Man. I Rly Think What Makes Makoharu So Compelling Is They Have Every Opportunity To Be Bad For Each

man. i rly think what makes makoharu so compelling is they have every opportunity to be bad for each other, but they’re so aware of the way in which the other is codependent on them, they actively choose not to be.

haru relies on makoto to be his executive function, on some level, and makoto knows it. makoto wakes haru up and pulls haru out of the bath and the pool, and most importantly if they have places to be or things to do, makoto is the one that’s on it and making sure they’re on time (ESFJ boy). because makoto so often speaks for haru in these instances, it’d be easy for makoto to say things he wants haru to say, or to control haru’s time in a nefarious way, but he doesn’t. makoto is always listening to what haru wants for the most part, so his oversteps are typically small, like trying to wipe haru’s face at a restaurant or stopping haru from jumping into an aquarium tank. they annoy haru a lot, as one does when you’ve loved someone for a long time, but it’s pretty standard stuff.

this aspect of makoharu is further explored in season 3 with the foil that comes out in hiyori/ikuya, because that is exactly what hiyori does. hiyori speaks for ikuya not to say what ikuya would like him to say, but what hiyori wants ikuya to say, because hiyori projects the insecurity he has for his relationship with ikuya into every facet of said relationship. interestingly, i think hiyori’s desire to actually be loved by ikuya, while it comes out in a toxic way, has a better overall self image than the one makoto has, because makoto is only able to do right by haru by assuming and accepting that what he gets from haru is what he gets, regardless of whether that’s actually good enough or even fair to him. which i think is where this reverses.

up until the end of eternal summer, makoto would go anywhere, do anything, be anyone for haruka; he just wants to be with haru, and he makes that pretty clear. it would be extremely easy for haru to take advantage of makoto and suck him dry or force him to put up with shitty behavior because he knows makoto is a sure thing—actually, haru DOES do this from time to time: the fireworks fight in season 2 where haru snaps at him unfairly, the first episode of season 1 where haru is being an asshole to makoto the whole way to school, parts of the high speed film where haru is feeling sad about rin so he takes it out on makoto and his teammates. haru is allowed to act spoiled because makoto will allow him that space to do that, because makoto loves haru that much to put up with behavior like that. but the thing is, especially as the series progresses—and especially when it becomes clear that haru could actually lose makoto—haru starts doing the work of walking back and actually apologizing for the bad that he does, and also, tbf, haru does try his best to not push makoto on things that he knows will actively hurt him. he never makes fun of makoto for not liking scary things or for hiding behind haru, and in fact, haru jumps at the chance to protect makoto when it’s presented to him. when makoto is scared, haru always holds his hand through it. when presented with an opportunity to do whatever he wants at makoto’s expense, haru doesn’t take that chance.

i think that’s really interesting, because we’re really walking a fine line here—this doesn’t work in any other iteration. it has to be them. it has to be two people who are so committed to understanding each other that they actually can depend on each other to the degree that they do without destroying one another. and they come right up to that line but they somehow manage to never go over, which is fascinating to me.