I've met a surprising number of Hotohori and Miaka supporters in the Fushigi Yuugi community. Here's what a few of them think:From Cynthia:
Well I think that Hotohori and Miaka belong together for several reasons,
1) Hotohori loved her enough to let her go, he wanted her to be happy more than he wanted his own happiness.
2) No matter how far apart they were they aways worried about the other, Hotohori, facing a war, was glad she had returned home because she would be safe. Miaka when she got the Shinzaho of Genbu thought of Hotohori first.
Those are a few good reasons I think.
The following are from a discussion of Hotohori loving Miaka vs. the Suzaku no Miko (and "Wouldn't Hotohori and Yui been a cute couple?") on the FYML circa March 1999:
From Seimei:
Hotohori and Miaka aren't a couple, but their relationship is one of the most impressive "love" relationships to me. Hotohori lived an isolated, lonely life with heavy responsability and Miaka (the real Miaka, not the dream Suzaku no Miko) brought him all the joy and spontaneity in the world. Her innocence and open-heartedness filled a void for him. But because he knew she and Tamahome loved each other, and because he loved her selflessly, he gave her up. He didnt stop loving her, but he gave her and Tamahome both his respect and friendship. Hotohori had the purest understanding of what love is. It's not about youself - its about the other person. Every breath of air or drop of water that person needs is more important than your own existence. So while Hotohori and Miaka are not a couple, theirs is a very special relationship.
From Laurelgand:
Here are my 2 cents on this (and it should be noted that I am a huge Hotohori & Miaka fan): "Wouldn't Hotohori and Yui been a cute couple?" While it would be interesting to see... I don't think it would have worked. Why not?
1) The reason Hotohori loves Miaka, IMHO, is not because she is the Suzaku no Miko, but because she is Miaka. His feelings may have started out based on his dream Suzaku no Miko, a girl who would: come from another world; treat him as an equal person, not as an Emperor; love him for himself; and fill the void of loneliness and silence built up around Hotohori. I believe that Miaka lived up to or exceeded all of Hotohori's expectations of the Suzaku no Miko... she came from another world (check), she treated him as an equal, not an Emperor (check-- after a few mangled attempts at calling him Heika), Miaka did love Hotohori for himself (not exactly in the way he wanted, but oh well), and filled the void in Hotohori's life until that point.
2) What I think Hotohori loves about Miaka: her unfailing cheerfulness, bright spirits, enthusiasm for life, inherent kindness, innocence, and the eyes. It's gotta be the eyes... Hotohori has probably been surrounded all his life by squinty-eyed courtiers and advisors and scheming Imperial Princess trying to get his attention (no slur intended to Nuriko). At least with Miaka, Hotohori can look into her eyes and see her beautiful, pure soul shining forth. Plus, Miaka displays some startling bursts of wisdom and common sense to Hotohori in the times when he needs it most, for example the "Orders don't change peoples" minds" and "Fly free from now on" quotes.
3) Again my opinion: Yui just isn't Miaka. She'd got a different personality, and different mannerisms. Not that she isn't generally a nice person... uhmm... just that her personality would not go well with Hotohori's. Yui strikes me as someone who is generally: poised, calculating (in a sense that she thinks about her actions, words, etc. before she does/says it-- in ordinary circumstances), in control of her emotions, and rather a private person. Hotohori is so introverted that he *needs* someone like Miaka to draw him out of the Emperor façade, yet when he is treated in a certain way, he becomes very open about his feelings.
4) I think that Hotohori would have started out slightly infatuated with Yui, from the fading glory of her being Suzaku no Miko. But I feel her likely reactions to him (I imagine she would be very respectful, distant, etc.) would make Hotohori hesitant to announce his feelings for her. And he would hesitate, and hesitate, and hesitate... and gradually realize that she just wasn't what he expected the Suzaku no Miko to be. I think he would then come to love her as one of her seishi, but not in the same passionate way. He might have then noticed Nuriko... but that's speculation for another day.
From Jo-chan:
Yes, exactly. I'm so glad to hear someone else say this. I remember reading somewhere that Hotohori would have been in love with Suzaku no Miko, now matter who she was. But I disagree.
Again, yes, I think he found her refreshingly charming.
Suffice it to say that I pretty much agreed with everything [Laurelgand] said in this post. And I'm really psyched to to see someone say it. I am (obviously) a big fan of Hotohori & Miaka together, although I have nothing against Tamahome. I've often thought that Miaka should have married Hotohori and kept Tamahome around as her male concubine - then she would have had the best of both worlds! I'll bet that Hotohori would have agreed to it, if it meant that she would be married to him. Oi, minna! What do you think about that?
From Jill James:
I have a theory about Hotohori's love for Miaka before she appeared: we all try out "practice love". You know, the crush on the Non-Threatening Actor/Idol, then a crush on a real guy to whom we never speak, then an innocent boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, and so on, until we achieve a mature, loving relationship. Here was the boy Emperor, likely reminded from an early age of his responsibility to produce an heir (his mother sounds like a real piece of work....). He had a pile of women at his disposal, but he was a romantic, and he *wasn't ready*. So he gave his heart to someone who wasn't there, who wasn't real, to protect himself from what he hadn't the maturity to handle.
Real love isn't a fantasy. It requires a real person, and real people have flaws, and can annoy the hell out of you, even when you adore them. "True love" is being able to love your darling even when they are pissing you off in a big way. Before Hotohori met Miaka, he couldn't be said (in my opinion) to really love *her*, but he loved the idea, the hope, and the dream of her. When he met her, there was nothing about her that spoiled his regard, and plenty in her that he found to admire.
(I refuse to engage in either adoration or bashing of Miaka)
In the weeks that he spent in her company, I maintain that Hotohori fell in love with Miaka, and that it was a genuine emotion. I base this statement on two scenes from the anime (I can only think of two right now, perhaps more to come).
First and foremost in my mind, was the scene from the episode I like to call: Bad Tama, Kill! Kill!! With Tamahome dead, Hotohori had a clear field for winning Miaka's affections (Was she quick to think about marrying him or what? I thought that was rather poorly done of her....). But think on this: Hotohori was willing to risk *Miaka's* life to give her a chance at happiness. When Miaka lay weeping over Tama's bleeding body, and Tama reached for his dropped sword, Hotohori stayed Nuriko's protective hand, and waited to see if Tamahome was really capable of hurting his Miko and the woman he loved. Had he been wrong, had Tamahome plunged the knife into her back, he might have lost her forever. (Yeah, Mits was there, but he can't bring back the dead, and you can't hang your confidence on the chance that she'd live a few seconds long enough to be healed.) He was ready to give up a possible future with her in order to give her the opportunity to have what he knew her heart really desired. That's love. He truly loved her.
Second, remember when she went to him, the next morning after Tama "returned" to them? And we heard Hotohori tell Chichiri of his love for Miaka? He could have given her a hard time about what had passed between them prior to Tamahome's return, but instead, he tried to pretend that he had only proposed because he was being pressured by his advisors to choose an empress. She would probably have bought it, too, had she not overheard his and Chichiri's conversation. Once he knew that she saw through his prevarication, he gave in to himself and declared his love for her one last time. He never pressed his attentions again, and always behaved toward the couple with kindness.
Do you have an opinion to share? Please email Laurelgand!