That YouTuber clearly doesn’t understand the essence of proper foreshadowing in storytelling. The only potential relationship that was somewhat foreshadowed is Ikura and Iori, but as I’ve already explained, that’s still not enough to conclude that they’ll end up together. Hakuri and Iori haven’t even met, so we don’t know what Hokazono has planned for them. As things stand, Chihiro, Hakuri, and Iori haven’t shown any romantic interest in anyone.

Hiyuki is another interesting case because Hokazono established early on that she isn’t particularly fond of Chihiro. They’re also both 18, so there’s room for him to develop their dynamic further. However, that still isn’t enough to claim they’ll end up together.

The point is that romance wasn’t foreshadowed in either Season 1 or Season 2, and Season 3 is currently adapting a flashback arc. So why would Hokazono randomly introduce a romantic subplot in Season 4 after establishing no romantic groundwork across 136 chapters? It would feel forced and risk throwing viewers off because the story never established romance as a possibility for these characters in the first place.

Usually, shonen manga hint at potential romantic interests early on. Naruto liked Sakura, Hinata liked Naruto, Yuji’s schoolmate had a crush on him, and Mikasa loved Eren. These relationships were hinted at in the first season, establishing that romance was at least a possibility for these characters.

However, Kagurabachi is different. Chihiro, Hakuri, and Iori haven’t shown any romantic interest in anyone. After 136 chapters, Hokazono has provided no meaningful hints that Chihiro or Hakuri will have a love interest. Introducing one now, without any prior groundwork, would feel unnatural.

The only possible exception is Ikura and Iori. They were classmates who chose to protect each other out of their own volition, which reminds me of Yuji and his schoolmate, who developed a crush on him after he protected her. However, that alone doesn’t guarantee Ikura and Iori will develop a romantic relationship.

Kagurabachi doesn’t need to give its MC a love interest, and that’s perfectly fine. Chihiro’s priorities are collecting the enchanted blades, getting revenge on the Hishaku, and defeating Akemura. Romance doesn’t need to be part of his character arc, especially when Hokazono hasn’t foreshadowed it once in 136 chapters.

i feel like the obsession with a shonen protagonist like chihiro having a romance plotline is indicative of the amatonormativity and misogyny permeating fandom as well associety. chihiro cant have a happy ending WITHOUT a heterosexual romance, because the world has built up this idea that to be leading a life worth living, you eventually MUST have this specific romantic relationship, get married and then have children... personally, i read to chihiro to be aroace because although it might simply be a symptom of kagurabachi not being a manga to touch on romance in the first place (the only expection being kuniaki which i already have my gripes with), chihiro does not display any romantic intentions or feelings towards women at all. I feel like considering chihiro's past, his isolation + feelings of disconnect from his age peers, and emotionally incestous relationship with his father to the point that almost all that motivates chihiro to keep on living IS his father, it would be far more poignant for the happy ending that chihiro achieves at kagurabachi's end to be one with an emphasis on deep platonic emotional connections with the people around him that are his age, like hakuri and iori for example, both abused by society and familial structure in similar ways to chihiro, finally allowed to exist as the children they should have been, without violence. discussing the misogyny part i mentioned in the beggining, i say that the discourse about this is prety misogynistic because the people who talk about chihiro having a female love interest are not sincerely interested in having a female character in the story whom chihiro actually loves and devotes himself to, and she to him. i doubt they even read romance manga at all. they wouldnt want the female character to be fleshed out, or for the romance to be geniune, passionate or real in many ways. and i doubt theyve stopped to consider what romance would look like for someone so traumatized and steadfast in a lifestyle like chihiro. they just want him to "get the girl" so to speak. sorry about the wall of text, i just have my gripes with the kagurabachi fandom in many ways. It’s funny how its considered progressive when in so many ways it's exactly like other fandoms in it's misogyny and generic opinions on where the story will go—everyone wants to think theyre better than everyone else i guess.

people really like to ignore the misogynistic abuses women endure in kagurabachi in favor of just labeling it "familial abuse" or "bad parenting" and yeah that's also what it is but this female character is very much being treated in this specific way because she is a WOMAN. a GIRL. for example, both chiaki and iori are deemed fragile, vulnerable and safety risks that must be protected at all costs because of their gender in relation to the men around them, the men who value them, the men who want to hurt them, and the choices those very men make. its no suprise to me really that the men in kgbtwt (and women too! misogyny is not only a male thing) refuse to engage with any "feminist" analysis and critique of the story in any way even if it's just a silly tweet calling akemura, akemisogyny—that would force them to confront how they think of and treat women in misogynistic ways, and they cannot seem to accept that misogyny does not mean abject hatred for women.