Just like the other guy, this is all true. Totally. But my read is the exact opposite. Love is a weird, abstract thing that is different for every person and that's what the story has been exploring. Everything seems like it's complicated vampire nonsense, but it's all emotion. That fucking love thing again! Lol I've literally been reading the story in the exact contrast as you. That we can't normally prove love, but in this universe it can be proven via vampirism, is a really unique idea to play with and it's basically what I always assumed was kind of...the whole point, especially as the story opens with Kou not understanding love or how to deal with his ennui.
Part of what makes rich stories like this so enjoyable is that we can have these disagreements and broaden our own perspectives. How others see the same material can tell you a lot about them, and help better inform yourself. I appreciate your perspective, and I agree with a lot of it. I'm not sure I agree all of it, but I see where you're coming from.
From where I'm sitting, Kotoyama has obviously worked pretty hard to make whether love kills vampires ambiguous. I feel like if "proving your love" was the point, that rule would be much more clear cut. We wouldn't have three different versions of the same myth, with different characters making different deductions about what is true or not. The problem is that, if it's supposed to be clear cut, then why did he bother to include all these mixed signals? What was his intent? He's clearly a thoughtful writer who had this plot planned out from start - I think he did it for a reason. Rather than just being a romance, I think it's a romance-mystery. I agree that it's about love 100%. But it's about love in a specific context. It's about disaffected weirdos on the fringes of society exploring the mysteries of their own feelings, and of human relationships in general. I feel that, rather than being about finding certainty in love, it's all about navigating the uncertainty which comes with human relationships. It's about the mystery of feelings and relationships. So I engage with this romance like it's a mystery - which is honestly a lot of fun and really fresh feeling. Consider that the idea of proving love doesn't have to be real in the universe for Kotoyama to still explore it, and the impact the idea has on his characters.
Sort of related, I think there's some commentary in how those who sought such certainty (Kiku, and to an extent Haru) both ended up destroying themselves. At some point, you have to embrace uncertainty in love, because trying to prove it constantly will strain and break any relationship. You can never truly know the inside of somebody's heart, and so that obsession with certainty is fundamentally unhealthy. That's a lesson I learned from experience. I feel like it wouldn't have gone so poorly for those two if proving the love was the goal - rather than an aspiration, it seems more like a cautionary tale.
Is proving love really that important, or is it necessary that we find the strength to take love on faith? Isn't faith in your partner a fundamental part of love?
Regardless, the strongest piece of evidence that love can hurt vampires is how their love for treasured objects hurts them. The question is whether a human can be a treasured object, and whether that object can be made after they become a vampire.
Ultimately, I think how the story ends is going to shed a lot of light on which of our interpretations makes more sense for it. With the way things are going, I suspect that Kou will become a detective. If Kou and Nazuna decide that they don't want to risk proving their love, to me that indicates that proving it was never the point. That what was important was resolving their own emotional mysteries, gaining confidence in who they think they are, and becoming happier and more fulfilled individuals.
But we'll see. Thanks for humoring me.
Edit: Just saw your edit. I'm unsure if the badump marked a transition from state to state, but I have not gone back to look. I will say that makes a certain amount of sense, that Nazuna (a half vampire) could only make Kou into half a vampire. But I also believe that would reinforce my interpretation - which is that the story is about uncertainty and ambiguity in love, the self, and in relationships. Nazuna and Kou both exist in this strange inbetween state, and because of their unique status, there may be no certain way to prove their love. Though the specifics depend on things we don't yet know about half vampires and dhampyr. If it does kill vampires, would it kill her?
