#rokino

It’s like when a cat falls asleep on you, Yukino is stuck now until they wake up

Ronin and Okino are a pairing I absolutely love and it's for a multitude of reasons. They have a lot of interesting potential as both friends and romantic partners. Its both the things that make them the same and make them different that allow them to mesh together in my brain so well, and I wanted to talk about it.

Similarities:

While they don't seem to have that much in common, when looking at their arcs side by side it becomes easy to find the similarities. Both of them had their futures held over their heads in order to be used against the ninja; if any two characters are gonna come to understand each other it's going to be them. Their arcs, however do lead to different outcomes for them. Ronin ends up more selfless by the end, but it may have ultimately doomed him, while Okino ends up learning to live more for himself which ultimately saves him.

The two of them were also set up to fail and suffer by those they were previously forced to serve; Ronin had his life threatened by soul archer who never actually intended on letting him go. Not only did it lead to his desperate actions in season 5, but being cursed in the first place lead to seemingly years of paranoia and desperation which sent him down a dark road. Okino was literally programmed to fail by Unagami, made to unwillingly lead players to their deaths over and over again which affected his mental health negatively. So much so he became unmotivated and stopped taking care of himself to a degree.

They're both freed by the end of their arcs, or at least presumably so in Ronin's case, and are given some form of a new beginning. Ronin no longer has to worry about Soul Archer or the cursed realm as a whole; the threat on his life and reason for being a thief are gone. He can move on and, when ignoring the immediate character assassination that occurs in the beginning of Skybound, continue to be better. During season 5 he doesn't exactly seem to like where his life ended up, so it's likely he'd would have chosen to keep being better if his character was granted consistency. Especially as he spends the rest of Skybound and seasons 7-10 being an ally. Okino broke free from Unagami's programming and is out in the real world, a world in which he can travel rather than being confined to a single place. He's able to build an entirely new life and help people as he so choses without being made to fail them, as we see in most of his appearances after Prime Empire.

Also they're both wandering and masterless samurai, it's literally Ronin's name.

Differences:

There are multiple aspects in which Ronin and Okino's differences could balance the two of them out. For starters one is chaos to the others order; Ronin would bring the excitement Okino wants to his new life and Okino would be someone who can keep Ronin more grounded. Ronin tends to just take whatever life throws at him as he used to living disorderedly, after all he's lived a life on the run. Okino on the other hand is much more used to a routine, having a sense of discipline, and being stuck in the same place while awaiting players who all inevitably meet the same fate. In a way they're exactly what one another need when it comes to their individual experiences. Ronin's even been all over Ninjago while Okino's completely and utterly unfamiliar with it, he could be some sort of guide to Okino like Okino was to others.

I touched on this a bit in the similarities section but their arcs lead them towards different types development. One of selflessness and one of selfishness, both instances end up being healthier for them. Okino no longer hinges his self worth on how well he can serve others and instead he starts to live for himself. Once Ronin's less of a self serving loner and gets to be an ally, not only does he seem happier also a bit more relaxed in his demeanor. This makes sense as he's mentioned never having a support system before; we see him to be both better mentally and as a person when he's able to be on friendlier terms with the others. I think this is best shown with his characterization throughout dotd and season 7, where he ends up spending the holiday with jays family and then is trusted enough to help the ninja move into the temple.

“A real one” She said although it was muffled due to her face still being against his chest. She pulled away a bit and looked up at him through her lashes and bit her lip slightly “It was a real kiss...I really like you Rogue-sama”