Let’s Talk About Momiji - MANGA SPOILERS!
I have a ton of lesson planning that I still need to do, but I decided to take a bit of a break to talk about Momiji for a sec. I was just re-reading Chapters 64 and 65. When it comes to the Beach Arc, we always see a lot of talk about Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru and how this really is a turning point in all of their stories. We see that it is in this arc that Kyo and Yuki have some big revelations concerning their thoughts and feelings on their situation and Tohru. But…Momiji experiences this too. It’s just done in an incredibly subtle way.
When you first read through Furuba, the twist of Momiji being the other Sohma who romantically likes Tohru seems to come out of left field. Because, just like Tohru, and the other Sohmas, you don’t really view Momiji as a fellow teen. Not until he has his growth spurt and then it really sinks in that he is a teenager going through complicated feelings involving love of all kinds too.
Once you know the direction of Momiji’s story, once you have that image of an older Momiji in your head, and once you can see Momiji as the teen he actually is - you can see the threads of his love for Tohru far easier. But they are still very soft and subtle, still slightly hidden. I think, narratively, Momiji truly enters the “teen character” category after the Beach Arc. It is during this arc that we see him make that transition. It is also likely during this arc that Momiji really, consciously realizes that he likes Tohru romantically.
Before Akito arrives and crashes their vacation, we still see Momiji being lumped in with “the kids.” He is crashed out on the floor sleeping together with Hiro and Kisa, the others do make a “and Momiji, for some reason” kinda comment, but he is still kept in that group. He, along with Hiro and Kisa, have to be informed by the others (the adults and teens) that Akito has arrived. He was out of the loop (only very briefly) but then had to be brought into it again. This shows that, while we’ve seen Momiji be shown as being more emotional mature than Hiro and even some of the older characters, he was still being kept at the Kids Table, so to speak.
We’ve also always seen Momiji as caring about and adoring Tohru, but his feelings and emotions on the way to Akito and how he expresses his desire to see and be with Tohru afterwards are different…There is a softer look in his eyes, and he talks about wanting to be selfish along with Kyo. I feel, if you look at this image:
You can see in his expression that he is feeling romantic feelings for Tohru and is aware of this by now. And the confrontation with Akito is when Momiji fully moves from the “Kids Table” to the “Adults Table.” He not only stood up for Tohru and did what Kyo had wanted to do, but he is also now shown to be separated from Hiro and Kisa.
He still has a good, enjoyable time with Tohru. He is still excitable, but there is a maturity in his eyes now. A different type of maturity from when he talked about his mother with Tohru. You can see it in the way he looks at her in the above image. Something has shifted and changed. Now he has a shared moment with Tohru. It was a heartbreaking moment, but it was still a moment that bonded them and it was still a moment that was (essentially) between them (them vs. Akito, really). He isn’t sleeping on the floor with “the kids” anymore and being kept a bit out of the loop. He now is the one keeping one of “the kids” out of the loop.
And though, the night before he still slept next to Kisa, we see now - at the very end of this arc - he asks to sit with Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo. He is sitting at the Adult’s Table now (though, really, teens). And specifically with Kyo and Yuki, who both have their own revelations concerning Tohru and their feelings about her in this arc.
It isn’t given a huge spotlight, but Momiji gains a lot of character development in this arc too, and it is during this arc that we really see him transition from a kid who likes Tohru to a young man experiencing his first love.
