Kaoru vs. Tomoe (A Fair and Balenced Outlook)

Personalities

Oh boy, I dunno why I’m even writing this section. Kaoru just plain kicks Tomoe’s ass in this department. So Kaoru’s a little tomboyish and immature? It’s definitely more fun that way. I love it when peoples faces get all fucked up when they’re mad and they cry huge freakin’ tears when they’re comically sad. She has a positive outlook on everyone and everything. She doesn’t judge people, and she never gives up when she tries at something. She owns a friggin’ dojo and works hard to keep it going. And the cool thing is that she can also be serious. It’s like, getting tired of the psycho happy Kaoru? How about the melodramatic Kaoru? Take your pick. What does Tomoe do? She constantly reminds Kenshin of how his life could have been simpler if he didn’t kill. Oh wait. She arranges flowers you guys. I mean, I love watching someone arrange flowers in tastefully decorative positions. I could do it FOR HOURS. I dunno, it could be a close one. The Tomoe fans also use the argument that Tomoe is much calmer and refined and delicate and blah freakin’ blah. So what? She can stop Battousai from killing by lulling him into a gentle sleep? Ya. Whatever guys. Kaoru clearly has Tomoe on the one-up in this category. On to my next beef…er…argument.

Looks

This, unfortunately, is one of the most popular arguments for this debate. A Tomoe fan uses this as a last resort if it looks like they’re about to lose the argument; just ‘OH YEAH? WELL TOMOE LOOKS WAY BETTER THAN KAORU! It’s like during a rock paper scissors game and then someone comes out with a sucker punch to the jaw and then runs away like a wussy. I don’t want to spend too much time arguing this point because there’s something weird when you argue whether or not a moving 2-D picture is better looking than the other. To put it bluntly, I like the way Kaoru looks better. Now I know I’m going to get e-mails saying ‘LOL SILLY KAORU YOUR JUST SAYING THAT CUZ YOU LIKE KAORU BETTER THAN TOMOE HAHAHAHAHAHA’ And to that I have to say 1. Shut the hell up and 2. Maybe. Seriously though, I just like the way Kaoru looks. I mean, look at Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo. I think she’s one of the best characters in anime, but I don’t think she looks good. Wow she’s got big boobs. So what? She’s also cardboard hair and friggin square ears.

Abilities

There’s only one thing in this category that Tomoe beats Kaoru at here: cooking. Oh wait, and flower arranging. Look at what Kaoru can do though: She can teach a class kendo, run an entire dojo while providing for a group of people, she can kick ass and she does it in a KIMONO. What does Tomoe do? She sites around and stars wistfully at the moon whilst arranging flowers and doing her calligraphy/journal. Oh wait, she can also jump in front of a huge dude and getting sliced in half by her lover whom she was going to help kill in a conspiracy involving her brother and the Shogun but then changed her mind and sacrificed her life because she’s a weird messed up chick. Score three for Kaoru.

Past

This is probably the most important part of my argument. Many Tomoe fans have used this argument to say that Tomoe suffered more than Kaoru ever did and that her and Kenshin would make a good match because they could relate to each other that way. First of all, what kind of a suck-ass point is that? They both loved someone who died so that makes them a good couple? Whatever. Second of all, I was thinking about it and really, besides her losing her fiancée, how else has Tomoe suffered? This is where that argument that Tomoe fans make about her being refined and elegant come back to bite them in the ass AGAIN. This shows that she came from a family with money and prestige. Oh yeah. I’m sure being born with that metaphorical silver spoon stuck up her ass was a real pain. Oh the suffering. Kaoru, on the other hand, was born in to poverty and had to work hard to get by. She lost her mother at a very early age, (some think she died during child birth, others think it was a disease; I think it was the latter myself) and her father, who sounded like a strict bastard, left her for a war and then died. So Kaoru was left all alone to fend for herself. So let’s see: chick who loses all she loves but can and will still fight for what she believes in and who has worked for what she has and has a positive outlook on things even though they suck or chick who comes from a rich family and Wow guys, you really got me. Tomoe suffered WAY more than Kaoru ever did.

D.O.A?

What can I say? Kaoru simply beats Tomoe at everything. She even beats her at being alive. I know this is a huge point for Kaoru fans to make, saying Tomoe and Kenshin can’t be together because she’s dead. Here’s a little advice for you: don’t. That’s such a terrible excuse. ‘They obviously can’t be together because Tomoe’s dead.’ No shit? Don’t use this argument. It makes it look like you’re desperate and that you can’t think of any other ways that Kaoru beats Tomoe ( which there are many).

Relationships with Kenshin

Once again, Tomoe just can’t beat Kaoru. Tomoe and Kenshin’s relationship was filled with lies and deceit on her part. She secretly plotted to kill Kenshin because he killed her fiancée. Like he was supposed to know that he was engaged to Tomoe, right? She’s acting like they aren’t in the middle of a fucking WAR and that people can DIE. Their whole relationship is built on a lie really. She wants to be with him at first because she wants to kill him. Then she decides she loves him because she’s a wishy-washy tart. How does she show her love for him? By Making it so he kills her. Yeah, great love, huh? A lot of people don’t realize that she wasn’t just sacrificing herself for the hell of it. She wanted him to suffer while he was alive. She wanted him to live with the fact that he killed people, so she punished him. Hence the X-scar. Damn I’m good. On the flip side, Kenshin and Kaoru’s relationship is built on friendship and trust. What does Kenshin do the first time they meet? He saves her freakin’ life. Throughout the whole series, Kaoru supports Kenshin and shows that she just wants him to be happy. Even though he’s the cause for most, if not all, the bad things that happen to her, and he brought along more people for her to take care of, she still shows how much she cares for him. Christ, if I were that girl I would’ve taken a gun to my head three days in. Wait, scratch that. I would’ve taken a gun to THEIR heads three days in.

And in Conclusion…

So there you have it. My fair and balanced outlook on Tomoe vs. Kaoru. If you disagree with any or all things I had to say in this rant, please feel free to die. Nah, just e-mail me and I’ll track you down and bash your brains out…er…talk to you… If Kagero would let me, I just might have some more rants like ‘Alternate Pairings: What the Hell?’ and ‘Why the Fuck Did They Cancel Angel?’ Oh boy, I can’t wait.