Sato: Transformation to Normal Teen

One of the most fascinating transformations in manga is Sato in His Favorite. 

Sato starts out as a not atypical manga/yaoi/shojo figure: the tall, handsome, aloof, sarcastic, slightly sadistic, intelligent guy who finds ordinary mortals somewhat perplexing. House, MD--but younger. He starts out, in fact, as a kind of non-changing Sherlock Holmes. 

He doesn't stay that way. As he dates Yoshida, he becomes more and more teenager-ish. He gets enthralled by the school trip. He enjoys fireworks. He gets upset and jealous over everyday spats. His peers begin to interact with him more naturally, so that at one point, they defend Yoshida when Sato tries to tease him! Sato even has his own "clique" in which he comes across less as the "pretty boy" and more as a gangling, normally awkward guy who gets invested in the group's various ups and downs and interests. 

The transformation here isn't a mistake. Although His Favorite is one of the funniest ongoing pastiches and spoofs of teenage manga tropes, Sato's transformation from a somewhat nihilistic, indifferent young man to a regular teenage boy is applauded by Yoshida and the author. At one point, the teenage girls bemoan that Sato has lost his superior edge, the "suave" behavior that made him so initially attractive. Sato is disconcerted--but his transformation is already too far gone. He can't go back.

No longer a budding sociopath but a teenage boy with a "favorite," Sato--due to honest, say-it-like-it-is, down-to-earth Yoshida (with whom he has normal fights)--has joined humanity.