That's right peeps, I'm taking you back to the 90s! Remember that show we all watched in elementary school? Remember how we would trade the cards like children swapping gushers for teddy grahams. Yeah, those were the days... And of course, the favorite pairing was Ash and Misty. The two were always bickering and arguing, Misty harping on Ash for trashing her bike, Ash getting on Misty's case for being so obnoxious. Yet we all knew they would get together, despite their professed dislike for each other. Deep within their bickering rivalry, they really care for each other, perhaps as more than just friends. Unfortunately, the video I wanted to show you has had its embedding disabled, but if you click on the link, you'll see that it contains the first pokemon battle between Ash and Misty, filled with banter and rivalry. Can't you just feel the romantic tension building?
Similar to their relationship is the romance between Beatrice and Benedick. The first we see of their relationship is their arguing and bickering, their rhetorical rivalry. But as time goes on, we see their feelings for each other blossom into love. At first they keep it hidden, too stubborn and unwilling to share their intimate feelings for each other, but eventually, they confess their affections and end up getting married.
I just wish we had had such closure with Ash and Misty. Maybe not as far as them getting married, but perhaps some sort of acknowledgement of the romance building between them.
I really wonder about the hate-to-love storyline in general. I don't think that's what was happening between Ash and Misty; it seemed like there was genuine affection behind the banter from the get-go. I don't know if the same can be said about Beatrice and Benedict (I really don't, it's been a really long time since I read the play), but it seems like hate-into-love relationships are more a plot device than a legitimate way of launching a relationship.
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