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I'll try to keep it short. I've written almost a thesis on Kozue.

At the start, I thought she was naive and in love with being in love with Godai. In the middle, I felt sorry for her for Godai not treating her with honest intentions. I realized Godai was keeping her at arms length so as to not shoot his chances with Kyoko, but not sending her away because he truly did like her, and in a way was keeping her as an option. This he was doing subliminally, I think, so I can't really fault him too greatly. Sure, we'd all like Godai to be above reproach, but he wouldn't be very real, now, would he, like Hoshi said.

Toward the end, I think Kozue plays a game, and maybe it was subliminal in her mind. She either intentionally or subliminally manipulated Godai into a situation where he had to declare his feelings for her, or declare that he had feelings for Kyoko. Yes, I think Kozue was officially blind to what was between Godai and Kyoko. But that was intentional on her part. She kept herself in the dark on purpose lest her whole effort with Godai be a waste, and a sham. But deep down she knew what was going on.

And so, after Kozue kisses Godai, she believed that he had let her kiss him, indeed he had kissed HER! And when Godai was ready to tell her, at the diner, that she didn't have to wait to accept the other man's proposal, because he was going to propose to someone, her hopeful mind filled in the blanks and concluded that he was going to propose to her, indeed he HAD proposed to her! So when she saw Godai with Akemi, THAT was a shock! And who should she seek out to relay this information to? Kyoko, of course. And that was either intentional, but I think subliminal, on her part. She felt betrayed, and would convey that information to the other one potentially betrayed. And of course, this was only to the building MANAGER of course. Or so she may have tried to convince herself.

Does that make Kozue some kind of evil manipulator? Not hardly. Circumstance, and Godai, had strung her along so long. Godai had practically allowed her to be forgotten about without a proper break. So she had every right to find out just what Godai's intentions were toward herself. Especially since she had invested so much in their relationship. She perhaps let hope inform her too much, in listening to Godai's reply. We can hardly fault her for that. And when she had seen Godai and Akemi walking out of the Love Hotel, and her world of glee fell apart in front of her eyes, she would be within her rights to inform the other potentially injured party. It may seem a bit on the vindictive side. Yeah. That goes with the territory. Hell hath no fury, and that kinda stuff.

I think it informs us of Kozue's true character that after she realizes that she mistook Godai's helping Akemi out of a bind for something else, that she wanted to make things right with Godai. And we can credit ol' Godai for finally breaking things off with her, a split second before she was about to tell him about her having accepted the man's proposal. I think, if anything, that part will allow her the peace of mind that it could end well. She could say, "Well, he did finally end it right, and now I don't have to feel so guilty for having dumped him for mistaken bad behavior." But I think that the feelings Kozue had for Godai shall perhaps haunt her after her marriage. The one reason we saw everyone, I mean EVERYONE, from the cast at Godai and Kyoko's wedding reception EXCEPT Kozue is that the pain was too near, and it hurt her deeply. I don't think Kozue will ever recover fully from that. Sure, she'll move on, and be happy. But there's going to be one sore subject her husband, one scab he dare not pick, and it will be her time with Godai and what that had meant to her and her feelings about that. Because that relationship involved her deepest feelings of what it means to love someone, and it proved all for naught. In fact, I feel somewhat sorry for her husband on account of it. Through no fault of his own, he will have to take care of an injured party and that may cause him some grief he did not otherwise deserve.

In short, I see Kozue as a sympathetic casualty of love, who I am glad was offered healing through other means by the end of the story. I think she'll do alright with her new husband; at least I hope so.

First of all:

I'll try to keep it short.

And I mean that in the nicest way. lol

I deserved that.

Second, I agree with a lot of what you said GodaiMH, except the part about Kozue's husband. I was always under the impression he never knew about Godai, why would Kozue bother to tell that guy about another man she was 'seeing'? And now that I think about it, since I assume she never did say anything about Godai, she was kind of doing the same thing to Godai that he was doing to her! In a way. Maybe she's not as naive as everyone thinks after all?

I think my point was that she was and wasn't naive at the end. She had intentionally blacked out what she didn't want to know regarding Kyoko and Godai. That isn't naive. That's intentional blindness. The reason I think she did that was a self defense mechanism on her part.

EDIT: As to the part about whether Kozue talks to her husband about Godai, I'm sure she doesn't intentionally bring it up. Probably, most married folks won't volunteer that information. However, based on my own personal experience, the subject has a way of coming up eventually. I think that subject her husband better tread lightly about.

I'm also not so sure that her relationship with Godai will haunt her forever. If she was so emotionally invested in Godai, I don't think she could have accepted the other guy's proposal. In fact, she even accepted it when she had planned to go to him to turn him down FOR Godai and didn't! I think maybe she was hanging on to Godai the same way he was hanging on to her while still pursuing Kyoko. Niether of them meant anything malicious in having a 'backup' (for lack of a better term) in each other, but Godai's feelings for Kyoko were always stronger than his feelings for Kozue, and maybe when that 'right guy' for Kozue came around she realized she felt the same way. I guess both of them were just too nice to break up with each other. lol

EDIT: At least at first, I think Kozue may be a bit high maintainence to her husband on account of the rebound off Godai. My impression of Kozue at the end of the manga and the anime is that she looks like she's forcing herself to smile. I think we're meant to get that impression.

You make a good point about Kozue having a backup in Godai, just like he had in Kozue. That wasn't until the end, but it is still true. But I am reminded that Kozue, when she told Godai (in front of God, the loons, and especially Kyoko) that she couldn't turn down the other guy's proposal "even though you (Godai) proposed to ME" she didn't say, at that time, that she had ACCEPTED the other guy's proposal. She knew, I think, subliminally that she was staking a claim on Godai in front of Kyoko. She was giving herself some time to make up her mind and heart on the subject. I think Kozue's first real love was Godai. It was clear she wanted to try to arrange a way that she could accept Godai's "proposal". I think she didn't turn the other guy down yet at that point because she knew something was still unsettled between Kyoko and Godai. And her demonstration in front of Kyoko would facilitate a final understanding between Kyoko and Godai. If she knew that Godai had passed his exams, AND especially that he had settled things with Kyoko, she would be able to accept Godai's proposal and turn the other guy's down. That's what I think was going on there.

Kozue's plan didn't work out the way she planned. Akemi, I think, had her own plan. But that's another subject. So it wasn't until after she thought Akemi and Godai had something going, something she didn't see, that she finally accepted the other guy's proposal. And that's why she was mortified to know that she had done that to Godai when she found out the truth between him and Akemi, and why she was relieved to know that Godai would have cut it off with her anyway, before she had to confess that she had accepted the other guy's proposal to Godai.

Complex.

I guess I'd agree with you on Yagami. She's out there and more straight forward. Sort of the antithesis of the typical Japanese woman.

I wonder whether that is attributed to her youth or her overtness. Do you think that Yagami is meant to be more the antithesis of the Japanese woman so much? Or is her overtness supposed to be due to the fact that she is youthful, and has not learned (or accepted) the manners of Japanese society?