MOEMI
HAYAKAWA
Moemi Hayakawa is 16 years of age and is a student at Kannai High School. She knew Youta Moteuchi and Takashi Niimai well since they were all classmates. A rather pretty girl, she is demure, gentle and sweet-natured. She was also the object of Youta's secret love, who valued such qualities in a girl. Though a level-headed girl most of the time, Moemi suffered from the misfortunate of falling in love with the handsome Takashi, who did not reciprocate her love. This unhappy state of affairs existing between the three account for part of the plot in the VGA series. It would be time-consuming to relate the entire story of this love triangle since it spans 10 volumes in the Manga and it probable wouldn't make interesting reading. Therefore, I would just elaborate briefly on Moemi's relationships with Youta and Takashi.
Youta was in love with Moemi right from the
very start but lacked the courage to tell her. Instead, when
Moemi told him of her feelings for Takashi, Youta encouraged her
to have a relationship with him and tried to help her in this
whenever possible. Understandably, Moemi began to regard Youta as
a close friend and trusted confidante. She grew to rely on his
encouragement, advice and support.
There
grew between them a sort of familiarity that was comforting for
Moemi but agonizing for Youta, who remained deeply attracted to
her. However, he remained unable to tell her of his true
feelings, especially after Takashi accepted her as a girlfriend.
It was only after Youta rescued Moemi from a couple of thugs who
were trying to rape her that their relationship developed
further. (Manga vol. 7) This, and Takashi's apparent callous
attitude towards her finally prompted Moemi to break up with him
and to start anew with Youta. That was the high point of their
relationship but it did not last. They had a traumatic break-up
(Manga vol. 12) as Youta could no longer sustain the
relationship. In the face of Amano
Ai's impending extinction, Youta finally
realized how much the video girl meant to him and devoted all of
his time to her, trying to find a way to make her human.
Takashi
originally treated Moemi as an ordinary friend. When she told him
of her feelings for him, he answered frankly that he was not
interested. Knowing of Youta's feelings towards her, he tired to
get them together but failed, mainly because of Youta's
reluctance to express his feelings. Takashi then accepted Moemi's
plead for a relationship. He did so in the hope that Youta would
get jealous and try to snatch her back from his hands. The plan
backfired and Takashi's relationship with Moemi was a forced and
unhappy one. They eventually broke up.
Moemi is a
fairly strong-willed girl. She was unfortunate enough to be
involved in two unsuccessful romances but she recovered quickly
each time. She was also emotionally scarred from her near-rape
experience (Manga vol. 7) but eventually managed to carry on with
her life. She is, however, rather immature in her understanding
of others. She failed to realize the futility of pursuing a
romance with Takashi, despite given numerous hints of his lack of
interest. That led to a drawn out and unhappy relationship
between the two of them. She was also slow in discovering Youta's
true feelings for her even though they were friends for so long.
It could be her blind infatuation for Takashi that clouded her
perception, causing her to misjudge the feelings of the two boys.
In any case, she was partly responsible for making life miserable
for all three of them.
In my
opinion, one of Moemi's roles in the story is as a player within
the love triangle between Youta, herself and Takashi. Her other
role is to act as the 'alternative choice' in Youta's dilemma in
choosing between a tangible, human girl and the Video Girl Ai,
whom he truly loves but who might vanish at any time. Finally,
Moemi was a factor that caused the character development in
Youta. Moemi's failed relationship with Youta catalyzed his
growth in maturity even as it made Moemi a wiser person.
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