I’m not a fan of VinceAda because of the rather overused trope of “I can save/redeem/fix him with my love!” and because Ada has little character outside of him. Jacie, is very complicated to me, because of Jack’s complex feelings and his realisation of his lack of agency and identity outside of her, and Lacie’s side of it is very sweet (1/2)
I think that Jack is aware of his dependency on Lacie and hates it, but since it’s the only feeling that he’s sure is his, he relies on her to give him a sense of self. I also read a sense of regret in that misplaced resentment; he hates hurting others but he’s desensitised to it throughout the years he did everything he could to survive, his empathy might be killed, but his regret probably isn’t. And he resents Lacie for causing it, through tying him down with the desire to see her again. (2/2)
My feelings for VinceAda are very complicated. The Beauty and the Beast vibes are definitely there and I don’t really care for that archetype. It’s not against Ada’s character, and I don’t fault Mochizuki’s writing for it, it’s just not to my taste. Honestly though, Ada is one of my favourite characters so I think she does have complexity on her own, unless I’m interpolating and/or projecting. For instance, I think she is independent and mature enough to have constructed her own (socially “unacceptable”) hobbies and her own safe space to explore her passions. She gets thrown into dangerous and tragic situations but does not once act helpless about it. I love Ada because she represents the character who is emotionally strong, independent and mature without being the “physically strong, emotionally repressed” stereotype which is how strength is commonly defined in fiction (and by patriarchy in general).
To be honest, the only thing I hate about how VinceAda ended is that Vincent lied to her and to himself to get out of her life. I think his justification was weak, but the choice of not staying with her was arguably the right one. Vincent’s character development is as frustrating as all the character development that happens off-screen though. I can’t properly argue against it but it’s very unsatisfying.
Jacie on the other hand, indeed, it’s so easy to see all the shades of twisted in it that... I honestly don’t have to feel apologetic for liking it or not liking it. In this case for instance I don’t, but I could have. Sometimes moral ambiguity that is acknowledged by the narrative material is easier to enjoy.
Honestly I think Jack did have agency, to some degree, over his feelings for Lacie, or at least over the actions he has chosen because of them. Just because he doesn’t think he did doesn’t mean he’s right. I am not totally convinced their relationship was supposed to be read as potentially romantic in nature. I honestly kind of like the interpretation that they were just supposed to be friends because unhealthy friendships and overly attached platonic friend is... Original enough that I could get behind it haha.