Final Analysis: Kasumi has a surprising amount of people who believe there is more to her than meets the eye, although theories vary widely. Some say she is compartmentalizing after the death of her mother; some say she knows a lot more than she lets on, and plays the innocent act because people ask fewer questions that way; and then some say she actually sees things happen differently, as though she lives in another dimension and only moves around in the one the other characters are in. I think it's very possible that Kasumi's cleaning/homemaking habits are a function of dealing with grief, or at least started that way, and she never really grew out of them. None of the Tendo sisters has fully developed into a completely "normal" individual; the death of their mother, and emotional state of their father, has clearly left a mark on all three of them. Kasumi's efforts to emulate their mother at the expense of her own individuality speak more of someone in moderate denial than someone who is still actually filling a necessary hole in the household. This is not to say that I believe Kasumi is mentally ill, or depressed, or that she doesn't genuinely enjoy what she is doing for the family; but her interests, and especially her own self-interest, should have developed more by this point. Kasumi has deliberately narrowed her world-view until it only houses a handful of things, and she continues to willingly blind herself to certain other elements that stare other people in the face. I should specify that I don't think Kasumi is as blind as some fanfics comedically imply. She clearly sees things that are wrong; she takes it upon herself to speak to Akane as she believes their mother would, in the hopes of improving situations, and helping Akane in particular to grow up right. Still, she has stunted her own personality somewhat. We never really see if Kasumi has actual interests that she pursues in her spare time - she is just single-minded about the house and family. Although this attitude is perfectly acceptable (more so in Japan, I think, than it would be here), even her family recognizes that perhaps they take advantage of Kasumi, and occasionally worries that she might snap. A later chapter in the manga has a story about everyone finding evidence in the kitchen that Kasumi has lost her temper (unheard of!) and gone on a destructive rampage; the entire family constructs a bizarre set of circumstances in which Kasumi runs around the house upending vases and stabbing the floor with knives. XD As amusing as the story is, the worry everyone expresses still suggests that maybe even they recognize that Kasumi might need a vacation. LOVE AND MARRIAGE? Kasumi's willful ignorance about Dr. Tofu's feelings for her raises a few questions, too. Is she really so oblivious? There are even a handful of hints (admittedly in the anime, not manga, generally in filler episodes) that Kasumi has feelings for Tofu as well - only she doesn't show them around him at all, and aside from borrowing the occasional book, she doesn't seem to think of him a whole lot. Would Kasumi even be interested in moving out of her house and marrying someone else? She seems pretty devoted to her father. Her ignorance of Tofu's feelings could be considered a way of, again, avoiding the topic. After all, she seems to mostly shut out things she wouldn't want to deal with - poor Tofu might just be one of them. In all honesty, I think Kasumi would do better if she did get out of the house and let Tofu court her. She would clearly love to have her own family, but the family doesn't seem quite willing to let her stop being their mother, any more than the idea of not being their mother seems to have occurred to her. In all, I don't think Kasumi really has anything wrong with her, but she seems to be quite stifled, even if she doesn't realize it. And it's odd to note, in particular, that she's the only one of the Tendo sisters who has had this happen; both her sisters are quite outspoken and independent. Kasumi alone is the one with no real outside interests, no apparent opinion on most subjects, and no real future. A wonderful character, beautiful and sweet, but I've always found her a little depressing. Still, if she's happy, I guess that's what counts.
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