Okay let me preface this by saying that despite me preferring Emma with Ray, that I in no way hate NormanxEmma.
I do however think that NormanxEmma is not really beneficial to either party especially Norman. Who as we’ve seen, has turned his love for Emma into something twisted. Basically implying that his plan for genocide stemmed from her statement back in the first arc about building a world for them if there wasn’t one on the outside. Not to mention that they hadn’t had any interaction since the beginning of the first arc and just because Norman liked and still likes Emma, doesn’t mean it’s a requirement for her to reciprocate his feelings for her. I personally think them not ending up together would be great as it would teach children that just because you like someone doesn’t mean they’ll like you back or are obliged to do so.
Ray on the other hand, has changed for the better thanks to Emma’s influence. Before their time together, he saw their younger siblings as burdens that would hold them back once they made it outside. Yet as he slowly came to realize, they were assets who at times, were crucial to their survival. In the escape arc, Ray didn’t see Emma as an equal despite her being a genius like him and Norman. He would oftentimes tease and berate her decisions in a joking way that seemed demeaning at times. This came from his belief that her compassion for wanting to escape with everyone, would get them killed. Which as we saw, didn’t. As the story progressed however, he slowly came around to Emma’s line of thinking while still remaining a hint of paranoia to everything around them, and even came to see her as an equal. With Ray however it’s harder to see for many since he’s more of a ‘show don’t tell’ kind of guy.
In turn, Ray has managed to ground Emma quite a bit. Not necessarily brushing off her ideas or wants, but being more realistic about what could go wrong, in comparison to Norman who would just reassure her that he would find a way to make what she wanted a reality. As a result, Emma is now more aware of how her decisions affect those around her. Of course this one is also slightly attributed to Yuugo as well. But what I’m getting at is that Emma and Ray’s personalities while drastically different, still manage to compliment each other in a way that would lead to a healthy relationship.
As to which one I personally think will become canon, definitely Rayemma. If a ship is going to become canon I think Rayemma has the biggest chance. The way I see Norman and Emma is how I saw Katniss and Gale in THG. Their paths have diverged way too much for them to ever really have a possibility of being canon in my opinion. Whereareas Ray and Emma have lived through several life and death situations that have made them grow closer and closer together. I can’t remember what it’s called but there’s this psychological thing where people fall in love with people who they share a dangerous experience with. And while they all share the experience of being cattle, there’s experiences that are exclusive to Ray and Emma.
But the manga could definitely also go the route of no ships becoming canon as well to be honest. This is predominantly a manga about children surviving in a world where everything wants to eat them after all.
