#Ocoho can connect with Mélie in the sidh more than Seth ever could because she KNOWS who Mélie is. and Mélie needs to be saved

[holleni]

Honestly it's so so so good that Ocoho is the one who gets to have a romance with Seth instead of Mélie in Radiant.

First of all, she's a black female character getting the spotlight, as in leading-female-protagonist spotlight, in a shonen-style manga. Like this manga was already really good at introducing poc characters but this is next-level, this is awesome.

Second of all, this is so much better in terms of character development for both Ocoho and Mélie.

For Ocoho it means she will have to juggle romance with her future duties as a queen (what will happen when she has to choose between staying with Seth or staying with her people ?). It also gives her a real, concrete motivation for staying with him right now, instead of just "she needs to travel and see the world for herself"

For Mélie, it gives her more room for development than any other character. As she is right now, she has the potential to become the best anti-hero in the whole manga, Grimm-like but with a lot more angst since she has a past connection with the protagonists and with us readers (apparently volume 18 is out but I didn't rezd it so I don't know what happens to her after becoming a domitor. I just saw spoilers of Ocoho and Seth's romance ^^")

It ALSO gives her even more angst towards Ocoho, as we know she has some feelings towards Seth. And what will happen when her old personality resurfaces and discovers that Seth and Ocoho are now much more closer together than they are with her ? Will she feel left out ? Will she be terribly jealous ?

Lastly Ocoho and Mélie's friendship is really important for both of them, and Ocoho already feels really bad about what she did to her. She WILL feel guilty about getting together with Seth when she's alone and thinks about Mélie, because she doesn't want to leave Mélie behind.

It's really rare to see the first female hero presented in a manga not have a romance arc with the protagonist, especially a character-driven manga like Radiant (the characters themselves move the plot more than external circumstances), and especially a character like Mélie. She had everything honestly : she was likeable and kind, she was there since the beginning, and Seth was her first friend who could truly understand her (with both having a part of themselves they couldn't control)