- ritsu's turn i guess!!! i'm saying all this into nothing but at least it's not in my head
anyways ritsu is very special to me too because he is part of the strangely distant brothers trope! but every little thing about ritsu is very very intriguing so i'll start right at the beginning
even though he loves his brother, ritsu still has all these locked up feelings that he's shut out over the years about shigeo. he chalks it all up to being jealousy, that he's envious of shigeo's psychic ability but when reflecting on it more directly, it's obvious that it's more than just that. he's not just envious, he's afraid. he's afraid of what shigeo could do if he goes too far and loses himself because ritsu has seen what shigeo can do firsthand. he's afraid that if shigeo were to ever get too stressed out or upset, destruction would only lie ahead. cuz of all that, ritsu felt like he had to make sure they never had any arguments or any kind of terribly stressful things come up that could lead to an explosion. i find that part particularly interesting because not only is ritsu afraid of that, but so is shigeo! it's why he's been locking up his emotions for so long and they all end up boiling over.
after discovering his own psychic abilities though, ritsu gets a little bit of a power rush because now he feels that he's finally amounting to something. all that inferiority and fear that he had once held towards shigeo comes spilling out when they have their first confrontation. in the midst of all his destruction, ritsu admits how hard he had tried to avoid everything to even provoke shigeo throughout their entire lives. and this is also definitely a result of what happened when they were kids. his first time seeing shigeo's explosion left such a strong impact on him that it caused all these negative feelings to boil up into hurt and fear.
and even though ritsu tells shigeo that he doesn't need him, that he doesn't want him anymore, it's so so obvious that it's a lie! it doesn't even matter that ritsu says these things because shigeo still comes to rescue his brother once he's captured by claw. he tells ritsu how much he adores him and even looks up to him, that despite it all he still cares for him and loves him! and it's such a beautiful heartfelt scene bc obviously ritsu doesn't really wanna go and ruin his relationship with his brother. but that fear had ahold of him for so long that he didn't feel like he had any other option at some point.
ritsu eventually learns that psychic abilities aren't everything and does calm down which is good!! another thing i find interesting though is how quickly him and sho get along together. i think that they both have similar experiences with being afraid of a family member but still desperately wanting their attention too. they kinda get each other on a way that the others wouldn't, and while shigeo does have his own inferiority complex towards ritsu, it's not quite the same. sho understands better what it's like to be cast aside and not looked upon as much, and so i thnk ritsu naturally kinda leans into that side and clicks with him faster. sho doesn't make himself seem super trustworthy, but ritsu can see that his playful and cocky attitude are just a little bit of a façade n is more understanding of the situation he's in
