I think the reason why Pucca and Garu’s relationship is so widely misunderstood by the general public—and even by some fans—is because of the lack of attention to detail regarding their relationship on Jetix. I want to clarify that I really like the Jetix series, but even though it was never implied that Garu hated Pucca, the nature of their romantic relationship isn’t really explored and can even seem contradictory. I don’t know if the writers thought that having a male character show shyness in the face of a female character’s affections was too cheesy and changed it (considering that Garu was literally created as Pucca’s boyfriend, lol), but that really affected how people interpret them and even makes them invent things to suit their own purposes.
Love Recipe tried to fix that, and although I think their relationship is better portrayed and more consistent, I think they tried to resemble what it was on Jetix in some parts. In any case, I’m grateful that it shows Pucca and Garu are actually best friends.
It also adds that we have no explanation for why Garu acts that way toward Pucca or why he’s so obsessed with training; we’re never told about his family’s loss of honor in either series, something that’s fundamental to his character and was always clarified in official information as an obstacle in his relationship with Pucca. If anything, we get a revelation in Love Recipe, but it ends up being ambiguous and confusing.
I know that at this point there isn't really an established canon for Pucca anymore—or at least it's a bit hard to come up with one that stays consistent—but I think it would have turned out much better if they had stuck to the original plot they had and if Garu had shown more of his feelings and shyness, like in the web shorts.
