That's a totally platonic hug. Riiiiiiiight.
Fafner is pretty well known for two things. One: being a devastatingly sad mecha anime. Two: being a really gay mecha anime.
Involving Kazuki and Soushi
- Kazuki and Soushi's relationship centres around the two trying to understand one another (and not without a good amount of angst) after an incident in their childhood which left Soushi blind in one eye. To add to this, Maya, who one would assume upon first glance to be Kazuki's love interest, repeatedly states that she's not the one Kazuki wants/needs, heavily implying to the audience that it's actually Soushi who Kazuki wants and needs.
- In addition, when Maya and Mizoguchi leave for Moldova she thinks the above mentioned and muses that Shouko (who was very much in love with Kazuki) "probably knew it too". No points for guessing what Shouko knew, mostly because in context it's incredibly blatant.
- Around the halfway mark the show actually starts angling Kazuki and Soushi as a potential item, moreso than any of the girls who have developed feelings for Kazuki, who is completely oblivious to all of them.
- Kazuki flies into a desperation-fueled rage when Soushi is kidnapped by the festum, screaming at them to give back his Soushi. In the very last scene of the show he vows to wait forever for Soushi to return.
- In the drama CD GONE/ARRIVE, Kazuki compares the feeling of losing Soushi to his father's feelings from when he lost his wife.
- When Soushi is kidnapped Kazuki attacks Mark Nicht while screaming at it to give Soushi back. Both the original and Heaven and Earth draw a direct parallel between his reactions to Soushi disappearing and Maya's reaction to Kazuki disappearing. As Maya has been established to have feelings for Kazuki, it's very telling when his reaction is far more emotional than hers.
- The novelization of the first 6 episodes includes a scene where Kuramae tells Soushi that the only reason he wants Kazuki with him in Alvis is because he's scared. It's also established that Soushi is Kazuki's most important person, and vice versa.
- It also has Kazuki become extremely uncomfortable with people praising him but outright blushing when Soushi is the one to do it. And really, the entire novel showcases how much the break in their relationship hurts Kazuki, while making no secret out of how much Kazuki still means to Soushi.
- It also really pushes the point home that at no point Kazuki had any romantic feelings for Toomi or Shouko, despite Shouko actually somewhat confessing to him in this continuity. It also manages to bring Soushi up at any given moment, even when Kazuki is contemplating others romantic feelings for each other.
- After Toomi's first simulator training (which left her on a beginner's high, as Mizoguchi calls it) Soushi and Tsubaki walk in on her and Kazuki just as she pulls Kazuki very close. Kazuki immediately jumps to explain to Soushi how this is Not What It Looks Like. He seems more worried about what Soushi will think than being interrupted.
- Heaven & Earth practically makes the entire thing canon. When the festum attack the island after two years of peace, Kazuki is absolutely enraged that they're not Soushi, to say nothing of an earlier scene in which Soushi, who has been stuck in a state of constant crossing with Kazuki for the past two years, hugs him quite intimately
◊ as he swears to return to Kazuki's side. Kazuki, for his part, once again promises◊ to wait forever for him. - And then, at the end of the movie, the two are finally reunited and look at each other like◊ this◊.
- Don't◊ forget◊ official◊ art,◊ which◊ is◊ very,◊ VERY◊ suggestive.◊
- There are also the drama CDs, where both Kazuki and Soushi brood over their feelings for each other.
- angela seems to ship them more than the fans. The song Fortunes is implied to be in Kazuki's point of view, and the lyrics are quite suggestive. Likewise, Soukyuu is implied to be in Soushi's point of view, and the lyrics are equally suggestive.
- There is one part in the lyrics of Soukyuu that says "I treasure you so much that I want to hold you close". Meanwhile, in Fortunes' lyrics there is the "This world where you don't exist[...]It unnecessarily worsens my loneliness" and in Soushi's character song, Terra, there is "If I can protect this endless earth, sky and sea, and your smile, I won't fear anything and I won't need anything." Really, it can't get more obvious than that.
- There's also Rikai to Hakai e no Prelude, which is from Misao's perspective. We get a few gems in it like: "Why is he so dear to you? Why do you protect him? / Even the passion that you firmly suppress / Is the prelude to understanding and destruction" and "If everything vanishes, your feelings will also vanish, you should destroy the one that hurts you so". It's clear he doesn't understand why Soushi cares for Kazuki so much.
- Yakusoku, which is implied to be from Kazuki's point of view, is even more blatantly suggestive than Fortunes, with lines like: "I want you to forever stay by my side and not let go of my hand / I want to be wrapped in warmth, let's make a promise on our little fingers," "With merely an embrace, I know the meaning of loving / If I had just a little more strength, I could share it all," and, "Stay by my side / I love you so..." You get no points for guessing who he's talking about.
- We find out in the first episode of Exodus that Soushi has become a researcher for Alvis in hopes of finding a cure for Kazuki.
- The ending for Exodus is full of subtext. It features solely Kazuki and Soushi, and near the end a firefly lands on Kazuki's hand, at which point Soushi approaches him. Recall exactly how fireflies attract a mate: with their lights. Considering how much Fafner loves symbolism, and noting the symbolism surrounding fireflies (passionate love and attraction being very prominent), there's no way this was accidental.
- For this troper, even more than simply romantic subtext connected to the symbolism of fireflies, the An'ya Kouro ending is a sweeter take to the recurring dreams of "dark ocean" Kazuki has in the novel. Why the sudden jump? Because Kazuki reaches down for a part from a debris but pulls away— this was exactly how the novel ended. In the novel, Kazuki would find himself swimming in pitch black water and see lights in the distance, giving him just enough hope to want to live and reach it. But once he's there, he searches for "his light" but finds no place for him to be, and he lets go of the rock he was clinging to and plunges back in. It's also notable that when Soushi shows Kazuki his "darkness", it's in the form of Kazuki's pitch black ocean becoming deeper. The ED seemingly implies that while they're still "in the dark", never really being or having the light (Kazuki lets the firefly fly away), they're at least together. Note also that Soushi is looking at Kazuki at first, not the "light" symbolized by the firefly.
- In episode 3 of Exodus the Human Army pilots make Kazuki extremely uncomfortable in Rakuen. His response is to leave and find Soushi, which visibly calms him down. And then they have a night-time picnic on a beach while talking (in a very flirtatious manner) about how Kazuki has grown out his hair. And then they're shown to be lying quite close while stargazing. The entire scenario just screams domesticity.
- The scene between the hair-talk and the stargazing features Maya and Canon talking about how Maya feels for Kazuki, amongst other things. She's drawn in a direct parallel to Kazuki regarding the reason why she fights - to protect the place where the person she cares about (Kazuki) is (Exodus), versus Kazuki protecting the place where the person he cares about (Soushi) will return to (Heaven & Earth).
- When Soushi and Kazuki leave for India, Kazuki says he's going to take a nap. Soushi responds with disbelief, but says he'll wake Kazuki when they arrive and then tells him to have a nice dream.
- When they do arrive, Soushi asks whether Kazuki had peaceful dreams. Kazuki responds that he slept well, and thinks his dream was nice. Both of these exchanges can come across as very blatant flirting.
- In one of the early episodes of Exodus 2 they are required to sit on the plane with Miwa and the others. Obviously they sit right next to each other, but they're sitting so close that a lot of viewers had to do a double take to make sure they weren't actually holding hands.
- Comparatively, close to the end of Exodus Soushi has to share a plane with Maya, who the show has been trying to angle as a possible love interest. They sit one row apart on opposite ends. Blatant much?
- Even though it's more an inside joke amongst the cast and staff, the character duet Taiyou to Tsuki is...interesting, to say the least. Keep in mind that they're singing to each other.
- Sonzai to Mu isn't any better, really. And they're again singing to each other.
- Sonzai to Mu
- Going by the last episode they are now caught in an endless cycle of meeting again and again and boy if they're not completely fine with that! The end basically implies that their greatest wish is to always be together, no matter what.
- Speaking of, upon realising Soushi was heading towards death Kazuki didn't hesitate one second to follow him. In other words, if Misao and Koyo hadn't stopped him...well, he'd be dead right now. For real.
- A few fans have caught on to the implications of the final scene of exodus, namely reborn Soushi being apparently raised by Kazuki. Considering Soushi has now finally become one with Festum he's essentially a variant of a Core. Orihime, a reincarnation of Tsubaki, identifies as Tsubaki's daughter. Now with that in mind one couldn't be blamed for thinking Reborn!Soushi is Real!Soushi's son. Kazuki took to raising him as soon as it was clear what happened apparently. Kazuki, who doesn't see Soushi as dead judging by the lack of absolute desperation, and Real!Soushi are now same sex parents, in a way.
- The Exodus relationship chart has stated Soushi's feelings for Maya possibly romantic, though left them ambiguous (despite being pretty straight forwards about everyone else's feelings). If you look at his comments of "You don't understand" from a different angle, with the knowledge that he knew for quite a while he wouldn't survive the war, this gets darker. To me it always had this aftertaste of "I know I won't see the end of this war, and when I die I want to you take care of Kazuki". As the person closest to Kazuki he would know Kazuki harbors no romantic feelings for Maya, especially since they've been in a state of crossing for two years and thus should have a pretty good read on each other's emotions, and yet he never made a move. Instead it sounds more like "Kazuki gets all the gratitude while she complains to me" is meant as "I'm trying to hook you up, why aren't you happier?"
- And when Maya was prepared to use Fenrir on Hester he was reasonably concerned but when Kazuki was in danger he absolutely freaked (as much as Soushi can). It's all quite telling.
- Additionally, the Drama CDs paint his preferential treatment of Maya in a different light. He's protecting her as a favour to Kazuki. As in, Kazuki asked him to keep her out of the fighting so that's what he tries to do. And if he had romantic feelings for her, knowing he would die, it would have made more sense to push her towards Akira - who does like her - instead of Kazuki. So the "protect Kazuki for me" theory actually makes the most sense.
- Speaking of the dramas, at one point Toomi asks Kazuki whether he can fight because of Soushi to which Kazuki gets really flustered. She then says it's okay because "she's the same". Cue Kazuki getting very jealous very quickly. And not of Soushi either.
- Same drama, different scene, Toomi asks Soushi if he would have changed Kazuki's data too is he'd had the chance but says he doesn't have to answer. Soushi gets extremely defensive and says "As if I could answer such a question!" to which Toomi says "So it really is like that" in a very resigned but also somewhat relieved tone. She might not be happy with the person Kazuki chose but she's glad that it's at least mutual.
Involving everyone else
- Rina is stated to have a crush on Maya in the original series, though by Exodus she seems to have developed a thing for Kenji.
- Seri and Tsubaki develop a Pseudo-Romantic Friendship over the course of the first season, and after Tsubaki is reborn as a new core Seri checks in on her regularly to keep her updated on how things are going.
- Orihime is quite different from Tsubaki in terms of personality, but she seems to retain at least some of the affection Tsubaki had for Seri. The resulting relationship between them is rather Slap-Slap-Kiss. She orders Seri around but then hugs her around the neck and whispers into her ear, and later she sleeps in Seri's bed. Seri slips in next to her, only to be unceremoniously kicked onto the floor.
- During what seems to be a hopeless fight against the Festum, Seri screams that she'll protect the island for Tsubaki, almost ad verbatim to what Shoko said about Kazuki during a similar situation. The fact that they're both killed after their proclamations only draws the parallel between them further.
- Hero-worship aside, Johnathan seems oddly eager to get into Kazuki's good books.
