So, I’m gonna try and make this as concise as possible, mostly because I hate seeing all this ShoumaxRingo hate every time I look at my dashboard. I’ll try to make this short and to the point. Keyword: Try.
I like Shouma and Ringo both separately and as a pairing. I didn’t plan on it. I just watched the series and slowly started to love their interactions more and more.
It was a gradual development, and I have to say, the little hints were beautifully laid. I love that we actually saw Ringo in the first episode with Shouma’s friend (forgot his name) trying to get Shouma into girls. I love that even though his sister’s life was on the line, Shouma was still hesitant about invading Ringo’s room. I love their dynamic. It’s so unique—it’s not like a really typical tsundere relationship, but at the same time, it is. Shouma lets her beat him up (which is meant to be comic relief, people), but he still lets her have it when he thinks she goes out of line. His moral-adhering character comes out so well with her and on so many different levels, too. You see the Shouma that’ll do anything and everything to save Himari, including putting up with Ringo’s antics. At the same time, though, Shouma will step in and intervene with Ringo’s plans if he thinks the plans go against his ethics. He may be compromising Himari’s life in the process, but it’s his character: He’s a good guy.
And then Ringo, who might possibly be my favorite character in the series. She is so amazingly flawed and such a well-written character. Superficially, she’s a stalker, but go a little deeper and she’s just the girl trying to sew the broken pieces of her family back together. She’s convinced herself that she isn’t wanted by her family and that, instead, her family needs her dead sister back to be complete. She gives herself no worth but instead tries to become Momoka who, to her, is the first priority. A lot of the fandom likes to brand her as selfish, but in a twisted sort of way, she’s one of the most selfless characters in the series. We know she really doesn’t want to become Momoka, but it’s something she feels she has to do, no questions asked. She even tries to sleep with the man Momoka loved to be “one with Momoka”.
But she can’t. She can’t sleep with Tabuki because Ringo doesn’t love Tabuki. Momoka loved Tabuki, and Ringo realizes, thanks to Shouma, that she isn’t Momoka. I loved that scene—she finally, finally got Tabuki and he even had her on his bed and was ready to go, but because of what Shouma said, she couldn’t do it. She abandoned her fate and her Project M, or she couldn’t fulfill it, because of Shouma.
He changes her fate. She can’t complete her metamorphosis into her sister because, in a way, Shouma won’t let her. He makes her realize she’s her own person, not a tool to bring her family back together.
And likewise, Ringo makes Shouma defy his fate as well. He interrupts Ringo’s plans, and in the process furthers himself from getting the Penguindrum, but he doesn’t care. They exert this force on each other and it’s amazing to watch.
The couple has such unique chemistry—they bicker, they try to dominate each other (sometimes), but they listen to each other when they need to. Ringo affects Shouma just like Shouna affects Ringo. And their angst is brilliant. “Why did you have to come into my life?” was such a well-directed scene.
Also, I just love how the first episode started with Shouma’s hatred of the word “fate”, and the second episode started with Ringo’s love of the word.
Ok, that wasn’t concise. It was more or less a ramble, but I don’t care. My two cents.