Hey Minato, how’s it going?

I know that he’s not the most popular character around these parts, so I imagine this episode’s focus on him and his emotional state will mean that it won’t be viewed as the series best. And, well, I’m with you, although maybe not entirely for the same reasons.

My beef with Minato is that he’s not especially interesting. He’s a very common type of character in female-oriented media: superficially nice but closed off until he meets the main character. He dates girls because they ask him out, but he’s never dialed into the actual relationship. Then, much to his surprise, he catches feelings and spends at least several episodes rolling around and wallowing in his angst over his crush. Oh, he’s emotionally constipated because his older brother fought with their parents a lot? Please, tell me more. Wait, no, you don’t have to; I already spent multitudes of hours talking about this exact character type in my In the Clear Moonlit Dusk weekly reviews. I’m good.

(With regards to whether or not Ramparts of Ice is female-oriented: it has won awards in the shojo, josei, and “male readers” categories. Let no one tell you that demographic labels are tidy or easy to suss out, especially when it comes to web manga.)

So, you’ll have to forgive me for being less than enthralled by Minato’s struggle. Yes, he’s toxic and pushy with Koyuki, but at least that was somewhat interesting. His crushing isn’t, even if it’s well-presented. The little surges of covetousness when he sees Yota and Koyuki hanging out, just the two of them, are very real. He’s not being possessive, just jealous in a way that makes sense for his emotional situation.

Still, I can’t really root for him to be successful! Even if his feelings for Koyuki are ~different~ and ~sincere~, the poor girl has already had one toxic boyfriend who left her emotionally scarred. It’s not up to her to fix someone like Minato, and the story has placed responsibility for his emotional state on her in a way I don’t love. I’m all for couples where two damaged people bolster one another and help each other heal, but these two’s issues aren’t complementary in a way that can make that work for me.

Miki, meanwhile, bears a lot of guilt for Koyuki’s scars. Turns out, she’s the one who pushed Koyuki to date Igarashi. Bitter about her own breakups, she envied Igarashi’s supposed single-minded devotion to Koyuki, even if he antagonized her. It also seems that Igarashi and Miki were close, which makes me wonder whether Miki knew at the time just how toxic he was to Koyuki, or learned it after the fact. I’ve certainly seen relationships with friends go sour and wanted to help them through it, only to learn later how badly one party treated the other. 

Luckily for all of us, including Koyuki, Minato, and Igarashi aren’t the only guys out there! We also have Yota, a certifiable good boy! He and Koyuki have a wonderful, easy chemistry, and the comfort she feels in his presence has a healing quality. I’m not the only one who feels this way, as Miki’s coworker points out that they look great together. Who doesn’t love a tall guy/short girl pairing? When are we going to get a second season of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun?

As for me? I feel a bit torn. The two do look good together, and I think they’d make a sweet couple. On the other hand, their chemistry can easily be read as friendly rather than romantic or, god forbid, sexual. Koyuki deserves friends she feels free and easy with, and that doesn’t automatically make Yota boyfriend material. We have no reason to believe they see each other in that way, other than just “boy and girl in proximity.” 

Besides, Yota might be in love with his stepmother, so maybe this is a moot point. 

Rating:

Ramparts of Ice is currently streaming on
Netflix.