someone messaged me asking how i feel about tadano, whether i believed he was being manipulative or how he felt ‘off’ in a certain way. and i’ll be perfectly honest, i disagree. i like tadano as a character. a lot.
he was written to be the ultimate independent, young entrepreneur. he has plans to change humanity as a whole. most importantly, he has the aspirations, skills, and success to continue this lifestyle. because of this, he’s never struggled the same way the everyday person (retsuko, for example) has. marriage is difficult to think about? don’t get married. parenting might be tough to balance with work? don’t raise a family. job is dull? just work doing what you want to do. we first see his laziness in the form of sluggish behavior, but it goes deeper than that. if tadano sees something mildly difficult for him, he goes in a different direction that better suits him. this is best symbolized by how he flies a private plane (luxury, independence, freedom) rather than bothering to get a driver’s license (conformity, tradition, normalcy)
i believe the ‘off’ feeling people get is our instinct to believe that someone is too good to be true. i admit that i was waiting for the other shoe to drop with tadano, since ‘sudden soulmate’ plotlines generally don’t end well. this likely causes a bias that creates dislike (or at the very least distrust) toward tadano. however, the show makes it clear that tadano has no ulterior motive for his treatment of retsuko. he genuinely likes her. and more importantly, he genuinely believes that he’s doing the right thing.
one of the primary issues in retsuko/tadano’s relationship was the lack of communication. retsuko’s a pushover who struggles with conveying her feelings honestly, and tadano’s someone who’s always gotten what he wanted out of life. it’s important to note that these flaws 1. make sense for their characters and 2. are a product of very human shortcomings. unsurprisingly, this would end up with tadano making a lot of decisions for the both of them. it was less of a power imbalance and more of two people assuming they’re doing the right thing in a relationship.
tadano: ”hey let’s do this”
retsuko: “okay” (i’m not sure about this? i should go along with it)
tadano: “i’m glad you feel the same way” (since she’s going along with it)
should tadano have made absolutely sure retsuko was comfortable? yes! should retsuko have spoken up sooner about her beliefs? yes! both sides made mistakes, and neither are to blame for making assumptions as a result of it. that’s why retsuko being honest in the karaoke scene is so important. tadano finally realizes how retsuko truly feels, and though he argues his side (as she argues hers), they soon break up on good terms. it shows that tadano genuinely didn’t know how strongly she felt about marriage, and if she had stood her ground sooner, the relationship wouldn’t have escalated to the point that retsuko had compromised so much.
this issue stems from the other issue in their relationship - the fundamental difference in lifestyles, mindsets, and goals. this season follows the same theme as the previous one - you shouldn’t have to settle/change in a relationship. sometimes, you can break up with someone you like just because they’re not the right one, and that’s okay. aggretsuko does a good job in portraying relationships that aren’t /bad/, just not ideal. tadano got along with retsuko as a good friend, but he was headed in a completely different direction from her. his flaws + incompatibility came from how differently he lived, not from him intentionally treating retsuko poorly. he wasn’t meant to be an antagonist, and i believe this was pulled off well.
it’s important to look into the writing decisions that were made by the show and why they were made. you’re allowed to feel uncomfortable with him (and feel anything about anything, really), but i personally really enjoyed his presence and how the show used him to explore very human dilemmas.
dailybridgerton
andulkaphoto
titsay
stormborns
snowghoul
blakekathryn
gracieabrams
sugurugetos
yousharknotpass
prguitarman
ellievsbear
gamechangershow
