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Shipping wars are probably some of my favorite aspects of starting any show, no matter what fandom they belong to. I’m a big romance enthusiast and the moment I catch even a whiff of feelings, I’m obsessed. It holds so much potential for great fanfiction. And with an anime such as Classroom Of the Elite, that potential is exponential. You have a host of characters to ship the main lead with, but sometimes the best romance is the one that is not all that apparent. I mean, imagine if Kushida harbored something towards Ayanokōji?
Turns out, that fans of the popular light novel are pretty convinced that Kikyō Kushida does like Kiyotaka Ayanokōji to an extent. I don’t think she’s in love with Ayanokoji at all but some fans believe in this ship a lot. Kushida has always proven herself to be a bit of a wild card, going from wildly erratic to comfortably tolerant of Ayanokōji’s personality. But could that hot and cold demeanor stem from something other than the competition?
Having a ship that goes from enemies to lovers isn’t unheard of in anime. Hell, it’s one of my favorite tropes in most romance fiction. There’s just something so fun seeing two characters who despise each other, become more intimate, and then hate each other for liking each other. It’s crazy fun dynamic and one that could serve well in something like Classroom Of The Elite. Like, we don’t always need to have a character that is enamored by the main lead. Sometimes, you need a character that brings him down a peg instead!
This is why a study into a character such as Kikyō Kushida could prove very fruitful. And so, welcome to Character Analysis, where we take your favorite character from across various works for analysis. We break them down to see exactly what makes them tick. And today, we’ll be looking into whether the feelings Kushida is harboring are platonic, romantic, or just plain hatred!
Table of Contents
Kikyō Kushida: A Bubbly Exterior Hides A Rotten Inside?
When we first meet Kushida, she is asking a fellow student to give up his seat for an elderly person, projecting this idea of a very sympathetic and caring individual. This, of course, was a red herring to throw the reader off.
With her big eyes and gorgeous looks, she is an instant hit amongst the boys. Her goal is to become friends with everyone. She’s known as Class D’s idol, thanks to her sweet and outgoing nature. She even became easy friends with Honami Ichinose of Class B, who is one of the most popular people at Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.
But, of course, she’s hiding her true intentions behind a persona. In reality, Kushida is a very shrewd person who is very, very intense with the people she dislikes. Which includes Ayanokōji and Suzune Horikita, who had brushed her friendly advances off in an extremely cold manner.
Hell, she even threatens Ayanokōji with fake assault charges when he does end up discovering her two-faced behavior. Like she is messed up, in hindsight. But she is unperturbed by this development, despite Ayanokōji regarding her with suspicion afterward.
The way she switches between sweet and ruthless with 0 warning, is genuinely unsettling.
She’s Doing What She Needs To For Survival:
Yeah, she’s kind of the most awful person ever. But like, you can’t help but respect how much she puts into her act. It’s really interesting to see how she operates between her two personalities.
She makes to-do lists before hanging out with her ‘friends’, she practices every possible conversation beforehand so she doesn’t ‘accidentally’ reveal anything that can be later exploited by a foe. Like, clearly, she is playing the long con here, leaving no room for weakness.
It’s almost admirable. It’s also really isolating and terrible, which explains why she has meltdowns when she’s alone. And that is probably the only time she’s sincere with her feelings. She’s committed to her good girl act in a way that you can’t help but applaud. She isn’t slipping.
Could Ayanokōji End Up With The Tsundere?
Look, you’re either a Tsundere fan, or you’re not. Sure, calling Kushida a Tsundere is trivializing how terrible she can be to Ayanokoji but let’s presume it’s an extreme form of Tsundere tendencies. Either way, a surprising number of people ship the two together.
And I get it, kind of? The way the two-act towards each other is almost begrudgingly respectful. Like, Kushida doesn’t worship the ground Ayanokōji walks on. And Ayanokōji considers Kushida an actual threat. They are the only two who can see through the other’s pretenses.
Which could lead to a strange form of camaraderie that fans are exaggerating into possible romance. The light novel still hasn’t concluded so can’t be too sure, but honestly? Kushida x Ayanokoji doesn’t sound like the worst pairing ever!
Anza Qureshi is a writer, licensed dentist and certified Uchiha fangirl. When she isn't doing root canals or listing down anime waifus, you can find her screeching about her favorite JRPGs across social media.
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