ALRIGHT, let’s have a talk about Watari, because I think it’s time. (Spoiler alert, FYI)
A while back I said that Watari was one of my favorite characters in this series, and I had someone ask me why. THISÂ is why.
Let’s start at the beginning: Once upon a time, Watari was a womanizer. He two-timed women all over the place, probably because aside from his closest friends, he didn’t respect anyone. And then he hears that there’s this girl that might like him - Kaori - and so he starts hanging out with her. He immediately falls for her and nearly as soon after realizes that she’s in love with Kousei.
But what does he do? At the expense of his own happiness, he keeps up the lie to protect Kaori’s interests, and keeps dropping hints all over the place that Kousei should say something. Why? “If it were me, I would do anything. If it were for a girl I liked, I would drink muddy water. But I think for Kaori, I am not the one.” Because he loves her, and he knows her, he’s protecting her the only way he knows how.
Everyone thinks he’s the fun guy, the flighty guy, the guy you can’t take seriously, but he is the one sacrificing the most in order to make the others around him happy. And what does he get for it?
“I guess it won’t take long for Watari to forget all about me.”
I don’t feel bad for Kousei, because he got the girl and one day he will move on. I don’t feel bad for Kaori, because she was able to live her last year the way she wanted. I don’t feel bad for Tsubaki, because one day she’ll probably get Kousei and, more importantly, up until this point she had been pretty damn selfish.
Watari doesn’t get to grow from this experience. He doesn’t get to move on. he doesn’t get to feel like he got the most of his time with the girl he so fervently loved.
I feel so bad for Watari that my insides hurt.