This opinion is interesting. I think it is one that captures the essence of the story. Fourteen years ago, a Japanese commentary on this work explained that Yuki is bound and connected to Kaname by “bloodline” and “fate,” and to Zero by “feeling” and “bond.” Moreover, the different kinds of love Yuki holds toward Zero and Kaname are expressed in the kanji characters given to their daughters’ names.
Regarding Yuki’s "feeling" toward Zero, expressed with the word omoi (想い): in classical Japanese literature, when omoi was used to mean strong romantic feeling, it was paired with the word kofu (恋ふ, “to love/long for”). The kanji koi (恋), paired with omoi, is the oldest expression of romantic love in Japanese, and it is the character used in the name of Yuki and Zero’s daughter. This character represents romantic love, signifying a self-driven feeling and acquired bond. This word is only used for romantic relationship, such as lovers and married spouses. This kanji character "恋" is never used to describe the relationship between relatives, family members, siblings or friends. Because it has had the meaning of romantic love from the 7th century to the present day, this word has core Image of romantic love in Japanese. In the Japanese summaries, Yuki and Zero are repeatedly described as omoi-au (想い合う), which carries the meaning of romantic love.
On the other hand, Kaname’s daughter’s name uses the character ai (愛), which has core images of other-centered feeling and love of compassion. The word ai (愛) is included in a concept imported from India and China, which only later came into use as meaning of love in Japan, after kofu (恋ふ) and omou (想ふ). Originally, ai did not carry the meaning of love in Japan. The original meaning was "to cherish" and "to be attached to" in Japanese. It began to have the meaning like love when it was used as a translation of Buddhism and Confucianism. The original meaning of "to be attached to" was used to translate the Buddhist concept of attachment and worldly desires. This meaning had a negative connotation and represented a temptation that you must resist. On the other hand, The original meaning of "to cherish" was used as a translation of love between family members in Confucianism concepts. Especially in the early days, it was used to refer to relationship between blood relatives in Japan. Eventually, the word like aijō (愛情, “affection”) developed, and ai came to be used broadly for kinship, parent–child, siblings, spouses, and partners. And finally, affection developed into a meaning with compassion. Because of this background, it tends to refer to love in general in a broad sense. Even today, the love expressed in Kaname’s daughter’s name, Ai, carries the strong foundation of compassion. Nowadays, it is even sometimes used in a sense similar to Buddhist compassion. Because the word includes Buddhist and Confucianism concepts, it also conveys innate bond.
This work contains many contrasts between Zero’s acquired “bond” and “feeling”, versus Kaname’s innate “fate” and “bloodline”. This suggests that Hino consciously created the story with this framework. Yuki loves both men, but the kinds of love she directs toward each are different. This illustrates the fact that in Japanese culture, there are multiple distinct concepts of love. Both ”恋” and ”愛” means love, “恋” has a stronger romantic meaning and acquired bond, while “愛” has a stronger compassionate meaning and innate bond. Which kind of love one prefers is left to the viewers’s personal taste.
Differences in the concept of love in Japan according to linguistic history:
• Ren (恋）Zero: passionate, acquired bond born from chance encounter; self-driven desire of willpower; long for; romantic feeling.
• Ai (愛）Kaname: innate bond appearing as fate or blood relations; other-centered feeling; to cherish; affection; compassion; to be attached to; attachment and worldly desires.
Thus, Yuki’s love for Kaname is included in concepts imported from China and India. Confucianism emphasized blood relations and family ties, and this philosophy deeply influenced Japan. Yuki’s love for Kaname—rooted in shared bloodline, fate, innate bond and attachment—is strongly shaped by Confucian and Buddhist thought. Furthermore, Kaname and Yuki’s love also embodies Japan’s indigenous concept Shinto of ancestor worship. Kaname is Yuki’s first ancestor. In Japan, frequently, there is a custom of visiting and greeting graves to thank one’s ancestors. The Shinto ideology is that one exists only because one’s ancestors existed, and therefore descendants must show deep gratitude and love to our ancestors. This love means precious and respect. And we must live in a way that does not bring shame to our ancestors. (This practice and thought is fading among current generations.) Yuki’s many lines in this work strongly reflect these idea. Moreover, in Japanese Shinto tradition, ancestors are believed to become guardian spirits, watching from afar to ensure descendants choose a righteous and happy path. And It has long been believed that if a descendant is about to make a wrong choice, an ancestor will appear as spirits and lead the descendant to the right path. There was a scene that expressed this as it was. This is exactly the role Kaname plays in this story. In the final chapter of this story, Yuki turned back into a baby, and Hino ended the story by visually expressing and emphasizing the relationship between ancestor and descendant. This story ended up their accepting fate and dying together. This was exactly the expression of the Japanese Shinto way of thinking. In Shinto, it is believed that life is inherited from ancestor, and the soul returns to the ancestors after death. This idea is reflected in the expression "Let's go home" in the last line. In Japan, relatives including ancestors are called "Surname+Home(家)." In Japanese Shinto, it is said that after death, we return to this home of our ancestors.
On the other hand, Western philosophy and literature often emphasize human will. From ancient times, countless works have described about human will. Discussions of human will appeared in ancient Greek philosophy and became deeply rooted in Western philosophy, religion, literature and values. Human will is one of the longest-standing debates in philosophy and religion. Across Western history, Western people have shared this legacy of concept of human will. For this reason, Western viewers may tend to prefer the acquired bond of human will represented by Yuki and Zero. The fact that Yuki and Zero’s daughter Ren’s name uses a kanji representing love born of acquired, self-driven bond of human will shows that Hino clearly intended to depict their relationship in this way. It is well known that in Japan, Western concept and discussions of human will have had a huge influence on Japanese literature and philosophy. Since the modern era after Sakoku, when Western culture and technology have been imported, it is said that stories like this one, which depict bonds formed by human will, have become popular in Japan. Some Western contracts of bond—such as knightly oaths—do not often place biological kinship as the most important factor. Acquired bond of human will can sometimes be stronger than Innate biological bond. The bracelet worn on Yuki’s left wrist symbolized her bond with Zero, a contract she never let go of. Even after Zero disappeared, Yuki turned a fragment of the Bloody Rose into a pendant instead of that bracelet and spoke to Zero through it. Even when she offered her life to Kaname, she spoke to Zero through the pendant. Hino emphasized how precious acquired bond with Zero was for Yuki.
And Hino expressed that when Zero said he wanted to die by having his life devoured by Yuuki, he was expressing his desire to be together with Yuki in the afterlife. The Japanese summary of volume 10 stated that Yuki desired for eternity for Zero, so it seems the author wanted to convey that this was Zero's final decision to grant Yuki's desire. In Japanese belief customs, married couple's graves were built so that married couples who did not have common ancestors could be together in the afterlife. Because it is necessary for the souls of the married couples to be sealed off in the same containment. In Shinto, it is believed that after death, the soul returns to its ancestor, but in this case, married couples are allowed to reunite as husband and wife because two are sealed in the same containment. This means that one spouse is forever separated from their own ancestral group(home) and belongs to the ancestral group of the other spouse. In Japan, cremation is practiced, so it is possible for people to be sealed off together in the same gravestone, and recently it is common for all members of a relative to be buried in the same grave. Hino expresses this married couple will be together in the afterlife because the souls of this married couple is in the same containment(Yuki’s body) by Zero being devoured and Yuki absorbing him. This is why Yuki did not build Zero‘s grave, did not hold a funeral for him, and only informed others of his death through letters. (The grave where the Bloody Rose fragment was left is Zero's family grave.) Therefore, the illustration on the cover of the last magazine was drawn by Hino to show the three after their deaths. The illustration showed that Yuki's soul returned to her ancestor Kaname and reunited with her husband Zero. In this way, this work reflects the Japanese view of life and death.
Japan has historically absorbed immense influence from China, India, and the West. These imported ideas, combined with Japan’s native values, have created a culture where multiple systems of thought are intricately blended. This story embodies both types of bond—Zero and Yuki’s acquired bond and Kaname and Yuki’s innate bond. I think this consideration that differences in preferences are due to differences in cultural sensibilities is very interesting. It's amazing that they exactly pinpoint the cultural elements to which viewers belong.
