sorry for talking abt this again when i literally made a post like. yesterday that brushes over this but i really do think that warp’s existence is inherently affectionate and the fact that kuniharu couldn’t accept that form of care and rejected warp as a part of the family until he misconstrued warp’s actions for a different form of affection which he understands does remind me of. Other Certain Relationships.
I know this is a late response, but i do wanna explain myself for the people who are curious!
To put it shortly, I’m comparing Kuniharu’s relationship with Warp to his relationship with Kusuo. I think that Kuniharu’s love language is different from Kusuo’s, which leads to a breakdown in communication, which leads to Kuniharu treating his son rather poorly.
Let’s start with love languages. Kuniharu expresses love primarily to Kurumi. He does this through words of affirmation,
gift giving,
and physical touch.
By contrast, Kusuo’s love languages seem to be acts of service and quality time. He’s always going out of his way to improve the lives of the people he cares about (see: the entire freaking manga), and he shows favor to those same people by hanging out with them (again, the entire freaking manga). For his parents, Kusuo often does them favors (teleporting kuniharu to work, reversing time on him), will do chores without being asked,
and occasionally tags along when they go into town.
The reason I think Kusuo is comparable to Warp is because Warp’s entire purpose is to act in service to its owners. That’s why Warp checks on Kuniharu’s health, why it connects to the internet, why it can play songs, etc. But in chapter 224, Kuniharu doesn’t appreciate Warp’s services; rather, he grows upset because they interfere with his idea of what an affectionate housepet is.
Because Kuniharu interprets these functions as clinical rather than affectionate, he starts to regard Warp as an appliance. And since he wanted a pet, not an appliance, he feels betrayed. Immediately following this, he rejects Warp as a part of the family.
Why is this similar to his relationship with Kusuo? Because Kusuo is a tsundere. He always maintains a neutral expression around other people, and he’ll never admit out loud when he likes someone. This means that he’s not engaging with Kuniharu in Kuniharu’s love language, which makes it difficult for him to understand when his son is being affectionate. Kuniharu expresses that this bothers him in chapter 33.
^he calls him cheeky, uncooperative, dour, and dishonest. He also expresses a desire to ‘beat kusuo down’ which… ugh. Not a good look dude…
Let’s contrast this with how he treats, say, Kusuke. Kusuke is often mean to others, including Kuniharu. However, this behavior isn’t shown to have a long-term impact on how Kuniharu views him. Why? Because of this:
And this:
And this:
Despite not being sorry at all, Kusuke will smile, say “just kidding!”, and maybe throw in a hug to sell the act. That’s words of affirmation and physical touch. In other words, he’s communicating with Kuniharu in a way Kuniharu understands and accepts at face value. This way, he’s always forgiven.
For a direct comparison between Kuniharu’s treatment of kusuke vs. kusuo, let’s have a look at this panel from chapter 212:
Kuniharu openly says that he won’t take advantage of Kusuke because he’s his son. But he takes advantage of Kusuo’s powers every single day; what does that mean for their relationship? Is Kusuo not also his son? What’s with this preferential treatment??
Listen. There’s nothing inherently bad about communicating differently; that’s perfectly natural! People are different! But it’s a problem when they never try to bridge that disconnect. Kuniharu honestly seems to dislike Kusuo, and it’s not cool that he openly insulted his son in front of Nendo. It’s not cool that he takes Kusuo’s powers for granted, and it’s not cool that he holds double standards for his sons. This isn’t how you treat family.
As far as I can tell, the closest Kuniharu has ever come to understanding Kusuo is in chapter 99.
Because they’re talking to each other directly and honestly, Kuniharu understands that Kusuo swapped with him because he loves his friends and wants them to have a nice party. And he encourages him to go be with them anyway because he’s the one they want to see and celebrate. This right here? This is an actually constructive conversation, which leads to a really nice moment between father and son. This is what I want to see!!
(Ah, but i’m not sure this counts as development for their relationship. after all, kuniharu understands that kusuo appreciates his friends, but i don’t think he understands he appreciates him.)
n e ways, sorry this explanation is so long, i really didn’t mean for that to happen. the brainrot is extreme (￣ω￣;). Hope this clears things up tho!
