This only just popped into my conscious mind this morning, thinking about Kimi Shiruya again: evocation. The point is not to portray an event, but to call forth an image of the event. It's an idea I picked up from studying butoh, and I think it carries over here. I think you're going to find that key to getting a handle on shoujo conventions in general.
It might also give you some help with action sequences in general: you don't really need to be able to read them in detail, it's enough to get a sense of the motion and exertion and passion that's happening. (I find that idea helpful in something like Vassalord, where action sequences are truly chaotic and usually incomprehensible.)
I'd also say give yourself another go at Kimi Shiruya at some point -- aside from the fact that I'm very impressed by it, it occurs to me that most of the story is related by inference, and that's also where a lot of the eroticism comes from (and it's about the most truly erotic yaoi I've read). The empahsis on kendo is simply because that is the central metaphor for the characters and the story: this isn't a courtship so much as a duel -- something that's all too common in relationships between men. (And in spite of the surface reading of the ending, it's really hard to know who won -- look again at the expression on Katsuomi's face.)
Re: About those motivations
This only just popped into my conscious mind this morning, thinking about Kimi Shiruya again: evocation. The point is not to portray an event, but to call forth an image of the event. It's an idea I picked up from studying butoh, and I think it carries over here. I think you're going to find that key to getting a handle on shoujo conventions in general.
It might also give you some help with action sequences in general: you don't really need to be able to read them in detail, it's enough to get a sense of the motion and exertion and passion that's happening. (I find that idea helpful in something like Vassalord, where action sequences are truly chaotic and usually incomprehensible.)
I'd also say give yourself another go at Kimi Shiruya at some point -- aside from the fact that I'm very impressed by it, it occurs to me that most of the story is related by inference, and that's also where a lot of the eroticism comes from (and it's about the most truly erotic yaoi I've read). The empahsis on kendo is simply because that is the central metaphor for the characters and the story: this isn't a courtship so much as a duel -- something that's all too common in relationships between men. (And in spite of the surface reading of the ending, it's really hard to know who won -- look again at the expression on Katsuomi's face.)
Gah! Stop me! I could go on all day.