This Post Is About Taking A Step Back.
I see what you're saying and while I don't necessarily disagree, I have to say that I don't think that comic quite matches your point. The comic is about the magic of crafted objects and how they reach their intended audience as well as the connections we have to those objects that might not be accessible or understandable to other people. Note that I used the word "objects." What you are saying is that people treat other people like objects when they come up with criteria for the perfect someone, which is often the case. The nature of these objects is different for many reasons, but chief among those reasons in my view, is who crafts the object. In the comic, it is crafted by someone for another someone. In your post the object is a theoretical object projected on to a person, or to put it another way, "objectification." This word, like the word "selfish" has negative connotations and not without reason. That those reasons tend to end exploration of the concept, is unfortunate, if understandable. That said, taking a step back from objectifying others is generally a good thing as it tends to create the opportunity to stop objectifying one's self too.
It's interesting that you consider that the point of the comic. This may be because of where I currently am in life, but the thing about the comic that struck me the most was that the main character doesn't take time to step back and realize that he has a good friend. Instead, he rushes along with the girl he considers attractive and "perfect", in a way. In doing so, he's more than likely lost a good friend, and considering he's a kid, I don't see his relationship lasting with the girl, either. That beings said, I suppose I'm creating personas for characters that zero backstory beyond those panels, haha. Thank you for the comment - I'm going to keep ruminating over it.
I think he does though, otherwise it wouldn't have been a difficult decision. Also, that he cares about who he's with says to me that he's objectifying himself, much in the way I outlined. That he deals in objects with the intention of providing happiness to others convinces me that the comic is about the objectification of happiness. Though his friendship with Tea might not have lasted is to me, a secondary point as the essence of their connection was incarnate in the book. Which is not to say that those connections weren't real, only that the character keeps that particular connection real in the object that is his memory. Like I said, I see your point in what you wrote; it's just that the comic struck me differently.the thing about the comic that struck me the most was that the main character doesn't take time to step back and realize that he has a good friend
I think you would enjoy this: Romance, the Infinite Leap, and Why It Doesn't Really Matter Who You're With. So you say take a step back, perhaps from the general, and then this guy says make the infinite leap towards the particular. Those ideas expressed made me OK with settling into somebody.