I think you’re kinda understating the importance Sunohara has to Tomoya. Sure, Tomoya maybe doesnt want show it, but Tomoya kinda has a “delinquent complex” or something. He wants to makes himself believe that he doesnt need anyone, that he’s a loner and a jerk.
But who would Tomoya have if it werent for Sunohara? He is at his room literally every single day. Seriously, how would Tomoya even have made it to where we find him at the beginning of the VN if not for Sunohara?
And why does Sunohara let Tomoya mooch off of him? Why does Sunohara insist on sticking around with Tomoya, even when, in the character routes, he will diverge and go spend time with other people?
Don’t you remember what Sunohara’s response about why he just let Tomoya “date” Mei? I’ll come back and edit this later with the new, official TL, but it’s something along the lines of “I LET IT HAPPEN BECAUSE IT WAS YOU!” Sunohara trusts Tomoya more than anyone else. And dont forget that one moment and the end of the route, the one with the CG in the OP of this topic.
Im sure those two moments were probably what you were thinking of, but that’s pretty strong evidence to me. And my memory of the VN is getting mixed with the anime, but Im pretty sure there are some moments in After Story that show how much Sunohara cares, even after they have gone theyre separate ways in life.
No one can deny that Sunohara is an idiot. And yeah, the entire cast loves to exploit him. But to me, discounting all that time Sunohara spends being a clown and a punching bag with Tomoya is like discounting all the time Masato spends spouting off about kinniku. It may not seem like it, and Tomoya may not want to accept it, but it really is what keeps Tomoya going in a way.
