Before I continue, a little bit of background information. I am a former communist. Well versed in the ideology and the dogma, and, although I know identify at the opposite end of the political spectrum (vote Ron Paul in 2012) I still see some truth in the percursors to the conclusion. For that reason, some of the terminology in this post will be borrowed from Communist thought.
That's right, although the story seems to imply, and the fandom seems to think that the thing keeping Himeko and Chikane's love forbidden is their mutual sex, it's really not. In the KannaMiko world, sex isn't the issue. It's a class thing, pure and simple, and I intend to prove it. I intend to cite both the anime and the manga together, because what is true in one is probably not far off in the other. Where conflict exists, I will assume the anime to be the case, it came after, so is therefore the revised version.
I shall first address the obvious retort, which relates to Chikane's unwillingness to convey her feelings to Himeko. Her inability, or at least aversion, to doing so, cited reasoning of them both being girls, as well as her apparent guilt over her sexual attraction to the girl, demonstrates that she has been raised in an anti-gay environment. That might not be how most would word it, but I think it catches the spirit of the reply adequately.
I would have to disagree. Up until the end, Chikane was operating under the assumption that Himeko was a heterosexual. What this meant is that her love could never be requited, simply because the object of her affection didn't swing that way. So, not actually insane enough to believe that what would wind up happening could ever happen (anime)/never imagining that her beloved was the Solar Priestess (manga), and, being the social creature that she was, understanding how unbelievably awkward the situation, not to mention how heavy the burden, would be for Himeko if she knew, kept her mouth shut. As for the issue of sexuality, I just assume that she understood the inherent paradox in loving somebody for their innocence while simultaneously wanting to tap dat ass.
Furthermore, the locals don't seem to take issue with homosexuality. It's outright stated that Chikane is courted regularly both high class individuals of both sexes. No one seems to mind that, either. From that we can assume that her deciding on one of the wealthy women who seek her hand wouldn't cause an uproar among the villagers. My understanding is that homosexuality has some level of acceptance in Japan, a girl having at least one same sex relationship in her adolescence is apparently considered the norm. Although the relationship is expected to end in favour of heterosexual pursuits once a girl begins to mature, and trying to maintain the relationship is considered a sign of immaturity.
As a side note, I'd like to explain why that social norm bothers me. No, it's not homophobia you fucking hippy. My understanding is that twenty percent of the world is gay. This means one in five men, and one in five women. Logically, the partner who starts to notice boys first is the one that generally breaks off the relationship, while the other is at an age where she is starting to really notice girls. Imagine a real lesbian who's in one of these "Schoolgirl relationships", considers herself quite in love and quite happy with her girlfriend. Now imagine that her girlfriend decides it's time to move on because she has a thing for that guy who punctuates every sentence with the word "fuck" (we all know one of those, and they always have a girlfriend). As they part, the harpy assures her jilted former lover that "she'll start to understand when it happens for her". It never does. She doesn't care for studs the other girls find so hot, the captain of the cheerleading squad, on the other hand... That bitterness, compounded by the fact that everyone finds her immature for her sexual preferences, stays. And this happens for one out of five girls who get into a such a relationship. That's a lot of (rightfully) pissed off lesbians. The whole setup just seems like it's begging for trouble. Then again, it's Japan. It wouldn't be right if they weren't at least a little bit crazy.
So, no, it's not an issue of sex. The issue would be the same if Chikane were the prince of her academy, or if Himeko was a him. The issue is quite simply class based. For the purposes of this discourse, everyone gets divided into Bourgoise and Proletariot, with there being levels within each division. Bourgoise is the upperclass. The landowners, the captains of industry, the nobility, the rich, and so on. The Proletariot are, for my purposes, everyone else. That's not quite faithful to the original definitions but it's along the same lines. With those lines drawn, it becomes a bit clearer where I'm going with this.
Chikane and her family are basically the epitome of Japanese Bourgoise. She's the prodigal daughter of an incredibly wealthy, thousand year old family. That in and of itself is a dead giveaway. I personally can only trace my family back as far as Prussia in the second half of the nineteenth century. The Himemiya clan appears to own much of the land in Mahoroba, and in the manga at least appears to be the village's de facto governance. Probably the kind of family that is descended from a minor Daimyo or other feudal land owner. They pre-date the Tokugawa Shogunate, and even the Sengoku period. They are among Japan's nobility. Presumably they control considerable industrial and/or business assets (dare I say, the means of production) to maintain and expand their wealth. Chikane is considerd a "princess" for a reason.
Himeko, on the other hand, isn't even considered worthy of a Himemiya's notice. First of all, she's Proletariot, a commoner, although, reasonably a Proletariot can distinguish themselves and even join the Bourgoise, this is in no way something she could aspire to. It's revealed that she's an orphan, her parents are dead. Orphans are not among those we consider to be the desirables of society, not high society anyway. But wait, there's more. She's lived in the village her entire life, even after her parents died. The relatives she was sent to were locals. They were also abusive bastards. She doesn't live with them anymore, of course. Now, when Souma destroyed the girl's dormitory with his giant robot, Chikane takes her in, since Himeko didn't have anywhere else to go. No family she can stay with when she, at one point at least, had relatives living in that same village. Presumably, the abusive ones were her only extended family (if we learn differently from the audio drama, please fill me in, I havn't found it yet). It's quite natural to assume that she's completely estranged from her family. Also, she doesn't appear to have ever been adopted. She's living at a boarding school in the town she grew up in. We have a boarding school in my town, and local students generally don't live in residence. Who arranged that? Orphaned, removed from abusive foster parents and unadopted, Himeko is clearly a ward of the (very lazy) state. Not only is she Proletariot, she's as low as they get without some kind of substance abuse problem.
So, given that Chikane's family probably wants her to keep the blood flowing among them to a certain standard, the prospect of their daughter falling for a ward of the state is a disturbing one indeed. For the villagers, the idea of their beloved Miya-Sama winding up with someone so beneath her is the same way. Them even being on a first name basis boils the local blood. Imagine the response of Chikane's family. Aside from actively keeping the two apart (possibly taking violent measures against Himeko, depending on the level and nature of their power, extra points if they have Yakuza connections) and either trying to get their daughter into boys or, failing that, trying to find a nice, rich girl that suits her fancy. The villagers would deal with Himeko. The audience doesn't even have to imagine what they would do. In both the manga and the anime, they basically just go after her. With Chikane prevented from coming to her defense, she's a lamb to the slaughter.
Now, it's possible that they could overcome this. The Himemiya family might eventually decide that it's easier just to absorb the orphan into their ranks and keep her quiet, it's not like she's going to be tainting the bloodline. The village might get used to the idea, or retreat for fear of their feudal sovreign's displeasure. That, however, misses the point. Essentially, the social strata prohibits a co-mingling of of nobles and commoners, it is awful form for a Bourgoise to fall in love with a Proletariot, who in turn is never to rise above their station, even if lifted by the love of their betters. Such love is forbidden.
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