⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This article discusses major plot points involving both Yudai Takahashi and Subaru Hiiragi, including the ending.
Why This Debate Won’t Die Down
Among Gazing at the Star Next Door fans, the “Team Takahashi or Team Subaru” debate comes up constantly. The ending isn’t in question — Chiaki ends up with Subaru. That’s settled. But a lot of readers are quietly carrying a different question that has nothing to do with how the story ends: as a character, who do you actually find yourself rooting for?
I’ll be upfront about where I land: I’m Team Takahashi. Here’s why, and I’ll give Subaru his due along the way.
The Case for Subaru: Self-Sacrifice as a Form of Love
To be fair, let’s start with Subaru’s side of the argument.
Subaru didn’t turn Chiaki down because he didn’t care about her. It was closer to the opposite. He was terrified that his life as a public figure would end up limiting hers, and his rejection was an act of self-sacrifice built on that fear. Later, when his composure finally cracks during his confrontation with Takahashi, raw jealousy spilling out in a way he clearly wasn’t expecting from himself, it tells you everything: he thought he’d made peace with letting her go, and he hadn’t, not even close. That gap between what he tried to convince himself of and what he actually felt is, honestly, one of his most compelling qualities.
The Case for Takahashi: Here’s Why I’m Still Team Takahashi
And yet, I’m still Team Takahashi.
Part of it is how wide his emotional awareness runs. Takahashi isn’t only tuned into his own feelings — he reads other people’s, too, and that doesn’t change even after Chiaki and Subaru get together.
But here’s the part I want to say plainly: however noble Subaru’s reasons were, the result was still that he hurt Chiaki badly enough to make her cry. Good intentions don’t erase that outcome. And everything we see of Takahashi suggests that, in the same position, he wouldn’t have handled it that way. There’s something in his consistency — staying honest about his own feelings while never needlessly hurting someone else — that makes the contrast with Subaru hard to ignore. Subaru, with the best of intentions, ended up hurting the person he loved most. Takahashi, staying true to what he wanted, never did. That’s a big part of why I think he resonates with so many readers.
On top of that, the man has guts. He confessed to Chiaki knowing full well she didn’t feel the same, and when she turned him down, he didn’t quietly fold — he kept showing up, kept trying, without ever once being cruel about it. He went head-to-head with his rival without ever turning into the kind of antagonist these stories usually need to make a love triangle work.
And then there’s how it ends for him. He steps back, and somehow ends up trusted by both halves of the couple he once competed for. Not many characters earn that. That arc alone is what pushes him, for me, past “good rival” and into genuinely worth rooting for.
This Isn’t About Who’s “Right”
To be clear, none of this is a knock on Subaru. His self-sacrifice has its own logic and its own real pain behind it. The story had good reasons to choose him.
But “who the story chooses” and “who you actually like more” are two different questions, and that gap is exactly why this debate exists. Part of why this manga works so well is that its rival character isn’t just there to lose gracefully — he’s written with enough depth to be worth arguing about on his own terms. That’s why this conversation never really settles.
So, Which Team Are You?
If you read all that and you’re still firmly Team Subaru, I get it — make your case in the comments. And if you found yourself nodding along to the Takahashi parts, same. There’s no objectively correct answer here. That’s the fun of it.
Keep Reading
✅ Yudai Takahashi: From Rival to the Brother Figure Both Leads Trust
✅ Subaru Hiiragi’s Quiet Struggle: Fame, Childhood Friendship, and Holding Back
✅ Gazing at the Star Next Door Explained: Plot, Characters & Themes
I also share the small manga moments that stay with me long after reading—the pauses, glances, and choices that never fully leave.
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