Man Kanon, I can’t disagree with you more. I don’t get how you can call Yoshino an asshole, when of the two Kotarou is definitely the bully.
Yoshino’s two characteristic traits are his chuunibyo-like identifcation as a lone wolf/thug figure, and his honesty. Unlike Kotarou, Yoshino never holds anything back. He wears his heart on his sleeve, you could say. In the common route most of the exchanges between him and Kotarou were all just comedic jabbing (almost always at Yoshino’s expense), but it wasn’t into Kotori’s route where we started seeing his true colours. Ultimately, Yoshino saw some kind of kinship in Kotarou, and liked him. In Kotori’s route we see how Kotarou had regressed after Kotori disappeared, and we saw Yoshino get genuinely angry and disappointed with Kotarou’s behaviour, saying how he thought he was better than that. And once Kotarou finally does find Kotori and he meets Yoshino again, Yoshino sees him off wishing him well and entrusting the person he loved, Kotori, in his care. That says a lot.
There’s many instances throughout the routes where Yoshino’s true bro level can be seen. Like in Akane’s route when salvation starts, and Kotarou saves Yoshino. Yoshino gushes a bit over his superpower, but what’s more important is how much respect he displays for Kotarou. He talks about how he’s changed, how he has a purpose and is being true to himself. Yoshino must spend a lot of time worrying about Kotarou in his own way, to be able to notice something like that straight away. And despite how Kotarou always gave him crap for how naive and cheesy Yoshino is, he was always honest, and told it like it was. I respect him a lot, and can even identify with him on a personal level. I’m often the victim of my friend’s jokes myself, for being so helplessly transparent with my feelings.
And of course, there’s the scenes in the field where we finally see some development of their relationship as comrades who’ve learned to be honest and accepting of others in the new world. It was really refreshing, and cemented Yoshino as one of my favourite characters. In the end, it was Kotarou and everyone else who had to catch up to Yoshino.
More like Yoshibro.