I know I’m super late to the party, but I just watched this for the first time a few weeks ago (and believe it or not, I’m giving it a rewatch now), so it’s all very fresh in my mind.
I don’t think Nozaki is as dense as people paint him to be. He’s a shojo manga writer, and apparently a very good one at that. He’s used to drawing inspiration for Suzuki and Mamiko from real life, which means I think he’s very observant, especially when it comes to matters of romance and the heart. That being said, I firmly believe he was well aware of the way Sakura feels for him before she confessed. My personal theory is that he knows as early as episode 2, but that’s a post for another day.
I think he heard Sakura, and I think what he said during the fireworks (when we couldn’t hear what he was saying) was a confession of his own.
So why does he seem so dense? Why does he seem completely unaware of Sakura’s feelings? And if he’s aware and feels the same, why doesn’t he reciprocate?
Except... I think he does reciprocate, in his own little Nozaki ways. His personality isn’t the type that’s overly affectionate or into big displays of emotion of any kind. Nozaki is just... Nozaki. He’s very baseline. That’s just his personality. It’s rare during the series that we see him get excited about many things, and most of it is when something exciting happens with his manga. But one thing no one can deny is that Nozaki cares deeply for the people in his life, even if he has weird ways of showing it. Think about the way he always fixes food for his friends when they come over, or the way he lets the guys stay over when they can’t get home because of the storm. And then there are the little things he does especially for Sakura, like the way he always makes sure to walk her to the train station when she leaves his house after dark, or like the lunches he fixed when he was pretending to be Mamiko, or that time he didn’t have any manga to work on but he still wanted to walk home with her. And don’t get me started on the way that he looks at her...
...which brings me back to the last episode. There’s no way he didn’t hear what she said and understand its meaning. Like I said before, I believe he was well aware of her feelings long before she opened her mouth to confess. And I think he feels the same. But he’s Nozaki, and outside of putting his ideas into his shojo manga, when have we ever seen him be comfortable expressing his emotions to anyone out loud? I think he heard her, and he feels the same, and what he said during the fireworks when we couldn’t hear her was him confessing his own love to her.
What’s more, I think Sakura heard him the first time, and her wanting him to repeat what he said was her way of trying to confirm that what she heard - what she’s hoped for for so long - was actually what he said. And I think Nozaki knows that, but he chose to change it at the last second for one of two reasons: 1. He chickened out and got too nervous to say it again, or (and this is what I believe) 2. He’s teasing her a bit.
What makes me think it’s the latter is the smile on his face after he adds the word fireworks, and also the way he looks at her when she starts laughing. And what makes me think Chiyo actually heard him was what she said at the end: ‘Thank you for staying with me. Right now, I’m happy with just this.’ I think she knows Nozaki loves her, and that’s why she’s fine with things the way they are.
Of course, just like everyone else, I’m only theorizing, but I do believe that when the curtain closed on the last episode, they were both aware of each other’s mutual feelings. |