What a genuine conundrum this turned out to be. Back when Muv-Luv posed me with what is essentially the same dilemma, my decision came almost instantly. I chose Sumika’s home-cooked, soulful meal without a moment’s hesitation. The choice wasn’t all that difficult in that case, because I had always preferred Sumika over Meiya by a significant margin, and the effort she poured into her cooking carried a warmth and sincerity that could never be matched by something prepared by distant servants. Meiya, for all her elegance and refinement, ultimately relied on her butlers to handle such things, which made her offering feel impersonal by comparison.
Here, however, the situation is far more complicated. The contest is between my third-favorite girl, who presents me with an earnest, heartfelt meal that embodies her effort and care, and my undisputed number one girl (at least when Kohaku’s qipao form isn’t entering the equation), who instead places before me a meal prepared through soulless outsourcing. It’s a clash between emotional authenticity and personal favoritism, between the tangible love infused into the act of cooking and the sheer weight of affection I have for the character herself.
I found myself paralyzed by the decision for far longer than I had expected. What initially seemed like a fun hypothetical transformed into an hour-long internal debate in which I weighed sentiment against loyalty, effort against attachment, meaning against preference. After circling the question again and again, I finally came to a conclusion. By the narrowest of margins, and only after considerable agonizing, I believe Akiha manages to edge out the competition. It’s not a landslide victory, but rather the kind of razor-thin win that leaves you still second-guessing yourself even as you commit to it. I am sure I will wake up tomorrow and wonder, did I make the right decision? What would my life be like if I chose Ciel, on that fateful day?
>>23329692Beautiful!
>>23329747Gross...
