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anesidorian asked me for my top five OTPs! And I have finally gotten around to providing them.
5. Ginko and Tanyuu
Mushishi, by Urushibara Yuki
Usually I stick with pairings that are canon (see most of this list), or who at least have extremely notable subtext (see second place on this list). Ginko and Tanyuu are something of a departure for me, in that if people want to interpret their relationship in a totally platonic way I think that's fine, and the text doesn't contradict them, but I ship it like burning. I probably wouldn't ship it the way I do if it weren't so subtle, consisting of expressions of great trust expressed casually, and just a few looks, just a few words that don't have to be interpreted romantically. Ginko and Tanyuu are adults. They have circumstances that they recognize as making it difficult to form relationships, and they have jobs they recognize as important. Ginko has to travel, and while he's at it he'll try to protect both humans and mushi. Tanyuu has to stay in one place, and seal away a horrible power. And so while they're clearly comfortable with each other, and trust each other, and rely on each other in their own ways, they say nothing. But he's her window to the world, and she's the person he sometimes comes home to. And there's a hope that one day they'll find a middle ground in which they can live, even if they try not to hope too much.
4. Sophie Hatter and Howell Jenkins (aka Howl)
Howl's Moving Castle (and sequels), by Diana Wynne Jones
(I am too lazy to look up book fanart.)
Honestly, I am not at all sure that Sophie and Howl are my favorite Diana Wynne Jones couple, but they do have some of the most memorable scenes, whether they're arguing or...teasing. They're both strong personalities, prone to clashing in some ways, but there's a great deal of respect underneath. And really, they enjoy each others' presence. Sophie and Howl are at heart people who really recognize things in each other that others ignore or overlook, which I find very sweet and which leads to a real working marriage later on.
3. Iwaya Sumire and Gouda Takeshi (aka Momo)
Kimi Wa Pet (U.S. title: Tramps Like Us), by Ogawa Yayoi
Kimi wa Pet begins like many love stories. Successful careerwoman finds a modern dancer in a cardboard box outside her apartment building. She brings him in and gives him food. He loves it. She points out that, as she is single, she can't have a man living with her, though she could have a pet. He enthusiastically agrees to be her pet. Totally normal.
But as ridiculous as it can be, Kimi wa Pet is about two people finding what they really need, even if it may take them a long time to recognize it. Sumire needs someone she can come home to and really be herself with, someone she doesn't make herself assume a role around. Takeshi needs someone to motivate him, goals to focus on. Both of them are, in very different ways, experts at faking. With each other they get to be real.
2. Kusanagi Motoko (aka the Major) and Batou
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the Ghost in the Shell films
The Major and Batou's relationship is basically made to play to my weaknesses. Badass partners who FIGHT CRIME? Yep. Displays of respect, total trust, and occasional concern for the others' safety? Of course. A decent amount of episodes in which the subtext is largely or totally ignored because the characters are too busy being awesome? Got it. A decent amount of episodes with OVERWHELMING SUBTEXT? I have a relevant screencap from s1 ep.25 if you want to see proof. A very serious possibility that the relationship is and can only ever be one-sided, leaving Batou to suffer from unrequited love as quietly as he can? Oh god yes.
I'm including the movies as well really just for Innocence, which has its problems as a film but which I adore and which breaks my heart. To a large extent it's really a tragic love story, about how Batou's love for the Major is what keeps him human, and thus unable to be with her, while the Major does perhaps love him, but in a separate, inhuman way.
(This picture is relevant because the reason Batou's sleeve looks rather empty there is that he is MISSING THE BOTTOM HALF OF HIS RIGHT ARM due to be a fool for love. But he's a cyborg, he can take it.)
1. Dana Scully and Fox Mulder
The X-Files
I kind of grew up with The X-Files. (To my parents' credit, they did try not to let me watch it when I was too young, they didn't realize I could sneak up and see the t.v. through that grate. But since then the show has become a family bonding thing.) The X-Files gave me many things, and possibly the most formative was Mulder and Scully's relationship. Best friends who totally trust each other and who must fight together because THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE with painfully obvious romantic subtext for seasons upon seasons. I'm pretty sure they're where my partnership thing started. And they're still my favorite.
Honorable Mention: Corinna and Finian from Franny Billingsley's The Folk Keeper, who were on this list but I decided to move them off and make room for someone else since they are in many ways my functional YA-fantasy equivalent of the Major and Batou. (Or is it that the Major and Batou are my non-functional, sci-fi cop equivalent of Corinna and Finian? WHO KNOWS.) I was a little sad to cut them out, if mainly due to the fact that they have the BEST PROPOSAL EVER.
5. Ginko and Tanyuu
Mushishi, by Urushibara Yuki
Usually I stick with pairings that are canon (see most of this list), or who at least have extremely notable subtext (see second place on this list). Ginko and Tanyuu are something of a departure for me, in that if people want to interpret their relationship in a totally platonic way I think that's fine, and the text doesn't contradict them, but I ship it like burning. I probably wouldn't ship it the way I do if it weren't so subtle, consisting of expressions of great trust expressed casually, and just a few looks, just a few words that don't have to be interpreted romantically. Ginko and Tanyuu are adults. They have circumstances that they recognize as making it difficult to form relationships, and they have jobs they recognize as important. Ginko has to travel, and while he's at it he'll try to protect both humans and mushi. Tanyuu has to stay in one place, and seal away a horrible power. And so while they're clearly comfortable with each other, and trust each other, and rely on each other in their own ways, they say nothing. But he's her window to the world, and she's the person he sometimes comes home to. And there's a hope that one day they'll find a middle ground in which they can live, even if they try not to hope too much.
4. Sophie Hatter and Howell Jenkins (aka Howl)
Howl's Moving Castle (and sequels), by Diana Wynne Jones
(I am too lazy to look up book fanart.)
Honestly, I am not at all sure that Sophie and Howl are my favorite Diana Wynne Jones couple, but they do have some of the most memorable scenes, whether they're arguing or...teasing. They're both strong personalities, prone to clashing in some ways, but there's a great deal of respect underneath. And really, they enjoy each others' presence. Sophie and Howl are at heart people who really recognize things in each other that others ignore or overlook, which I find very sweet and which leads to a real working marriage later on.
3. Iwaya Sumire and Gouda Takeshi (aka Momo)
Kimi Wa Pet (U.S. title: Tramps Like Us), by Ogawa Yayoi
Kimi wa Pet begins like many love stories. Successful careerwoman finds a modern dancer in a cardboard box outside her apartment building. She brings him in and gives him food. He loves it. She points out that, as she is single, she can't have a man living with her, though she could have a pet. He enthusiastically agrees to be her pet. Totally normal.
But as ridiculous as it can be, Kimi wa Pet is about two people finding what they really need, even if it may take them a long time to recognize it. Sumire needs someone she can come home to and really be herself with, someone she doesn't make herself assume a role around. Takeshi needs someone to motivate him, goals to focus on. Both of them are, in very different ways, experts at faking. With each other they get to be real.
2. Kusanagi Motoko (aka the Major) and Batou
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the Ghost in the Shell films
The Major and Batou's relationship is basically made to play to my weaknesses. Badass partners who FIGHT CRIME? Yep. Displays of respect, total trust, and occasional concern for the others' safety? Of course. A decent amount of episodes in which the subtext is largely or totally ignored because the characters are too busy being awesome? Got it. A decent amount of episodes with OVERWHELMING SUBTEXT? I have a relevant screencap from s1 ep.25 if you want to see proof. A very serious possibility that the relationship is and can only ever be one-sided, leaving Batou to suffer from unrequited love as quietly as he can? Oh god yes.
I'm including the movies as well really just for Innocence, which has its problems as a film but which I adore and which breaks my heart. To a large extent it's really a tragic love story, about how Batou's love for the Major is what keeps him human, and thus unable to be with her, while the Major does perhaps love him, but in a separate, inhuman way.
(This picture is relevant because the reason Batou's sleeve looks rather empty there is that he is MISSING THE BOTTOM HALF OF HIS RIGHT ARM due to be a fool for love. But he's a cyborg, he can take it.)
1. Dana Scully and Fox Mulder
The X-Files
I kind of grew up with The X-Files. (To my parents' credit, they did try not to let me watch it when I was too young, they didn't realize I could sneak up and see the t.v. through that grate. But since then the show has become a family bonding thing.) The X-Files gave me many things, and possibly the most formative was Mulder and Scully's relationship. Best friends who totally trust each other and who must fight together because THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE with painfully obvious romantic subtext for seasons upon seasons. I'm pretty sure they're where my partnership thing started. And they're still my favorite.
Honorable Mention: Corinna and Finian from Franny Billingsley's The Folk Keeper, who were on this list but I decided to move them off and make room for someone else since they are in many ways my functional YA-fantasy equivalent of the Major and Batou. (Or is it that the Major and Batou are my non-functional, sci-fi cop equivalent of Corinna and Finian? WHO KNOWS.) I was a little sad to cut them out, if mainly due to the fact that they have the BEST PROPOSAL EVER.