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| If Adachi didn't already know Kurosawa adored him, |
| Kurosawa caring for him when he is ill would prove it. |
I kind of get it--right up until I kind of don't.
I "get" the lover who brings over cough medicine or picks up painkillers. And it's nice to have someone run to the store for ginger ale and saltines to soothe an upset tummy.
But the particular trope I'm referring to involves hovering care: soothing the fevered brow, staying up all night beside the patient's bed. And it is so entirely dependent on whether someone behaves like a bear in a cave during illness or a "feel my pain" needy person during illness (my wording could indicate a bias).
Extroversion and introversion are not signposts here. Illness brings out the wounded side of human nature. How people handle that wounded side is entirely individualistic. In every single personality test available, I fall directly in the middle of extroversion versus introversion. A few years ago, during a flu that completely flattened me, I got a visit from someone who wanted to cheer me up, a visit I would usually enjoy--that day, I wanted to throw a brick at the person's head.
In fairness, in manga, live action BL, and in anime, the illness is at least taken seriously. But I hazard that it is also largely symbolic. Illness represents the willingness of the lover to take the loved one "as is," sweaty, gross, and feverish.
Once again, the hilarious realism of What Did You Eat Yesterday? captures both realities!
