#another!!

so yes of course shirosaki/momose beautiful gorgeous excellent (and kinjou/aoyama has also grown on me like moss) but the thing i admire most about atarashii joushi is surprisingly not the Salaryman YaoiLite

it's the portrayal of momose's trauma and ptsd, and recovery, that i thought was the story's strongest element. it's every bit as strong as the portrayal of akira's trauma and recovery in zom100, which is saying a hell of a lot because zom100 nailed it

the fact that momose can't just magically forget the past, just because the abusive person is out of his life now, is of course sad but also wonderful to see. because healing is recursive in real life as well! and it's genuinely inspiring to see like ah, it's not so unusual to struggle with this sort of thing

AND THAT ENDING MY GOD although i think it would have been adorable if they'd just both admitted to wanting to continue to live together, this was so much better

because being able to live on his own again probably is an important step in momose's recovery, and both he and shirosaki are aware of that. it's not about whether or not he's wanted at shirosaki's place, i feel like they both understand, by the end, that they would be happy to continue living together

but it's just something momose Needs to do, and they both understand that too. and that's such an incredible thing to see in their relationship, that they understand each other and support each other unconditionally