Perhaps it’s deserved, though?
Summary:
- The series strongly hints at Oushi having feelings for Yuki.
- Oushi is too aggressive and overprotective.
- He doesn’t treat Yuki well.
Despite A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren) being the most wholesome and endearing series this season, there is still some commotion in the fandom.
It was initially connected to Itsuomi, but fans got tired of this topic pretty quickly and moved to another character who seems to be even more problematic than the male lead.
Childhood friend who’s in love with Yuki
Oushi is Yuki’s childhood friend, and his behavior hints at the fact that he wants to be at least a little bit more than just a friend. And this is exactly the problem: his behavior.
Although Oushi has just been recently introduced, he has become aggressive really fast. He is overprotective of Yuki and tries to control her every action. Oushi explicitly tells Yuki to stay away from Itsuomi and gets irritated every time he sees the two interact.
The recent episode made the situation even worse, as Oushi started trying to invade Yuki’s personal space, something Itsuomi was blamed for before.
The point is that Itsuomi’s gestures were rather small, and Yuki never minded them, she is in love with the man, after all. But Oushi decided to go all in and tried to touch her hands and put his head on her shoulder. Which she explicitly told him not to do, as she felt uncomfortable.
It gets worse
On top of that, he treats Yuki like a stupid little girl, and a number of fans think it’s because of her hearing-impairment. Oushi sees Yuki as fragile and unable to take care of herself, and it’s infuriating.
Oushi gets even more aggressive when he sees Itsuomi touching Yuki in Episode 4 and even calls the girl a fool, which makes him look even worse.
It’s clear that Oushi’s behavior stems from his care and affection for Yuki, but the way he communicates these feelings is rather questionable, that’s why there are so many viewers that started disliking Oushi, and we can understand it: the latest episode does a lot to make you want to join team Itsuomi.
There’s still a chance for character development for Oushi, though. And we really hope that his behavior will change and he will be more accepting and supportive of Yuki and her decisions. But for now, unfortunately, all the hate feels very understandable.