To reply to @talesofsymphoniac and @lendra-chan on their posts about the Sorey x Alisha thing in the last episode, I just wanted to say that I perfectly understand people’s feelings on the matter, why they’re so mad, because in other cases I felt the same way. Given how things nowadays work in shounen series and pretty much everywhere, the fear to be queerbaited is always real, you’re right. But THIS isn’t the case, not in this series, where we already have a CANON STATEMENT by the authors who blatantly affirm that:
A typical m/f romance wouldn’t have worked for Sorey
Neither Alisha or Rose are Sorey’s love interests
Romance is still there just not so explicit
ToZ is the story of Sorey and Mikleo’s shared dream
Mikleo is the “male heroine” of the series
Mikleo is Sorey’s one and only
On a side note, in game is made perfectly clear that Sorey’s not into women and that “we shouldn’t expect much from him on this topic”, while he thinks Mikleo is a glistening beauty everyone should be able to admire (this also happens in the novel). Not exactly the way a straight guy would describe his childhood best friend.
Also, Sorey’s VA states that to Sorey, Alisha is like a sister
That being said, that’s why I think people are overreacting. They’re afraid of being queerbaited again and this fear doesn’t make them think straight, but do they realize that it’s actually Sor/Ali shippers that were heterobaited in this series? What does baiting mean? It means teasing on something that we already know from the start is not gonna happen raising fake hopes within the fandom. Basically mere fanservice for the sake of it. And considering the CANON words of the authors who sunk the ship and the ending of the game, we already know for sure that those Sor/Ali moments will lead to nothing because their relationship, according to the authors, wasn’t meant to be romantic. So saying that Sor/Ali is just friendship is not an opinion, nor a way to bash the ship, just stating a fact. If people think that is bashing, then that means authors are bashing them too.
Do they perhaps end up together in the game? Of course not. Sorey’s going to fall asleep and wake up many centuries later when Alisha, Rose and all the other humans he met during his journey will be long dead. But he gets to share the rest of eternity with Mikleo. ToZ is about them and it’s going to end with SorMik, that’s for sure.
Now, specifically about the “Sor/Ali scenes” in the last episode: THIS WAS ALISHA’S ARC guys, her journey started with her meeting Sorey and for a good closure, her story had to end with an important scene between them. I could already see that coming and I was fine with it because nothing was meant as romantic. If that scene was the ending of the whole series, then I’d have been pissed off too, but it was just the climax of her arc that now is over. Alisha left, she parted ways with her friends and if we’re going to see her ever again in S2, it’s going to be separately from the group.
Btw did we see something so explicit that can’t be explained if not romantically? Did he propose to her? Were they perhaps kissing or making love on screen? Again, no. The body language wasn’t romantic at all nor the reasons behind Sorey’s behavior. In shounen series there are a bunch of male protagonists who are filled with negative emotions when an important friend gets hurt, killed or almost killed. That’s an used and abused cliche. The face he made when Alisha woke up was the relieved expression of a guy who’s happy to see his friend is well and alive. And the sweet smile and glowing eyes Alisha shows him, are the same ones she shows Mikleo, Layla and Edna when she’s finally able to see them for the first time. About the Squire Pact, it’s A PROMISE BETWEEN FRIENDS. As he already told in the previous episode, despite liking Alisha, he won’t be able to fight beside her and that’s the reason why the pact was made. It’s a promise, from Sorey to Alisha that even if they take different paths, she can always count on him because he’s her friend and friends when needed, can lend their strength to each other.
To interpret Sorey and Alisha’s bond as romantic is heteronormative, that moment was anything but romantic, unless people WANT to see it that way, but that’s THEIR CHOICE AND THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CANON MATERIAL. It was a friendship scene. I have no problems with people shipping a couple that goes against canon, tastes are tastes, what’s really annoying are those obtuse fans that claim Sor/Ali is definitely romantic when authors themselves stated otherwise. Ship what you want, you have all the right to do so, but stop going against what canon states, just stop being in denial and confusing your fantasies with actual facts. BECAUSE THIS TIME CANON IS ON OUR SIDE. When het shippers claim “if you say Sor/Ali is platonic, then we have all the right to think the same about SorMik” and then they add “I’m just voicing my opinion”. Nope, they’re not voicing an opinion, they’re going against canon, because when canon expresses a clear statement about a certain topic, opinions don’t exist anymore. And we have all the right to say Sor/Ali is platonic because according to authors, that’s what it is. Period. If they want to complain, they should complain to the authors, it’s them who sunk their ship even before it sailed, we’re not at fault.
Back to the episode, I think that if Ufotable wanted to show that from now on romantic Sor/Ali was the way to go, they had a better chance to do it in the previous episode, when Sorey told Alisha he liked her. What better chance than that? If handled differently, the scene had all the potential to look like a love confession. But they let that chance pass. No embarrassment, no blush, no romantic/sexual tension, no stuttering. We all know how romance dynamics work in anime, so there’s no need for me to explain it. Same thing in all the other episodes, there never was any sort of embarrassment between Sorey and Alisha even while holding hands, that’s how things work when a bond is totally platonic.
At the same time the anime team is not stupid, they perfectly knew that Sor/Ali shippers, despite what canon states about Sorey and Alisha just being friends, would have chose to see the scene as romantic and squealed over it, deluding themselves about an hypothetical love story that deep down they already know is not gonna happen. So basically what Sor/Ali is in a single word is HETEROBAITING. That’s precisely why it’s not SorMik shippers who should be mad but Sor/Ali shippers, the anime team is playing with their feelings, deluding them from the start and they don’t even realize it.
On a final note, I need to say that I have nothing against Sor/Ali personally nor I’ve ever said they’d be horrible together. I’d have acknowledged them if authors stated they were the ship of the series, but that’s not the case. I love their friendship and I enjoy their moments, who pisses me off are fans in denial who can’t ship their couple without acknowledging the platonic nature of their bond. The right way to go would be: “I know they’re not meant to be lovers but despite respecting what canon states, I still ship them because I Iike the idea of them together ”. That would be the good and respectful mindset of the perfect Sor/Ali shipper. If shippers like these exist, you have all my respect.
