I find it hard to believe that the movie was NOT depicting any kind of romantic feelings on Suzume's part.
Whether you characterize her feelings as "romance", "crush", or "unrequited love" is somewhat beside the point. Suzume showed VERY strong feelings towards Souta in many of her comments and actions throughout the movie, and it was a source of motivation and willpower for Suzume to complete her journey.
In particular, in the scene where she speaks to Souta's grandfather in the hospital, she basically professes her devotion to Souta to the point of sacrificing her own life to save him. My only reaction to that was, "WOAH hold up". It just came across as much too intense for a man she met a few days ago (albeit vaguely remembering him from her childhood) and had a few struggles together on their journey.
I do recognize that the movie gives the two of them many moments to talk and get to know each other. But Souta as a character has always acted reserved and distant, so it wasn't really easy to see what kind of person he was and what was making her fall for him. It also did not help that he had to share the "downtime" with many other characters, like Suzume's aunt, Souta's friend and the strangers they meet on the road.
I also understand that the two of them are supposed to have formed a strong bond through their shared struggle, but the early "action" sequences did not really come across as "desperate" or involved enough that would have a large impact on the relationship between the two. The only exception I can think of is when Souta pulls Suzume out of her "trance" at the Ferris wheel; he was directly responsible for grounding her back in reality. The sealing of the doors, while spectacular, generally felt almost business-like, very "job done, where's the next one?". I think the "action" part of the plot moved along too fast and became too complicated with constant lore dumps, taking a lot of the focus away from the relationship aspect.
There's some comment about Suzume having a crush because of how handsome he is, but I don't think it played a big role in the overall story. Yes, initially in their very first encounter she seems irresistibly drawn to Souta, but he soon turns into a chair and spends the majority of the story in that form. She doesn't draw attention to his looks too much in subsequent scenes either, I think.
Another complication is the fact that she remembers him from "the Great Beyond" from her childhood. But it was a glimpse at best, and younger Suzume and Souta haven't even spoken, if I remember correctly. The story did not emphasize this meeting too much anyway until the very end, so I did not get the impression that this was the key to the connection between the two.
Watching the climax as Suzume desperately struggles with the frozen chair while crying out Souta's name, pulls him out of the icy prison against all odds, and holds his hand in "the Great Beyond" after the battle, it was impossible not to read it as love and not to read it as a fundamental part of the story. While beautiful and emotional scenes on their own, I just could not shake the feeling of not understanding exactly how I got to that point, which really hurt my experience.
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