Tread this post with caution, cos I will mention characters that I dislike with passion. Now that that is out of the way, let me say this first: reading for me is a relaxing way to put the ginormous amount of stress that looms over me every now and then at bay. So I always expect my reading to comfort me. Of course, the inevitable negative reaction is to be expected, but nothing like hating a character to ruin my reading mood! For me, who has a high tolerance for all the otherwise stupid situations characters sometimes get themselves into (well, I don’t expect them to be 100% perfect; we all have our ups and downs, being fictional withstanding!!), hating a character is very rare, but oh boy do they unleash the inner b*tch in me!

I think the more invested I am in the story, the more I am with the characters, and the more likely I am to be affected by their decisions and actions. As a notorious reader, I have my fair share of highs and lows when reading, and even though I know it’s just fiction, I can’t help but get affected by their actions and decisions. I think I’m inclined to hate this character if it influences the character that I do like.

Case point? Uchiha Sasuke from ナルト―! Man, you don’t know how much I hated his guts to the core. Every time he showed, I just gritted my teeth out of sheer anger! You see, I didn’t hate him so much before the series started (although I did find him an egoistic jerk!) but when he sought out power from Orochimaru and this idiot Naruto (by extension, Sakura) tried, and tried, and tried to bring him back (every time they labeled it “saving,” I cringed because Sasuke obvs didn’t need saving, he waltzed into Orochimaru’s lair on his own!) made me want to bang my head to the wall!

The thing that made it so unconvincing to me was that Naruto and Sasuke never had that strong a bond to begin with! The only time they had a connection and a semblance of more than acquaintances was by virtue of being on the same team! I know it was Naruto’s character that he cared for everybody, blah, blah, but the “friendship” *insert Distance by Long Shot Party* that had been shoving at the readers and viewers was too shallow and poorly written! I mean, again, they were only teammates, but it was as if they had that deep-rooted bond, which never did happen in the first place! And the fact that Sasuke dismissed Naruto’s efforts 99% of the time and even tried to kill him made him more despicable in my eyes!

Sasuke remained my number 1 hated character, but Mabuchi Kou from アオハライド and Yoo Woon from  해 여름 come in second place (it’s a tie). They were/are both freaking flip-flopping, confusing their supposed love interests. In Mabuchi’s case, when the girl decided to move on with another guy (because how long can you wait for a guy who kept rejecting you and seemed to be hanging with another girl, whom he gave far more importance?! I didn’t get it. I still don’t get it! Yes, I’m prone to second guy syndrome, but man, I can’t really help it in this case; the dude tried to worm his way into her life again even though she just started a new relationship! F*ck that!! I hated the ending, in case you’re still wondering.

And Yoo Won, yeah, yeah, he was just a dutiful son, and he was doing that for his mother! And all the sob backstory (yeah, call me ice queen, I don’t care) but GAH, regardless of his reason, he should be honest with the person with whom he was in a relationship at that time! I think if he were honest, I think Hee Bum would understand, but like Mabuchi, when Hee Bum was already with someone else—that someone else, Jumi, who was there for the two of them, consoling Hee Bum when they broke up, pretended to be Yoo Won’s girlfriend for his mother’s sake, who at one point was willing to accept her unrequited love ‘coz she was freaking rooting for them!!—again, passively aggressively trying to shake their relationship now! No f*ck, dude, you’ve got your chance! Twice!  Live by your choices and decisions!

Damn, does my anger seep into this post? *tries to calm down* Yeah, obviously I hated them! Cos I liked the characters that got affected by their decisions! But again, it’s very rare for me to hate a character; my tolerance is higher than Everest. But once I do, I can’t help but rant about this character all over Twitter (or, in this case, my blog)! I just need to vent!