This part of the shrine would contain random rants (as you can see from the title) from yours truly. Generally some things that piss the hell out of me.

     First, there are those Tomoe fans. I must have said this A LOT of times already but I feel inclined to say it again. No, I don't hate Tomoe. Quite the opposite, I really like her as a character. But what pisses me off are her close-minded fans who sign Kaoru shrine's guestbooks just to say some things like 'Kaoru sux', 'Kaoru is a bitch'... you get the picture, right? Why the hell do they waste their time and money to browse through a shrine about a character they don't even like? And leave such a rude message in the guestbook? Now, that's what I call lame! I really don't get it! I mean, there are some anime characters/pairings that I don't like but I don't go around signing guestbooks with lame messages like '____ sucks!' Even if I strongly disagree with the webmistress, I try to restrain myself because I know she has a right to her opinions. Sure, I argue through email, but I try to be as nice as possible.

     But then, there are two sides to every story. I know that some Kaoru fans also do that to Tomoe shrine guestbooks. I apologize for their behavior. And I'm appealing to them to stop doing that because it gives Kaoru fans a bad name.

     Another thing that pisses me off is the way some people state their reasons for liking Tomoe. They go like, "I like Tomoe because she ____ , and not like Kaoru who is _____" Why do they have to drag Kaoru into their reasons for liking Tomoe? It's as if Tomoe's own characteristics are not enough to justify their liking for her so they have to resort to dissing Kaoru. How would they like it if I said something like, "I like Kaoru because she's full of emotion, unlike Tomoe who's like an android"? I bet they'd be pissed too.

     To be honest, I really don't know how anyone could hate Kaoru. I mean, she's beautiful, nice, smart and strong. She and Misao are so much alike yet I rarely see Misao-bashing. How can they call on Kaoru for her temper and let Misao get away with it? I mean, Misao also has a fierce temper like Kaoru and she also hits the guys but nobody calls her a bitch for that. Heck, they even call Kaoru on her positive outlook! I've come to the conclusion then, that these comments really stem from the green-eyed monster we call jealousy. Yes, jealousy! Those mean Tomoe fans are jealous because in the end, it was Kaoru who got the guy (you go, girl!). They're jealous because it was Kaoru who lived happily ever after with Kenshin. They don't really hate Kaoru because of her so-called 'negative' characteristics. They hate Kaoru for the mere fact she is alive instead of Tomoe. I'll bet that if it was Megumi or Misao who ended up with Kenshin, they would be the one who would be receiving this lame hatred.

     And there's this certain webpage (no, I wont say what page it is since I don't like advertising webpages that I don't even like) who disses Kaoru on grounds that she has read so many anti-Tomoe rants/people have forgotten about Tomoe so she feels she has to diss Kaoru in return. It's a stupid logic actually. I am a Kaoru fan, and believe me it hurts my feelings when I see an anti-Kaoru rant, but I don't go around dissing Tomoe just because of that.

    But then, not all Tomoe fans are bad... I've met a lot of them who are really nice. Although I know that some of them don't like Kaoru that much, they refrain from making snide comments. I wish all Tomoe fans could be like that.

     Another thing that pisses me off big time is that some Tomoe fans refuses to acknowledge that Kenshin loves Kaoru. C'mon, I'm not really saying that Tomoe fans should like Kaoru but what I ask of them is that they respect Kaoru's place in Kenshin's heart and accept the fact that Kenshin loved Kaoru. A person has to be blind not to see the love between them.

     Also, I hate that some Tomoe fans created issues that never existed in the manga in the first place, like the rivalry between Tomoe and Kaoru, and the 'Kaoru not accepting Battousai' thing. First, I wouldn't really call Kaoru and Tomoe rivals since they didn't exist in the same time frame in Kenshin's life. Second, the two women respected each other. There were no ill-feelings between them, and I'd even daresay that if they had met, they would have made good friends. Tomoe could have taught Kaoru to be more lady-like, while Kaoru could have taught Tomoe to loosen up a bit. ^_^X Third, I don't think that Kaoru ever worried in the manga that Kenshin loved Tomoe more than her. She was sure of Kenshin's feelings for her, and she didn't allow the shadow of a dead woman to put a strain on her relationship with Kenshin. As for the "Kaoru accepting Battousai" thing, it was never an issue in the first place. If Kaoru may seem to be unaccepting of Battousai, it's because she fears of the consequences if Kenshin breaks his non-killing vow. It's not really because she is disgusted with Battousai but because she fears for Kenshin's sake. She knows that the moment Kenshin turns back to Battousai, and kills again, all the atonement that Kenshin has worked so hard on in the last ten years will all go up in smoke. Also, Kaoru accepts Battousai, but as a part of Kenshin's past. And anyway, Battousai isn't really a part of Kenshin. It's more of a dark side/demon that was exorcised the moment he learned the answer to his question. Remember when Hiko taught him Ama-kakeru-ryuu-no-hirameki? He learned that he wanted to live and because of that he stopped being Battousai