You should add one more option.

Yes, but he's really bad at it and really insecure but for me he definitely loves her. I blame the way the story is played out in the short*(edited from shirt lol) run because the long run, yes totally loves her!

^.~ Most everybody already knows where I stand on this (THAT OF COURSE MAMORU REALLY LOVES HER WHAT SHOW HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING) so I'mma just leave my vote and this comment and let others debate it out. ♥ but you know where to find me if you need someone to bring out the big guns.

I think he does, but the 90s anime version of him is a bit on the stupid side lol.

Okay so it's well known around the site that I haven't always been the biggest fan of Mamoru and Usagi. However, I do believe that Mamoru loves her. I don't think he would do what he has trying to protect her and care for her if he didn't love her. 

Mamoru doesn't strike me as someone who just blindly follows destiny. I feel like both he and Usagi began to fall for each other before it was revealed who they were.

I just wish instead of focusing on the Senshi and the enemies so much, they could have given the romance part an equal play and not just a sub plot device. The love could have been epically portrayed but to me it's betrayed by taking such a back burner to everything else. 

I wanted more dates, more of them getting to know each other, more feelings being discovered and shared and more personal time but also more group time for Mamoru with all the senshi.

Like everything, it could have been done a bit better in my opinion.

Now I'm stuck with awesome fanfiction and the occasion Mamoru and Usagi webcomic... surprisingly I can't find a lot of Mamoru and Usagi ones that aren't... blush worthy.

Edit: errors fixed.

Addelyn wrote:

Okay so it's well known around the site that I haven't always been the biggest fan of Mamoru and Usagi. However, I do believe that Mamoru loves her. I don't think he would do what he has trying to protect her and care for her if he didn't love her.

Pretty much my feelings in a nutshell.

Oh he most certainly loves her! The anime has a lot of really great moments that show this unfortunately they are a bit fewer inbetween. :/ I always felt in the anime they were portraying Mamoru as the more stoic and typical Japanese man and with Usagi being so "embarassing" for most Japanese (wanting to always show PDA) its why he always seemed cold. Its not so much that he was cold but was awkard, a bit embarassed by her public behavior (definitely a bit out of society lol) and well...he also has that whole orphan, no real friends things going with him so I think hes just already awkward in general.

You have to be if you show up in the middle of fights in a tuxedo with a top hat and spout nonsense. xD

I believe he loves her, though I admit that it's not as frequently displayed to viewers in the anime.

I mean Mamoru was SO opposed to her before he found out about their shared past though. I think he loves her after remembering their past (and future?) together, but if that hadn't happened, I don't think he would love her. Their lives and personalities were just so incompatible.

Heck yeah he loves her! Maybe he's more of a jerk in the anime than the manga, but he'd have to to put up with her for so long.

Honestly, I'm not too sure. In the 90s anime too me, it seemed more like duty, but honestly I think that's just because they didn't really portray their relationship like in the manga.

Henshinyo wrote:

I mean Mamoru was SO opposed to her before he found out about their shared past though. I think he loves her after remembering their past (and future?) together, but if that hadn't happened, I don't think he would love her. Their lives and personalities were just so incompatible.

I think its because the anime didn't transition to well between the teasing stage and the in love stage. He seemed without even having his full memories, to me, to already be falling in love with Sailor Moon and then learns of her true identity. Yeah they teased each other a lot but i kinda saw that as slight flirting. Notice how he didn't do it at Rei at all.

Then we get the Doom Tree Arc where he has no memories what so ever and we see them interact more. Sure maybe he finds it weird that a 14 year old keeps bumping in to him but I see way more attraction between to two in that arc. I think its just unfortunate that the anime doesn't let their pre-identity/past reveals interactions develop a bit more than it did. This is where PGSM excels because PGSM shows both Usagi and Mamoru developing feelings for each other before they even remember their past lives.

I'm surprised this is even a question. XD;; If he didn't then we wouldn't have a show to build a forum around. XD;;;;;

To me, Mamoru cares deeply for Usagi, but there are different ways people show affection. Given his more reserved personality, he's just not an effusive person with regards to his feelings, in contrast to Usagi. Also, Mamoru is based on Naoko Takeuchi's personal image of the "ideal boyfriend". That definition isn't going to work for everyone since his character was specifically crafted from what she felt was the perfect guy.

As for Mamoru hurting Usagi's feelings, well, let's face it, has anyone not been hurt at some point by someone they love, be it a family member, a friend, or a lover? Most of the time it's unintentional or well-meaning, based on what the other person thought was "best" for us. It can be misguided, it can be devastating, but it's part of being human. Sure, the writing in the anime and the manga might not always be the most polished, but I would have a much harder time accepting a couple where the mood is constantly lovey-dovey, and only sweet words are exchanged.

Like everyone else, I believe that Mamo-chan does love Usagi but is passive in his way of showing it.

I think he does. After a recent discussion held in another thread and giving it more thought, I'd say yeah. I don't think he was the best in the 90s anime and I am going to disagree with him showing love for Usagi in PGSM (I think that was the worst portrayal of their relationship). Everywhere else, too, I'd say he loves Usagi. Mamoru is just more introverted than Usagi. There's nothing wrong with that. But being introverted doesn't mean he loves Usagi less. 

I saw the teasing more as playful banter - Mamoru wasn't being a total meanie - not really. Now what sucks is that after Usagi and Mamoru became a couple, that playful teasing (banter) doesn't actually happen anymore so it *can* be misinterpreted as him being mean or whatever. But, really, we know that's not the case. 

I don't think he fell for her because of their past and the memories - I think he genuinely liked her from the beginning. And vice versa. Usagi would be like "ugh what a jerk!!! ...but a hot jerk ;-;...he's hot...look at that tux. Yeah ok it's weird but. He's hot." etc. There's just a natural attraction that can be seen. Plus I think if you can have some playful banter with someone and be a little mean and tease them and there's no hard feelings, you're off to a pretty great start in your relationship, friend or otherwise. I mean, just look at Usagi and Rei. You could say Rei in the 90s anime was a right b to Usagi but you KNOW Rei really loves and cares for Usagi. And Usagi doesn't always roll over and take it from Rei, either. But that's how some people show their affection. 

tl;dr yes Mamoru loves Usagi; don't be silly.

I say since the first ep of the 90s anime, Usagi and Mamoru "hated" each other, which can mean they truly had a crush on each other. They were Jr. high students (makes sense, the way they behave in love), but it starts somewhere to form a romantic relationship.

I've never thought of the banter in the beginning as mean or hating each other, I imagined it as flirting. 

I just wish they could have given us more of that banter and more of everything really. 

The only thing I ever thought was mean was how they were so close and talkative and fun in the beginning for them and then it was so distant it's kind of mind boggling. 

Two extremes make the whole thing shaky otherwise I doubt this would even be a debate. It was just poorly executed by those in charge of the romance aspects.

Love is real and there for Usagi and Mamoru but Naoko did about as good a job of writing romance as Akira Toriyama in my opinion. 

It just wasn't a big enough plot device in the scheme of the series so it really had a quick beginning thats over before it could really start and then we get little middle before we find out the end.

I think that's why people have a hard time enjoying the couple fully and why so many people want to ship Usagi and even Mamoru with other people because they miss the chemistry and rich beginning before it was over so quickly. 

Some people just want more romance that isn't chaotic and random and few and far between in it's beginning, middle and end moments that are kind of just thrown in with the rest of the story and characters.

I want to point out something-- the Spiral Moon Heart Rod was born from their mutual love for each other. (In the manga, it was the Moon Scepter that was born this way.) This would have been impossible, had the love only been one-sided.

I don't know why people would think Mamoru doesn't love Usagi just because he's introverted and doesn't go to the same lengths as Usagi in physically showing his love. If I had to question which one was truly in love (which I don't, I'm just pointing this out), I would have to question whether Usagi truly loved Mamoru. After all, she had the past and future to look to to color her outlook as well, and in a lot of occasions in the anime, there were times where she really didn't treat him how he deserved, and she acts a lot like a teenager feeling superficial love. She slapped him for "forgetting" her birthday and not giving her a gift-- even though he didn't know when her birthday was. She is easily jealous of anyone interfering with her time with him, which is actually a very UNhealthy symptom in terms of loving someone. (It implies he is more her property or status symbol than her equal partner.) She physically clings to him and acts childishly excited over the thought of them being "together forever" and so deeply "in love" that it appears that she is not so much in love with him as she is in love with being in love. She wants that teenagery experience of being in love (you see this in her in the very early episodes, such as when she was writing those love letters for the radio station.) This is what you would call infatuation, not true love.

But again, I don't question her love for him, because she has proven her love in other situations-- mostly while in uniform, but that doesn't make it any less relevant.

Basically, I just see two imperfect people who love each other imperfectly-- and that's alright.

And anyway, the Spiral Heart Rod KNEW that they were mutually in love. That was the purpose of its whole existence.

No, in fact I think he hates her. Just kidding! Whilst arguably Mamoru seemed to have this love-hate relationship with Usagi all throughout the Classics anime, I can see that he does in fact love her. I'm a strong hater for Classics Mamo-chan just because of how passive aggressive, hurtful, and insulting he was towards Usagi, but even though this may be, his love does shine through (in the most unconventional ways). I understand the confusion with Mamoru only falling in love with Usagi when he regained his memories of the past, but I think people sometimes don't notice the way Mamoru looks at Usagi- or the fact that he's literally a college student going out with a middle school girl but he chooses to not care about that and make Usagi happy instead. I guess his attitude and introverted nature makes him a lot more complex as a lover in comparison to his Manga counterpart (Best Mamo-Chan ever), but honestly, I do believe he loves her to the point where he would hurt her just to protect her (the break up arc)- because love is shown in different forms, and Mamoru is the type to express his love in the most unconventional of ways.

I'm not so sure its love hate with Mamoru in the classic anime. We know for the first part of season 1 he doesn't like her and we're going to discount anytime he was ever brainwashed cause that's not him for real, or at least his beliefs. 

I think he's scared of holding her back, but unlike his Manga counterpart, he handles it by trying to push her away or being mean to her in hopes that she leaves, because if she hates him, she won't want to be around him.