#at this point I really hope all the femboy versions win

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@apple-unofficial and @femboy-apple-unofficial

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[yumedoca]

You know, having seen the 2022 version of Nagisa in the new promo, I’ve gotta say I’m not a fan of Ryuunosuke x Nagisa. What with Ryuu not really being into it (and debatably not into men in general). Plus it’s another way her dad is controlling her life. I mean, more power to people who like it, but it’s just not for me.

Hai there! Hope you're having a great day!

I've seen a lot of different opinions when it comes to RyuNagi. I've seen people who like it, are meh about it and dislike it. Personally, I do like it but I do also have complicated feelings regarding this ship. I'm the kind of person who looks at the positives and negatives, so I'll list both side out so I can explain it better.

For the positives:

The concept of tomboy X femboy is a very cute one, it bounces off each other very well, especially here considering how both their opinions seem to differ when it comes to their upbringing

How the chapter 'One Night's Battle' gives a good start to their relationship when Ryu shows a bit of affection for Nagisa and how it shows that Nagisa is stronger than Ryu and earlier in the series, Ryunosuke has stated that her type is someone stronger than her!!

Nagisa does see Ryunosuke as fully female, unlike their stupid, delusional fathers.

This analysis here brings up a lot of good points about the ship, so read it.

Now for the negatives (the bits are more detailed since I figured explanations are more necessary for these):

RyuNagi does disservice to Ryu's character. Yeah, Nagisa follows the Takahashi trope of 'late love interest' the same way as Inaba does, but there's a difference in both guys and how they were handled in their romance with their respective girls. For InaShino, Shinobu's main character goal is that she wanted to be with a good man but she only keeps attracting weirdos and perverts. The only way to give her a happy ending is to have her end up with a good man, which in this case is Inaba. I love Inaba, he's sweet, cute, kind of silly and goofy and definitely not a pervert, exactly what Shinobu wants, a man with pure heart. Not only does this give Shinobu a happy end, but it also gives the reader satisfaction to know that Shinobu's story has come to a close since her goal has been achieved. Sadly, the same doesn't apply to Ryu. Ryu's main character goal was clear when she was first introduced, she wants to be a proper woman. But the story doesn't end that way, instead it ends with her being with Nagisa, still under the same 'misgendered' way she's been brought up. Of course, as the chapters progressed after her introduction, we were told that she'll want be with a man who is stronger than her, which ends up being Nagisa. But that wasn't what her character was supposed to be about, she was supposed to kick her dad's ass and win herself a sailor suit, not JUST end up with a dude with a similar upbringing as her. That makes her story feel like it had no proper closure, instead there's just a romance which had nothing to do much to her initial goal at all.

It had so much potential to be something more. Nagisa had to be introduced much earlier and they should've had more chapters together. Maybe, they could've made Nagisa and Ryunosuke discuss and bond over their stupid upbringing, maybe Nagisa could feel bad for Ryu, after hearing how much she wants to be a proper woman and how much her dad stopped her from enjoying herself and maybe help her enjoy things that her dad didn't allow her to (Christmas, Chocolates, etc.) and Ryunosuke fully falls for him because of his kindness... Then their romance would've felt even more natural. In the canon, it doesn't seem like they have that strong couple dynamic (cuz their final chapter has Ryunosuke just beginning to fall for Nagisa) ? I feel like if we had more screentime after 'One Night's Battle' with them showing their relationship develop, it could've worked better and would have had more dynamic. It's a case of wasted potential, but this potential will later be fulfilled by Ranma and Akane in Ranma 1/2, since they also have a similar tomboy and femboy fiance and fiancee thing going on, but sadly, that doesn't improve RyuNagi more than it should've.

I've never actually thought about RyuNagi being another way her dad controls her life, like you said but I see what you mean, anon. This statement ties in with the character goal thing and the potential thing from the two points above. Personally, I think RT should've made Nagisa stronger than Ryu's dad and after the whole bonding, kindness and feeling bad for Ryu bit I talked about from above, they both kick his ass. Boom, karma.

So yea, that's how I feel. I think most RyuNagi fans like the ship for the concept and the little but still cute bits in canon, since a lot of fan works I've seen rely mostly on that. I remember seeing a RyuNagi fan manga months ago on Pixiv where it was something about RyuNagi celebrating Christmas. I can't read a lick of Japanese, but from the images I could tell they had more romantic progress than the actual canon. The handling of Ryunosuke has to be one of my least favorite things in UY. I'm much more satisfied with the other canonical ships (Mainly AtaLum, ReiRan, InaShino and even TsubaSaku!!) but sadly, RyuNagi doesn't feel entirely fulfilling to me. It's very cute but has wasted potential at the same time. And of course, no shade to anyone who likes this ship, I do too, I just wish it had something more to it.

Sorry for rambling and if I've accidentally called Nagisa a 'she' instead of 'he' then forgive me because it's a stupid habit I have and I can't seem to control it.