MochiAka appreciation post
Mochita and Akari was my first ship in the HoneyWorks series, and I doubt I’d continue following HoneyWorks if I didn’t fall in love with them in the first movie (PS. They carried that film for me lol).
Now, even if HaruMiou is my HW OTP, I’ll always hold something special to the MochiAka pair. It’s just sad that except for KoyuRyou, this ship got the shortest stick in the 1st generation when it came to the screentime they got, getting only 1 sequel story through 2 songs. The Tokyo Sessions that had them as the main focus is the Tokyo Summer Session, but it’s not the same focus as HaruMiou to Tokyo Winter and Spring Session, and NatsuYuu with Tokyo Autumn Session. MochiAka only got the highlight in the climax of Tokyo Summer Session, and it’s sad knowing that. I mean, at least MidoSena had multiple songs to back up their lack of anime adaptation.
For the record, I know that Mochita had a love at first sight for his Akarin while HaruMiou was built in slowburn and angst + NatsuYuu was probably the one that had the highest chance being that they’d been neighbors since childhood (and I love them both). Added by that, Souta was possesive (and a simp ngl) at first (like others with their crushes lol), but he genuinely prioritizes her, and actually makes her happy.
Even so, I feel like there’s also something very sweet to MochiAka that does not get enough appreciation and analysis.
(warning: this post mainly talks about the events of the novels, so there’s spoilers. You can read it here: https://renna-translations.tumblr.com/yakimochinovel and I suggest buying the novels themselves to support HoneyWorks).
First, I just want to point how this novel is heavily underrated, and it also reminds me of another underrated (and my favorite novel) HW story which is…
I would have never realized how important Mochita’s confession to Akari really is if haven’t I figured how paralleled Akari Hayasaka is to Tsubomi Natsukawa (the black haired girl from the Seikai wa Koi ni Ochiteru story), so a big thank you to @deus-ex-mona for translating and making me addicted to this masterpiece!
What I love about the Seikai story the most is how much it was a “what if” from the Solution for Jealousy novel.
First, let’s point out the Seikai’s trio and who I think parallels them in the main series (or at least, in a story point of view)
Kaname Akutsu is Haruki Serizawa while Misaki Sakurai is to Miou Aida.
Yes, yes, I know KanaMisa has parallels to Aiyuu as well, and Kaname is much more gentle than Haruki while Misaki is much more outgoing than Miou (plus Kaname’s one of the best cooks in that universe, Haruki struggles in it lol).
However, when you look at it the story point of view, both Haruki and Kaname were those guys deemed geniuses in their respective crafts (Haruki to movie directing and Kaname to music).
(lol they almost even have the same hairstyle in this XD)
They both like the humble brunette short haired girls they spent time with the most, Miou and Misaki ( which likes them back for so long, they just struggled confessing).
Those brunette girls also both have friends that are both beautiful dark-haired (sometimes with the shade of purple due to light) girl heartthrobs that also happened to be considered geniuses in their campus (and has many similarities with the guys) as well.
Tsubomi is a direct parallel to Akari. There’s no way it isn’t. Tsubomi was that one girl (genius) heartrob in the campus that didn’t experience her first love yet, but subconciously expressed interest on a friend (Kaname) who nearly had the same braincells and talent as her while not realizing it earlier (like Akari to Haruki). Anyone who had read the Solution for Jealousy Novel knows how much it was hinted multiple times that Akari might have a crush on Haruki (but not realizing it), and while doing so, both girls cheered on their short-haired brunette friends who likes those guys.
If you doubt what I’m saying with Akari and Haruki as a red-herring in canon, here’s proof lol
This is the official relationship chart concerning only the first songs (including the novelizations of those songs). If you still have doubts, I’ll give more proof later.
I may have sidelined a bit, but my point is, even is Tsubomi and Akari were incredibly similar in story and status (plus they are Haniwa’s most beautiful girls in my opinion, Sena’s just 3rd in my eyes lol), Akari was spared from the tragedy and painful heartbreak Tsubomi experienced because of a brave decision by one person Tsubomi did not have (at least at that time) - Mochizuki Souta.
Mochita confessing to Akari was one of the reasons Tsubomi and Akari had a different experience in their first love at the end. Because Mochita was brave enough to confess and make his presence known to Akari, it shifted her attention to him and not towards Haruki in the novel, making her unable to feel even something deeper than admiration towards Serizawa, and thus saving her from the risks of heartbreak unlike Tsubomi who had no notable characters to interact with other than Kaname and Misaki themselves.
I’m not saying that Haruki was actually Akari’s first love whom she did not realize. No, it was all still Mochita. However, like Tsubomi, Akari could have continued her admiration for Haruki until she actually falls for him (and eventually gets heart broken because HaruMiou had mutual feelings for each other just as much as KanaMisa, no more argument on that) if Mochita did not confess and actually get to spend time with Akari. In short, Akari did not fell in love until Mochita came, but things could land on two possible results, and it could have gone on the other one had Mochita wasn’t courageous enough.
This is a conversation from the chapter before the epilogue of the Solution for Jealousy novel (translated by @renna-translations ) between Haruki Serizawa and Akari Hayasaka. Assuming, this is accurate (I trust that it is), it just blatantly confirmed that Haruki is just as much of a candidate as what Mochita became due to his confession, and this scene served as the closure for anything Akari even feels for Haruki.
The bud that “hadn’t been able to bloom” refers to her feelings for Haruki, and the “new flower” refers to what she feels now for Mochita. The “that didn’t mean it had gone to waste; it would become the strength for a new flower to sprout” literally translates to “She throws away her chance to fall in love with Haruki, but don’t worry, it means that she’ll fall in love with the other one,” and she literally thought of Mochita the next line lol.
I find the MochiAka story incredibly sweet much more now considering that it’s not just Mochita overcoming his own fears and assuming he and Akari already hit off after he confessed - no, it was just the beginning of it. Because he was brave enough, he indirectly saved the girl he loved from suffering a potential painful heartbreak and that makes their story even deeper and worth appreaciating.
Bonus detail: I love how it was also Haruki that told Akari where Mochita is in “The Day I Knew Love” music video (and the novel to which I’m about to read) and when she found and spend that time with Mochita, she finally acknowledged that she found her first love! Like, Haruki took a small part in it, and that’s a cute detail lol.
Now, you might say that I’m overanalyzing things (which I probably am lol) but I just accept that some parts of the Seikai wa Koi ni Ochiteru novel especially Tsubomi’s story, is a “what if Mochita wasn’t there” kind of arc (I joked because Mochita became Kou Mabuchi lol), highlighting how important Mochita’s confession is for the start of their love story.
His confession is just the start of their story, so MochiAka might be one of the least angsty ships in the series, but they actually have depth in them because like everyone else, they started as friends. Souta waited for her the same way Ken Shibasaki did for Arisa Takamizawa in “Namaiki Honey.” I honestly find it cute lol.
I feel like this post had been long enough lol. I just want to appreciate this ship so much and remember how pissed I actually am that they didn’t get their solo anime XD. He was her happiness, and so was she to him. They might not be as deep as HaruMiou or have a background like NatsuYuu’s, but they still started as friends and love each other enough to decide that they want to spend the rest of their lives with each other.
