it is proof that Blake is traumatized, defensive, and bad at communicating. Even the production-side note on “A Much Needed Talk” says Miles Luna intended the slaps to be softer shoulder hits, and Arryn Zech framed Blake’s outburst as tied to abuse trauma and Blake’s guilt, not as “Sun deserved it because he’s a monster.”
And the “Yang got through to Blake, not Sun” argument ignores the difference between two different problems. Yang helped Blake in Volume 2 when Blake was overworking herself and obsessing over Roman. That was important. But Sun helped Blake with her bigger recurring flaw: running away from the people who love her. In Volume 4, Blake literally says her friends are better off without her, and Sun is the one who challenges that directly. He even brings Yang into it by saying Yang would also choose to protect Blake, which means Sun was not trying to replace Yang; he was helping Blake understand Yang’s pain too.
The “Sun thought Blake wanted revenge” point is also not the slam dunk they think it is. From Sun’s perspective, Blake had a deep White Fang history, disappeared after Beacon, and was traveling alone while Adam and the White Fang were still active. Thinking she might be chasing the White Fang is a reasonable misunderstanding, not proof that he “doesn’t know her.” The important part is that once Blake explains herself, Sun listens and adjusts. That matters more than him guessing wrong once.
As for Bumbleby “having moments from the beginning,” some of those moments are real bonding moments, but the argument overstates a lot. Yang saving Blake, comforting her, missing her, or fighting Adam with her can support a romantic reading, but those scenes also work as partner/friendship/trauma-bond scenes. A character sacrificing herself for a teammate is not automatically romance. Adam saying “What does she even see in you?” shows Adam’s jealousy and possessiveness, but Adam is an abuser weaponizing Blake’s attachments; his interpretation should not be treated like objective confirmation of Blake’s feelings.
Sun and Blake, meanwhile, had much more direct early romantic coding. Blake opens up to Sun about her White Fang past very early, he does not reject her, they fight together against Torchwick and the White Fang, he goes to the dance with her, they slow dance, and Blake openly jokes that she knew he would look better in a tie. That is not “five seconds of boy and girl looking at each other.” That is repeated trust, banter, vulnerability, and partnership across multiple arcs.
The biggest reason Sun works better for Blake is that he balances her without becoming another source of control. Adam controlled Blake. Blake’s fear made her isolate herself. Sun does the opposite: he follows because he cares, but he does not trap her, guilt her into romance, or make her recovery about him. He helps her reconnect with her parents, face the White Fang, stop pushing people away, and return to her team stronger. Then, when his part in her growth is done, he lets her go.
So no, Sun is not “too dumb” to understand Blake. He is goofy on the surface, but emotionally, he does exactly what Blake needed: he stays when she tries to isolate, calls her out without hating her, protects her without owning her, reminds her that her friends choose to love her, and helps her become brave enough to stop running. That is why Sun Wukong is one of the most important people in Blake’s development.
Sun is smarter than people give him credit for because his intelligence is not loud, academic, or dramatic. It is practical. He reads situations through action. He notices when someone is alone too often, when they are hiding pain behind distance, and when they are about to make a bad emotional decision. That is exactly why he works with Blake. Blake is a character who overthinks, isolates, and punishes herself. Sun is the opposite: he cuts through the spiral and brings things back to something simple and human.
The eye-opening part is this: Sun was “wrong” about Blake’s surface motive, but right about her deeper problem. In Volume 4, he initially assumes Blake is going after the White Fang, which is incorrect. But immediately after that, he asks the important question: why is she sorting things out alone instead of with her team and friends? That is the real issue. Blake is not just running from danger; she is running from connection. Sun sees that pattern before Blake is ready to admit it.
That is why calling him “emotionally unintelligent” is unfair. In “Taking Control,” Blake says she is done seeing friends hurt because of her, that Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were her friends, and that she thinks they are better off without her. Sun’s response is not a joke. He tells her she is not being selfless, she is taking away her friends’ choice, and that pushing them out hurts more than the enemy ever could. That is one of the clearest emotional reads anyone gives Blake in the early show.
And that is why a romantic relationship between Sun and Blake actually makes sense. Blake does not need someone who mirrors her darkness all the time. She needs someone who can step into that darkness without becoming consumed by it. Sun brings warmth without being shallow. He jokes, but he also stays. He flirts, but he does not try to own her. He protects her, but he does not make her feel weak. He challenges her, but he does not shame her. That is a healthy romantic foundation.
People act like Sun is just comic relief, but look at what Blake actually gives him: trust. In Volume 1, she opens up to him about her White Fang past, something deeply personal and shameful to her. Sun is shocked, yes, but he still jumps into the fight to help her. That matters. Blake’s whole story is about fear of rejection, and Sun’s first major role is showing her, “I know this ugly part of your past, and I’m still here.”
Their romance is good because Sun helps Blake become more herself, not less. With Adam, love meant control. With Blake’s guilt, love meant danger. With Sun, love means choice. He tells her that her friends choose to fight for her. That idea directly attacks the damage Adam left behind: the belief that Blake’s presence ruins people. Sun’s love would not trap Blake. It would remind her she is allowed to be loved without running away.
Their dynamic also has balance. Blake is serious, guarded, intense, and guilt-driven. Sun is open, playful, brave, and emotionally direct. That contrast is not incompatibility; it is chemistry. A good partner does not have to be identical to you. Sometimes the best partner is the person who brings out the part of you that trauma buried. Sun brings out Blake’s softness, humor, trust, and willingness to let people in.
The dance scene is a good example of that softer side. Blake shows up with Sun, jokes that she knew he would look better in a tie, takes his arm, and later dances with him after Yang’s first dance. That is not Blake being miserable around him. That is Blake letting herself relax, tease, laugh, and be a normal girl for once instead of carrying the entire White Fang conflict on her shoulders.
So the real argument is not “Sun is perfect because he never messes up.” He does mess up. He can be reckless. He can misread things. But his mistakes are not cruel. They come from caring, and when Blake pushes back, he learns. That is what makes him better than people think: he grows, he listens, and he loves in a way that gives Blake room to breathe.
Sun and Blake work romantically because he is not trying to be her savior, owner, or replacement partner. He is the person who walks beside her when she is trying to disappear, makes her laugh when she is drowning in guilt, calls her out when she lies to herself, and proves that someone can know her past and still choose her. For Blake Belladonna, that is not just cute. That is healing.
I can also go in depth about how I personally think that BB is also a TOXIC relationship
