Basil’s emotional dependency in OMORI is not “cute

This text is a critical reflection on the romanticization of Basil’s emotional dependency in the game OMORI. Written from the perspective of someone with a degree in psychology and living with borderline personality disorder, it highlights the character’s complexity and the real-life impact of emotional dependency. It touches on themes like guilt, anxiety, grief, and mental health, urging readers to approach characters like Basil with empathy and a deeper understanding of psychological struggles.

#omorigame #omori

[kyonzinho]

This is my opinion as someone with a degree in psychology and also as someone who has suffered from emotional dependency because I have borderline personality disorder. If you disagree, that’s okay, but please share your opinion in a kind and respectful way.

[CyberStar]

Basil is such a sweet soul. I honestly felt very sad for him during the Omori playthrough... Still i look up to him and his ability to smile even when everything's wrong

[theemeraldninja]

Sunny and Basil's dynamic looks cute on the surface, but the game doesn’t hold back when showing you the unsettling parts of it and how harmful it is to both of them

[Da_FB]

as a sunflower shipper, just hear me out. i dont think basil's emotional dependency is cute, it is actually pretty sad, but i think how sunny sees basil in headspace (which is the *dream* world and allost definitely reflects his actual thoughts) is kinda fruity and cute. in real life, basil and sunny are super broken on the inside and basically rely on each other, and that part is saddening to me. its sad to me *because* i ship them and understand the emotional complexity of each character. hell, i ship them because of the fact that they are so *real* and possibly relatable. i agree with this video and wanted to share my thoughts on it from the perspective of a sunflower shipper (:

[ElenaRutchik]

I also feel like people don't understand just how hard it is to be ACTIVELY losing someone you love. Basil's Grandma couldn't really take care of him or talk to him or even hear him, and his friends either left him or bullied him. (Excluding Kel, the absolute legend) So yeah, his dependency on the one person that he thought would be there isn't "cute."



I love my boy Basil sm ❤

[saubergt]

He deserves all the love and cuddles and headpats in the world... I want to adopt him and dedicate my life to loving him as much as I can.

[_BrainDidNotLoad]

I feel like a lot of people don’t understand the level of emotional dependency BASIL has for SUNNY.

BASIL gives up everything for SUNNY. When SUNNY pushes MARI, BASIL can’t come to terms with the truth. He denies someone as perfect as SUNNY could ever do that, so it must’ve been SOMETHING that did it. When they confirm MARI isn’t breathing, his first thought isn’t to rush to an adult or call an ambulance, it’s "How do I make sure SUNNY doesn't get in trouble?". That’s not a normal reaction, even for a kid. It shows that SUNNY’s well-being matters to him more than *anything* else.

If KEL or AUBREY walked through that door, do you think they would’ve done what BASIL did? Of course not.

And when you make a list of what BASIL does “for” SUNNY… you really start to see how deep this obsession goes. BASIL:
- Spends four years protecting SUNNY’s secret even though it ruins his own life.
- He could’ve told the truth about the photo album, that would’ve gotten AUBREY back as a friend and it wouldn’t have been too bad for SUNNY, but BASIL doesn’t say a thing. He lets AUBREY and the others hate him instead of telling the truth—even when they bully him, even when he’s completely isolated.
- He doesn’t confess, even when the guilt is literally driving him to suicide. Instead, he takes SUNNY’s secret to the grave when he feels he can’t live like this anymore instead of trying to reconcile.


And the way he talks about SUNNY… it’s intense:
"They're comfortable, simple, modest, and perfect. Just like SUNNY."
"Promise me that we’ll always be there for each other."
“After all this time... you've finally come back for me.”
“W...Wait... P-Please, SUNNY... Don't leave me...”
“Where are you going!? Stop trying to leave me!”

[STRANGER quotes which I’ll include since SUNNY’s actively repressing what he thinks BASIL thinks, meaning it’s probably not a delusion]
“I miss you, SUNNY. You were always someone I could depend on to listen. My problems... my hopes... my dreams... You knew them all.”
“Even seeing you now... It's hard to think straight. I can feel my heart hurting and I want to cover my face and hide.”
“I just... I waited so long for you to come back, SUNNY... but... you never did.”
“He's [BASIL’s] been waiting for someone to save him all this time.”

All of this isn’t just “I missed my best friend.” This is "I don’t know how to exist without you." BASIL’s world falls apart when SUNNY leaves. BASIL needs SUNNY. He needs that presence in his life. The moment SUNNY shuts himself away, BASIL’s entire life spirals into paranoia, guilt, and self-hatred.

I’ve already yapped a lot, so I’ll end it off by saying how this isn’t “cute” or “romantic”, but it sure as hell is morbidly interesting to watch play out.

[O.EMPTY]

Im glad I'm not the only one who thought about this... anyways basil deserves all the hugs and friendship in the world. oh and water since basil is a plant. and plants need water. so water plus babil= happy babil

[lollyh_doesyt]

Basil has so many reasons to develop emotional dependency that people overlook. His character suffered so much from when he was little and that never stopped. I love the complexity of his character so much and how all the characters express how their parent's treatments when they were little still effect them. I hate it when someone calls him a crybaby or something like that because hanging your best friend's sister at the age of 12 does something to you.

Another point, as a sunflower shipper, it's that I'd like to see them grow. They're definitely not healthy for each other at the moment, but you can say that about every ship in omori in the present timeline because everyone has their own problems that they need to solve first before dedicating themselves to anyone. Specifically sunflower because seeing them grow and make new memories together is a step towards healing and shows that it is infact possible to heal. That's one of the main reasons sunflower is a great ship going foward.

[amazingnobodylee]

I saw it as relatable and comforting to know there’s a character who has suffered in the same way as I have, it isn’t cute at all

[HardDriveD]

omocat why you make my guy suffer this much 😭

[Tyler-]

I "call myself a fan of him" while understanding how complex his character is. I don't think I should have to justify that to anyone.

[SunakoTenshiro]

DAMN FUCKING It’s why I love him though…. Because he’s so complex and represents real life so well. It’s beautiful in a sense that his character is a masterpiece that sends a message of relatability and perfectly educates people on what it’s like to suffer from co-dependency and or just abandonment and cptsd. I love Basil and I’m glad he is portrayed accurately; particularly because I kin him… and also because of what he represents. I can’t believe how people can hate on him….. he’s trying his best… he was just a kid and STILL IS A KID! Literally everyone he’s ever known and loved has either died or abandoned him at some point in his life. Parents, Mari, grandma, his friends, and Sunny, when he needed him most. Left all alone to deal with this BY HIM SELF! Yet still had the strength to go to school and try his best to stay true to his morals. It’s a fucking miracle that he turned out the way he did so sweet and caring. Basil is probably THEE most tragic character in this game. He has never ONCE had a break, even before the incident happened he comments in the photo album about venting to Sunny and how he feels safe with Sunny and will vent to him and shows signs of being self conscious about it. My heart breaks for him 😭💗

[Ice_Aoi_Mutantheart_Fan]

Still a fan of basil regardless and love him more.

[dquire]

I like to think Polly adopted him in the end 😢

[Litimiko]

Emotional dependency suck. It's so weird and always create some toxic-ish relation.
It's disgusting that some people find it romantic.

I can see why someone could call Basil cute but emotional dependency is not one of the reasons.

[planekidcreator]

I think people consider it "cute" bc they only see the "good" part of it (aka clinginess or other stuff), and they just make assumptions from there. first impression is a lot of things, so if it ain't clear that Basil's emotional dependency isn't good, people will assume it is. ):

[JuliaKewlly]

I actually feel very bad for Basil and I love him so much as a Character

[VabySteph]

i have a aunt in germany who got abused and kicked out of her apartment by her boyfriend and lives with my widow grandma. but she doesn't want to go to the poliece with much protest from my grandma because she still needs him.

[albertjoestar]

This short just spits facts, I once was very dependant of others and some of those people kept telling me that it was cute so I in some way started to normalize it and developed severe fear of abandonment so before saying that this kind of disorder is cute because you need attention yourself, think twice because it can ruin people's life (btw im healthy now eheh)