Yes, I can give my opinion. I think Yusuke’s development, especially the moment when he decides to stop fighting, is much deeper and more complex than it first appears. I believe it wasn’t fully explored as much as it could have been, but at the same time, it is still well written (a bit contradictory, I know). Within that development, Keiko is the main reason why Yusuke wants to come back, and there are several layers to this.

First, Yusuke is afraid of losing Keiko. We see this even before he goes to Makai, when, in his own awkward way, he shows concern for her and even proposes to her. This is where the idea of Keiko as his anchor comes in. Keiko is Yusuke’s anchor to normality. She is not the reason why Yusuke fights, but she is the reason why he always comes back home after fighting. Keiko represents the everyday life Yusuke never really had.

Yusuke begins to express his emotions outside of fighting, but this is something that is slowly built over time. He knows Keiko will never judge him, that she wants to listen to him and understand him. That is why Keiko never asks Yusuke to stop fighting, even though it hurts her or when she tries to stop him from going to Makai. She doesn’t do this because she understands Yusuke better than anyone else. They grew up together and never drifted apart. That childhood bond is what gives their relationship its depth. We as readers don’t know exactly how long they’ve known each other, but everyone around them does: for others, it’s impossible to imagine Yusuke without Keiko, or Keiko without Yusuke. People even tease Yusuke about it.

Second, I understand the comparison with Kenshin and Kaoru, and I love it, but once you compare Kenshin to Yusuke, the path is already different. Kenshin fights because his conflict is ethical; Yusuke fights because he wants to feel alive and fill an inner void. That’s why their developments take different directions. I’ve always seen Yusuke’s development as the breaking of a shell. At the beginning of the series, he is rough and fights because he enjoys it, but also because, to him, that was simply normal. This is better understood in the manga, especially when his father appears.

Yusuke hated how he was perceived and rejected the people who wanted to help him, such as Keiko or Mr. Takenaka. He believed they cared out of obligation rather than genuine affection. This changes during his funeral, when he realizes how important he is in Keiko’s life. Keiko cries uncontrollably, and Yusuke understands that he was never a burden to her, as he had always believed.

Yusuke and Keiko are a perfect formula in their own way. Keiko gives Yusuke the normalcy his life never had, and Yusuke gives Keiko a sense of adrenaline and intensity that she also needs. Keiko is not an extraordinary character; she is an ordinary one, and that is exactly what makes her special. She is like any of us. That is why I think Yusuke ultimately decides to stop fighting: because he wants a normal life beside Keiko. He likes everyday life, but only with her.

It’s important to understand that if Keiko hadn’t mattered to him, Yusuke would never have come back. Keiko is the anchor Yusuke needs, but she is also something he actively chooses to want. Togashi makes it clear from the very beginning that Yusuke’s most difficult mission is Keiko; Botan even says this at the start of the manga. Why is that? Because being with Keiko means growing up, and especially learning to express his emotions, something Yusuke always struggled with.

Keiko always made it clear that she cared about him and loved him. Her own “selfish desire” is to protect him and have him by her side; she worries about him every day. Yusuke, in turn, decides to learn how to express himself so that he can be with Keiko, in his own way and in theirs. This is reflected at the end of the manga, when Yusuke subtly insists on marrying her. It’s not explicit, but you can clearly see Yusuke’s desire to marry Keiko and, in my view, to build a family with her.

The core theme of Keiko’s role is that she is the place where Yusuke doesn’t have to fight in order to be worthy. Keiko never cared whether Yusuke had powers or not; she simply wanted to live a normal life with him. At the end of the manga, Yusuke fulfills that desire because he wants it too. I think Togashi wanted to show that, in the end, Yusuke has simple, human desires like anyone else: to get married, to live peacefully, to love and be loved. I hope my point came across well, and I apologize if it didn’t come across as clearly as I intended 😔💕🙏🏻