Apologies in advance because I haven’t proof-read this and it’s just sort of a quick summary of my feelings.
Toma is probably the most wildly discussed character in Amnesia and it isn’t hard to see why. Sweet, caring, older brother childhood friend-type seems to make a HUGE 180 by kidnapping the MC and locking her in a cage like a frikken pet. “YANDERE” cried the masses! What a total yandere! On one hand, people hate him for being such a blatantly sexist and abusive character. On the other, people want to forgive and excuse his behavior because he “LOVES” the MC. Fine, alright.
What’s mind-blowing about Amnesia is the way its characters subvert their expected archetypes. The “plot twist” about Toma isn’t that he’s a “yandere”, but actually that, after all is said and done, he really isn’t a “yandere” at all. Yandere are defined by having a sweet and caring demeanor, while deep down being completely obsessed with the object of their desire. It’s always to a psychotic extent, as yandere are almost always expected to harm and kill in order to get what they want. They want to own to the person they love. If it means cutting off their limbs, if it means killing them, sure. So far, so good.
Toma is given most of his unexpected depths towards the end of his route when it becomes crystal clear that he’s aware of what a huge scumbag he is. A lot of people want to make this a reason to forgive him. Please don’t.
Sha and I had an extensive discussion once about how Diamond world is a complete anomaly. It is the route in which MC acts the least like a realistic person. She is a fantasy and shell of herself in this route, compared to other routes where she has a stronger sense of character and independence. In Diamond? The only story she has is being in love with Toma since she was a child. If anything, Diamond MC is Toma’s fantasy. In order to create a universe where MC can be in love with Toma, any sense of her character had to be sacrificed. And that’s REALLY, REALLY fucked up already.
Diamond World is also the ONE world where Orion blindly trusts the love interest. In all the other routes he is cautious and warns MC not to be naïve… but with Toma? He’s your boyfriend and childhood friend! He obviously cares about you! Let’s trust him! Orion falls for Toma’s cavalier demeanor. And the unsuspecting player is also meant to fall for it as well.
But, think about it, none of Toma’s behavior actually makes sense. He calls himself your boyfriend and yet does nothing to indicate that he is. He constantly talks to you about the past, about when you were younger. And he completely avoids you physically. This is even more alarming when you realize that Toma knows from the START that you’ve lost your memory.
Toma calling himself MC’s boyfriend isn’t a lie to take advantage of the MC’s amnesia. It’s a lie for himself that he later finds himself unable to act upon. He says he loves MC, but what he loves and idealized, past version of her. He loves her, but refuses to touch her.
So, about the cage, huh?
Toma treats MC like a trophy. A doll. That’s explicitly said in the game itself when MC wonders if she’s like Toma’s doll. It’s an even creepier extension of Toma’s inability to physically lay a finger on MC. He just looms. He just watches her. Talks about the golden past. Talks about protecting her from threats MC can’t even wrap her mind around because of her amnesia and the fact that Toma’s “sheltering” her from the world.
Toma loves her TOO MUCH. Or, arguably, he doesn’t actually love her at all. Toma WANTS her, but he doesn’t even see her as a woman, much less a person. It’s creepy. It’s awful. It’s fucked up and, most of all, Toma himself is aware of this.
“But Toma just wants to be with her! He’s loved her for so long!”
If Toma wanted to date MC properly, he would’ve continued to act upon his first lie. He would’ve actually made an effort to act like her boyfriend. He could’ve made that relationship work. But Toma doesn’t take that route. Toma has given up being with MC from the onset. He doesn’t believe he can be with her. That much is clear in Shin’s route, tbh.
Toma would prefer to live with the guilt of having almost killed MC, than to admit he loves her.
That’s. Fucked. Up.
Ukyo is hardly present in Diamond world for a reason. Toma is enough of a threat that he doesn’t need to around. Ukyo even says that MC’s closer to death the closer she is to Toma—that enough should be an indication of how WRONG this world is.
I’m going to wrap this up before I deviate into a completely new subject BUT, basically:
Toma is lacking one of the fundamental aspects of a “yandere” and that’s the extreme and obsessive desire to be with the object of their desire. He is obsessed with MC. He “loves” her. But it’s fairly evident that Toma doesn’t ACTUALLY want to be with her. He can’t even FATHOM that possibility because he’s given up before even trying.
