I’m just gonna rant for a second don’t mind me but I want to talk about how fucking BRILLIANT the character writing for Tohru is. You have this girl who initially, and I mean from the get-go, had a very polite personality inherited from her father. As she grew up, she continued this polite personality which grew into one of selflessness and kindness. The problem is after Kyoko died, Tohru’s selflessness became unhealthy. She had so much overwhelming guilt from her mother’s death that it manifested into something that consumed Tohru’s mindset, personality, and thought process. She disregarded herself so much that she began to see herself as nothing; not human, not anything. And all of this is hidden under what we see on the surface: Tohru’s happy-go-lucky personality.
Hence, this is part of why Tohru falling in love is something she is both terrified of and cannot comprehend. Monogamous love is so selfish in nature. It’s the feeling and want of having one person in that special place in your heart, something Tohru can’t imagine for herself. So when she falls in love with Kyo, someone who is so far out of her reach because of the Curse, his own self hatred and disregard, AND the fact that he’s going to be locked away at the end of graduation…. it makes it so much worse. It’s a genius juxtaposition, having someone who is so selfless experience a feeling that is so selfish.
